Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories.
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. I think I'm going to get a drill press and get a milling attatchment for the deck. This will be fine for me and allow me to do some custom stuff I couldn't in the past. 
Any good shops that sell milling/drill bits and accessories?
I'll probably just go with Craftsman 15 or 17" stationary model drill press since I can get it locally but, if you know of any good deals on good drill presses I might consider shipping one.
Thanks
John
Any good shops that sell milling/drill bits and accessories?
I'll probably just go with Craftsman 15 or 17" stationary model drill press since I can get it locally but, if you know of any good deals on good drill presses I might consider shipping one.
Thanks
John
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 521
Likes: 0
From: Farmingdale NJ
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. http://www.mscdirect.com
http://www.mcmaster.com
Those two are the most popular industrial/machine shop supply houses.
Enco's a little lower end but for what you will be doing you won't need expensive, top quality cutting tools, the "USA Brand" and China stuff will be more than adequate.
http://www.use-enco.com/mastercat/CuttingTools.cfm (their catalog is MUCH better than their website).
Just keep in mind that drill presses don't make good milling machines. The spindles and chucks aren't as accurate, the frames aren't as rigid, and the Morse tapers that hold most chucks on cannot handle excessive side loading. Drill presses with mill tables work OK for very minor stuff, but they are excellent for drilling fairly precise hole circles and hole locations.
Also get single ended milling bits for use in a drill press, double ended bits won't be able to go into the chuck far enough to engage the tool shank. Double ended bits are a little cheaper in the long run, but will be unusable for your application.
http://www.mcmaster.com
Those two are the most popular industrial/machine shop supply houses.
Enco's a little lower end but for what you will be doing you won't need expensive, top quality cutting tools, the "USA Brand" and China stuff will be more than adequate.
http://www.use-enco.com/mastercat/CuttingTools.cfm (their catalog is MUCH better than their website).
Just keep in mind that drill presses don't make good milling machines. The spindles and chucks aren't as accurate, the frames aren't as rigid, and the Morse tapers that hold most chucks on cannot handle excessive side loading. Drill presses with mill tables work OK for very minor stuff, but they are excellent for drilling fairly precise hole circles and hole locations.
Also get single ended milling bits for use in a drill press, double ended bits won't be able to go into the chuck far enough to engage the tool shank. Double ended bits are a little cheaper in the long run, but will be unusable for your application.
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Pete - Thanks for the info and cautions. This is something I really haven't researched much. 
What I've always wanted is a benchtop CNC milling machine. I used one WAY back in high school and loved messing with that thing.
Do you have any opinions on decent machines for a "hobbyist"? This is like something I'm talking about http://www.maxnc.com/page3.html . I wouldn't mind having something like that. Opinions?
Thanks
John
What I've always wanted is a benchtop CNC milling machine. I used one WAY back in high school and loved messing with that thing.
Do you have any opinions on decent machines for a "hobbyist"? This is like something I'm talking about http://www.maxnc.com/page3.html . I wouldn't mind having something like that.
Opinions?Thanks
John
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 521
Likes: 0
From: Farmingdale NJ
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Hell, I wouldn't mind that either! A little CNC would kick some booty. But that's a really, really tiny machine. That's more of a labratory or demo machine, great in soft materials but probably wouldn't hold up very well against steel. If you have the room, old Bridgeport mills can be had for under $2,000, like this old J-head Bridgeport:
http://www.machineryvalues.com/detai...QuoteNo=131532
and they serve as both mill and drill press. You'll need 220 and 3phase or a phase converter though. There are also a lot of larger, more rigid benchtop manual mills too for the $1,500-$2,000 range brand new. This Enco machine wouldn't make a bad home shop unit,
http://www.use-enco.com/pdfs/4.PDF
Ebay also has a metalworking section:
http://pages.ebay.com/catindex/catme...me=MOPS5:HBU05
Check around in your area for liquidations and school auctions. Many vocational schools are closing their machine shop courses and auctioning their equipment off for pennies on the dollar.
Either way if you plan on doing some milling work, you're 10,000 times better off using a mill as a drill press than trying to use a drill press as a mill. The results are generally very, very poor and with little accuracy or reliability.
Also, consider tooling in the cost. Does it come with a vise? Milling vices, even cheap ones, are pricey. Then collets, drill chuck, and hold down clamps; all your basic necessities for a mill.
Exactly what types of projects are you expecting to take on? The nature of your projects will certianly dictate your requirements. If you plan on doing engraving or custom design type stuff, CNC is the only way. If you're looking to do simpler work, you will find a large bench or floor model much more versatile.
By the way, my profile says mechanic but I was a machinist for 9 years before I left the trade, mostly for financial reasons, so I have some experience behind me here
So feel free to ask away
http://www.machineryvalues.com/detai...QuoteNo=131532
and they serve as both mill and drill press. You'll need 220 and 3phase or a phase converter though. There are also a lot of larger, more rigid benchtop manual mills too for the $1,500-$2,000 range brand new. This Enco machine wouldn't make a bad home shop unit,
http://www.use-enco.com/pdfs/4.PDF
Ebay also has a metalworking section:
http://pages.ebay.com/catindex/catme...me=MOPS5:HBU05
Check around in your area for liquidations and school auctions. Many vocational schools are closing their machine shop courses and auctioning their equipment off for pennies on the dollar.
Either way if you plan on doing some milling work, you're 10,000 times better off using a mill as a drill press than trying to use a drill press as a mill. The results are generally very, very poor and with little accuracy or reliability.
Also, consider tooling in the cost. Does it come with a vise? Milling vices, even cheap ones, are pricey. Then collets, drill chuck, and hold down clamps; all your basic necessities for a mill.
Exactly what types of projects are you expecting to take on? The nature of your projects will certianly dictate your requirements. If you plan on doing engraving or custom design type stuff, CNC is the only way. If you're looking to do simpler work, you will find a large bench or floor model much more versatile.
By the way, my profile says mechanic but I was a machinist for 9 years before I left the trade, mostly for financial reasons, so I have some experience behind me here
So feel free to ask away Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Man, I wished you lived in the seattle area. I go to Boeing surplus warehouse for my bits. ULTR high dollar bits that have never been used for pennies on the dollar. You name it and its there.
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Pete - Anything I did would be a small project. Sometimes I think of little things I might want for my truck or something else and think, "Man, if I had a small CNC I could make that." It wouldn't be for production or big projects.
If I got a mill I'd want one with CNC. I really don't have alot of space or money to spend on one though. So, a little machine would have to do. That one I linked to has 8"X 5"Y 6"Z travel and I think that would get me by on any small project. It would basically be a little toy that I used every once in a while, you can NEVER have enough toys.
Thanks for the input. It's nice having people knowledgeable in all fields in one place.
John
PS - How do you think it would do in aluminum? How much harder is steel on machines than AL?
It wouldn't be for production or big projects. If I got a mill I'd want one with CNC. I really don't have alot of space or money to spend on one though. So, a little machine would have to do. That one I linked to has 8"X 5"Y 6"Z travel and I think that would get me by on any small project. It would basically be a little toy that I used every once in a while, you can NEVER have enough toys.
Thanks for the input. It's nice having people knowledgeable in all fields in one place.
John
PS - How do you think it would do in aluminum? How much harder is steel on machines than AL?
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. It's been a long time since I messed with programming anything on one also so I'd have to learn that again. 
Trending Topics
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 521
Likes: 0
From: Farmingdale NJ
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Aluminum is butter to cut. Use a 2 or 3 flute cutter and a fairly high spindle speed. Chances are if you get that small machine you linked to the max capacity will be 1/4 inch anyway, and only be able to make light cuts so let her fly! If you never plan on doing anything big then that machine is perfect. Personally I'd get aggrivated with anything smaller than a Bridgeport, but I guess that's because I'm so used to using one.
And you're right, you can NEVER have enough toys!
And you're right, you can NEVER have enough toys!
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. I goto the local career center around here and I am in the machining class, man it's nice I know how to properly run and operate mills, lathes, grinders, drill presses, and the CNC mill. Our CNC is a cheaper model that cost $42,000. We've made all kinds of stuff on it ranging from shift ***** shaped like bow ties to spinner attachments for rims. I love that class and all the stuff you can do with any of the machines, I just wish I had some at home.
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Yeah, I figure multiple cuts will have to be made in thicker material to avoid bogging it down, but that's where the repeatabilitly comes into play.
How would you make curved or radiused cuts with that bridgeport manual mill?
How would you make curved or radiused cuts with that bridgeport manual mill?
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories.
How would you make curved or radiused cuts with that bridgeport manual mill?
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Ahhhh, no. WAY too much work. I'd rather program it in and watch the cutter do the work.
Done that stuff before and I found out that I'm too lazy for that stuff.
I'd rather program it in and watch the cutter do the work. Done that stuff before and I found out that I'm too lazy for that stuff.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 521
Likes: 0
From: Farmingdale NJ
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Yeah Jordan it's a shame that stuff costs so much $$$, it's so much fun. I miss the trade dearly but the money wasn't there and there's no stability in manufacturing these days. I got laid off 3 times in 2 years and decided it was time to take another avenue. Don't get me wrong I love what I'm doing now but some days I just itch to get my hands on a Bridgeport or surface grinder....
XLR8NSS, that's the beauty of CNC. Set the cut depth at .010 or .020, turn out the light, and go to bed
Curved or radiused cuts can be made with a turntable and another XY table on top of that. Then you can do an odd shaped peice with many different radiused curves. That and a dial indicator, a lot of trig, and a lot of free time will get the job done But 3D cuts with simultanious XZ, YZ, or XYZ moves are next to impossible on a manual machine, at least accurately.
Man now you guys have really got me jonsing for some time in a machine shop again!
XLR8NSS, that's the beauty of CNC. Set the cut depth at .010 or .020, turn out the light, and go to bed
Curved or radiused cuts can be made with a turntable and another XY table on top of that. Then you can do an odd shaped peice with many different radiused curves. That and a dial indicator, a lot of trig, and a lot of free time will get the job done
But 3D cuts with simultanious XZ, YZ, or XYZ moves are next to impossible on a manual machine, at least accurately. Man now you guys have really got me jonsing for some time in a machine shop again!
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 521
Likes: 0
From: Farmingdale NJ
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories.
It's been a long time since I messed with programming anything on one also so I'd have to learn that again.
I believe the machine you linked me to said it included some type of CAD/CAM software. Programming now is fairly easy; draw the part, set your toolpaths, plug in your tool diameter, datum point, and length offsets, and the CAM software's post processor writes the code for you
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. I had to learn how to program a CNC manually by drawing out the part and then programming the cut into the computer manually it was a bit tedius but still it was fun. I have also drawn stuff up on the computer as you have just said. It's much easier that way and you get to see what it looks like before it's even done. But nothing beats good old fashioned working with my hands. Right now I am in the process of making a small hand vice, it's very nifty I've seen em made from previous students.
Thread Starter
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: Place to get mill/drill bits and milling accessories. Yeah, I've always been interested in machining. There is nothing like making parts with your own hands and a little help from some tools.
When I got my little welder a while back I loved it, being able to join metal like that was awesome. I'd love to be able to make more intricate stuff and I think a CNC machine would be very enjoyable.
Fellas, thanks for the tips and chatting about this stuff. Now I just have to justify spending the money on it.
John
When I got my little welder a while back I loved it, being able to join metal like that was awesome. I'd love to be able to make more intricate stuff and I think a CNC machine would be very enjoyable.
Fellas, thanks for the tips and chatting about this stuff.
Now I just have to justify spending the money on it. John