Tooling up a mill

[Mayhem]

I have asked this on another forum but I thought I would ask it here, as it will be a good topic for those of us new to milling. For those of you who have a mill and associated tooling, I have this question for you:

Given your experience, how would you tool up your mill if starting from scratch?

[Highpower]

Well, I don't have much experience but - I wish I would have bought a lot more sizes of collets when I was still getting a paycheck. :-/

Z-axis real estate disappears pretty quickly on my mill when I mount a drill chuck. Add in a rotary table with a lathe chuck, and there is nothing left to work with. Being able to grab a drill bit in a collet has saved my bacon on several occasions. Problem is, I have many more drill sizes than I have collet sizes. :(

[DaveH]

The first things I bought were, collet chuck to hold the end mills,

a keyless drill chuck, and 4 end mills 3mm, 6mm, 10mm, & 12mm.

Quite an afternoon I had

(No internet - no ebay)


DaveH

[ETC57]

Well I'm up to 3 collets 1/8", 3/8", and 1/2" and am quite sure there will be more in the future.

My machine came with quite a tool package some were an apology for repairs I was forced to fix on my own, witch while quality was not in the top
10 it has saved me a lot of $$$$ . One of witch is my 8" rt, it has almost become a permanent fixture on the machine. Of course because it's a 3 in 1 the rt must come off to use the lathe.:)

[DaveH]

Mayhem,

I decided to go and have a look at my mill

The first thing I saw was a vise, you will need a vice So put a vise on your list

DaveH

[TOM REED]

my first items in order good vise, matched pair of 3 inch screwless vises, parallels er40 collet chuck + full set of collets, end mills, indexing head, rotary table, flycutter, face mill, clamp set, extra t nuts. I actually bought all these with the mill. tom

[Mayhem]

Thanks Tom. Why a matched pair of screwless vices? Also, I'd be interested is hearing your thoughts on the quality of the tooling you purchased. If I remember, these were imported directly from China? I did contact Timeway but they never responded.

Locally all I can afford is a Vartex vise which is Taiwanese. Kurts here are 2x the price of US list price and postage is not a viable option. Mill came with a new ER32 collet chuck and 6 collets, and a clamp kit.

[TOM REED]

(03-08-2012, 11:29 PM)Mayhem Wrote: Thanks Tom. Why a matched pair of screwless vices? Also, I'd be interested is hearing your thoughts on the quality of the tooling you purchased. If I remember, these were imported directly from China? I did contact Timeway but they never responded.

Locally all I can afford is a Vartex vise which is Taiwanese. Kurts here are 2x the price of US list price and postage is not a viable option. Mill came with a new ER32 collet chuck and 6 collets, and a clamp kit.

I bought my two 3 inch screwless vises with parallels from littlemachineshop.com on special my thoughts are for a pair to machine long pieces. these were import but of nice quality, my dividing head came when I ordered my mill it is of taiwan mfr and is also good. my rotary table I got from timeway and with it I got a 200mm 3 jaw they are both chicom and are excellent quality, also i got matched v blocks with clamps and a large adjustable table abt 8" x 12 ". my face mill, collet set, boring head and several small items came from ctc tools and were also good quality. Everything I bought will last many years after I am gone. Jenelle has left timeway but I am sure if you were to use the same e-mail either her replacement or her boss will contact you. One thing about ordering from CHINA is you have to be patient they have lots of holidays and festivals and it seems as though the whole country shuts down. Winter festival is nearly 3 weeks long. I know lots don't like anything made in CHINA but everything that I have imported is of good quality and if you buy from a reputable supplier you should have no problem but do not buy from SHANXI YUANGHANG MACHINERY he is a crooked man, shorted me several items and only shipped to Vancouver, left me hanging there, although the mill was good quality. Right now ARVID is waiting for a nice mill he purchased from Jenelle, he is a bit concerned about his order but since he ordered from a reputable firm |i am sure he will get his order. tom

[arvidj]

(03-09-2012, 02:24 AM)TOM REED Wrote: ... Jenelle has left timeway but I am sure if you were to use the same e-mail either her replacement or her boss will contact you. ... Right now Arvid is waiting for a nice mill he purchased from Jenelle, he is a bit concerned about his order but since he ordered from a reputable firm |i am sure he will get his order. tom

I was contacted by Sara Yan at Timeway ... sale02@timewaymachine.com ... shortly after Jenell left. Things seem to be progressing smoothly as I was contacted by an importer in California about the transaction and hooked them up with the importing agent that I am using here in Minneapolis.

The proforma invoice has CIF Minneapolis on it so Timeway should have picked up the tab for shipping all the way to Minneapolis Minnesota.

Needless to say I will feel much more comfortable about the transaction when my importer has all of the paperwork and details and confirms what I believe but as of now things seem to moving forward smoothly.

Arvid

[TOM REED]

(03-09-2012, 11:52 AM)arvidj Wrote:

(03-09-2012, 02:24 AM)TOM REED Wrote: ... Jenelle has left timeway but I am sure if you were to use the same e-mail either her replacement or her boss will contact you. ... Right now Arvid is waiting for a nice mill he purchased from Jenelle, he is a bit concerned about his order but since he ordered from a reputable firm |i am sure he will get his order. tom

I was contacted by Sara Yan at Timeway ... sale02@timewaymachine.com ... shortly after Jenell left. Things seem to be progressing smoothly as I was contacted by an importer in California about the transaction and hooked them up with the importing agent that I am using here in Minneapolis.

The proforma invoice has CIF Minneapolis on it so Timeway should have picked up the tab for shipping all the way to Minneapolis Minnesota.

Needless to say I will feel much more comfortable about the transaction when my importer has all of the paperwork and details and confirms what I believe but as of now things seem to moving forward smoothly.

Arvid

I was sure that they would and timeway will not do you wrong on the shipping, did Jenelle tell you that her boss quoted the price on your mill a bit low but they were honoring the quoted price, that means when I sell my RF45 clone my mill will cost me a bit more than yours. It sounds like yours is on the way then. tom