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Mini Lathe And Milling Machine

I need a mini (desktop) lathe and milling machine because I am planning on making my own case and doing a build log on it. I found one of each (Mill) (Lathe) that would work for me, except that they are metric, despite the product pages being exclusively in the "standard" system. Unfortunately, I am American and my school and most everything else uses the standard system and I really don't want to have to learn to use metric for machining, especially when I have to use standard for work/school every day. So, are there any lathes or mills that anyone can find that meet my needs?

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5 minutes ago, iamdarkbowser said:

I need a mini (desktop) lathe and milling machine because I am planning on making my own case and doing a build log on it. I found one of each (Mill) (Lathe) that would work for me, except that they are metric, despite the product pages being exclusively in the "standard" system. Unfortunately, I am American and my school and most everything else uses the standard system and I really don't want to have to learn to use metric for machining, especially when I have to use standard for work/school every day. So, are there any lathes or mills that anyone can find that meet my needs?

The standard system? More like the unstandard system. Every country in the world uses metric except the US. Is it really that hard to learn metric? 10 mm = 1 cm

100 cm = 1m 

1000m = 1km

 

1000mg = 1g

1000g = 1 kg

 

1000mL = 1L

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Just now, JDE said:

The standard system? More like the unstandard system. Every country in the world uses metric except the US. Is it really that hard to learn metric? 10 mm = 1 cm

100 cm = 1m 

1000m = 1km

 

1000mg = 1g

1000g = 1 kg

 

1000mL = 1L

I am use to the maximum amounts that I should mill/turn in the standard system, and I don't want to have to think in two different measurement systems every day. I have to use the standard system in my machining class and at work, then I would be switching to metric when I get home, and that WILL cause me to make mistakes, especially on cheaper machines.  

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Just now, iamdarkbowser said:

I am use to the maximum amounts that I should mill/turn in the standard system, and I don't want to have to think in two different measurement systems every day. I have to use the standard system in my machining class and at work, then I would be switching to metric when I get home, and that WILL cause me to make mistakes, especially on cheaper machines.  

Ah, ok

 

just i beg you to stop calling it standard and start calling it US or imperial

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Just now, JDE said:

Ah, ok

 

just i beg you to stop calling it standard and start calling it US or imperial

That's why I put it in the quotation marks, I shall call it the Imperial system now.

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14 minutes ago, iamdarkbowser said:

Also, the mill needs to support R8 collets, such as these.

Depends on what your making but I would get a couple of digital scales from igaging and slap them on the machine, no need to do any guess work. Also the machines are imperial, almost all machines are built metric and converted directly to imperial in most cases, you'll fine that especially true for expensive CNC machines. 

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Just now, W-L said:

Depends on what your making but I would get a couple of digital scales from igaging and slap them on the machine, no need to do any guess work. Also the machines are imperial, almost all machines are built metric and converted directly to imperial in most cases, you'll fine that especially true for expensive CNC machines. 

If you look closely at one of the pictures for the lathe, the crossfeed wheel does not go to .100 like it would if it was Imperial, and it has metric tolerances printed on it, along with Imperial.

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8 minutes ago, iamdarkbowser said:

If you look closely at one of the pictures for the lathe, the crossfeed wheel does not go to .100 like it would if it was Imperial, and it has metric tolerances printed on it, along with Imperial.

It's all in inches, the metric is a direct conversion on the dials. 

 

0.001" = 0.025mm

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6 minutes ago, W-L said:

It's all in inches, the metric is a direct conversion on the dials. 

 

0.001" = 0.025mm

So what are the markings on the dials? Is one tick more than .001", or is one full turn less than .100"?

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Just now, iamdarkbowser said:

So what are the markings on the dials? Is one tick more than .001, or is one full turn less than .100?

Correct each line is 0.001" or one thou and a full rotation is 0.100"

 

On a side note what are you trying to making exactly, those desktop units are usable hobby machines within their limits as they are. 

 

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Just now, W-L said:

Correct each line is 0.001" or one thou and a full rotation is 0.100"

 

On a side note what are you trying to making exactly, those desktop units are usable hobby machines within their limits as they are. 

 

I still have yet to figure everything out. The picture gives you an idea of what I want to do, but this is very unfinished and is meant for hardware that I am no longer going to use, and no, the whole thing will not be milled out of a single chunk. Also, I forgot space for cable management and I didn't get to designing legs.

motherboard tray.PNG

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1 minute ago, iamdarkbowser said:

I still have yet to figure everything out. The picture gives you an idea of what I want to do, but this is very unfinished and is meant for hardware that I am no longer going to use, and no, the whole thing will not be milled out of a single chunk. Also, I forgot space for cable management and I didn't get to designing legs.

Ah alright looks cool, just note that the mini mill is pretty anemic the travel on them and rigidity will make it very limited if your wanting to mill the whole plate.

 

Just a tip though if you go for the mini lathe, stick with the 3 jaw the collet chuck while it would be nice for the size of the lathe it wouldn't fit it well. 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

Ah alright looks cool, just note that the mini mill is pretty anemic the travel on them and rigidity will make it very limited if your wanting to mill the whole plate.

 

Just a tip though if you go for the mini lathe, stick with the 3 jaw the collet chuck while it would be nice for the size of the lathe it wouldn't fit it well. 

Well, the sketch in the picture is designed for a full size ATX motherboard, I am planning on buying either a micro-ATX or mini-ITX motherboard for this project, then I will probably stick a massive Vega card on top of it, making it look a little disproportional.  

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Just now, iamdarkbowser said:

Well, the sketch in the picture is designed for a full size ATX motherboard, I am planning on buying either a micro-ATX or mini-ITX motherboard for this project, then I will probably stick a massive Vega card on top of it, making it look a little disproportional.  

My only worry is the plate with the mill size wise, you'll be able to do the edges but will need to constantly rotate the parts just a little more hassle but very doable. 

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Just now, W-L said:

My only worry is the plate with the mill size wise, you'll be able to do the edges but will need to constantly rotate the parts just a little more hassle but very doable. 

Keep in mind that I was thinking of sticking an x/y table on a drill press, so the extra hassle is not much for me.

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1 minute ago, iamdarkbowser said:

Keep in mind that I was thinking of sticking an x/y table on a drill press, so the extra hassle is not much for me.

Ehh it's pretty janky since drill presses aren't exactly designed for that kind of work, be like AVE and make it half baked xD 

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Just now, W-L said:

Ehh it's pretty janky since drill presses aren't exactly designed for that kind of work, be like AVE and make it half baked xD 

That's the only reason I gave it even a minute of thought, for me, the main putoff is not being able to use R8 collets and the instability of the x/y table on the drill press' table. And for the fact that my drill press' shank is a little bent and the jacobs chuck can't even hold a twist drill without slipping while cutting through 1/4" plastic. Recently I won a nice set of twist drills, I haven't put them in that drill press because I want to be able to use them afterward.

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1 minute ago, iamdarkbowser said:

That's the only reason I gave it even a minute of thought, for me, the main putoff is not being able to use R8 collets and the instability of the x/y table on the drill press' table. And for the fact that my drill press' shank is a little bent and the jacobs chuck can't even hold a twist drill without slipping while cutting through 1/4" plastic. Recently I won a nice set of twist drills, I haven't put them in that drill press because I want to be able to use them afterward.

Personally I would say instead of getting a mini mill it would be a better option to go with the lathe and instead get something like an X-carve or something equivalent to that. It will give you a lot more freedom in terms of design and manufacturing. 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

Personally I would say instead of getting a mini mill it would be a better option to go with the lathe and instead get something like an X-carve or something equivalent to that. It will give you a lot more freedom in terms of design and manufacturing. 

I also want the mill as a replacement for my drill press and so I can line up holes easier.

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1 minute ago, iamdarkbowser said:

I also want the mill as a replacement for my drill press and so I can line up holes easier.

Center punch and use a split point drill bit?

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Just now, W-L said:

Center punch and use a split point drill bit?

It's more of, the quality of my drill press is bad and it is damaged and the mill will suffice for many of the things I want to do, including many things I haven't thought of yet. Also, I am more familiar with mills than X-Carves, judging on the fact that I have never even heard of them before. 

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1 minute ago, iamdarkbowser said:

It's more of, the quality of my drill press is bad and it is damaged and the mill will suffice for many of the things I want to do, including many things I haven't thought of yet. Also, I am more familiar with mills than X-Carves, judging on the fact that I have never even heard of them before. 

It's basically a hobby CNC, it will let you have a much larger work area and program toolpaths. As for the drill press it may be a good option to just get a decent new unit.

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Just now, W-L said:

It's basically a hobby CNC, it will let you have a much larger work area and program toolpaths. As for the drill press it may be a good option to just get a decent new unit.

I like manual machines much more than CNCs for multiple reasons that I can't quite explain. 

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3 minutes ago, iamdarkbowser said:

I like manual machines much more than CNCs for multiple reasons that I can't quite explain. 

I understand that feeling, if you working with CNC's especially if your not programming it doesn't provide the same satisfaction as a fully manual machined part.

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