Milling Machine instructional DVD. What would you like to see?

The first thing on it should be "How to tram a Mill"
If that isnt right nothing else you do will be.
 
I have a pretty good mill/drill that I would love to learn how to use right. If it had just half of the stuff Nathan listed I'd buy the video in a heart beat.
 
I would be interested in a video also, i have a small Grizzly mill that i use for guards and other odds and ends. The more information i have the better. Also I received my grinder, That thing is a freakin tank!!! Love it!
 
That's good input and along my same lines of thought.

How many of you have a DRO? I have a lot of content demonstrating the machine with manual dials only. And a complicated project using CAD and the DRO together.

-Rob
 
Manual dials only, if I could afford to put DRO on everything, I'd have already ordered a KMG and picked up a used bridgeport instead of my non-rigid Grizzly
Besides if you can't read a vernier you don't really belong in a machine shop
Hey Rob, everything Nathan said, plus the use of things like Sine bars, I'm totally self taught, and there's a lot of stuff like that that if I knew could really improve my work, possibly to the point where I could sell enough knives to buy one of your grinders :D

-Page
 
Some of the better books on machining - see if you can borrow these at a local library

http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Shop-Trade-Secrets-Manufacturing/dp/0831132272
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Shop-Essentials-Questions-Answers/dp/0975996304/ref=pd_sim_b_img_12
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-shop-Practice-Vol-Shop/dp/0831111267/ref=pd_sim_b_img_5 (2 volumes)


There also US Army manuals on lathe and mill working, free of charge on the Web :)


In general, if you have a mill and a lathe - bought mainly as tools for knifemaking and related, you might consider getting into general metalworking as a hobby. Lots of fun :)
 
I would like you to approach it like this Rob:

"Well, if they stare at the mill for 5 minutes they'll probably figure out how to turn it on."

And then go from there. :D








Seriously.

Nathan's list was awesome. It's all stuff that I know just enough about to know that I don't know how to do any of it RIGHT!
 
I was just hoping for some simple hints on setup and, perhaps a demo
on slotting a guard, but, as Bruce said, if we could absorb all that Nathan
suggests, we'd be doing well :D

I'll definitely be buying your DVD!

Thanks Rob,
Dana
 
Sounds like a great idea, let me know when they're done. I've got a pretty good understanding of how to use my mill, but I'm always open to learning more....


MT
 
Rob, Where are the DVD's ??? I've got my check book ready for one... and I'm saving up for marks avatar (look at avatar on last post)..
 
yeah any word yet
not like i can part with all kinds of $$ right now but this would be for bettering myself
 
how to set up the tabel would be nice, get it level and such. finding center/edge. and what speeds for what bits.
 
Sounds like an awesome video. I just picked up a mill a couple of weeks ago. It has manual controls and I have no machining background.

Allen
 
I'm not sure if you're still soliciting input, and not sure if there are many folks out there like me, in that I know NOTHING. How about doing a simple comparison of the mini mills out there and making purchase recommendations and suggestions. All the rest of the stuff already mentioned could go on from there, like setup, tooling etc etc.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I used to let college kids come out and make parts for their race team in my shop. Having observed relatively bright kids make relatively stupid machining choices, and having been an idiot hack machinist myself at one time, I have a few possible suggestions. In no particular order.

Safety issues such as the helix of a cutter pulling a work piece up out of a vice and throwing it at you and other nasty surprises.

How to calculate speeds and feeds, recommended SFM for carbide and HSS tooling in different materials. (Why big cutters turn slow and little cutters turn fast)

Recommended chip loads for different cutters in different materials.

What causes chatter, how to get rid of it without just slowing down.

Strategies and tooling to achieve good finishes.

Difference between climb and conventional milling and when to use which.

How to accurately fixture a part and securely hold it without deforming it, how to use parallels and a hammer with a vice (and why you can't just hold the part on the table with your hands)

How to zero out your spindle (XY) and cutter (Z).

Machining strategies for roughing and finishing to maximize tool life

Approaches to machining without coolant (and when you really need to break out the squirt bottle)

Machining difficult materials such as work hardening stainless, flexible titanium, abrasive mill scale covered parts, gummy unhardened aluminum or copper, and machining unusual materials such as wood, plastic, bone

Unusual fixturing situations

Using glue or tape to hold thin parts

Moving or rotating your part and maintaining zero.

How to order your operations when machining on multiple sides of a part.

Use of a rotary table

Use of less common tools such as boreing head, reamers, thread mill, broaching in a mill (cutting a square hole).

Introduction to less common tools such as coaxial indicator, sine plate and other cool stuff

How to use an edge finder and what are the different styles for




Also, perhaps a section on machine setup, adjustments, maintenance and lubrication.

Strategies for moving and leveling heavy machines for someone who has never done it

Discussion of 240 power and three phase and phase converters

Overview of CNC and CAD/CAM
Click to expand...

I would like to see individual tutorials like Bruce Bump is doing with his project on all the facets mentioned above with mini mills limitations as not all of us has a Bridgeport.
 
Good on you for taking on such a project.
Video can be a great way to learn.
Does this mean you will be selling mills too now???

I like Nathans list.

There is so much that can be done with a rotary table – I just clued in recently…
plus
Tapping head – i.e. Tapmatic

Calculation of angles – trigonometry –

Cutting dovetails, angles and radii that match up- i.e. bolsters and scales

Disposable vs sharpening endmills vs indexable carbide cutters.

I would have started with every milling video on Smartflix and see what is missing. I haven’t gotten them all, but there are some good ones on milling there. I assume that you have already done this and the focus/niche is in knife making.

My personal viewpoint on safety is to not spend any valuable DVD time on it. Mention it to reduce your liability, assume that the viewer is familiar with it and refer them to other books or documents you have on the DVD.
Of course having said that – lead by example. Follow good practices.
One thing I noticed on Steve Johnsons subhilt fighter video is; for a guy with missing fingers, he sure likes to touch turning tools, cutters, and chips with his hands.
Or make it an entirely separate DVD.

Speeds, feeds, calculations.
Put printable PDF files on the DVD with this info.
(that way you can call it an enhanced DVD and you have your logo in front of those who use the charts. MARKETING)

Instead of the usual white board demo – insert photo slides of GOOD drawings into the video so they are visible and do voiceover if required.
Have the drawings separately printable off the DVD.


Rant:
Being a guy who has bought/rented/viewed a bunch of videos, let me offer this opinion.

Spend time, money, planning, and effort on good audio, lighting and editing. If you see some segments that could be better, redo them and make them better.

I have seen a lot of good knife related content that was spoiled by bad production.

Skip the background music. Sometimes the sound of the machine is important/useful.
If it is too much then mute it.

Pay attention to focus and glare. Holding a workpiece by hand for a quick moving, blurry view when the camera focus is fixed on the background =frustrating

Watching the backs of hands instead of the workpiece/machine=frustrating.
Dark video = frustrating
Setup a few cameras and get several angles.

If you need a remote/wireless microphone so that the demonstrator can be heard instead of using the built in on-camera mic that is pointing at the noisy machine, then buy/rent one.


Enough for now- I’m sure more will come to me later…
 
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