cheap mills

[p1ckf1sh]

Can anyone here suggest a cheap mill suitable for working on locks and metal in general? Something a hobbyist can afford, nothing for continous use but something that will once in a while help getting a project done.

What features and specifications should one look for? What rpm is adequate? I have seen an auction on ebay for a beefed up drill press that claims to be a mill as well, but it will only go up to 3000-something rpm. Is that enough? I thought mills were rotating faster, like a Dremel? Is that thing a useful machine or is it more like a hybrid that leaves something to be desired in both?

Then I have also found the Proxxon MF70 which looks kinda more professional, and which goes up to 20.000 rpm. That's quite a difference to the 3300 rpm of the other machine. What is the difference? Are they geared to different usages or is it just a different philosophy of the manufacturers?

Maybe someone knowledgable can shed some light into this. I have never really worked with metal before I got into locks, so I am a bit lost there.

Thanks in advance.

[Shrub]

Most milling is done at very low revs in comparison to things like dremels, 0-800 revs is more than adequate.

A modified drill press does not have the required strength in the z axis bearings to be able to last.

For the prices of those 2 toys you can get a second hand decent floor mounted machine or ebay has further toys i those 3 in 1 machines from japan etc at least that way you get a lathe as well.

Milling isnt somthing you can just get into you really do need to be shown what to do,

The bigger the cutter the slower you go, things like 1mm slot drills will need to be run fast and have a lot of coolant running past them which neither machine has the capability for (unless i missed somthing) and you will also get through a lot of cutters until you learn properly, somthing like a 20mm slot drill will revolve at a much much slower sped and cutting fluid wont be nessacary except for harder materials which then may only require a squirt of oil.

A miler needs to work with collets of some sort and not a drill chuck, a dril chuck can not produce accurite work if you are working down to tight tolerances.

What you need to say is what are you actually wanting it for if its purely for making somthing like a lock cutaway then either of the above machine woul be adequite but care and skill would have to be used, if wanting to make lock decoders for lever locks then neither will get anywhere near the mark you need.

You need backlash eliminators,

Decent slides made from ground hard material,

A decent sized motor but the machine only needs to run up to around 1000 revs at most and that should be in at least 10 steps,

The machine should run on a collet system and have a facility to take a drill chuck if needed so that means a set of collets from around 4mm to 22mm going up in 2mm steps,

You need to look at the travel available its no good having a 80mm x and y travel more like 200mm+ is more adequate for pick making etc and the z axis should be at least 100mm movable and then the ability to reset the height on top of that.

The vice should be able to hold the work securly and things like plastic jaws left alone,

The table should have 'T' slots so you can clamp directly to the table properly,

The 3 travels should be able to be locked properly and not by winding a bolt onto the slidway either,

Spares must be readily available,

Pully systems are adviseable for quietness,

I will say that the price you spend on the machine you can double as the cutters and clamps you need will soon add up,

If you want to do rotary work you will also need to buy a dividing head for indexing or if simple circular cuts are the only thing needed then a simple rotary table will do,

Make sure you can get a dividing head tht will fit that table even if you dont think you need one now,

I could go on and on but this is a quick off the top of my head list, i hope it helps.

[p1ckf1sh]

[...]
Milling isnt somthing you can just get into you really do need to be shown what to do,
[...]
I could go on and on but this is a quick off the top of my head list, i hope it helps.

As usual, you did. At least enough to shove the topic to the back burner.

I was kind of anticipating that this would "mill" (hehe) a hole into my purse pretty heftily when I started looking for "bits" (mill heads, you know what I mean, I hope). Quite a price.

Actually, I don't mind doing all I need to do with my Dremel, I have gotten pretty good on it, the only drawback is that it is just not steady enough (better said, my hands are not steady enough). I hardly ever get a proper straight or evenly spaced cut done. A proper way to mount a Dremel (both pointing down and at a 90° angle) and a little precisely movable table with clamps or a vice would most likely be enough for my needs. That's why these things sparked my interest.

But as you pointed out, they don't seem to be as straightforward as a point-and-click Dremel. I'll prolly go and keep the Dremel and find someone in my area to make the more complicated things from delivered CAD specs before I get killed by some stray material shooting from the mill due to incompetent usage.

Thanks for your answer.

[Shrub]

Go to your local firm and ask for a strip around 1" sqaure of the harest steel they have, then simply clamp that to your lock and use it as a guide for your dremel, the blade if careful wont cut the 'straight edge' youve clamped down and once youve got it marked with a groove you can remove the edge and continue.