Wait no longer... for tonight's update is here

It was supposed to be a short one. Just 2 or 3 pictures to show the progress, and a few words to liven things up. But no, for today we had the first f**kup...
Aaaaanyway, I decided to start by spotting & drilling all of the perimeter holes, like I did with the wax version. Things went well, until.... heart attack time!

I've just run the drill from the last hole on the back edge of the sump, up to the front edge - but what's this? The drill is a good 1cm from the hole? Then it dawns on me.... the front & back edge holes aren't in line on the engine. Muppet! Just to re-assure myself, I measured it all up again & yep - it's bob on.
However, if you look to the top(ish) right of the photo, you'll see the cockup, which occurred somewhat earlier. Here it is a bit closer:

The one, and pretty much only, real "gotcha" on my mill, is the fact the quill return spring is broken (and, as it happens, completely missing) As a result, I have to use the quill lock at all times. And I have to make sure I've used enough force when applying it to make sure the quill stays put. When I fail to do that, the result is what you see above - about a 4mm deep gouge where the drillbit dropped back down just as I started cranking on the X-axis to move to the next hole. How the drill bit didn't snap or bend, I have no idea - but it survived to drill another dozen plus holes.
Anyway, as a result of that, I've decided that the top 5mm will be skimmed off the entire piece of aluminium, so all vertical measurements now have to be +5mm. I hope I remember that all the way along...
So, the next operation, mill out the oil drains. There was a 1mm measuring error in my original diagram (and, therefore, on the wax prototype). I double-checked it on the engine and yes, I had measured it wrong originally. Fixed it for the real deal:

I've only taken them 10mm deep for now, I'll come back to them later. And, finally for tonight, mill out the first of the central pockets - some 100mm long by 75mm wide and 30mm deep all told:

I started out by slotting out the perimeter with a 6mm rippa; but after I killed two of them, I switched to the 12mm. In the end, the radiused edges aren't that bad, so I'll save my remaining 2 6mm rippas for another day:

I cut the pocket 1mm undersize all round with the 12mm ripper cutter, and finished off with a regular end mill. Although the surface in the bottom of the pocket doesn't look that hot, it's actually remarkably smooth; with only one ridge I can feel in the whole lot. Must have got that tramming about spot on, then

Tomorrow: Finish the pockets off, and - if there's time - get the mill set up for the deep drilling... heck, maybe even drill one of the holes!