TOPIC:

I had a quick go at milling ... the bit of nylon I wanted to mill was (at 31mm) too big for the vice, but while I had it set up I thought I'd have a go to see if it was worth upgrading ... it's not

It's a bit better on aluminium, but there's just too much flex in the machine & no way to accurate set the depth of cut

Note the orange belts - of the 3 sets of black ones the unimat came with, 2 have already failed so I'm hoping these will be better

1, 2, 3 mine just have to collect it

waterbok wrote:

1, 2, 3 mine just have to collect it

Cool As well as the usual suspects I see a 4-jaw chuck, live centre, milling table, some or all of a jigsaw attachment, most of a 2nd spindle, possibly a Jacobs tailstock chuck, possibly a collet chuck, and definitely an autofeed attachment

If i am lucky that second spindle is the watchmaker collet spindle, the small vice,

one more

Sleepless night ahead I am collecting tommorow.



any tips on toolbits material (HSS, carbide) and angles for plastic, aluminium etc.?

waterbok wrote:

...
any tips on toolbits material (HSS, carbide) and angles for plastic, aluminium etc.?

I have a few (HSS?) 1/4" bits that came with mine, + a set of brazed carbide 6x6mm tools. I prefer the carbide ones, even if they do need a bit of shimming to get the tip height correct. I really can't get on with the parting off tool, but using it without shims & only taking very shallow cuts improves things a little.

Angles: very pointy for rough work, less so for finishing. Going too straight is a recipe for chatter, stalling, and getting your work ripped out of the chuck

Getting as much rigidity into your setup is important, so have the tools sticking out of the toolpost as short as possible.

Thx Jonny, she is standing right next to me on the table now, waiting for some 1on1 quality time.

Will post some pics later on, have to build a Ikea shelving unit first. More room for RC stuff :-D

Nice score!

You mean the Ikea Unit? yep think I can fit five more cars now

Here are some pics, quite happy with it (both)



The Lathe

Love the box the (unknown) previous owner made.


Lathe key

fire it up

Tension is building up


Tada!

Autofeed


Loads of usefull goodies.


The watchmaker spindle is without the collets, so I might sell that one. The collet inserts are size 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5 and 8


Hasnt been used for a while so the oil is all sticky, so big cleanup ahead