Lathe for milling?

Burton Harruff

Burton Harruff

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Oct 1, 2007
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Anyone have any experience milling on a lathe? Is it a good or bad idea? I just picked up a nice Logan lathe for dirt cheap ($100.00) with a ton of tooling included. I have been doing some looking at accessories and came across a milling vise for use on the lathe. I have been using my drill press for this operation and think that the lathe has got to be more rigid and precise than my drill press and a harbor freight milling vise. Here is a milling attachment I found on ebay and a pic of the lathe. Thanks -Burton
 

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If the attachment is well constructed you can mill on a lathe just as well as a mill. (You can also use a lathe as a cold saw folks). The connection to the lathe needs to be stiff, and that attachment in your picture doesn't look stiff to me. It sticks out pretty far and those skinny legs are going to limit the depth of cut you can attempt without flexing being a problem. But I'm sure it would get the job done.

I never like putting a cutter into jaws that are softer than that cutter. For example, I don't like putting carbide drill bits in my precision drill chucks because if they seize in use they can ruin the precision of the drill chuck. I buggered up a $300 drill chuck this way about a week ago. I don't like putting any kind of endmill in my lathe chucks for the same reason. If you are set up to run collets in your spindle, that would be the way to go. Otherwise take care not to bugger up your lathe chuck by gripping an endmill with it..
 
I'm a machinist like Nathan is and I'll back up what he said. If you ever spin an end mill in a three or four jaw standard chuck you'll never be able to trust that chuck again. A collet chuck would be much better if you're going to use it that way but it's still not the best substitute for a mill.

IMHO, I'd just be proud of that lathe and then save my nickels for a decent milling machine to go along with it.
 
I do have several sizes of collets for it. I might do some more research on the attachments to see if any are more sturdy. I don't really have the cash for a real mill right now and am not pleased with using the drill press.
 
deker said:
Not to hijack this thread, but tell us more about this Nathan.....

-d
Click to expand...



*Hijack*

The simplest way is to put a slitting saw and arbor in your chuck and clamp whatever you're cutting into your four way tool post. A better way is to chuck up a shaft and turn a diameter down to a shoulder to mount your saw blade, drill and tap the end and secure the blade with a screw and washer. That way your blade runs true and you don't have to worry about mucking up an arbor by clamping on it..

Taking it a step farther you remove your compound rest and bolt in a vice to hold your work better. And a friend of mine who had a lot of sawing to do removed the cross feed screw and rigged up a lever to feed the work in.

You can used any kind of blade, but blades designed for cold sawing work best for cold sawing. Slitting wheels work for smaller stuff, and I've even used a wood cutting saw blade from Lowes for brass. Run the lathe in its lowest speed. A lathe like that Logan will have a back gear that turns around 60 RPM.

You want the saw blade pushing the work piece down, not self feeding it in.

*End Hijack*
 
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