I'm looking to find a milling attachment

Home Model Engine Machinist Forum

Help Support Home Model Engine Machinist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
It seems so, especially if i can get it to work as a small milling machine too.
I live in Istanbul. It sure is a beatiful country as most countries are.

I would not plan to use the drill press as any sort of milling machine, but you can do a lot of "milling" in your lathe with a 4-jaw chuck, even without a milling attachment.

I spent only a short time in Istanbul, and only scratched the surface of what is there to see - a vibrant and large city! I spent about 1 week in the Adana region, a couple of days in Kapadokya, and about a week traveling along the southern and western coast from Adana up through Izmir, then driving up to Çannakale and taking the ferry across the Dardanelles and driving up to Istanbul. Beautiful indeed! I have been back to Istanbul once since then, briefly, and twice to visit Ephesus, but I really want to take another trip like the first one - except this time I would like to get up to Ankara as well.
 
I would not plan to use the drill press as any sort of milling machine, but you can do a lot of "milling" in your lathe with a 4-jaw chuck, even without a milling attachment.

I spent only a short time in Istanbul, and only scratched the surface of what is there to see - a vibrant and large city! I spent about 1 week in the Adana region, a couple of days in Kapadokya, and about a week traveling along the southern and western coast from Adana up through Izmir, then driving up to Çannakale and taking the ferry across the Dardanelles and driving up to Istanbul. Beautiful indeed! I have been back to Istanbul once since then, briefly, and twice to visit Ephesus, but I really want to take another trip like the first one - except this time I would like to get up to Ankara as well.

Would 4 jaw chuck suffice my needs instead of a milling attachment ?

You have seen lots of places then. For your next time i'd recommend to go further east than Adana, good places to see and great food to eat there. With the recent currency ratios you can have a good time as long as you're careful that you don't get overcharged.
 
"It depends."

Yes, not a very helpful answer, but true. Let me illustrate with an early project I made, a piston-type quick change tool post. I was able to surface all of the sides of the large central block, bore out the holes, etc. using the four-jaw chuck. The one thing I couldn't do using the 4-jaw was the dovetails - but I could have done those (at least in theory) with a milling attachment, or with some other fixturing on the lathe, but a friend of mine did it on his mill. He also cut the dovetails and slots on some tool blocks - again, could in theory have done it using a milling attachment on the lathe, but easier on a mill. All the rest of the project I was able to complete with the lathe.
 
You may look at this mill.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/10050...7757a4d23a8f4697fc19b33befc7a71c13b31b&gclid=
Dave

I'm looking to find a milling attachment for my newly acquired hobby lathe. It is a chinese export lathe that i couldnt find much about it. I'm trying to get together what i need to build model engines and honestly i'm disheartened that a mill is also needed. I'm new to lathes so i dont know which milling attachments would fit this mini lathe. Most of experienced lathe users doesnt like or recommend cheap stuff and they are right but well some of us has to get by with cheap stuff and i'm fine with it so the cheaper the milling attachment the better. I also would like to know if i need those angled carriages? Thanks.

Edit: Can i use this on my lathe?
 
Hi , you have such a lot of options. You do need a pedestal drill for the precision of drilling needed to make a decent job of an engine. Trust me! I have bought a few engines that do not have parallel drilling and they simply can't be made to work well.
So that will consume a chunk of your budget. You can use the remainder on a vertical slide for the lathe - which will give you the extra axis for moving the workpiece. Good money spent on a good part is a good investment here. That will use your most powerful cutting head (lathe chuck) and most precise (and stiff) frame to give you all the cutting processes you can get with a mill.
But if you can afford it, a cross-slide vice for the drill will give you more precise control for drilling holes. Bolt heads on cylinder covers, etc. look so much better than "free-hand".
I managed more than a decade of model machining before I owned a mill. Just because I could do jobs so many other ways. Cheaply. But when I bought the mill I spent too little, so still sometimes use other manufacturing methods. To cut lots of metal, quickly, takes a large motor (at least 1.5 or 2 H.P.). Which in turn needs a large and stiff frame, which costs a lot of money for the metal. Small tools equal small cuts and fine feeds. Good for those who have the time and inclination. (That's how I manage with the limitations of my miller!).
Enjoy!
K2
 
Shipping to the USA using FedEx is high.
If you want that mill either look for a different seller or have the mill shipped by boat.
Outside America it sold from retailers too.

Dave

Further down there's a milling attachment for ~$90.

Anyway, the biggest problem I have with listings like that is while the mill/drill is $765 the freight might be double that which makes it marginally less expensive than buying from a local seller of the machine, and then you might have some recourse if there's a problem.
 
Can i directly bolt this to the slots on the carriage ?

You can do what ever you want and can achieve.
One of the options common with older hobby lathes was to offer the option of a Tee slot cross slide like this one.
This is much more rigid than trying to mount anything on the top slide.

If you can't buy one for your lathe, then you would need to make one with the milling machine you don't have.
You might consider looking around in your local area to see if any educational institute offers machine tool classes.
 
I needed to cut a keyway in a power wheel chair axle. Very very crude but it worked. It's very rigid. A cheap Harbor Freight drill press vise and a piece of scrap angle iron. Drilled to bolt to the cross slide.
 

Attachments

  • Milling_01.JPG
    Milling_01.JPG
    160.7 KB · Views: 115
  • Milling_02.JPG
    Milling_02.JPG
    183.3 KB · Views: 135
  • Milling_03.JPG
    Milling_03.JPG
    125.8 KB · Views: 121
  • Milling_04.JPG
    Milling_04.JPG
    153.1 KB · Views: 128
  • Milling_05.JPG
    Milling_05.JPG
    192.2 KB · Views: 126
  • Milling_06.JPG
    Milling_06.JPG
    229.4 KB · Views: 127
  • Milling_07.JPG
    Milling_07.JPG
    197.1 KB · Views: 114
  • Milling_08.JPG
    Milling_08.JPG
    157.4 KB · Views: 120
I've made a few angle plates like that, and trued them on the big Bridgeport at work (just to be fancy :) ). Might also be worth mentioning that boring tables to fit them to, are easily made from a bit of plate with a lot of holes drilled in it, then tapped (easier than T slots). If you lay it out carefully you might even be able to rely on the holes being on a true grid pattern. On my old Boxford this table fits on instead of the top slide, and is fairly rigid.
 
I have use tool post for Milling keyway if did not have a mill.

Dave

I'm looking to find a milling attachment for my newly acquired hobby lathe. It is a chinese export lathe that i couldnt find much about it. I'm trying to get together what i need to build model engines and honestly i'm disheartened that a mill is also needed. I'm new to lathes so i dont know which milling attachments would fit this mini lathe. Most of experienced lathe users doesnt like or recommend cheap stuff and they are right but well some of us has to get by with cheap stuff and i'm fine with it so the cheaper the milling attachment the better. I also would like to know if i need those angled carriages? Thanks.

Edit: Can i use this on my lathe?
 
Don't even consider using a wood chuck on a metal lathe.

The Optimum chuck is 80mm. but it shows "no longer available".
There is no info on how it fits to the lathe. You need to know that before you buy.
 
I used a milling attachment on my Atlas 12 inch for a long time until I got my M head Bridgeport going. The thing is, even with light lathe milling, a mill cutter can and will slip in a lathe chuck. I made my own taper cutter holders with set screw. I also made the draw bar to hold everything tight. This solved the problem. A lot of work, but you risk ruining the piece you’re working on or breaking a cutter. That can be very dangerous. Good eye protection is a must. The fact that you may wear glasses is not enough. This is a far larger cutter than I would you in a lathe milling operation. Never under estimate the turning power of a machine. Even a small machine, it will surprise you.
 

Attachments

  • E71DE54A-90D3-4F94-A4A1-2F3E8CF329C0.jpeg
    E71DE54A-90D3-4F94-A4A1-2F3E8CF329C0.jpeg
    188.8 KB · Views: 107
This is the same lathe from a UK supplier. If you don't have the manual for it. You can download it from them. I think it is a Sieg C1 lathe

https://www.chesterhobbystore.com/shop/metalworking-machines/lathes/cobra-lathe/
https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Cata...Model-C1-Lathe/C1-Lathe-Headstock-Accessories
ER collet chucks are good for holding milling cutters
I think the snall mling slide you found on Amazon would probably work for you.


Cheers,
Dave

Yes thats looks like it is the exact same model. So i can use Sieg C1 parts on my lathe. Good to know.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top