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

[@crichtonbruce4329]

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!

[@Bob_Adkins]

Agree! I use an angle grinder to do the roughing in, and even a little more. Back when I used one to scrape for the first time, I was worried about gouging and over grinding. I was very, very careful, but was surprised by how gentle, accurate, and controllable an angle grinder could be. They can hog off the worst high spots in no time. Tradition is a good thing, but wasting time is a bad thing. The traditionalists will squawk about grit and gouging, but this hasn't been a problem for me.

[@nuneke0]

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

[@smashyrashy]

Probably just buy the mext best one

[@PSY7HON]

after he gets that bandsaw.

[@nuneke0]

@@PSY7HON I hope he builds one!

[@jambusspeakermouse1325]

Ha, as soon as i saw the title i thought "he's getting an upgrade!"

[@artisanmakes]

Nah, the plan is to keep this one for the foreseeable future. It’s a pretty good piece of kit these days, and I really don’t need anything larger at the moment

[@MyTubeSVp]

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

[@perrystoll6122]

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

[@donmittlestaedt1117]

Thank you, I appreciate your work and opinions.

[@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 .

[@ScheunenTecCNC]

Strong Mini Mill, thanks for showing all the updates

Usinagem sempre é um show 👏👏😊

[@victoryvisiontour]

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

[@douglashank8480]

Sounds like good advice all around. Thanks!

[@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

[@alewis8765]

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.

[@christiantrab6160]

The gearboxes in these cheap lathe are terrible, I had one like it from new, they make a terrible noise.

[@lindonwatson5402]

another excellent video, thanks M Makes

[@jurgenbartels2743]

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

[@mikemcdonough1793]

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

[@trollforge]

Love the Coffee Stirrer!

[@FamTech.]

Great job mate🎉

[@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

[@graedonmunro1793]

lots of good advice!!

[@colemine7008]

You made a very good machine there.

[@samuelb6960]

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?

[@Kineth1]

I'm glad to see someone else caught the Spaceballs reference.

[@BakerGlare]

"We're At Now, Now."

[@Hilmi12]

That is the most expensive coffee stirrer ever

[@Kineth1]

0:28 I was not expecting a Spaceballs reference.

[@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?

[@rohanfielder6796]

I love this video. Three thumbs up!😂

[@wmweekendwarrior1166]

Good stuff

[@cocon16_PW]

With each video you're become more and more This Australian Tony xD

[@Neudezign]

Oh *slaps forehead*, that's how you make a good cup of coffee 😂😉Well damn, I need to go out and get myself a mini-mill. Good stuff mate, I love the upgrades you've made to it. You definitely made it your own and made it work for your workspace and the type of projects you do. 👍

[@ImolaS3]

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

[@bobaloo2012]

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.

[@jimmyfleebot]

Time to get a bigger one now!

[@rsc4peace971]

Overall very good upgrades and reviews all in one place. I have a very similar mill to yours and noticed you have some sort of brace for the cover on the left side of the spindle crank handle which appears like a fix for a problem I have where the cover is always popping out. Could you explain what you have done to fix it. I am thinking of making some of the upgrades you have done to improve the overall user convenience and even low end power issues you mention. All the best for the coming year with more advanced projects and cheers from USA

[@combatcurtful]

Love the Spaceballs reference

[@stormdrifter7904]

I always think your mill looks like Optimus Prime

[@4GibMe]

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?

[@jamesfield5346]

How difficult are dro's to install? I'm going to buy one for my mini lathe and kind of want a heads up how frustrating it will be or if I'm able to do it myself.

[@KingBjord]

I really appreciate the spaceballs reference

[@guloguloguy]

LOL!!!!!!!!!! VERY FUNNY INTRO!!!!!!!! ..."MR. RADAR"....

[@eragonpower2397]

The spaceball referente at the beginning had me cracking😂

[@jonathanmulzer17]

That vise handle looks like Stevie Wonder welded it with his feet. 😆

[@artisanmakes]

Sulphurised steel will do that

[@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.

[@vivigarr]

The problem is finding them used. They don't pop up as often - or even at a good price a lot of times. At least not here where I am at in the US. As much as everyone on the internet loves to hate on them, I rarely see them sold used and if they are they are very well used so they must have worked for what they needed.

[@corey_nz]

@@vivigarr in New Zealand, good condition used milling machines are usually very hard to find. Hobby size lathes pop up quite often (there's actually a lot for sale currently, about a year ago there didn't seem to be many) but home sized mills in any part of the country may only pop up every other week

[@soothcoder]

Haha! Did you dub over 'I was experiencing stiffness issues' and replace the word stiffness with rigidity? - I have and MH28V Optimum and wouldn't mind adding some of your upgrade also. Thanks for the ideas! Luckily I got a broken powerfeed for free but unfortunately it was the sort meant for a knee mill so I had to change out the bevel gear for a straight gear and make a bracket to take the power feed. Very much glad I did it though! And all that was wrong with it was the switch! Is that an Ausee vice? Not too bad but better without the angle base (as you have it).

[@messylaura]

ok 34 seconds in and coffee that colour!!

[@P.Trim69]

Cool

[@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.

[@wildgophers91]

Any one else surprised he used a disc grinder instead of a hacksaw?

[@johnkunze5362]

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.🤗

[@artisanmakes]

No. Lead, cast iron and epoxy Garnett have very high damping coefficients. I added those. They also have high mass. Rubber has a high damping coefficient but has low mass.

[@jrk1666]

local man is going insane

[@barryporteous4904]

I was thinking of fitting ballscrews to mine, if possible.

[@zarni-dude]

Find the budget, I want to be introduced to Mr Radar!! I wouldn't want to go over your helmet :-)

[@Raye938]

lmao the starting sounds made me think I was watching blondihacks for a second.

[@JordanHaisley]

Look at the tomek dbs22, it’s a fairly cheap way to sharpen end mills.

[@N1ghtR1der666]

urggh, Raspberry!

[@freestyla101]

Genuine question: why don’t you just slip your 20mm tooling into a 20mm ER32 collet? You just loosen the nut and swap the tool. Same as what you’re doing now

[@CornflakesOriginal]

If you do that you have to fiddle with three pieces and you loose the height. (his toolholders have shoulder) At that point you might as well change the morsetaper collet in the spindle and end up with more rigidity and concentricity

[@freestyla101]

@@CornflakesOriginal i agree with the height point but the rest is virtually the same. You’re only loosening the collet nut so that it drops out. Same as loosing the draw bar to release mt3 collet

[@jonarnold7689]

I love what you do! I’d be interested in the $ spent versus just buying a better quality milling machine? I understand the modifications are half the fun, but there is a trade off here?

[@artisanmakes]

Bigger machine is always better but if you don’t have the money to buy a bigger machine then you don’t have the money to buy a bigger machine. This isn’t my job so I have to be careful about what I spend on machinery.

[@oliverer3]

Mach Super has an amazing video on scraping if anyone is looking to try it out!

[@paulypaulypauly8011]

So where could I get a “no mist” coolant sprayer here in Australia? Thanks

[@artisanmakes]

I’m pretty sure you could get a fog buster kit off eBay. That’s my first go to

[@harkbelial]

That's not coffee, that's milk!

[@neffk]

A scraping project! Is your scraper dull? It looks like you're working pretty hard. That radius is quite narrow, which probably makes the work more difficult. You're digging in and stopping hard, which probably is a clue to do something different. One of the old-hand's tricks is making a flexible handle which naturally gives you a soft start and soft stop. Perhaps you need a bit more negative rake at the cutting edge? These are all minor points compared to the job you've done.

[@artisanmakes]

White cast iron which the gibs are made of here is much harder than the normal grey cast iron the saddle and table are made of. I don’t like scraping it. Cheer

[@phantomvir]

There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry.....*slams helmet closed* LONE STARRRR!!!

[@Pushyhog]

you monster:-)

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

I don't need to check it, I know on my mini mill the gibs are garbage and I rather expect the dovetails are not very good on the table either. But the motor and spindle, really the whole Z section is really darn good (for such a small machine anyway). And its been useable enough to not be worth fixing - I keep figuring I'll replace my mini set up with a larger more capable lathe and enough extra bits to treat it like a small mill in whichever fashion I I end up with - maybe even just making at attachment to put the current mini-mills shocking good column on it...

[@jamesfield5346]

Roflmao... That's the best way to stir your coffee, lol

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Obligatory algorithm boost 👍👍

[@jastoddart]

while great upgrades I'm wondering with the expense you put into it whether a more expensive machine to start would have been more cost efective.

[@billdoodson4232]

You beat me to it. I know he mentions space considerations, but the bigger bench mills don't really take up much more space and are quite a bit sturdier. Having said that, the next thing you do with them is what he has done with this one.

[@erwinkonopka7071]

Me looking at the beginning: You better not have an accident because I AM NOT EXPLAINING THIS S**** TO SAFETY INSPECTOR.

[@rjung_ch]

👍💪✌

[@roberthercules3159]

16:05 I'm pretty sure you meant to say "if they do offer a **brushless** motor version..." here 😂

[@otterconnor942]

Corrosion preventive is an antioxidant

[@georgegeorgiev2610]

What kind of run out do you get on this mini mill?

[@artisanmakes]

About 0.01mm of run out in the spindle taper. 0.015-0.02 if you measure an endmill in its holder

[@leflavius_nl5370]

The Mill of Theseus, coming soon.

[@mudgem3742]

With the money and time spent on upgrades- you could have got a real mill. 😁

[@artisanmakes]

Well you can. I never had the $6-7000 to drop on this hobby

[@MrTimmmers]

My god, that scraping. Best way to make a scraper is from an old file, heat it, batter it flat and make an arced tip then harden by quenching it again, grind the end to a cutting edge. Coolant can cause nasty skin conditions if you get it on you a lot, it's tough to get rid of.

[@artisanmakes]

I’ve never much liked tool steel scrapers, I much prefer carbide. Especially when I have to do white cast iron

[@Seanfrtd]

what size vice do you have??

[@artisanmakes]

It’s a 100mm - 4inch

[@ThePottingShedWorkshop]

Be careful. Resolution and accuracy are not the same thing. Just because the reading says its within 5um, doesnt mean its real. Cheap scales may have resolution, but not accuracy. Having said that, a DRO is probably the best improvement you can do on a mill to improve ease of use.

[@fedrigaz]

Initail D on machine.. oh no only mrCoffee

[@asvarien]

Like a little bit of coffee in your milky water?

[@jarrodrainsford8296]

@Artisan Makes How would I contact you? I Have some tooling that you maybe interested in as we no longer have a machine that it fits into.

[@larrybud]

Which mill do you have?

[@jurgenp.2488]

That could be a Sieg SX 2.7L.

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

Used to be a sieg 2.7😂🤣🤣🤣

[@valmirlima2746]

Traduzir os comentários deacordo com localização territorial bom vc com🪒

[@Newbforlyf]

What milling machine is this

[@artisanmakes]

Sieg x2.7l

[@Kineth1]

15:50 Brushless?

[@jurgenp.2488]

With the new engine, yes.

[@Kineth1]

@@jurgenp.2488 I mean in the video, he was talking about brushless being better, then at that point, he said that if the mill had the option, you should get the brushed motor.

[@ego73]

Y'know, I still don't know your name, matey. Mine's Ian.

[@user-ou2wn7xi1b]

7:35 what?! no hacksaw?!!!!!!

[@BrainHurricanes]

Lame 😄

[@KenjiDev]

I started form WSD-16 drilling, added ER-25 collet, DRO, colling, crosstable and for about 1000$ i've got way stiffer machine then this one on video :) cheers!

[@artisanmakes]

That’s all well and good, I’d like to see it. Best of luck

[@bjondersson]

@KenjiDev, just curious, how can you tell it’s way stiffer?

[@markrainford1219]

Do you like coffee with your milk?

[@WaddedBliss]

Why not skim the gibs on the mill rather than scraping them?

[@Kineth1]

That could be a great option if the gibs are really off, but... You can't use the mill to cut the gibs while you have the table taken apart.

[@WaddedBliss]

@@Kineth1 Ah. Yeah.

[@Mike40M]

Having a masters degree in machine tool design, scraping is the way to do it. If you wants precision.

[@WaddedBliss]

@@Mike40M Is there a reason why? Given that Artisan Makes was talking about microns and whatnot, it seems a very imprecise way of machining.

[@Mike40M]

@@WaddedBliss Back in 1974 we did a tour to a number of machine tool manufacturers. All of them said that their grinding machines was so good that they didn't need scraping. But when touring the factories they all had workers busy with scraping. There is two reasons for scraping. First to get a better plane surface. A rough estimate is that the precision of a machine tool shall be ten times better than the machined part. A skilled worker can make a surface better than one micrometer (half an tenthousand of an inch). Second reason is to improve lubrication by making tiny scratches. The scraping in this video does both.

[@graealex]

10:23 Those welds though 💀You could re-use the parts. Remove the three handles, clean up the center part on the lathe, and then thread both the center part and all three handles, and screw in with lock-tite.

[@WaddedBliss]

Not impressed. You used an angle grinder to cut that shank down instead of a hacksaw.

[@perrystoll6122]

But not mentioning it *is* the joke.

[@the_normal_guy9308]

16:17 Thats not what you buy for that...

[@EltonMcManus]

I thought that was a cup of tea and nearly unsubscribed because of how milky it was.

[@apollorobb]

At the end of the day its still a tiny little thing thats limited in what it can do. If you want a big boy mill buy a BIG BOY mill .

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

Im sure he can fit a K&T 330 tf 17 on that back porch💁‍♂️ wood floor and all

[@apollorobb]

@@britenrhodehouse8692 Im sure thats what i was talking about putting a HBM on a wood floor. There are table top Mills bigger than that that are useful

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

@@apollorobb but are still just that... A table top mill💁‍♂️ and still, the bigger of them far exceed the load capacity of and old wood floor and offer little improvements over what he has now. I'd say the guy has done a pretty good job with what he has to work with.

[@inquisitive_stranger]

You found anything? Nothing sir..... How about you? We ain't found shit!!

[@Festivejelly]

Thats the weakest coffee ive ever seen!

[@revbobuk]

That's the worst looking cup of coffee I've seen in years!

[@JETHO321]

Out of projects eh?

[@JETHO321]

Also, you're sacrificing rigidity by not putting your tools directly in the MT collets in the spindle.

[@artisanmakes]

Well yes I said that in the video, but everything is a compromise. And no, I’m just on holiday at the moment. This stuff was all filmed in November last year.

[@GavinM161]

That's a TERRIBLE looking cup of tea. You can tell you're an Aussie! 🙂

[@robertbutler8004]

Come on man cut out out the childish coffee stirring.

[@bobdickweed]

I see a new Mill , in your Future .../ Soon