Tools

Mini-Mill Spindle/Column Alignment

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This tutorial was written by Earl Hackett, who graciously gave me permission to republish it here.  Earl found that even though his mini-mill was trammed correctly, different length drill bits were not hitting the same spot on the work piece.  He found that the spindle was slightly tipped and tilted instead of being square with the column. … Read the rest

Use Friction Turning to Make Thin Disks and Flywheels on the Lathe

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This article describes how I made two round disks on my lathe out of sheet metal that was too thin to be held in a lathe chuck.  I also could not use a mandrel because one of the disks was not going to have a hole drilled through its center.  The two disks were made from .073-inch thick aluminum sheet metal and are about 5-inches in diameter. … Read the rest

Make or Buy a Power Feed for your Mini-Mill

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I took a couple of machine shop classes and got spoiled by the X-axis power feeds on the Bridgeport mills.  Ever since then I have thought about adding one to my Harbor Freight Mini-Mill (Sieg X2).

Beside reducing wear and tear on your arm and the boredom of turning and turning and turning a wheel, a power feed can produce a better finish on your parts because it moves the table at a more uniform speed than you probably can. … Read the rest