HF Mini mill as a drill press

balibalistic

balibalistic

Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
2,623
I know,i know...,bigger is better!!

But i dont want to mill.

I find it a real PITA to contantly change and reset everything on my mill/drill to do bearing races.i got to thinking...,maybe one of these mini mill's would work ok???

Do you'd think these would do ok as just a precise drill press for doing bearing races and drilling alot of holes??the only milling i could see myself doing is using a fly cutter to surface my fixture plates square to cutter.

i'd make another one of these and leave it set up for strictly drilling,maybe re surface it now and again!! do you think i'd have to do a belt conversion for such light milling once a month or so???

millplate.jpg


Lets hear from some of you guys who own one.

or want to part with one!! :)
 
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I have one of these and use it for several operations. Recessing slip joint liners, Cutting nail nicks with a fly cutter, Cutting locks in liner lock folders, Most drilling operations and small milling jobs. The biggest attractions to me for this machine was the cross slide tables, the slots for locking items down to the table and the variable speed. If you get one, just spend some time setting it up properly and think you will be happy with it.

I retrofit mine with the air piston instead of the torsion spring. It makes for better x axis movement.

If you plan on fly cutting, I would suggest that you retrofit the belt drive assembly as well. If you sneeze while fly cutting a surface, the cutter will dig in and shear the cheapo nylon gears off. The belt drive will also allow you to almost double the high end speed and cut down on the noise.
 
I fourth the belt drive. Just the noise reduction is nice but those nylon gears are a PITA!

I see little reason why you couldn't mount something like your little set up there on the far end of the table and slide it out from under the chuck to use a different side of the table for other operations but I suppose you could run into some limits with movement. Bill (Cigarman) first told me about the HF mill and I took his advice and bought one. I had some initial problems with the first one which was the micro. Got rid of that one and stepped into this one and its much better, especially with the belt drive which helps a lot with any kind of plunge cutting or flywheel cutting you run into.

STR
 
Ok,thanks for the info guys!!!

if i can find one for sale i will get it and do the belt conversion,definitly,aswell as other mods!! this could be fun :)!does anyone know if HF will ship to canada??

Or know of elsewhere i could look??
 
HF will not ship to canada.

Busy bee tools, and house of tools, along with princess auto carries similar junk at inflated prices....
 
In my experience mail ordering from HF is not always a good thing anyway. I mail ordered my bead blast cabinet from them only to get one bent so bad the lid didn't shut right and had to take it back. Mail ordered my wife's 1x30 sander and had to take it to the store to replace it too and of course I've already mentioned I had to take the first mill back to get this one. As a general policy anymore I make it a habit to drive to the store even though for me its 100 miles plus round trip. This way I can check what I get in the parking lot or in the store if they let me and know what I'm getting is a good one with no missing or broken pieces.

STR
 
I ordered my mini mill through a HF store, about 35 mi from me. That way you don't pay shipping. I checked it out before taking delivery at the store. The store manager also let me use the in-store 20% discount coupon I had. Saved a lot of money that way. It requires two trips, one to pay and one to pickup, but it's worth the trouble.
 
Thanks guys!!

i guess i'll have to keep an eye out on the forums and auction sites and hopefully i can find one.actually looks like it could be alot of fun to tinker with and modify....,like i need more distractions :)
 
Bill or Mike could one you guys post a pic of the belt conversion ? Thanks in advance Glen .
 
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Thanks Bill. I'd forgotten what a chatter box it was before installing the belt drive. :barf:

For what its worth I've never found reason to move it to high speed range. Not once. High in low range is more than enough.

STR
 
Guys,

if i were to lock head in place to surface a plate,then use as a drill press,would spindle remain square to plate?? with my mill,i tighten the head down and its always square to whatever pplate i surfaced.
 
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