Any ideas what to do with these?

[zoltan]

I upgraded my mini mill to the LMS solid column and base, so now I have the old column and base just sitting around. I don't want to just throw them away or sell them for scrap, so any ideas what I could do with them?

 

[trev1]

It would be a waste to not use that longish dovetail for something.

 

[canadianhorsepower]

depending of price and shipping I would be interested in buying them

 

[kf2qd]

Could be a nice start on a secoond operation machine. One of those with the crosslide that is clamped to the dovetail for champering or trimming the end of a part.

 

[Tinkerer58]

Could also be a start for a rear milling attachement for a lathe.

 

[itowbig]

good start on a tapping stand

 

[Wizard69]

I upgraded my mini mill to the LMS solid column and base, so now I have the old column and base just sitting around. I don't want to just throw them away or sell them for scrap, so any ideas what I could do with them?

You are only limited by your imagination here. Here are a few ideas that come to mind:

# Make use of the column as a base to support centers for balancing and just about anything that a set of centers can be used for.
# Make a sensitive drill press. Frankly I don't think the column is heavy enough to make a good shop drill press but it might be a great platform for a sensitive drill press.
# Change the orientation on some of the parts and you could make a passable tool grinder. It would be small but suitable for many home shops.
# Someone already mentioned conversion to a tapping fixture. This is a good idea if not a lot of work. Ideally you would have the base covered with a viable table and then also have an arm to support an adjustable table. The big problem here is the inability to swing the arms out of the way. On the other hand you could also wrap in the sensitive drill.
# Use the column as a backbone for a small band saw. By small I mean one similar to the various handheld machines using the thinner bandsaw blades on these machines. This would be a lot of work but you might end up with a nice machine that uses widely available bandsaw blades.
# Make a micro CNC lathe.
# Make a light duty press with a movable ram housing. I doubt it would handle a lot of pressure but in many cases that is a good thing. Simply being able to apply a little pressure square to a shaft can do wonders. If the castings only handle a 1/4 or 1/2 ton that is plenty for a lot of model making. With a little thought this could be added to the tapping fixture project.
# I could see something interesting in the way of a small belt sander that could also function as a small thickness sander.
# Use the column as a bridge for a small CNC router/mill. Of course this is a substantial casting so to take advantage of it you would be need to build a substantial frame to support it.

The above are off the top of my head but I'm sure there are plenty of other ideas out there. The thing to do here is to inventory your shop and determine what you are in need of.