Thread: Show us your mill

Girbalsquasher,
You have some nice heavy mills there, i see the big lathe over the back and the huge shed, are you running a business or is just a hobby?

Was the last bloke using that 3M mill as a bottle caper It looks like it was doing the job.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

I was looking at that picture yesterday and looking at the tripod legs, and thought to myself you are a brave man to be doing that. If something fails, it's a bit hard operating your new mill from 6ft under. It may have been safer than it looks, but still looks scary to me.

Dave

I doubt whether he's under it at all. He's probably ten feet behind and the camera guy has lined up the base of the mill with the top of his hands. Digital cameras are great at focussing on close and far objects together.

Someone here mentioned something about safety inspections for home workshops in a previous thread- whether it was a joke or rumour or just a bad idea I don't know. No doubt some government wanker could misinterpret such a photo and create inappropriate hysteria.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no wowser. I have operated machine tools with a glass of beer nearby!

I just had another look and can now see it was a staged shot. I thought he was wiping or undoing something under the mill with one of his hands.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

Girbalsquasher,
You have some nice heavy mills there, i see the big lathe over the back and the huge shed, are you running a business or is just a hobby?

Was the last bloke using that 3M mill as a bottle caper It looks like it was doing the job.

Dave

The blue one with the beer on the shelves is the 2M. The photo with the big lathe is actually the Ebay photo, I don't yet have one of the 3M in the new (old) shed. It would be a rather sad photo, just a mill surrounded by junk at the moment, but I have to renovate before I can move its cousins to our new home.

The block was put on the market after the Black Saturday fires. The house was lost and the previous owners didn't want to rebuild. Happily the shed survived.

I am not running a business. I am too busy making home brew (as you may gather) to start one. I also have to find a lot of time to make sure there are enough empty bottles to put the next batch in. It's a hard job but someone has to do it

All pictured bottles were capped by hand. Yes, I am a machine

Originally Posted by Gerbilsquasher

Time to hit'em with the big guns... well 2.5 big guns...

Very Nice...

I must have mixed the text with the pictures, as I thought the first picture was of your shed.
Cant help you out with bottles, I don't have a beer very often. I do have one of those bottle capers around here somewhere though.
My wife bought me a home brew kit about 15 years ago and it's still sitting unopened on the shelf in the shed.

RC will enjoy your pictures, he is chasing a larger horizontal mill for his collection.

Dave

Originally Posted by GDD

This is my Bridgeport clone from H&F and my conversion from single phase motor to 3 phase running from 240 volts through VFD.

Graham

Hi Graham, nice conversion job, that looks like a WEG motor? how did it go as far as shaft diameter? flange mounting etc... I have a motor and VFD here ready to do the same on the HM52..

Hi Gerbilsquasher,

I like that 3M cinncinatti, it would look nice in my workshop! Nice big rigid and heavy.
I also see you have kept a good supply of lubricant.

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray,
Have you seen this link for the VSD conversion on a HM52? He did it a few years ago but cast his own pulley and base plate to use a standard type motor.
Hafco HM52 Mill VSD conversion
Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

Hi Ray,
Have you seen this link for the VSD conversion on a HM52? He did it a few years ago but cast his own pulley and base plate to use a standard type motor.
Hafco HM52 Mill VSD conversion
Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I remember looking at that conversion a while back, but had forgotten about it, the 3ph TECO motor I am installing is a 90L frame, 24mm shaft with 8mm key, all exactly the same as the original single phase motor, but with the original has a custom flange, that I reckon will fit straight onto the 90L frame, my son-in-law does motor rewinding so I am going to get his help the swap the flange over.

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by Gavin Newman

Perhaps we could start a "Show us your AL960B lathe" thread, then I could play too.....

You Mean show us your cheap lathe and mill...ONLY CHEAPIES allowed.......then both of us can play also.....lol

the more pics that get posted just makes me more depressed

I'm gunna join the woodwork group ....that way I wont have to look at these depressing pics....

Originally Posted by RayG

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I remember looking at that conversion a while back, but had forgotten about it, the 3ph TECO motor I am installing is a 90L frame, 24mm shaft with 8mm key, all exactly the same as the original single phase motor, but with the original has a custom flange, that I reckon will fit straight onto the 90L frame, my son-in-law does motor rewinding so I am going to get his help the swap the flange over.

Regards
Ray

I have a "off the shelf" 2800rpm 3kw motor which is physically same size frame as the existing 2.2 kw single phase. It has the B5 flange which just needed the lip machined off. I have made alloy plate for top with adjustment holes for sliding motor back to keep correct tension on V belt. Just using a standard off the shelf taper lock pulley assembly.

Advantage being ..I should have same torque as 2.2 at the lower speeds and without different pulley sizes...same pulley size on motor and spindle will make programming the VSD easier for RPM.

The alloy frame motor is almost same weight as existing steel frame 0.5 kg I think it was but was that lighter or heavier...cant remember now, so dont have to worry about possible weight problems.

Just waiting on Ronmack to see if I can get new spindle to fix the "slap" I have when on the higher speeds, before I fit it.....dont want warranty arguments.....

I have to admit that the photo was a fake.....I was lying at least 6 feet away,,,,But it looks effective ;-)

Ray,
Re "Hi Graham, nice conversion job, that looks like a WEG motor? how did it go as far as shaft diameter? flange mounting etc... I have a motor and VFD here ready to do the same on the HM52.. "

There was a problem with shaft diameter or length, I can't remember which. I just made a new pulley. This motor was bigger than I wanted but I needed the face mount size. Even then the face was just too small and needed little extensions for the mounting bolts. The WEG VFD has the advantage of having a little knob on the front of the box so you just dial your frequency / revs.

Graham

Originally Posted by eskimo

You Mean show us your cheap lathe and mill...ONLY CHEAPIES allowed.......then both of us can play also.....lol

the more pics that get posted just makes me more depressed

I'm gunna join the woodwork group ....that way I wont have to look at these depressing pics....

Believe it or not, both Cincinatti Mills were each less than a grand!

They are horrifyingly over-engineered (read: extremely heavy) and it is cheaper to have parts made than to try and find spares. Soon I will also know the extra anguish and expense of moving them- I am sure it will be the last time too.

The 'lubricant' in the background actually helped to pay for the gear- instead of spending about $40 for a slab, that same $40 will pay for 266 stubbies of home brew!!

At least you can get spares for your Hafco mill....