Milling Tooling

[CTX-SLPR]

Howdy,

Well I finally found the right size mini (Rong Fu RF-30) but it only comes with R8 collets and a swivel vise. I'm going to need to pickup the rest of the tooling to get it working. Where is a good place to get a "starter kit" of R8 end mills, cutters and the basic means to set up parts on the table?

A google search has turned up a pretty good kit from www.littlemachineshop.com and Amazon lists a Jet kit but I've not dug enough into it to see if it's a Morse Taper or an R8.

Thanks,

[HEMI]

Re: Milling Tooling

ENCO.

[tardis454]

Re: Milling Tooling

I got my machinist stuff from mcmaster carr when I ran warner & swasey, & acme gridley automatics... They have everything.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#

[CTX-SLPR]

Re: Milling Tooling

Ok.... so I start making arrangements to drive to Denver to pick up a real Rong Fu RF30 when a Central Machinery clone pops up here local.

I'm no expert and I can't afford a new mill of this size (which is my ideal really). Both are around 10yrs old and are the same price. Is a real Tiawanese Rong Fu noticably better than the clone?

Thanks,

[ch1ll]

Re: Milling Tooling

not sure what this machine tool is, but look on ebay for everything.

[RAIV70Judge]

Re: Milling Tooling

As a machinist, the company I work for uses MSC for all our tooling needs. Maybe try MSC.com.....

[RR]

Re: Milling Tooling

ENCO.

Compare with McMaster and MSC- Enco is cheaper than them most of the time. McMaster has everything, but they are pricey.

I would look at both machines- look at how tight they are- is there any slop in the machines? Let that decide for you. I doubt that there is a significant difference in quality.

[Hamar]

Re: Milling Tooling

I've been in the machinist trade for better than 30 years. I use MCS and McMaster Carr for my supply needs. I will not use Enco. Enco is cheaper but you get what you pay for. What do you plan on machining or using this import machine for?

[Loren]

Re: Milling Tooling

You might be able to find a collet set at a used machinery dealer also.

I have a friend with a Central Machinery drill press and it's a piece of crap. Taiwanese-made usually beats Chinese.

Also consider Rutland for cutters, etc...they have pages of them. Don't get the cheapest ones 'cause they'll suck, and the priciest ones are unneccesary.

[CTX-SLPR]

Re: Milling Tooling

Hobby machining but I do plan on doing stuff that will go on my '64 Riviera with it.

I started reading and reading more about the RF## serious of Mill/Drills and I'm a bit worried now about them in general. While I'm not doing anything close to production type pieces I do need things to be precise and preferably not overcomplicated to used repeatably. Seeing the limitation on mill/drill with the round column and indexing it back has made me want to find a used knee mill with a similar sized table. I think I'd be happy for a while with the mill drill but I think I'd want a real vertical knee mill at some point relatively soon as I figure out how to truly use the machine. Unfortunately knee mills seem to come in the tiny (modeling and small prototyping) or the large (full on bridgeport at 2500+lbs). A 28x9in table is really what I'm after. Something large enough put something significant on it but not so large it kills my garage space.

Thoughts?

[Darren N.]

Re: Milling Tooling

I've never used a mill/drill combo before but they are certainly tempting for the home shop. One of my buddies and his twin brother have a table top mill and lathe. They've been cranking out all kinds of custom part for their downhill bicycles and more recently, their car projects. Depending on your specific needs, the capacity of the machine may be fine for the moment. For most purposes, a small mill like you have will be great for making and modifying smaller parts like brackets.

I've worked on a few vertical mills and as much as I'd like to have an old Bridgeport with a digital readout, I'd have to have a decent size shop to put it in. My neighbour had one in his double car garage but he didn't find himself using the machine to its full capacity on a regular basis so he sold it. He replaced it with a Deckel like the ones in the site below:

http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/

I had spent some time on a Deckel before when I was in tech college but over the last few weeks I've been working on one regularly in my neighbour's home machine shop setup. I've really become quite fond of it and I think I might opt for one of these as my first mill whenever it is I get to setup my own home shop.

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Milling Tooling

I'd think parts avail and repair a ability would be more of a forthought than anything else when buy'n used other than it being in spec and suitable for what you need..

[DanStokes]

Re: Milling Tooling

I've seen used Bridgeports for reasonable prices (I haven't looked for a while but I think they were about a $grand). If the ways are reasonably tight they'll do magic things (after you learn how to use one). As noted, they DO take up some floor space but if you live anywhere near other humans you can pay for it in short order doing small jobs for others. Making slots for engine brackets - that sort of stuff. Make sure the table doesn't move when you yank on it in any direction.

When Keith gets back from Drag Week hopefully he'll chime in. He has a smaller knee mill that is, I think, Japanese. It's quite a nice machine, although I haven't seen it in action.

Dan