Is there anybody that teaches a manual mill class? I have never seen one posted and everyone I’ve asked in the shop has said they dont know.
I think maybe Paul used to do it but I think he bolted with Jeramiah. I would like to mill some hex out of round stock and it looks like a pretty straightforward process but I dont see a vise or parallells or mill parts that Ive seen doing the research.
Any ideas? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
If you don’t mind waiting a few weeks, I could probably throw a class together on the EMCO.
I will add that I’d be interested in this as well.
I never did teach a class on the mill. It was just the lathe. I have used the mill some and it seemed to have more issues then I wanted to deal with. Just moving the head up and down is a job.
Personally I wouldn’t use the mill for anything other than a drill press. From what I remember last time I used it, I really had to make sure the pressure on the drive screw was turned towards the direction of the cutter or there was a good chance of the cutter grabbing the workpiece and throwing it out of the vice or busting the cutter or damaging the workpiece. I would like to see a real “Bridgeport” type knee mill purchased for the space with power feed X & Y and possibly a digital readout for some precision hole layout in the workpiece.
It’s hard to beat a Bridgeport. We could definitely do some fund raising to get one for the new space, but that might not be a top priority with all the other work that needs to be done like running power and heat to the future metal shop…
The emco isn’t in the best shape, but it’s enough to learn basic machining practises on, like the difference between conventional and climb cutting.
The emco also has a 4th axis that while sloppy, still works. That 4th axis came in handy while helping a local school build wheel hubs for their electric cars. The parts looked pretty good in the end.
The emco will work for an introductory class, but you would be hard pressed to meet the precision of the Tormach with it.