Used my mill for the first time today----

[Brian Rupnow]

And a scary time it was!!! First thing I had to figure out was how in heck do I hold down the toolmakers vice I bought. After a bit of head scratching, I cobbled up some T-slot bolts and what I think are called "Picardi" clamps to hold down one end. Then I had 2 long T-bolts but no more clamps, so I made a bridge from a peice of 2" channel and spanned it over the other end of the vice.---this seemed to secure things adequately. My goal was to reduce a peice of brass that was 1" square to a peice of brass that was 23 mm x 16 mm. I have 3 flycutters that I purchased in my tool buying frenzy of 2 weeks ago, but never having used them before, I opted to use a spiral fluted 1" diameter end mill. I am familiar with it, because I had tried a few bouts of milling in my lathe. The first hurdle was "How do I set my height???---Not having anyone close at hand to ask, I lowered the head of the machine on the column untill the end of the end mill just touched the top of the brass peice, then locked it on the column. Then I moved the peice to one side by moving the table horizontally untill I had lots of clearance under the cutting tool. I then used the spindle advance to advance the spindle 2 mm downward and locked it in place (the spindle does have a digital read out). For some reason, the digital speed indicator didn't want to work (I will call Busy Bee about that tomorrow), so I cranked up the RPM's untill it felt right. Using the movement of the table I kept passing the peice of brass under the cutter, and succeeded in making a whole bunch of chips----and I do mean a whole bunch---Jeez what a messy process!!! Everything went fine, and I did accomplish what I set out to do, but I can see a real steep learning curve ahead of me.---Brian

 

[rake60]

It's one step at a time Brian.

When it get to the point were it's no longer scary and everything
is routine, THAT's the time to be extra careful!

Rick

 

[chuck foster]

welcome to the world of milling ;D

just go one step at a time and go slow, my boss's son likes to run milling cutters at mach 2 and then he wonders why they turn blue :

just take this easy and when in doubt ask questions.

chuck

 

[Tin Falcon]

Brian

I have 3 flycutters that I purchased in my tool buying frenzy of 2 weeks ago, but never having used them before, I opted to use a spiral fluted 1" diameter end mill.

Here is a pic of how I ground my fly cutter it gives a near mirror finish on aluminum.

The first hurdle was "How do I set my height???---Not having anyone close at hand to ask, I lowered the head of the machine on the column until the end of the end mill just touched the top of the brass piece, then locked it on the column. Then I moved the piece to one side by moving the table horizontally until I had lots of clearance under the cutting tool. I then used the spindle advance to advance the spindle 2 mm downward and locked it in place (the spindle does have a digital read out)

What you describe is pretty much what I do. If you have an uneven saw cut to clean up try to do your touch off on the highest spot. In tech school they taught us to cut a strip of paper about 10 mm x 100 mm hold it so the end is under the cutter when the cutter snatches the paper out of your hand you are about .05 mm above your work this comes in handy if you are just trying to take a light cleanup cut.

Using the movement of the table I kept passing the peice of brass under the cutter, and succeeded in making a whole bunch of chips----and I do mean a whole bunch---Jeez what a messy process!!!

A shop vac comes in handy here to keep the mess down.
Sound like you are having fun and working safe both very good things
Tin