Mill drill help

[Fergus OMore]

I was looking into getting parts for my lathe to enable me to convert for milling. Looking around I've seen a few second hand mill drills Warko was one in good condition, belt drive. Is there any drawbacks getting a drill milling machine as opposed to a milling machine ?

Of course, you already have a mill and a drill Your proposed purchase is a lathe turned 90 degrees!

I get a heap of rather irate condemnation( amongst other things) but it is quite true. No one HAD a mill at one time. Some of us had a vertical slide. They were the rich ones but we- the Great Unwashed had a couple of lumps of metal. One probably was peppered with all sorts of holes and taps and the other was posher with fabricated tee slots.

Lying around somewhere is three lumps of metal bolted together  but it held things whilst they were being milled.

Whilst I'm on this theme, most of us didn't have micrometers but it wasn't a problem. The lathe usually had two.

Enough, enough and I'll get me coat!

Norman

[PekkaNF]

Well...yesterday I had to tidy up a bit of a engine bracet taht had a encounter with my TIG enthustiac brother and his willgness to put a for engine to audi gearbox and cram it into lotus - I think. Anyhow it was too od shape to fix easily into my milling machine...I don't have tombstones or milling boxes big enough.

Lucily I had a piece of **** half a capstan lathe holding floor in it's place. I bit of filing to get one cast parting line straight eneough to allow stable clampping on correct angle.

Pekka

[BenH]

I've only just got my first mill, a rf25 Warco badged clone. I like the ideas on head alignment, very handy to know indeed!

[Henning]

The Warco VMC is only a "small" (440Kg) knee mill Pekka. It has a drill quill for quick and easy drilling and has speeds up to 2540 rpm.

This is the slightly modded head on mine.

I'm sorry for a little off-topic, but i need to drill a hole in a billiard ball same as on your handle. Do you happen to have any tips for that? It needs to be pretty much spot on with regards to the band going around the ball same as you have.

[vtsteam]

Take a piece of wood like a 6" length of 2" by 6" (US) and put a hole in the center the same diameter as the ball. Then cut the board in half. Then bolt it back together with the ball inside, resting on a flat surface. That's your clamp/jig. If it's too loose, cut (or mill) a little off of the joining edge.

Of course you can do that in metal, too -- just cheaper to find wood that thickness if it's a one-off or few-off operation.

You could also get fancy and put a vee groove around the inside of the hole in your jig. That would clamp better.

Mill a flat on top of the ball the diameter of your through hole while it's in the holder. Mark, then drill.

[awemawson]

Can you not just simply stick something like Plasticine as a projecting lump to hold it with your fingers and offer it into a collet or a three jaw chuck, adjusting for alignment of the equatorial line. If you are worried about marking the ball with the jaws, curl a roll of thick paper inside the jaws.

Andrew

[mklotz]

Two pieces of plywood with a central hole smaller than the diameter of the sphere to be drilled, a couple of T-bolts and Bob's your uncle.

In this case the balls were wooden (job for a friend) but I've drilled plastic and metal using the same setup.

[vtsteam]

I like it! 

[Arbalist]

I'm sorry for a little off-topic, but i need to drill a hole in a billiard ball same as on your handle. Do you happen to have any tips for that? It needs to be pretty much spot on with regards to the band going around the ball same as you have.

Yes, I simply put them in the three jaw chuck in my Lathe and drilled them. It's nice crisp material so you don't need to tighten the chuck too hard.

Forgot to mention. I found the centre of the white area and marked it first, then ensured it lined up with a centre drill before proceeding.

[Henning]

Thanks a lot all of you!
Sometimes it's the simple things which comes to mind last... 

Solved thanks to the fact that 

[PekkaNF]

Mill/Drill is a bit of compromise always.

I like long quil feed something like 130 mm is minimum, therefore I rally like these two designs:

Linley/Eliot style:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/linley/
http://www.lathes.co.uk/elliott%20mini%20jig/index.html

HAUSER 2BA
http://www.lathes.co.uk/hauser/

Whilst it is possible to use lathe for boring and sometimes even desirable I find drilling machine or small mill very convenient. Sometimes part can be pretty assymetrical and therefore hard to mount well on the lathe. Mine lathe does not have t-slots or very long tail stock stroke. But lot of stuff can be done, has been done and will be done with less than ideal tools.

Pekka

[Arbalist]

Thanks a lot all of you!
Sometimes it's the simple things which comes to mind last... 

Solved thanks to the fact that 

Wonderful thing the three jaw chuck!   

[vtsteam]

Andrew was first off the mark!

[awemawson]

Thanks Steve for the acknowledgement 

Andrew

[Meldonmech]

Hi
               I would go along with other posts and avoid the round columns. A quill feed will extend your machining capacity. You will need at least a no 2 morse taper in the quill to enable the next range of drills over 12mm to be used.  These can remove metal very quickly up to 25mm.  When machining complex casting shapes, they can take some time to set up, having a quill feed is a great asset, since any holes to be drilled can be completed at same time before moving from the mill. Having said that do not dispose of you drilling machine, there are a number of instances where you will need to drill holes in other items while your mill is set up for other things.
                                               Good Luck   David