The Ultimate Mini Mill - The Best Upgrades I Made To It

G'day everyone,

To kick off the new year I thought I should start with a video that was planned for last year. I know. The video I a look back on the upgrades that I have done to the milling machine and giving you a quick update on the ones that really mattered/improved the mill.

For what its worth, the mill was a much more complete unit than the lathe was, and finding areas to improve it was quite difficult. But eventually I found a few things to do, over the course of 2 1/2 years.

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:49 - DRO/Digital Readout
4:35 - Quick Change Mill Tooling
8:46 - Power Table Feed & Power Head Lift
10:16 - Speed Handle For the Vise
11:16 - Coolant For the Mill (Flood Coolant)
14:11 - Motor Upgrade (3HP Induction)
15:59 - Column Stiffening Bracket
16:51 - Epoxy Granite and Lead to Dampen Vibrations
17:24 - Gib Scraping

[nuneke]

So you are basically done with this one. Are you going to build yourself a bigger one next? 😄

[crichtonbruce]

Great overview of the history of your modifications. I've not needed to do a great amount of scraping, but I saw a trick on another channel that has worked great for me: During the initial roughing out I use a Dremel grinder to remove the high spots and this saves a huge amount of time. I got good enough that I only needed the scraper for the final passes. You can even use this technique on hardened steel!

[Stefan_Van_pellicom]

Totally agree : milling without a DRO is no fun at all!

[alewis]

I've been running a benchtop mill for the last three years, and last month added a knee mill with vertical and horizontal spindles. Still don't have it running yet, but it's a huge upgrade. The benchtop will be used exclusively for cutting spur gears.
Your lathe sounds like it needs new bearings in the headstock. It's making the clackety-clack sound.

[perrystoll]

Angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. And not a single mention of the momentous occasion, perfectly played.

[victoryvisiontour]

C-channels are definitely flexy. Good idea putting a plate on the back of the column.

[jurgenbartels]

I´m no maschinist, I don´t work with metal, but I really like you calm videos. Kind of cathartic. Thanks for these videos :)

[CheffBryan]

Even though I work wit ha VF5 mill lathe that yours would fit inside of, I'm very grateful to learn what any of these machines do, instead of being some worker monkey who just puts metal in and take part out. For sure I need to make some speed handles as well, since these $60, 000 machines are still using the same terrible vice handles as your old one

[bobaloo]

My power feed died a couple of years ago and I haven't gotten around to replacing it. On the other hand, if the power lift were to die it would be replaced the next day.

[Narwaro]

Those videos always give me some perspective. I often think about how everything is a bit cumbersome, but when I notice that the vertical spindle from my smallest mill weighs 300kg Im suddenly very grateful for how good my machines are. Granted Im not a hobbyist but still.

[trumanhw]

The value prop would be superior for buying used stuff at the price point as these new items & restoring them...and it'd provide great content in the process.

[FladFlidington]

Excellent, you resolved what most wouldn't realize the inherent problems are with these machines being the rigidity of the column and the vibration, Just a warning on changing the spindle bearings double check the ENTIRE bearing numbers and letters that denote the size AND angle of the tapers with the replacement bearings, I found out the hard way, on one of the replacement bearings the taper was different .

[deanknipp]

Now that you have a lathe and mill, which would you buy 1st if you had to start over again? Love all your videos! Keep up the great work! Alwys look forward to your new uploads! and did you ever consider building your own lathe or mill?

[ImolaS]

I have the same mill and for a hobbyist (also with limietd space), it is really good enough, although sometimes I wish the head tilted

[mikemcdonough]

I'm Gearing up to do the Stiffner thing but I'm also going to do a Riser Block. I went with the wiper Motor on the Top. js

[samuelb]

Dark Helmet:
What's the matter with this thing? What's with all that churning and bubbling? You call that a Radar Screen?

Colonel Sandurz:
No sir, we call it Mr. Coffee. Care for some?

[johnkunze]

Adding mass for dampening... You added stiff or solid mass that can "resonate". Sand... Wet(?) or with added rubber ( ground tires) should work much better.🤗

[KingBjord]

I really appreciate the spaceballs reference

[GibMe]

Love all your mods, and especially your builds.
What's the chances of you starting a Patreon, so we can help you out with your shop infrastructure?

[vivigarr]

Nice to see all the modifications and upgrades you did to yours! I ordered an import 9x30 benchtop mill similar to yours back in November and it will be arriving within the next week. It's going to be a tough job to try and get it to my basement lol