[cadmonkey]

Looks very nice. You'll like having everything in one box - glad you were able to find one reasonably. Keep the pics coming, we all love machine pron

Greg

[firestorm1284]

Well it has been awhile since I posted to my thread. I have been pretty busy with life. BUT, I did get the 8x14 lathe as well as get pretty much my whole shop setup pretty well established. I built a second larger bench for the lathe with a big workspace. I now have lines from my air compressor running to both machines, various shelving, and a storage rack for all the collets, chucks, etc. I purchased quite a bit of tooling, end mills, indexable cutting tools for the lathe, a boring head with indexable boring bars, two keyless chucks, a live center, a quick change tool post (Not mounted yet), etc. I started machining my first practice parts, and things seem to be going well!

[Teyber12]

wow nice!

[ViperTX]

Well, it looks like you're getting it together.....Darn, how large a vise did you get....makes the X3 look like an X2.

Paul

[firestorm1284]

Hey thanks guys! It has been really fun putting it together. Yes it is a 5" vise from Enco. I really didn't know it was going to be THAT large on the mill, but it fits, and I'm sure I'll be happy I have the extra room.

Now I just have to figure out why the mill won't give me a good finish while facing...

[ZipSnipe]

Hey congrats on the new mill, looks like you'll need to tram the mill(square it up) You'll need a test dial indicator for this, somewhere online someone shows ya how to do it step by step.

Now what I don't like is the wasted spaces underneath your bench's! Don't get me wrong they do look sturdy and it does lend to a clean look however practical they are not! I see you're in a basement, so I would think you need all the space saving ideas you can get, and you can build sturdy workbenches with storage that will be plenty strong for the machines! Here try these forums for workbench ideas. http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthr...reads.php?Cat=

Woodnet you'll need to register to see the pics but this one ya don't have to register http://lumberjocks.com/projects/page/2

Not trying to put ya down just offering a better bench ideas, you'll be glad you changed your bench to a more storage minded workbench. Keep up the good work!!!!

[SCzEngrgGroup]

BTW - Using wood racks to hold your collets and other tools is a bad idea - acids will leech out of the wood and rust and stain your tools.

Regards,
Ray L.

[firestorm1284]

Zipsnipe, I have already trammed the mill... what makes it "look" as if it still needs to be trammed? I am new to this, so I guess it's possible I did it wrong.

Also, I know that there is a lot of wasted space under the benches. I specifically designed them so that when I have the time, I can cut rectangular holes in the front to add drawers. The supports are already inside. The bench that the mill is on, I may not even bother since the lathe bench is 8 feet long and will be WAY more storage than I need. The supports are a lot further apart on that bench as well, because the lathe isn't nearly as heavy and half the bench is workspace. All I need is drawer slides and drawers. Right now, I just wanted to get the stuff up and running, but eventually I'll add a TON of drawer space.

Himy - Thanks for the tip on that, I'll see if I can add a plastic sleeve or something in the holes as a barrier between the wood and the collets.

[xl97]

Man... nice set-up.. everything looks great.

I just got an 8x12.. (no mill as of yet)..

but your shop and machines are inspirational to a fellow 'cheesehead' (Im from South East WI as well)

[devers6]

I have an X3 (Grizzly Super X3), and I get the best finish using a face mill with indexable inserts.

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...m_source=froog

I have both a 2" and a 3" and both work fine on the X3 as long as I keep cut depth very light. If I keep the feed rate slow I can get almost a mirror finish on aluminum. And you don't get the rows of swirls that are the signature of an endmill, even if it is perfectly trammed.