# Building a base for a light milling machine



## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

Being a cheap old fart at heart, and having lots of scrap angle iron laying around, I opted not to pay $165.00 for a stand for my milling machine base , but to make one instead. It will be 32" high, will fit the base of my machine, but will have a wider footprint for stability (My mill is only 10" wide at the base.) Last night I did the nasty part---using my 7" Black and Decker with a 36 grit sanding pad to strip away years of accumulated rust from my angle iron, some of which has lived outside for many years. All the peices are cut to length and clamped into position, and now will be welded.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

And here we are at phase 2 of the project---all welds completed, ready to be ground. (yes, I did do a 45 degree edge prep on the top mating surfaces, so that when the weld is ground flush, there is still lots of weld left in the v groove to hold it all together). I welded the other side also, and the corners. Why is that peice of 1/4" rod stuck in the one corner, you may ask???? That my friends is a gap filler".--(Cutting torch wandered a bit).


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## Bogstandard (Jun 21, 2008)

Brian,

Before putting the legs on, do a measure of the thickness of the base and table of the mill. Stand up straight, hold your elbows in at your sides, then keeping your elbow tucked in, bring your hand up to level. Get someone to measure the distance of your hand to the floor, and subtract the thickness you found before. If you make the stand top to the calculated height, this will put the top of the table at nice hand height, just made for yourself.
There is nothing worse than having the milling table a couple of inches too low, back ache sets in very fast. I used a commercial stand, and found it was too low for me, so subsequently I have to sit on an adjustable computer chair to work for any length of time.

I am sure all the commercially available mill and lathe stands are made for 5ft 4" high, long armed chinamen.

I have already worked out that my new lathe will have to sit on 4" blocks of dunnage to get it to the right height for myself.

John


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

John---I have built my stand to be 32" high. I am not very tall myself, about 5'-7", so most of the bases built to fit Chinamen fit me surprisingly well. This is the next part, tacked together and ready for final welding. This is the part that actually sets on the floor.


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## Bogstandard (Jun 21, 2008)

Brian,

I am going to have to go to the court of human rights over this issue, favouritism for smaller people, just not on. Us six footers don't stand a chance.

But it does explain what I wrote, OK for you, 5" too low for me.

Nice strong base by the way.

John


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

John---Short people of the world have one major advantage---Whenever it rains, we are the last people to get wet!!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

We got legs!!! Now if I had an hours grinding and cleanup, we could break out some paint.


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## Bernd (Jun 21, 2008)

Nice work Brian. I was going to ask if you use a new piece of wood after each weld. ;D In the last pic I see that you did use a different piece every time. :big: I figured you have had to set it on fire. :big:

By the way isn't that slight angle in from bottom to top going to make you stand further from the mill?

Bernd


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 21, 2008)

We got paint--but my old butt is beginning to drag.---Not used to this much work in one day. I hope that the crazy pop-up thunderstorms that have been passing thru are finished for the day----and that angle goes only in one direction---out to the sides. The side I stand on is vertical.


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## chiliviking (Jun 21, 2008)

Very nice looking stand and I am sure much more sturdy than anything you would have bought plus the satisfaction of personal achheivement!!


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## CrewCab (Jun 21, 2008)

Looks like you've had an enjoyable day Brian ;D ........ how about some adjustable feet on the bottom ......... or perhaps that's the next step ..... nice welding btw 

CC


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 22, 2008)

Here is the milling machine base in its new home. You can see from the design how I offset the top about 1" towards the rear of the base, so that the top can set tight against the wall, while the base clears the baseboard in my "machine room". You can also see a bit of the 2" channel that extends down from the top, on the rear of the mounting surface. This is designed to line up with one of the studs in the wall and will have a pair of #10 screws 3" long through it and into the stud, as a safety precaution against the machine tipping. I do not plan on lagging the machine to the floor, unless there is excessive movement---That is one of the reasons that I built the stand wider at the base than at the top, to give additional stability. The pair of 1/2" diameter rods welded half way down the stand will serve as supports for an intermediate "shelf" if I think I require one. Next picture will hopefully show the mill in place---All I have to do now is find 4 men and a bulldog to help me lift the damn thing into place.---Brian


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## Bogstandard (Jun 22, 2008)

Brian,

Well thought out, well made, fits where it was designed to go, what more could you ask for.

John


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## Tin Falcon (Jun 22, 2008)

Brian that stand will out last any store bought one. 
A couple of thoughts though for others wanting to build one .My personal preference would not to build a bottom box frame but allow for feet weld square plate to the ends of the angle and have leveling feet.I do not know what a level floor is in this old house. Put bracing about 5" off the floor to allow broom clearance.This makes clean up easier. That little box on the bottom looks like a good place for the shop monster to pile debris. 
I guess that is the great thing about the home shop we can all make stuff to our liking. I tend to have stuff on benches. My belt sander is the only machine on a metal stand ,a bolt together that came with it. 
also as much as possible I like drawers under the machines for handy storage.  
Tin


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 22, 2008)

Well Guys---There it sets. Everything fits perfect, although I admit to a few tense moments putting it up there by myself. Thank God for cherrypicker hoists and cement blocks. I still have to level it properly with a few shims here and there, but I'm almost ready to make chips. Sorry about the lousy picture---there is so much light coming in the window that it screws up my digital camera.---Brian


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## Divided He ad (Jun 22, 2008)

Nice... Looks like it was made for the job! ;D 

Now all you have to do is race on in there like a tortoise and take your time learning how not to break tools etc! :
I know I went through a few cutters because I forgot how much was an allowable cut and good speed etc! 

Hope you have lots of fun making all sorts on it ;D


Ralph.


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## CrewCab (Jun 22, 2008)

Divided He ad  said:
			
		

> I know I went through a few cutters because I forgot how much was an allowable cut and good speed etc!



I'm currently earning that Tee shirt  .......... either that or 12mm end mills just don't like me  .............. so I will watch with interest 

Nice job on the base Brian 8)

CC


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 8, 2008)

I have something to add to this post. I have been using the mill now since I bought it, and in general I am very pleased with it. I have to take it out for a repair to the circuit board, and while it is out and off this stand, I will address a problem that became apparent over the last 2 months. Although the stand I built is at the correct height ergonomically for me to work on (38" from floor to top of milling table surface), its too low for me to see what I am doing when milling, without standing like the hunchback of Notre Dame. This standing all hunched over gets old pretty fast, so I think I will add a 2 1/2" riser to the top of the stand before I reinstall the mill. I am not a tall fellow, about 5'-8" with my boots on, so I thought I would post this info for anyone else who happens upon this post.---Brian


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## Bogstandard (Aug 8, 2008)

Brian,

So it seems like you have grown a bit since our discussion about it.

Just a couple of inches can make the difference between enjoying what you are doing, and truly hating having to use the machine.

Better to find out now, than have permanent damage later on.

John


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## Alphawolf45 (Aug 8, 2008)

I have floor model kneemill that I set up on 10 inch riser..And I have another mill thats on 4 a inch steel skid and I will set it also on 10 inch skid soon as weather cools enough that I can do the welding comfortably.......My idea of fitting operator to mill is to set the mill high yet at a height where operator can still comfortably manipulate the drawbar..It beats standing bent over for doing precision setups...I am 6 foot 6 can put palm of my hand against an 8 foot cieling, hence the 10 inch rise for my mills but the discussion is scale, definately get the table up high enough for you to be comfortable.......Your stand get much higher you might want to fasten it's backside to the wall for added stability is really what I wanted to say.


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## Brian Rupnow (Aug 8, 2008)

Bogstandard---I really like the taste of crow!! Yum, yum. Well, I thought it was the right height when I built it-----Alphawolf45--You are right---it is a tippy little beastie, even without the 2" of added height. I do however have a peice of 2" channel iron extending down about 8" from the rear of the top frame, and it screwnails to a stud in the wall behind the mill to give it the needed stability. It would really spoil my day to have a 300 pound mill tip over on me!!! And--Tada--Here it is with 2" of added height. Wht are the cutouts in the side of the angle you may ask----Well, its because this peice of angle is somewhat like the Hindu, seeking Nirvana---It has been born again and again, in many different lifetimes, approaching perfection---and in one of its previous lives, I had cut thse holes for something else, and it was so long ago I don't remember what---


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