Aussie Mike's machine shop

[BJ's Snake]

Originally Posted by Gav

Nice work Mike, I see you are up to your old tricks and overkilling the wiring job
Looks very neat though, you will give the local contractors a bad name!

What is the first planned job?

My LCA's hopefully lol

Chheers

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Gav

Nice work Mike, I see you are up to your old tricks and overkilling the wiring job
Looks very neat though, you will give the local contractors a bad name!

What is the first planned job?

I figured I'd better follow the manual to the letter in case there were any issues with the box in the future.

I think one of the first jobs will be a set of billet bonnet and boot hinges.

Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by BJ's Snake

My LCA's hopefully lol

Chheers

Jaguar pattern billet front lower control arms are definitely something I plan to make in the future. The cast steel ones are very heavy and they could look a lot tidier.

Cheers

[Shootnride]

Mike,

I've been following your Cobra build for quite a while and have really enjoyed seeing your craftsmanship and machining skills. Frankly, at least half of the reason I follow your build is to see your machine work. I'm a hobby machinist as well, so following this thread is a "twofer" for me. You are really going to enjoy using the CNC capabilities of your new mill. I have a Bridgeport two axis CNC mill and am always amazed at the amount of time and labor that can be saved in comparison to using manual machinery, and in many cases tasks can be done that would be very difficult or impossible with manual machinery. You're really going to love that new machine and the Lagun mills are a first rate machine.

Enjoy

Ted

[Aussie Mike]

Thanks Ted. Good to hear from another hobby machinist. I keep telling these guys its a fun and rewarding hobby.

Im looking forward to easier machining of curves and irregular shapes. It was always a real mental challenge to do some of them on a manual mill. The rotary table opened up a lot of possibilities but with a manual mill you are always working in one axis at a time.

I'll have to talk with you about tooling optios as the CNC mill is an R8 taper the same as the bridgeport. The manual mill is NT30 so I've got to get some new tooling.

Cheers

[Shootnride]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

I keep telling these guys its a fun and rewarding hobby.

It certainly is Mike.

Yes, my mill is also an R8 spindle. R8 certainly isn't the most robust system, but by far has the most readily available and affordable tooling. The system is plenty durable if you're not trying to push the limits with speeds and feeds.

Since you've already owned a mill, you're probably already pretty well set up with cutting tools, so you'll just need to acquire the necessary R8 tool holders. I personally prefer using R8 collets as much as possible as they offer the most usable distance between the spindle and the table. I have used the ER collet systems before but they eat up more of the usable space and their quick change advantage is kind of lost with a mill equipped with a power draw bar (which you now have ). For tooling with shanks larger than 7/8", I have R8 x 1", 1 1/8" and 1 1/4" holders. I also use R8 x MT1, MT2 & MT3 for my drill chucks and taper shank drills and reamers. If you prefer, you can use an R8 x Jacobs taper adapter for your drill chucks. I have MT shanks on my drill chucks because it allows me to also use them in the lathe tailstock. I also have a set of R8 shell mill arbors and slitting saw arbors. That is about all the R8 stuff I have and it seems to be enough to do what I need. But, as I'm sure you are well aware of, machine tools are kind of a bottomless pit in which to deposit your money ! (worse than Cobras I think)

Keep up the good work and keep posting your accomplishments. I'll likely be picking your brain in the future.

Ted

[indianamoon]

Hi Mike,

Nice looking mill. Laguns always seemed to be a bit heavier than the other brands.

Want to warn you about the power drawbar though. Years ago the guys in the shop talked me into equipping every manual mill in the place with them. They are fast to change tools, and easier on those who are height challenged, but I will have to say that they are the equipment most needing maintenance of everything in the shop. Nothing breaks down more than the power drawbars. And make sure you always have a spare drawbar around, cause when they round off, they seem to do it all at once.

And watch out for cutter pull out. The power drawbars don't tighten up nearly as much as a manual one. Have scrapped out a ton of things that were milled too deep. If pullout is a big problem, make sure to use a solid holder with a setscrew and keep it up against the angle of the flat on the endmill.

Have fun with that thing!!!!

[Aussie Mike]

Three years of working with flood coolant leaves a mess. You have to keep on top of cleaning up if you are going to use it (Which I've been a bit lax in).

Moved all the machines out and gave the floor a good scrub with degreaser today.



Here it is all neat and tidy again with the new mill in position. I changed the layout a little to give better access to the back of the Lathe for maintenance.



Tomorrow's job is to get power and air run into it and hopefully be able to have it running. Can't wait.

Cheers

[leroy17]

Looks awesome, I would not know what to do with it all, and one of the nicest shed/work area I have seen.

Oh, I wish you were my neighbour.

Look forward to seeing what you craft with your new mill.

[07cob]

Mike

Fantastic!

Out of interest, how did you move your mill(s) around?

Geof

[Shootnride]

If my shop looked that good, I'd just put in a refrigerator and a cot and sell the house !

Ted

[Aussie Mike]

Thanks Leroy.

Geof, To move the Mills and Lathe I used a mobile Gantry with a chain block I picked up from Radum a few years back. It's rated to about 2 tom and has been brilliant. I couldn't have bought the steel to make one for the price I paid. Once lifted I put the mill on a pallet jack which is rated to about 3 ton (another bargain from Radum). On the pallet jack it's easy enough to wheel the Mill to where you need it and then lift it off at the other end with the gantry. A one man job to move a mill weighing about 1500KG.

Ted, I just happened to score a second hand shed fridge the other day. My wife may make me move out there if I buy any more machinery.

Cheers

[renovationinnov]

are you sure that's not on her cards already mike
so other well laid plans [ dog house [ come shed

[07cob]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

Geof, To move the Mills and Lathe I used a mobile Gantry with a chain block I picked up from Radum a few years back. It's rated to about 2 tom and has been brilliant. I couldn't have bought the steel to make one for the price I paid. Once lifted I put the mill on a pallet jack which is rated to about 3 ton (another bargain from Radum). On the pallet jack it's easy enough to wheel the Mill to where you need it and then lift it off at the other end with the gantry. A one man job to move a mill weighing about 1500KG.

Mike

Great idea!. I used 2" water pipe, a crowbar, wedges and a whole lot of time for a similar operation. One man but very slow!!

Geof

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by renovationinnov

are you sure that's not on her cards already mike
so other well laid plans [ dog house [ come shed

Maybe it's on my cards. If I get sent to the dog house at least it'll be some place I like to be.

[indianamoon]

Have moved most of mine around the shop many times. I use 2 or 3 pieces of 3/4 pipe. I diebar the mill up to get the first pipe under, diebar it forward until it almost goes over center, put in another piece of pipe under the front, then push it forward (sometimes with one hand if I have the floor super clean) and keep doing this until I get it where I want it. Super easy and you just have to kick one end or the other of a pipe to turn the whole thing. Ain't physics great!!!

[Aussie Mike]

A mate of mine has a Lathe that's about 12 foot long and probably weighs 4 tons. We moved it across his workshop floor rolling on lengths of pipe. The jib crane on the truck that unloaded it couldn't extend out far enough with that weight to get it any where close to where it was going to be situated in the workshop.

The mill is powered up and running. I've been trying to teach myself to program it and it's been good fun so far.

Nearly got the air system run in today. I'm using Sharkbite PEX tubing and push on fittings to run the air reticulation in the shed. It's designed for house plumbing water and is rated to about 200PSI which should be fine for the 120PSI from the compressor.

Here's some info on it.
Sharkbite

Sharkbite Engineering specs

No special tools required and the connectors just push to connect. Thy can be easily disconnected to rearrange or add extra pipes in.

Gav put me onto the idea of using the plastic plumbing pipe for air reticulation but I think he used a different system that has crimp on ends.

I'll give you a full report once it's up and running.

Cheers

[Paul F]

Mike, you're way too neat! What a showplace.

The pipes are a great way to move items. I wasn't smart enough to do that. I ended up making a couple of these to move my mill.



I found these in a junk yard and I put one on each end of my lathe. I keep them there.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Paul F

Mike, you're way too neat! What a showplace.

It's all a lie. Anyone who has visited my shed will tell you I only take pics of the tidy bits

We could have used some skates like those when moving that big Lathe. Even rolling on pipe it was hard work to shift.

Cheers

[guye]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

It's all a lie. Anyone who has visited my shed will tell you I only take pics of the tidy bits
...

True. We had trouble finding a space for my gearbox that day, didn't we Mike!?

But I'd prefer your shed dirty to my shed clean ANY DAY of the week!

#mancaverulez