mill installation

Within not much more than a sturdy drill press i squeezed a mill into my workshop. This is my cheap chinese ZX45 ( a rong fu 45 knock off)  at some point i will add a dro, this fellow has produced a really good little android app to take advantage of cheap magnetic hall sensor scales.

Maybe eventually ill do a full cnc conversion as its no more complicated than the 3d printer i made. But in the mean time a base was needed to support about a tonne.

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Thankfully the printing company next door was able to lend a forklift to get her off the truck and safely tucked inside the industrial doors to the hallway. Thats where the fun began. It had to be completely disassembled just to get it into my workshop. with the mill sprawled all over the living room it was time to start building the base.IMAG0476 IMAG0479 IMAG0480 IMAG0481

I added a bunch of extra reinforcing in the corners, just in case.
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Adjustable feet for dialing it into position when installed, and wheels for moving it around on a flat surface, the wheels are not spaced far enough apart to avoid disassembly the next time i move saddly.IMAG0489

All the measurements paid off, the wheels rotate freely in all directions.IMAG0490 IMAG0491

Time to make a little token gesture drip tray. I found an old aluminium sign at the local metal recycling depot. I was getting worried the raw materials for the drip tray were going to cost me as much as the standard base that comes with these units. My goal was to save some money. I think all in it was around $140. not too bad considering that would have probably only covered shipping of the stock base.IMAG0494

Uggggh hand cutting 2.5 mm thick aluminium, i wont be doing that again soon. eventually it all turned out perfect though.IMAG0495

Not the most civilised tools for the job. I did this before i managed to take the organic sheetmetal class at techshop. I made a burly plywood mold the shape i required, then set about bending the corners around it. not a pretty process, but the end result was passable.IMAG0497

getting there.IMAG0498

Here are the first 3 parts of the mill resting in place, the base alone required two people to get into position, and the same went for the head unit with all the gears in it. all the rest i could maneuver myself.
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Fully raised it comes to just about the ceiling, perfect.IMAG0500oiling everything, is very enjoyable at this point. I ordered a nice vice from glacern  they were really good to me, and as an added bonus the vice doesnt cost anywhere near as much as a kurt.

 

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