Garage upgrade

It's about 10 degrees in there at the moment. I've got a small tube heater to take the chill off (though I think I need more) and a fan heater for when I'm actually in there.

Thanks! I'm very pleased with it, and it's great to be able to have somewhere like this to work/tinker/escape.

Just finished installing the next big chunk of cast iron. 2nd hand Warco bench top mill with X-axis power feed and 3-axis DRO. Had to rejig the workbenches to try and improve the layout - trying to prevent swarf mixing with tyres - and still have loads of sorting left to do before I get my tools in the right place.

1 Attachment

Severe envy

I call that a pretty good update after 4 months. Looks well smart.

Nice machinery and lovely organisation. What are you making in this wonderful garage?

Thank you!

@platypus the end goal is to be able to build bike frames. At the moment I'm making tooling, practicing my machining and putting off the decision about whether to go for TIG or oxy acetylene for the first one.

This is the fixture I've been working on. I got to the point where I figured out that using the lathe to do milling ops was a problem, so that's where the milling machine came in.

Next few items will be the bottom bracket holder and dummy rear axles for the fixture and a load more tube blocks.

1 Attachment

Looks great nice work!

Thank you!

First go at making something on the mill this morning - a cube that will eventually become a tube block. Got within 0.08mm of my target dimensions on the first go, quite happy with that. Spindle is a bit squeaky on deeper cuts so I think I need to play with the feeds and speeds, but the finish is good.

2 Attachments

I've been thinking about buying a (made in England) pillar drill for a while, then typically discovered some can be used for milling with the right tooling. Do you think there's an argument for buying a dedicated mill, that can be used as a pillar drill as opposed to the other way around?

Though they're broadly similar, there are significant differences between a mill and a drill that mean they're not great at what the other can do.

You can drill on a mill, but the work envelope is small unless you have a big mill and the quill travel can be short - therefore it's an expensive drill press, unless you're going to use it for other stuff. Drill bits can be quite long, so you quickly run out of z-axis travel.

You could mill on a drill but you need either a collet chuck or Morse taper collets and a drawbar to retain the cutters properly. A three jaw chuck will not hold a milling cutter securely. Also the spindle bearings aren't really suited for the side loads from milling and the machine almost certainly won't be rigid enough for larger cuts. You will also need some kind of x-y table to position your workpiece. You do get loads of z-axis space to play with, and the drill is easy use with larger workpieces.

You can do a lot with a pillar drill and I'd definitely recommend one if you've got space. But I'd also recommend getting a mill too. They complement each other really nicely - being able to quickly drill stuff while the mill is setup doing something else is very useful.

Thanks for the detailed yet clear reply, appreciate that when coming new to all this. Sounds like a decent pillar drill with modest milling capabilities would suit me better as an introduction to the basic principles.

How are you getting on with the mill, and figured out if you want to go TIG or oxy acetylene yet?

I'd start with the pillar drill but don't set your expectations too high in terms of milling capacity. You'll probably get far enough to figure out if you want to get a bigger machine or not.

As for the mill, I've had to take it apart. Something was squeaky under load so I took the motor off to investigate. One of the brush holders was broken and repaired with epoxy and I had to break it out to inspect it.

Now the motor is more knackered than it was and could do with being replaced - but the same unit is £260 with a 10 week lead time. So I'm trying to figure out if I should replace it with a three phase motor and inverter for about the same price. Just means I have to build the control panel now.

As for the welding/brazing, I think I'm going to get oxy acetylene to start with. Easier to find my feet and I'd need a gas torch anyway if I get TIG, so I might as well start with gas. Going to sort the mill motor first though.

Great read and pictures here (and starting from the fallen tree what a ride), interested in to see how your workshop grows.

Thank you!

The milling machine is all up and running now - I replaced the motor with a new identical unit from the manufacturer rather than fitting a VFD. Frame fixture is coming along slowly and I finally bought a TIG welder. Flat packed welding table arrived last week so I just need to tack that together and get on with practicing again.

Any updates / pics?
Where did you get your 50/50 side hinged door from? I’m currently looking at Teckentrup doors but they’re pretty £ !
Thanks

Only update is that it's a shit-tip in there at the moment! I'm halfway through a whole bunch of stuff (welding, machining, bike servicing, house painting etc) and haven't actually finished anything for months.

Garage doors were from https://www.lathamssteeldoors.co.uk - mostly straightforward to fit, and cost about £1500 for the complete custom set.

Thanks for the link that’s a pretty good price- have you planted a new tree yet? 😉

Ha, yes! We planted an ornamental cherry earlier this year.