Cheap Chinese Mini Metal Mill Milling Machine Unboxing, Setup, Testing, and Review

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Stuff from this video:
Edge Finder: amzn.to/2GXyxgX
End Mill Bits: amzn.to/2nqbt11
Drill Vice: amzn.to/2vg1cbu
Mill: amzn.to/3aGnpQu
Lathe: amzn.to/2nVBrEc
Stuff on the lathe:
Quick Change Tool Holder: amzn.to/2oZtFee
Tailstock Drill Chuck: amzn.to/2pmE0jX
Lathe tools:
Boring Bar: amzn.to/2pmy0b1
Carbide Tools: amzn.to/2oRZWax
Parting Tool: amzn.to/2nVCeW1
Center Bits: amzn.to/2oRRV5n
Drill Bits: amzn.to/2oz9W76

[@dub23handb]

I like how you avoid injuring your knees by lifting with your back in a twisting-jerking motion...

[@jakegarrett8109]

I know it’s a joke, but seemingly everybody is getting knees replaced once they are getting older (some a 2nd set). But I’m sure the knee is easier to replace than a spine, so that’s one thing to consider (I could probably design and metal 3D print a titanium knee and do the surgery on myself if I had too as an example, but there’s no way I could do spinal surgery, so at least for trainer surgeons knee replacement should be simple). Haha, but never do the twisting motion while lifting, that’s the worst idea!

[@davidp8157]

@@jakegarrett8109 besides which, even if the knees and back hold up, it's a good way to pop a hernia, just saying..

[@JesusOfIskcon]

But its always when you lift your head off the pillow the next day or open the refrigerator door that it suddenly hits you.

[@TheAE35Unit]

Thumbs up for Family Guy reference

[@carlosrobles2048]

@@jakegarrett8109 On the internet, I'm a surgeon too, a brain surgeon! I make 17 million dollars a year. I bet I could design and 3D print (metal of course) a whole new skull and probably a brain , spinal cord too. ....

[@dieterdodel1974]

For a better finish: Place your mill on a surface that does not wobble when you turn the crank!

[@jurassicpork765]

And when possible, turn the part sideways and cut with the side of the end mill.

[@jFloRED]

Unless you want to make it look like a synthetic Damascus piece LOL

[@echothegecko5248]

Not sure if this would work for that specifying milling machine but after clamping the workpiece securely to the vice whether with parallels or if working with a cube and can also use a face mill cutting tool since it will cut a lot faster when doing a surface finish

[@NitrousBanshee]

Ive always thought about getting a small mill. It's nice to see someone reviewing something other than a $10,000 mill that 90% of us can't afford. Great video..!

[@YaMomsOyster]

100% as much as we wish we all could

[@bruceperry6315]

A “V” block is a better way to secure round stock in your vice. It keeps the stock perpendicular to the base and more secure.😊

[@sekim4660]

I just how everyone on the internet just know everything

[@Mr.Phoreskin]

@@sekim4660 we all know something you don’t..... Spell check

[@poppaluv]

@@sekim4660 The guy literally asked for ways to improve via comments!

[@bradroon5538]

@@poppaluv and this post DID give helpful information, as did the one prior.

[@poppaluv]

@@bradroon5538 I never said it didn't. I was responding to sekim.

[@Psychlist1972]

You asked for recommendations: 1. Collet instead of chuck, but others have already pointed that out. 2. Bolt the thing down to something very stable. When you were milling, it looked like it was jumping all over the place (not just camera bounce, I was looking at background vs mill). Weight is your friend when it comes to milling. 3. Check your ways. It may have been the camera, but it looked like that table was jumping all over the place in relation to the tool, which may mean the ways are not very tight. Other suggestions: at some point you'll want a dial indicator and a good dial test indicator for alignment and for setting up the vise and parts. There's a whole lot in the general work-holding area to look into as well, but it will depend on what you intend to machine and how.

[@blaccteezy]

Pete Brown watching that vice jump made my stomach hurt. I wonder what this old tony would say...

[@rallen7660]

I've seen some videos where the operators are pouring a concrete block to bolt their mini lathe or mill down. It increases the stability and surface finish at a really low cost.

[@dineshvyas]

Vice and whole mill was wobbly.

[@TheTruth-fs2rm]

@George Robartes Or epoxy and granite. Just chat with your local countertop companies and snag all the cut offs and break them up. Good heavy stuff. They will usually be happy to give you a truck bed full of it.

[@davidp8157]

@@TheTruth-fs2rm totally agree, we pay far too much to get rid of it by the ton, so always happy to help people out like this

[@Gexxon]

For round pieces in your vice, always use v blocks to sandwich the part. Use your end mill cutter to rough cut away most of your piece, and leave at least .020 - .050 to your final cut. Then install a carbide tipped "Fly Cutter" to machine the remainder (that .020 - .050) with single even continuous passes, covering your entire piece, of no more than increments of .010 at a time, to your desired size. That carbon tipped fly cutter will leave a beautiful finish.

[@tomconner5067]

I missed your post the first time I got distracted and missed this video

[@dopeboysproduction4972]

This is some good advice all I can say is lift fully away from part before disengaging/turning off and always go past part to achieve a uniform finish

[@nobrainer1326]

Try to make sure that you use the shortest tool that is permitted by the cut. It will give you the most rigid tool setup possible, and help reduce runout in the spindle showing up in cuts on the part. You may not want to do climb milling (feeding the workpiece in the same direction as the cutter rotation) unless you have a backlash eliminator installed (or lock down the X-axis), as the workpiece tends to want to grab and pull itself into the cutter. If you're milling aluminum, try using mineral oil or A9 cutting fluid for a really nice finishing cut. Higher spindle RPM and lower depth of cut/chip load help as well.

[@jlab420]

“I’m not sure if I broke this cap just now or if it was already broken, but either way it’s broken” Yeah.... he’s married.

[@darwindwelle5267]

HAHAHA Yep

[@czarPROstock]

this was a shotgun wedding right ??

[@bradleyweiss1089]

Noice

[@justinshields4216]

That's a 'I have kids" statement.. 😆

[@stanburdick9708]

hes broke stuff in other videos

[@Jack-ny7kn]

You're 100% correct about the mini mill being more functional than the mini lathes. The lathes are pretty much useless for everything, whereas the mini mills seem to be pretty useful for just about anything that's not abnormally large or high precision. And with DROs you can achieve a surprising degree of precision. I've even had good luck milling mild steel with them, and no problem drilling stainless. For a better surface finish, use collets instead of the chuck, use Ballistol mixed with water for cutting fluid, make sure the mill is bolted down and level, use an indicator to make sure the head is square with the table (that angle marker is useless), and maybe up the RPMs a little. Also using a fly cutter to clean up a face like that is going to give you a better finish I would think. Oh, and lock your axis. It's annoying, but it helps. The mill simply isn't heavy enough, and your axis will wander all over the place while you're cutting. So lock the two you're not using while making a pass, and the pressure you're putting on the third that you are using will keep it from wandering too much. For that reason it's kind of important not to stop in the middle of a pass or back up, because that axis will wobble a little when you do. You want to keep positive pressure on it through the whole pass and try to keep a constant speed.

[@lanceburger3789]

I've had my mini mill(Harbor Freight) for 5+ yrs . Made a few mods to it and it's still running good . Made a lot of aluminum pieces and parts .Have another project coming up in a month or two . Should have invested in Dro's ...

[@ernestoherrera2755]

How much did you pay for it and what is the item number also can you machine or mail out aluminum blanks for lower receivers?

[@delcat8168]

I found this video (and the comments) interesting and helpful as I'm getting a cheap x-y table to put under my drill press for use with wood and aluminium. I think some of the "professional machinists" commenting need to accept that this is a small cheap machine designed for light work. Of course it's not going to be the same as their Bridgeport.

[@MountainFisher]

Del Cat I hope you didn't trash your drill press' quill by trying to mill with a drill press.

[@florincoter1988]

Hi, I would not use wood and metal/plastic on the same machine. Not even in the same room. Metal/plastic need lubrication. Wood dust will become stone and rust will set in.

[@kenibnanak5554]

Your drill press chuck is probably held in by a morse taper. You will learn it can not take any sideways force. You are much better off long term in visiting little machine shop and after using their price comparison chart and doing some research acquiring on of the Sieg X variants that uses an R8 attachment and also picking up some collets for when you wish to mill.

[@DubsnSubsSessions]

Tried it, you won't be milling and those cheap tables make accurate positioning hard work for hole drilling. I ended up with a slightly bigger mill than this and the 30 I spent on the shitty xy table could have bought me a few more end mills or arbors

[@woozhi9218]

Yeah i dont really suggest milling with a drill press not because its cheap or doesnt work well but really drill arbor are held together by friction and you coukd just have it flying off if you do so if you still intend modify it to have a drawbar pulling the arbor and change to milling collet low quality drill collet like these are not eccentric but if you insist thats ok but without a drawbar of some sort no

[@MSmifffy]

So many things wrong in this video, but 10/10 for sharing your initial learning. There's good and bad advice below so be careful, even this little machine can cause serious injury.

[@DesertFernweh]

I want one of these, but first I need to hook up AC in my workshop. Not for the machine, but for me after the wife kicks me out the house again for spending too much money on tools.

[@johnmine5609]

with the right tools you can make a new wife....

[@renatomartinez3183]

And pretty,smart, with mechanics knowledge......😆😆😆

[@SaudagarHati]

hahahahaha

[@門徒解說聖經]

The situation will change if you mill a gold ring for you wife

[@bertjetolberg103]

If this is to expensive you need a new wife

[@genegoodwin8925]

I operated a Cincinnati No.6 in a track shop (railroad track) for a number of years and really enjoyed it, although I also ran several planers, and planer mill, punches, drills, shears and other equipment, the mill was my favorite. Some of the cutters that I found very helpful was a surface cutter and a ball nose cutter. On my first day on the Cincinnati mill I made an octagon ash tray and used the ball nose to engrave the company's logo in the bottom. It turned out so well the plant manager wanted me to make another for the company's head office. I wish we had so aluminum material because the steel rusted pretty quickly. I made parts for a Ivry Johnson shotgun on that mill and also mine jacks that were 6"X6" and 30 feet long. With a milling machine you are only limited by your own imagination.

[@Iamtherealflip]

Softer metals like aluminum, use a 2 flute endmill. Depending on your speeds and feeds, a 4 flute will get gummed up and the material gets hot. Also add an air hose with a constant feed to cool your workpiece and to keep chips from piling up.

[@nathaniellangston5130]

Use a collet to hold the end mill! and also use some lube! it will improve your surface finish like you wouldn't believe! When I first started as an apprentice the guy teaching me had me run a dry pass and feel it and then do a wet pass and feel it! The difference is unbelievable!!

[@HiroNguy]

Especially with aluminum. That metal galls to itself!

[@Metalbass10000]

Edge finders are very useful. A good dial indicator, and plunge dial indicator are also a great investment. Some quality stones for deburring and ensuring your table is flat.

[@caseyjones3064]

This is a video I actually learned from because there was not bullshit like almost every other video. its simply and use full.

[@RIGID3D]

Recommendation do not move the Cutter on the workpieces when it is not spinning.

[@RIGID3D]

Also drill chucks is not suitable for axial loads of the milling cutters. They tend to loosen with milling cutters which is not safe

[@geogesleroux2644]

RIGID3D for radial load, only available for axial load

[@haroldramirezmedina9153]

Nor do not run you finger through metal until break edges, don't air blast either.

[@crosita1]

@@geogesleroux2644 Is this something you could explain to a person who doesn't know what radial vs axial loads are?

[@geogesleroux2644]

crosita1 : I will try to do it. When you nail down you load the nail with axial load. If you introduce a part of radial load when you nail down you bend the the nail, A wheel car or motorcycle is essentially loads by radial loads, the axis is strong. When you use hand electric drill , you push it in the same way than the drill tool axis, it’s axis load, when you drill against a wall pushing the electric drill, if you try to put a perpendicular force to the drill axis, the clutch and your arm don’t like it. The clutch endure poor radial load. To mill, the flute needs tool holder collet who is built to resist particularly to radial load (30$). You get a milling surface better. Sorry for my poor English, I hope you understand that I wrote.

[@TheDirtBiter]

I own a similar styles Chinese milling machine that came with similar accessories. An essential task is to securely bolt the tool down and level it out in reference to the table, mine is on a 40 mm thick base and shimmed for level. As stated by so many here, buy a collet set, they are not too expensive and will give better results. Next on your list should be a milling vice, cheap pedestal drill vices are totally inaccurate for any precision work. A rotary table is a great accessory to have and Vertex make exceptionally good ones for the price of them. Buy a set of dividing plates and an end support for the rotary table. A good quality 3 and 4 jaw chuck is needed for the rotary table - look for low profile ones as you lose the vertical capacity of the mill with everything you bolt to the table. You should also look for a table clamp set that will allow you to hold large and irregular pieces to the table. A tip for the studs on these is to cut the threads to the maximum depth of the T nuts that hold them as this prevents them binding on the bottom of the table slots or coming loose when working. Cheap milling cutters are that, cheap. Buy good quality ones. Fly cutters are another essential item to buy to get good surface finishing. A clock gauge is essential for setting up your mill and work pieces. Any time you alter the head angle you need to reset it accurately again. With time you will learn the little quirks of your machine and be able to compensate for them. as you gain experience you will accumulate more equipment for your mill and gain more pleasure from it.

[@CreaseysWorkshop]

Get yourself a 10mm tungsten end mill with 3 flutes and an ER32 collet chuck and collets. Make yourself some parallels. Machine one side and flip it to do the other. That way you will compensate for any error. A lot of guys seem to like grinding vises instead of mill vises. They are rigid cheap and you can turn them on their side for making stuff square. A good project is a fly cutter. Start saving for a rotary table.

[@k9wiREless]

Vertex HV4 or 6 inch....i found this is great with a three jaw chuck, but four jaw is for that one off project

[@dragosmates]

John Creasey you stole my ideea

[@johncabot9058]

R8-ER32 holders would be perfect.

[@saltyroe3179]

k9wiREless I used to sharpen and mills at tool grinding shop. Yes, chucks are for drills, so use the chuck to make your milk a drill press. Collett is for precision. Which brings up the question of how precise you can get. On industrial mills 1/10,000 inch is what is expected. That is because milling is usually for precision parts. This machine tool looks fun and useful for undemanding work. I almost bought a Cincinnati when Northrop was closing its B2 Bomber plant I Pico Rivera. The problems with those tools in your garage are: it is big, requires 220 volt, moving it requires special equipment like a machinery trailer, moving it on the garage is no fun. The price of the Cincinnati was appealing but everything else made me not want to deal with it. Questions to ask: budget, space, can I get it done elsewhere. And then there is skill and maintenance. Using a milling machine on steel is not like wood working. If you want to use a milling machine you need instruction and practice, something I never did (but then I could always ask a machinist to do it for me). Would like see video of using collett instead of chuck and work on steel.

[@rustyshaklefort8563]

Machining one side and then flipping it over to machine the other side does not give a flat surface you are making an uneven part

[@oldog2]

when you need to hold round stock in a vice use a v block as 3 points of contact will hold it more stable

[@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe]

Congrats! A drill chuck doesn't have enough lateral holding power to hold an endmill properly, and may not be safe. You should get a collet tool holder to fit you mill spindle taper for safe milling with a good finish.

[@SharkyMoto]

the lateral weakness of a drill chuck doesnt come from the chuck but the fact that its just a morse taper holding it in the drillpress. that cant take those forces. the chuck itself is perfectly safe yet not really precise. the chuck is correctly mounted in the mill with a drawbar to keep it from falling out. the chuck itself screws on the milling taper thing. summary: not dangerous yet not accurate enough :)

[@bbrown1269]

Could not agree more.

[@k9wiREless]

your milling machine looks like it has an R8 taper, there are milling of this size that have moose taper 2, if your hoping for a nicer finnish cutting that 2 inch round, try a fly cutter or largest end mill your comfortable with in your machine, but for the pretty reflective pattern use a tiny end mill

[@WCGwkf]

Sharky even in a mill you're not supposed to be milling anything with a drill chuck. Stop saying it's acceptable. No one is talking about a drill press here. A drill chuck is not a lathe chuck. It is not made for that.

[@seanm5183]

Sharky regardless of safety, a drill chuck should never be used for lateral cuts as it's specifically designed for lateral compliance, so as to allow drills to seek rather than snap.

[@mattregan1862]

Great video man! Just a few things that I am almost sure someone else is likely to have pointed out but... 1 a face mill will give you a better surface finish and will all around work better for the operation you showed. 2 a set of collects would go a long way towards helping with repeatability and accuracy. 3 a test indicator and swing arm will so you can tram in the head of the mill will make your life easier.

[@newsdrifter5505]

Hey nice video thanks for the demonstration. Im a tool and die maker and CNC machinist and im looking at picking up a little mill for myself. This one definitely looks cool! Others have warned about using an endmill in a chuck and i agree, dont do it, especially when milling metal. Also you might want to check the squareness of your spindle to the cross table with an indicator to make sure its level to your work piece. This is standard practice in machining and can be done with a magnetic indicator attached to the spindle head or with and Indicol. Also, some advice on milling roundstock. Dont rely on the jaws of your vice to hold a round workpiece, Not enough of the stock is engaged to the jaws to be safe or to give you a reliably level finish. Get a V Block that will square up one side of your roundstock and use the rear vice jaw to hold the curved portion in the V Block. Happy machining !

[@pimpeinkc]

Late to comment party so im sure advice from me is , what am i saying. Im a mill god. Lol Get that mill in place and make it permanently unmovable. Square, plumb,level x,y,z, install vice and lock a straight edge in it so your sure vice good side to side. Use edge finder to find one of the vice "unmoving" corners, zero out your handles and lock the collars. Shake it, check zero again. Get some collets. Drill chucks

[@tonyhewett3729]

Nice little hobby mill, you will get plenty of people telling you it's crap but any good machinist knows how to make adjustments and improvements and learn the querks of the machine. You have the basis of a potentially good mill there, the chuck is really only for drilling, if you want to mill then I would buy a proper collet chuck, this will stop the cutter being pulled out of the Jacobs chuck during operation and will also improve on the wobble, also make sure you can lock the quill off properly during machining to stop any travel in Z axis. As for finding the centre of a component I would bin that edge finder thing and use a d.t.i (dial test indicator) something like a Verdict T32 lever type clock, you won't go far wrong with one of those. You can experiment with cutters, end mills are ok for finishing perpendicular faces, slot drills are best for slots I generally go for 3 flute, for deep pockets and slots you'll be amazed by what Strassman type ripper cutters can do, for good finishes on faces you could make yourself a single point fly cutter. If your new to milling then I would look up milling methods such as the direction of cut (climb milling ext.) Great stuff, have fun.

[@scottbleyle5986]

Tony Hewett p

[@trackie1957]

I agree. I bought a small Grizzly lathe and it was a satisfying project to make improvements to it. In a sense, the tool became the project! The result was a lathe that produced good work and was fun to use.

[@Guide504]

Shim ALL the bed slides and check chuck collar for tolerance. These cheaper units need a but more effort but within reason they are excellent bang for your buck.

[@cameronverrette3660]

When you have no way to keep a consistent feed then make sure with each straight cut run it backwards once for a cleaner finish

[@muskokamike127]

oh and make sure your material is actually square and stable in your vise. Then make sure your vice is square and stable. Then make sure the cross feed table is square. If it ain't 90 deg to the end mill the cut will be shit.

[@andrewwilson8317]

These relatively inexpensive milling machines convert easily in great little CNC mills with readily available parts. Been done many many times and loads of videos on here about this. Turns it into a very capable little machine.

[@user-ks5ff]

I've been looking in to getting one of these recently, they have plastic gears or belt, yours sounds like gears, from what I understand you can upgrade it to belt for smoother running and no risk of breaking gears if it snags. Looking forward to more vids on this.

[@gregbly9089]

Lots of videos on mini lathes and Mills. Some common observations. Dissasemble and clean every part. Replace plastic drive gears with a belt drive. Replace ball bearings with taperd bearings Bolt it down!

[@WrenagadeWorkshop]

Seen a few comments about getting a collet system and totally agree. I got an ER32 chuck for my bench mill and loved it so much I got one for my lathe and dividing head as well. Being they're all the same size, the nuts are interchangeable, so whatever's being held in the collets can be transfered from one chuck to another depending on the required operations. You can even get collets that are specifically designed for holding taps too. Have a look into "power tapping on the mill". For facing large surface areas, a flycutter or facemill are the "go to" for that job. I just made myself a couple different styles of flycutter recently (round head and disc/flywheel types) and they leave a great finish on the part. As a rule though, a sturdy disc style flycutter will handle bigger cuts and leave a much better finish with light cuts than round head flycutters as there's simply more mass to them which makes them more rigid. As to endmills for facing, they always leave overlap marks, just the nature of how they cut. Sometimes though, they can get to areas a flycutter can't, so they have their place in facing jobs from time to time. Anyhoo, good luck with the new mill, at least you didn't have to fix yours before you could test it as I did. Pretty steep learning curve as I'm just starting out too but she's finally cutting chips now :D By the way, that last clip had me rolling around laughing. Shows a stout character to put something as humbling as that in, I applaud you good sir ;) If you have an air compressor, you could get an air spanner that fits the draw bar nut, it'll make swapping out those tapered mill toolholders a breeze once you get more (and you will, it always catches those that are new to mills out. The trick is to work out what tooling you will use most and buy one each for those, then have one or two spare for occasionally used tooling. After that, you shouldn't need to get anymore and you'll find your workflow will speed up no end).

[@tcarr8004]

For aluminum it's always suggested to use a 3 flute tool, the chips should look like crescents and make a shimmery tinkling sound when they are dropped on the floor.

[@gabewhitney6079]

I made a dirty look as soon as I seen him put the round stock in the vice without a v block

[@codeflame8422]

well i mean it does have 3 points of contact

[@69NOMAN69]

@@codeflame8422 3 rules of machining #1 rigidity #2 rigidity #3 rigidity that is all

[@69NOMAN69]

And you did not when he showed the chuck with the endmill in it?

[@zentesuken1346]

It’s “vee block”

[@logancurl9526]

@@69NOMAN69 I'm still sort of a nooby to this type of stuff. May I ask what exactly is the problem, or potential problem, of having an end-mill bit in the chuck?? Hope I don't seem like a complete idiot, but i honestly don't see what the issue would be, especially since the workpiece is held in a vise, bolted to a "milling table". I was going to be creating just such a set up in my work shed at home pretty soon, so please stop me if this is a No No for reasons I don't yet know. Thanks!

[@timothyschriefer2822]

Alot of others have said, but 1.) Tram it in 2.) V blocks 3.) 2 flute 4.) Cutting fluid 5.) Real vise 6.) End mills in a collet of some sort 7.) Small depth of cut. 8.) Fly cutter finish

[@ArcAiN6]

A few suggestions: 1) Don't use a drill chuck for endmills. they aren't meant for lateral loads. Surface finish will be terrible, and rigidity isn't there. Also, drill chucks can "fall off" when latteral loads are applied, as it literally will walk the chuck of the arbor. 2) Get yourself a nice set of collets, and a collet holder for that mill. This will improve rigidity, as well as surface finish. 3) Invest in a DRO, or take measurements constantly. relying on the dials for accuracy will be a let down. They are good for getting you close, but once you're close, measure measure measure!

[@wolfitirol8347]

I run an Optimum Bf16 for 2 years also a 70 kg light weight but it was perfect for a hobbyist to start milling now i have ordered a bigger one with 360kg and the Bf16 will be transformed and run by CNC then its the perfect combination for a hobbyist like me. And Timy 2 flutes high speed for Alu and 4flutes for steel and slow is a good rule.. The 2 flutes give the Alu chips enough time to get transported away from the end mill... Steel chips don't need that..and one of the first mods I made first I milled new steel gears than I changed them all to steel and after a little while they are not much louder than the nylon ones. Good vids I like your work..

[@CHixon]

For milling aluminum, I achieve a very nice finish by "climb milling" which works great even on my less rigid mill.

[@gangleweed]

DON'T BE A BLOODY FOOL......CLIMB MILLING IS ONLY FOR CNC WHERE YOU HAVE BALLSCREWS NOT ACME THREADED LEADSCREWS WITH BACKLASH.

[@chriskuempel1025]

This video should be included in the owners manuel! Thank you very much.

[@3dtexan890]

Perfect for 80% lowers!!

[@poppaluv]

You better not be drilling no extra holes there buddy!

[@Timodon1]

Timo in Sweden here! I have the same machine but much bigger and it cost in euro about 2500.- euro! I also have a welding shop making compactors for waste! But i think there is a lot crap from Mao land, but in electronics they are pretty good!

[@idontlikethiswedbettergo5888]

I used to use a cigarette paper for centring; once the tool bit takes the paper off the job, you’re there!

[@oldschoolnewschool7907]

I understand that I'm late to this party, but always indicate your Vice in to be square. A quick way of doing that is putting the vice up on the table, and bolting it down hand tight. Then mount an indicator on the spindle with the tip of it on the non-moving jaw of the vice. Then slowly crank the handle of the x axis to see how much run out you have across the entire jaw. Once you've done that and calculated how much run out there is gently tap the base of the vise at the very end to move it slightly clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which way is out. And repeat by dragging the indicator across the job again to check for parallelism. once you've got the vice to where there's hardly any run out, tighten the bolts holding device down with a wrench. After you get them torqued down correctly check the run out again to make sure you didn't accidentally bump it. If you'd like I can make a video of this process and send.

[@Guide504]

Backlash always in even topend manual tools. You learn your machine over time and work to mitigate. Have fun.

[@ianroberts8371]

1. Milling tool holder instead of Jacob's chuck (ER series) 2. Either soft jaws or a v-block for stock holding 3. Saftey 4. Milling direction (climb/convetional) 5. T-slot work holding set 6. Have fun

[@rayfalcone6897]

Hi Tim,congrats on the new mill... use high speed on aluminum, and use 2 fluted endmills.............with lube.... I made a collar to fit the bottom of the spindle ....cut it in half, and drill and tap, i used two Allan cap bolts 1/4x20 x1'' to compress it tight to spindle, drilled a small hole half way trough the thickness to insert the pin ....when you remove the end mill or drill all you do is insert pin in collar and break loose the draw bar,if interested email me,'ll send some pics to you...take care

[@nowayjerk8064]

DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND GET SOME COLLETS

[@almeliso5543]

As a retired machinist with 45 years experience,when cutting aluminum,you should use a 2 flute endmill,to allow for proper chip evacuation,a collet instead of a drill,Chuck,and a copy of the machinist handbook,or machinery's handbook,to learn proper speeds and feeds,and if your local community college has a machine tool course or if your local high school has an evening class,it would be a great resource for a beginner such as yourself.

[@antonw-uw4ov]

In my experience those small machines don’t do very well with big ”standard” four flute end mills, for those an 8mm for aluminum is about the biggest you will get good results with. For removing material: use roughing end mills, they generally work well up to 12mm. And when using standrad end mills you need to cool/lube your work, almost any oil works for steel and alcohol or oil for aluminum. Alcohol is nice cause it does not stay on your parts and chip. And get a bettet wise and some collets...

[@yelims20]

Jacob's chucks are for cutter that only have force applied in the direction of the spindle, not side ways. That is a good way to get hurt.

[@user240485]

Congratz on the mill. First order of business get some collets to match your end mills you don't need to get the a full set just a small, med and large sized collet. The drill chuck is only good for drilling. Getting a more suitable vise might also be more helpful. I use the 3" toolmakers vise. Its just the right size I feel. I would avoid the 3" milling vise they are over priced and just too big for this sized mill. Those cheap Chinese milling vise just aren't as good as a much cheaper Chinese toolmakers vises. Fly cutters are tools for later purchases, a single large end mill with matching sized collet will work just fine and is more useful. Get some sort of dial caliper and learn to tram and accurately square up the vise and learning how to check for squareness will help so much. looks like your gibs are loose. It will drive you mad getting them just right. They should be a little on the tight side. They do break in/loosen slightly over time. A cheap set of parallels will keep you from cutting into your new vise if your working on smaller parts you machine.

[@gangleweed]

If people buying these mills just went for the R8 option they would automatically have a collet chuck in the spindle for the collets that R8 are designed to have, plus they would have more height under the spindle as R8 collets when mounted are flush with the underside of the spindle......you can also get an R8 drill chuck to do the drilling and an R8 boring head for precision hole boring.

[@blackvic5157]

Ah, I see you published this last year. I hope you still read the new comments, because I want to thank you. What you've done here is what I plan to do so you're sharing exactly the information I need. OK, my plan applies to a Dremel 3000 and a Dremel Workstation. I don't have the Workstation yet but I do have the indexing table. The table was so incredibly cheap, $20 and free shipping, of course I had to get it. Living down to my expectations it started falling apart during unpacking (it was well-packed). But...I'm confident it will work well enough if it's rebuilt and so it's worth the effort. I'll rebuild it while patiently awaiting room in the budget to appear for acquisition of Dremel Workstation. Wish me luck.

[@samp1394]

I love the way people will run that finger over and over that work. That is to see if they get a piece of steel in their finger.

[@ghostryderkelate]

And yes..when they get a piece of steel in their finger.....the problem comes at night...when they cant finger their wifes 🤣

[@diygaragetx]

Oddly enough, you won't get a piece of steel in your finger if you're cutting aluminum. ;)

[@NITEGOD]

Put your finger in a baggy when you do that finger test , you’ll get a more sensitive feeling

[@hephaistosthesmith2069]

Marko Krsmanovic if you finger detect without removing sharp edges you can get fired here, a metal splinter could kill you if you dont remove it btw

[@atonement.]

Most people that work in machine shops for a few years don't even realize cuts and splinters, your skin hardens a lot. The machine oil makes sure of that. I worked on CNC lathes and mills for 6 years. And 2 years later my hands are still hard and my skin is messed up. I regret not using cloves. But with high precision and high output work you just can't.

[@jamesfrankland4436]

To get a better looking mill, do not change dept from pass to pass and finish whole mill space before changing dept of cut. This help you with a smoother more even cut while milling. Hope this helps. Otherwise looks like a good hobby machine to do some really fun projects on. Thanks for sharing 🤝💯

[@gordonyoud5975]

Hey, when you lifted that mill up from floor to bench, I swear I could see your wedding tackle touching the ground :-))

[@motographyaustralia3046]

Collet chuck will be a must for doing milling. Would only use a drill bit or centre finder for a drill chuck as a drill chuck won’t hold as well. Also do not stop the end mill on the work. Move the end mill off the work before stopping it

[@terrylick5908]

well made video. and excellently illustrated. thank you from Australia 👍

[@med2904]

I'm a machinist and for a better finish you can use SECO chip end mill (the one with replacable cutting bits - I'm not sure how it's called in english) and it should look almost like a flat grinder finish. Or use smaller end mills at higher speeds. I usually work with steel, but I think you need higher rotation speeds when working with aluminum. Also the X and Y axis seem quite wobbly compared to bigger milling machines (or maybe it's just the entire machine shaking, I'm not sure) and you probably don't have a feed function which would help with the finish (testing each end mill at various feed speeds - about 100-200 to see which one looks the best). But I guess there's nothing you can do about these last two things. Oh, and obviously don't use a drill chuck for milling. You should use mill chuck (the one which you have to replace entirely each time you change the tool you're using), which makes the cutting tool a lot more stable. But with wobbly machine parts and a lack of constant feed I wouldn't even worry about the finish. It's quite hard to make a perfect finish even with industrial milling machines, so I'd suggest just making a rough finish leaving about 0.2mm excess on each surface and buying a small flat grinder to make a clean finish.

[@jackrussell680]

This video is old, so u may know already. Look up term (climbing) some call it up down milling. May have a lot to do with surface, and be careful, it could throw your workpiece out and break tools

[@christhamilton42]

A catch tray and a coolant pump make metal machine so much smother and cleaner. Air is the best coolant if you are machining plastic.

[@georgeharvey3062]

How much did you pay for this mini mill and where did you order it from? Thank you, George

[@justinlareau2227]

Tip with edge finder. Snug it tight with your hands only. Never use a key to tighten or you can crush and wreck the edge finder. My experience is 3years completed as a tool and die maker apprentice. I'm now a Quality Engineer for a machine shop.

[@_P0tat07_]

Oh god. The sound it makes. Also don’t hold endmills in drill chucks.

[@spetsnatzlegion3366]

Cheap Chinese industrial manufacturing equipment is love, cheap Chinese industrial manufacturing equipment is life

[@jossfitzsimons]

Get the belt drive conversion kit. Youll be needing it!

[@erneststorch9844]

I hope I can explain this well enough. I have a similar machine to yours. I have two plastic lock handles for the table that I added to the machine same as your . My problem was when turned handles all the way to the left and ran the cross side all the way out the handles would drop over the of cross side way . The handles broke when I went back in on the cross side way. To stop this I drilled and tapped a hole just to the left of the handle to screw in a pin to keep the handles from falling down to far . Because you only have one handle you will only need one hole and pin . Works perfect on my machine and haven't broken a handle since . Good luck to you.

[@TimNummy]

Thanks for the tip!

[@exhempknight]

Mill time! Sweet! I'm super excited for this. You're building a capable little shop there, Tim. Good shit. As others have said, get a set of R8 collets for end milling. That drill chuck is only for that... Drilling. Looks like it has a Z-axis lock, as well... Use it every time you're making a X- or Y-axis cut, as the head has a tendency to droop mid-cut if you don't lock it. Littlemachineshop has a great starter kit that includes all the basics you need to get started (Kurt-style vise, clamping kit, parallels, collets, end mills, etc.). I'd also recommend the 20tpi feed screw upgrade, as counting divisions on the 62.5-thou-per-turn dials is a pain in the ass. The 20tpi screws give you 0.050 per turn. You MUST bolt that mill to the bench. It's far too top-heavy to stand on its own, and will almost certainly tip on you. And now it's time to invest in some better measuring gear. A small inexpensive 0.0005" dial test indicator, and a Noga-style import indicator holder are a minimum. Tram that head in, and the vise as well. Never tilt the column, unless absolutely necessary.

[@michaelwood5519]

Motorcycles and ATV's, looks like my garage! Not a whole lot of room left.

[@justcallmej.r3088]

Next on the list.......... pallet Jack... xD

[@gangleweed]

Nope, an engine crane does everything.

[@laundrysauce234]

I heard that

[@rayalbertgonzalez6498]

If you buy yourself a set of collets and a collet chuck, you will get a better finish. The Jacob's chuck that came with your mill is meant for drilling. You can damage it by using it for milling. Also, Maybe invest in a better vise. They aren't very expensive. Make sure to mount it true. That'll help with accuracy when edge milling. Have fun with your mill. They are a blast once you get familiar with it.

[@backpages1]

Now that you have been using the mill for 2-3 years, how did it stand up? I probably overlooked it, but what did that unit cost in 2018? Good video.

[@kevin_delaney]

Chuck up end mills as far as you can without touching the beginning of the flutes, you want them as stout as you can get otherwise you'll get more chatter as the tool spins. It's also significantly less likely to break and hurt you when you chuck it up right before the flutes.

[@danvandertorre9280]

you will need a fly cutter a boring head and a spindexer witch can be modified parallels some V blocks a clamping set cutters form banggood tungsten they are very good and I think a set is just over 50 $ bucks the point is have fun and learn at the same time lol.

[@chronicblazer84]

dan van der torre you don't need one tbh... I don't know what he is planning on doing, but if he isn't boring there is no need. A set of machine reamers would actually suffice.

[@EmyrDerfel]

A boring head can be a fly cutter. It can also be a trepanning tool for cutting smooth cylinders manually without switching to the lathe. Boring heads are very unboring.

[@TonyD-dz8pt]

that is a nice box, they say if it has nice packaging there is probably nice stuff it it, you don't need that broken cover on top of the draw bar anyway, the finish looks like any mill, it depends on a lot of things, the edge finder is just fine, you always have to have one of those, it is made like every mill i ever see, this is a nice mill, if it was a good price it is really a good mill

[@danward1070]

I think a general rule of thumb is if you can lift the machine by yourself then the machine probably won't be very capable.

[@vladnickul]

the legit rule is this. if your tools come from China is true crap. Can't afford a new USA european japanese or russian mill or lathe? stick to a second hand one.

[@joshuas390]

@@vladnickul pretty sure the rule is... use what you can get and dont bitch about what you want.

[@benpress8884]

@@vladnickul That is complete bullshit. China makes some very decent tooling. Usually if a tool doesn't work properly it is due to operator incompetence

[@vladnickul]

@@benpress8884 :)) Do you even own a machine from China, a machine you put some hours on? Guess not :)

[@southernwulf530]

That may be true but sometimes cheap is all people can afford.

[@eugene4154]

That "bolt" you refered to when fitting the chuck is called a "DRAW BAR" It draws the shaft into the spindle and like wise to remove the spindle you loosen it 2 turns and with a soft head mallet hit the bolt and the shaft will slip out its lock then you safely remove it while holding in your hand

[@datpudding5338]

Take it off that crap board and give it a proper stand. The reduction of vibration will help u alot with ur surfaces

[@ibuttonsmash5917]

I’d recommend that you buy a collection of collets and a collet chuck to go with them. They’re much more accurate that the drill chuck that these machines come with. Plus lean about “climb milling” and “conventional milling”. 👍🏼 fun video! painful for a mechanical engineer to watch but fun for my wife to see the faces I pulled. I’m going to start calling my edge finder a probe now 😅

[@wyrtwister4260]

When you were milling the round piece of aluminum , it looked like there was a whole lot of shaking going on . Go through the entire machine , cleaning , lubing and most of all tightening things up . But , be sure to bolt it down solidly . Wyr God bless

[@scotthankins55]

Also get a collet chuck for doing milling work, this will give your mills better stability and make them more consistent

[@scribblargh]

You should check out This Old Tony's fly cutter build. You could make a mini version for your mini mill :D

[@Iosifavich]

+1 for a TOT Mention...

[@das250250]

Link?

[@WTF_BBQ]

Bought one of these few months ago and I completely underestimated its weight. This thing is super heavy.

[@overlord5209]

This video has been up for 5 months and we haven't seen it in proper use. I understand if it didn't work out or you have been busy, but im really interested to see if it worked out or not?

[@TimNummy]

Hey! Thanks so much for sticking around - since I got the mill and made this video I bought a new garage and have been busy moving in and setting up as well as a bunch of other life things getting in the way including pretty much ALL my camera gear getting stolen out of a rental car, so making proper videos isn't easy at the moment while I fight with insurance. The next thing I have planned on deck is building a proper cabinet/bench for the lathe and the mill and then I will definitely start using it.... I really should make an update video or do a live stream q+a. Thanks again!

[@pancake_crab4457]

Tips from a guy who does not own a mill: Bolt your mill to a Very heavy and sturdy workbench. Buy a proper milling vise (drill press vises aren't the most accurate). Make some walls to put around the back and sides of your mill to keep the chips from flying everywhere. Also, check your drill chuck. It looks very out of center. Maybe that's just the body, but it probably won't help with vibration.

[@CafeenMan]

I don't get why nobody ever does unboxings using explosives.

[@TimNummy]

Haha, to be fair - I couldn't find any fireworks when I had the idea...

[@jerbear7952]

They do sometimes but then no one is left to edit the video...

[@someolddude7076]

Hold my beer...

[@caseylusk8478]

Make sure you tram the table out and use collets instead of chuck, 2 flute high speed steel end mill is better for aluminum in my experience and use your speeds and feeds, little machine shop has a good calculator for that.

[@alsairafi91]

Lift with your knees not your back @1:40

[@colinedmondson1720]

Safety First ;)

[@Paul-gz5dp]

There are a couple of things, you should get some collets and use them to hold an end mill instead of a drill chuck to get better cuts. The other thing is square the vice and that is easy to do with the edge finder. When I decide to look for a mini mill I will be looking for a CNC. The most important thing is to get collets for your mini mill, and those are on many sites including banggood.

[@daddybear7062]

Maybe use it to mill a new garage door bottom section for that hella rotten bottom section!

[@Metalbass10000]

Please, use either V blocks, or soft jaws with a matching radius milled into each. A different approach would be a 3 have chuck mounted flat on the table.

[@slawekkrosno]

got one too. and broke after very first drill in aluminium profile. So I decided to check what happend and I oppened it. I was shocked. this machine has all rack in gear box made of cheap and fragile plastic. Of course all my rack are shattered..

[@ricardoroman7950]

A mi me pasó lo mismo, lo resolví convirtiendola a correas... estoy feliz con la modificación mejoró 100%

[@slawekkrosno]

I sent my racks to a company that produced new but steel ones. Now I'm happy too :)

[@blackvic5157]

Call the Merry Maids to clean up in there. Next, don't ever pick up heavy objects like that! And finally, congrats on getting the mill.

[@endutubecensorship]

1:39 "lift only with your arms and back in a twisting/jerking motion"

[@chrispope9528]

Best advice I can give, bolt it down. The wobble won't go away but it can be improved.

[@arthurc1971]

Trying to get metal shards in the old fingers? lol, great video, I wish I had one and knew how to use it.

[@HepauDK]

I know how to use one (learned fitter), but doesn't have the space for one. I've lost count of how many times I have thought to myself "this would be so much easier if I had a mill". :P And the same goes with a lathe.

[@finallyitsed2191]

I’m quite the expert at getting metal shards in my fingers but have found the perfect solution; Black Gorilla Tape. Just stick a piece on the affected area, rub it on really well, then rip it off. You’ll be glad you did and you can leave the tweezers in your wife’s makeup drawer. BTW, I know this is a cheap mill but how many times I’ve forced my drill press to play the part of a mill makes me want one. This one is plenty good enough for me.

[@crispinp-p397]

To get a better finish and get a better milling experience, use kerosene as a lubricant. Similarly, when threading aluminum using a HSS tap, use kerosene. Try tapping or milling with and without that so see the difference.

[@poshgaming1637]

For a start get it of the wooden pallet, stops the weebal wooble (AvE quote)

[@davidkohler7454]

Don't think this little guy turns very many ripems.and ain't too scoocum.

[@code3responsevideos872]

Fly cutter is a great way to face parts and has a great finish

[@tzisorey]

Always curious how hard it'd be to mount some stepper motors to these things and convert them to some variety of CNC

[@mjolinor]

I added one to mine. No reason why you could not add three: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJTKXmaJZZ2DhMU

[@donmazurick1821]

When milling, I have never had any luck using a drill chuck to hold your end mills. Get your self a cheap collet set. I have a little machine shop 3990 mill. Have had it for at least 10 years and love it Enjoy