Milling Machine Rigidity Upgrade - Stiffening Plate

G'day everyone,

In this video I will be trying to stiffen the milling machine in order to increase the rigidity and dampen the vibrations, which are especially bad when doing deep cuts in steel. The fact or the matter is that the milling machine just doesn't have enough mass, and the overall mass of the column leaves a lot to be desired.

In this video I will be mounting a stiffening plate to the back of the mill column to increase the rigidity. I hope you find this video useful, especially if you are looking at improving your own mini mill.

#millingmachine #machining #diy

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
0:36 - Vibration Issues
2:00 - Steel Plate
4:14 - Drilling The mounting Holes
4:57 - Drilling, Counterboring And Mounting
7:24 - Testing And Before/After Comparison

[billshiff]

Good idea. In addition, in future if you find that the column is not straight, you might be able to correct it by appropriately shimming that plate to bend or twist the column in the direction you need.
One thing I would do differently is to put epoxy in between (with release agent on 1 of the 2) and finger tight the screws in place until it cures, then tighten. That would cancel out any variations of flatness between the column and the plate for a zero stress mount.

[DrMrMtty]

That's a fantastically cheap and simple upgrade for such a massive improvement

[aeroderek]

I did almost the same thing to my LMS5500 SX2.7 I used a 4x6x0.25 steel tube hoping to get a huge improvement in both torsional and flexural rigidity. I mounted it roughly the same way and moved all the electronics into a new enclosure. I never did go back and measure the results but I am happy with it

[karlkiernan]

I had a RF45 mill which was bought brand new as I didnt want the bother of inspecting second hand stuff with my at the time limited knowledge. It was an upsetting day when I first started to make test cuts with mildsteel at 1mm and hearing chatter if only I had found this great guide to adding some rigidity. My story still has a happy ending as I got a used BridgePort from a very nice chap that was retiring for a good price only downside is that moving something that is 1000Kg is a much harder task. Great video I liked the small lathe upgrade also.

[__austrianoldboy_]

Great idea! I went to my milling machine (325kg) and will do something similiar. Thank you for sharing!

[rickpalechuk]

Agreed! Especially the connection between the base and the column, I'm sure that is the weakest link.
Cheers

[CraigsWorkshop]

What a good idea and a great result. I used to have an Optimum BF20L which is very similar to the little mill you have, and it too could have done with a thick stiffening plate just as you show. I reckon if I couldn't get hold of 20-25mm thick plate, I'd get some wide, 8mm flat bar, which is readily available at places like nubco, and bolt or weld 2-3 layers of it together in a sandwich. It should perform very similarly to the single thick plate. Cheers, Craig

[fakerfake]

You could also add some epoxy granite for more mass and vibration dampening. It’s small enough that you probably wouldn’t be able to add a lot, but you could probably add enough to make a difference. We used to add it to our Bridgeport’s back in the day and it really helped.

[MattysWorkshop]

Gday, definitely a massive improvement and not an expensive one, great job mate, Cheers

[MikelNaUsaCom]

I'm just a country youtube watcher... I'm betting if you got a bunch of 1/4" plate and made strips out of it... squared them up on the mill... and built a box, you could get similar performance... as for the mass, you might be able to fill up that box with concrete... or even just cement, or mortar... and that might take care of it. You won't even need to do any welding, I'm betting screws would be good enough to hold the box together. Then just mount the mill to the side of the box... The box could be anchored to a workbench... or you could build the box and workbench all in one go. Anyways... just a dream for now. Happy Sunday.

[gary]

Im glad that you kept original sound, people often dont realize how LOUD machines are i remember when i was an intern in CNC company ( NSK to be exact ) and was struck by that loud constant noise even in earplugs.

[danielabbey]

Really nice upgrade. A little more mass really adds rigidity to these mini-mills.

[brucewilliams]

This is very impressive. I'll have to get it in gear and give this a try. You do some great videos!

[pgjuzek]

awesome, thanks man! unfortunately I got a pipe head mill, but I got new ideas from your vid! 100% would recommend, thanks m8

[lesmaybury]

Great idea and implementation. I have one of those cheap chinese mills and it has the same problem. It does have a solid column but the cast iron is thin hence a lack of mass. So now you got me thinking, must scourer the scrap yards for chunky metal 😁.

[rodneyeamon]

I am definitely doing that ....fantastic idea.

[melgross]

Good job there. Those small machines, by their very nature, are prone to vibration.

[johncrosson]

Have the slightly larger brother you your mill, the SX3. One of the best stiffening mods I read about for the mill that worked for me. Bolted it to a wall behind it.

[tootaashraf]

Your videos are so entertaining to watch. Keep it up.

[ammerudgrenda]

Great improvement. As a structural engineer, I will make a comment to the stiffeners shown on 8:46. They will not really contribute to much stiffness.
What is important is the plate, as it changes the cross-section of the column from an open channel to a closed box which greatly increases the torsion stiffness. ..as well as bending stiffness.
A 5mm plate would probably be sufficient.