Question for those with lathe/mill combo

[yellow_cad]

I was a machinist for many years so can usually figure out how to get something done but I'm always looking to get bang for the buck in expanding the capabilities of what I have. In my retired, hobby capacity, I have a 8x18 lathe/mill combo. A vendor has a sale on a milling attachment normally used to give the lathe an axis of movement. I'm wondering if the milling attachment wouldn't come in handy to expand the capabilities of the lathe/mill combo especially since the combo is a limited mill anyway. Does anyone have any experience using one of these attachments on a lathe/mill combo? Thanks for any thoughts. Jim

 

[Tin Falcon]

YC probably not going to give you any sort of advantage over what you have. In the days of old and current days for some here those attachments give some milling capacity to folks with just a lathe.

I am a USAF trained machinist and have worked in a a couple of civilian shops.
IMHO most shops prefer separate mills and lathes.
That being said machinist can be very creative and find some amazing workarounds to the limits of there machines.

You are an experienced machinist if you can think of thee ways it will improve the usefulness of your machine get it otherwise IMHO no. Your choice your shop your dime.
Tin

 

[lensman57]

I was a machinist for many years so can usually figure out how to get something done but I'm always looking to get bang for the buck in expanding the capabilities of what I have. In my retired, hobby capacity, I have a 8x18 lathe/mill combo. A vendor has a sale on a milling attachment normally used to give the lathe an axis of movement. I'm wondering if the milling attachment wouldn't come in handy to expand the capabilities of the lathe/mill combo especially since the combo is a limited mill anyway. Does anyone have any experience using one of these attachments on a lathe/mill combo? Thanks for any thoughts. Jim

Hi,

Before I go any further let me tell you that I am a total rank amateur.
If by "milling attachment" you mean the vertical slide then the answer is no, it will not do. Lack of ridgidity, scale of movement and the inconvenience of setting up and dialing in every time you need to use it soon becomes a pain. There are milling attachments that screw to either the side or the top of the lathe head stock. These are more useful and versatile than the vertical slide but still I think that most people prefer a separate unit if funds allow. The only other point that I'd make is that if you choose to buy a separate mill please make sure that the tool holders and the accessories are interchangable between the lathe and the mill. It saves you a lot of money in the long run.

Regards,

A.g