Engineering Workshop

[Mercuriell]

Well folks - I satisfied my long term longing for a lathe recently by acquiring a mini lathe and milling machine. The question now asked is "what are you gonna do with it?"

I didn't have any clear ideas in advance but I have found myself using it most weeks and thought I'd post up a few vids to give those thinking of doing the same some ideas of the tools in use.

I'm not a trained machinist, just a self-taught amateur and these are MY experiences and not a definitive how-to-do. I'd be thrilled if experienced machinists can chip in with advice or comment. Also you long-time amateur engineers do feel free to post up your own vids and experiences

Lathing up and milling a Futaba transmitter collared nut driver - wmv 66 MB

Stud Extraction using the mill to centre drill - wmv 31MB

Video - Using a dial gauge and mill to check shaft straightness - wmv 26MB

[Dogdocphil]

Awesiome Video! How easy are the milling machines to find on the used market?

[WillJames]

NICE.

How do you as a Physician make time to do all that you do?

[aww]

I’m very jealous . I served my apprenticeship as a turner and gear cutter ( I’m now an auto electrician) and I’m trying to save for a small lathe. Just a note when drilling on a lathe it’s good practice to first use a centre drill, then drill using progressively larger drills and finish off with the required size drill for the job This ensures an accurate size and a centred hole.
Anthony

[DominicD]

I have always wanted to get my own little machine shop, after calculating the cost of the machines, the time to learn how to use them properly....... I discovered it was way easier to make friends who are machinists and have them do the work

[Mercuriell]

Ay up Tony, thanks for tha tip, lad! Thats exactly the sort of gem I was looking for , have to have another go at centre drilling!

I'm quite certain there will be a fair sprinkling of used machines on eBay but I was surprised that the mill was not much more expensive than a good pillar drill.

[Bri]

Very nice work Mercuriell.

Can't wait to see other projects from the "Workshop".

[skid]

Interesting topic. I'm a tool maker. I have been doing this for over 30 years. It's more fun to machine things the old way. I laugh when people ask me to CNC something for them.
I looks like your catching on quick. Just a few tips. Get some Tap Magic. It will make
drilling, parting, and tapping much easier. Especialy in stainless.
Slow your chuck speed down when parting. About 300 rpms.
Run around 600 rpm's when milling steel with hss tools.

Take care of your tool and your tool will take care of you.

[lotus7]

If you haven't already got one , get a dial indicator with a magnetic base. Invaluable to check in the lathe if your main shaft , spindle or tail shaft is still straight after a crash

[Mercuriell]

Originally Posted by skid

Get some Tap Magic. It will make
drilling, parting, and tapping much easier. Especialy in stainless.
Slow your chuck speed down when parting. About 300 rpms.
Run around 600 rpm's when milling steel with hss tools.

Take care of your tool and your tool will take care of you.

Thanks for the great tips - these little gems are just what I'm hoping for from the experts

Originally Posted by lotus7

If you haven't already got one , get a dial indicator with a magnetic base. Invaluable to check in the lathe if your main shaft , spindle or tail shaft is still straight after a crash

Had a dial gauge for some time and though not needed often, when you do have a problem it's pricelss !! MAin thing I found is getting a good quality base for it with no plastic in the stand - the lathe and mill is excellent for dialling up components using the chucks and large acreage of substantial steel around ! Might do a vid on dial gauges for those who haven't seen one or maybe someone else would like to

[flightjock]

good job!

[snemi00]

Nice job!
I was in the same boat as you last winter. I always wanted a mini mill and mini lathe for the basement workshop and was just looking for an excuse to go for it.
I got a bit fed up with the poor quality of Walkera micro helis and decided to go my own way on a FBL head system that would actually work.
I made a few for myself and then a couple dozen of them for guys in the Walkera forum and I'm still getting PM's from people looking for them. *The fun of making them wore off after the 2nd run of making them when all of a sudden my hobby felt like work . Once the mcpx came out I told everyone to just buy one of them and be happy it works good out of the box.
Check out my thread here if interested.

Check out www.littlemachineshop.com for some nice little bits and pieces for the bench machinist.
Also, I was considering doing a CNC conversion this winter, but decided to keep it old school and manual to work on basic skills. A DRO is nice though and this is a great DIY one that won't break the bank http://www.shumatech.com/

[DominicD]

snemi and Noel are the guys I mentioned earlier in this thread

[ahahn]

What's really great about the mini mills and lathes is now you can make your own $3 parts! And as you continue to make them, the effective cost of those $3 parts will slowly begin to drop from the $200 range to a mere $10-$20!

And don't forget, there are lots of cool accessories too. Sometimes I wonder if buying the accessories is more fun than actually machining something! I hate to think how much I hve tied up in those things! Little Machineshop is a good resource for that.

Actually last weekend I used my min-lathe for my first heli part. I made a brass standoff spacer for the elevator swash ball on flybarless TRex 250! So now I am getting to the effective $5 level per part---ignoring my own labor of course!

[Fierce]

Originally Posted by snemi00

Nice job!
I was in the same boat as you last winter. I always wanted a mini mill and mini lathe for the basement workshop and was just looking for an excuse to go for it.
I got a bit fed up with the poor quality of Walkera micro helis and decided to go my own way on a FBL head system that would actually work.
I made a few for myself and then a couple dozen of them for guys in the Walkera forum and I'm still getting PM's from people looking for them. *The fun of making them wore off after the 2nd run of making them when all of a sudden my hobby felt like work . Once the mcpx came out I told everyone to just buy one of them and be happy it works good out of the box.
Check out my thread here if interested.

Check out www.littlemachineshop.com for some nice little bits and pieces for the bench machinist.
Also, I was considering doing a CNC conversion this winter, but decided to keep it old school and manual to work on basic skills. A DRO is nice though and this is a great DIY one that won't break the bank http://www.shumatech.com/

Those look great. I'd love to have them.

[Mercuriell]

Latest problem - extracting a sheared M3 bolt from a CNC housing ! Didn't work out quite the way I planned as the bolt was red Loctited very firmly in but here's my experiences centre punching and using the mill to drill the bolt out !

Stud Extraction using the mill to centre drill - wmv 31MB

[Doug Darby]

Glad to see others enjoying the machining part of our hobby.

I decided to get the Sherline lathe and 8 Axis Mill and I have been really happy. Made a few tool and modified a few heli parts.

[Antony Konnarides]

would be nice to see a few more of these.

[Mercuriell]

Originally Posted by Antony Konnarides

would be nice to see a few more of these.

I agree - I have a few in mind - customising mast, making a swash leveller, cleaning up a clutch but I hope other people can chip in with their own !

[JiriK]

I had been shopping for a lathe for a long time.. Not big machine but something similar to what you Mercuriell have.

Then one day few weeks ago I was offered a broken Emco compact 5 cnc lathe. So I bought it.
Repairing it was not difficult, just replaced a couple of connectors and one trimmer.

Was so happy when I got it working that I uploaded a video to youtube:

Emco Compact 5 cnc repaired.mp4 (1 min 1 sec)

Just a quick test to see that the "brain" of my machine is still alive.
Need to learn programming again, last time I wrote G-codes for lathe was almost 15 years ago.

Buying a manual lathe might have been better option for me as parts I make -if any- are usually so simple that the job would be done on a manual machine before spindle of cnc- machine even starts.


A cnc-mill is also good to have. So I built one. http://personal.inet.fi/koti/jirik/Images/Project/cnc/
text in finnish, but quite many pictures. Machine is not in my living room anymore, it was moved to my mother´s garage few years ago

Making tail fins, battery trays etc. is easy with cnc.. One can make a helicopter frame too: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...postcount=5829