Metal milling machine for woodworking?

[Niels J. Larsen]

Sometimes when I need to rout something I can't help thinking that it would be so much easier if I could guide the wood past the bit with a x-y-table.

Would it be possible to use a metal milling machine for this task?

The ones I've looked at has a maximum speed of 3000 rpm or only slightly higher and I would think this is way less than is required to obtain a clean cut.

Any opinions and/or advices are very welcome :-)

[Cliff Holmes]

When you want to mill materials that require high speeds (e.g. aluminum) you can attach a high-speed auxiliary head. Right now the exact term slips my mind, but it's basically a router body.

[Todd Reinbold]

I have a milling machine that I use for doing mortises, etc... It works great. I leave it on the highest speed and use router bits and metal working bits without any problem. My dad is a machinist and used to have his own shop. I have one of the smaller mills that was just sitting around with all of the other machines that he doesn't use anymore. Check out craigslist for one.

[Greg R Bradley]

I used my Bridgeport Series 1 to mill many wood parts. The top speed was 4500 rpm as I recall. Don't forget that the important factor in acceptable cutting speed is always CUTTER SURFACE SPEED, not CUTTER RPM.

If you want to duplicate the cutting function of a 10,000 RPM 1/4" router bit, you could use a 5/8" bit and run it 4,000 RPM.

I did find it was hard to get carbide bits sharp enough to work well and used HSS.

I regret not bringing the mill home. The $600 moving charge plus the difficulty of dealing with 3 phase power and trying to decide just the right spot for a 2400lb beast stopped me. Now that I know just what a POS a $500-1000 drill press is, I will probably get another mill down the road.

[Bruce Page]

I use mine for all kinds of things wood. It is excellent at making precise mortise & tenon joints, stopped dados, pockets etc. I have been a machinist a lot longer than a woodworker so whenever I need to make a cut on the router table or table saw that I’m not comfortable with I’ll do it on the mill.
I have found that the only time I need the high RPM is when I’m surfacing with the end of the cutter as in cutting pockets and the like. I’ve attached a pic of my solution for high RPM’s; it works great but is really loud & messy. For most any other wood milling I’ll use the mills normal spindle and run it around 700 RPM. It works fine without needlessly running the mill hard.

[Jamie Buxton]

Grizzly sells a couple mills specifically for woodworking. They aren't inexpensive, and I dunno about availability in Europe, but they do look useful.

You might could build yourself one by combining a pin router with an X-Y table. You can buy the table at any machinists-supply company. You could even build your own overhead arm to hold the router. The arm doesn't have to be tricky, just rigid. It won't do everything a fully-fledged mill can, but it'll cost you lots less.

[Steve knight]

I agree at mill speeds you need to use hss. it costs less anyway. I don't use my mill much now that I have a cnc router but it is still a good tool.

[Dave Lehnert]

http://grizzly.com/products/G9959

[Lee Schierer]

I've usad a Bridgeport type mill several times for woodworking. They work just fine at the higher rpm's. I've used regular end mills and router bits in the collets. The cuts aren't always as clean as a router but you can precisely space cuts and make 90 degree cuts. The lid inlay on this box was done on a milling machine.http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/cherrybox1.jpg

[george wilson]

A good milling machine is so rigid that it cuts wood very cleanly at a top speed of 4500 RPM. I use my Bridgeport type all the time for cutting mortises,grooves,even have used it to cut very neat dovetails. I just don't run the power feed too fast when using small cutters. Give them time to clear themselves. I don't want wood dust all over my precision metal equipment,so I keep a vac hose right on the work when cutting wood.

A metal lathe is very handy for wood,too. We used to have to make replacement 2" dia. woodcrews for the workbenches in Williamsburg. A metal lathe made quick work of turning true cylinders. A router mounted on the toolpost,fed into the wood at a 45º angle made perfect 90º threads ,clean as a whistle. I'd then chisel out the end of the thread to terminate like a thread box cut it.

There is nothing more aggravating,and expensive,than to waste a hard maple 4x4",and have a thread crumble while using a thread box. 4x4"'s were always hard to get in maple around here. Beechwood never seemed to thread as well as we would like. The router worked beautifully.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a bridgeport milling machine all the time at work in the millwork shop. We use it for deep mortises on entry doors, 35MM holes for doors,for blum inset door adjustment buttons, as a basic drill press, for milling custom HVAC grates in built in's, lots of other stuff too. We use router bits, end mills, drill bits, all with good success. Its very smooth and precise, and the power drive XY table with digital readout allows quick precision and repeatability unmatched by most basic over arm routers or DP applications. If I could have one at home I'd jump at the chance.

Oh, aside from wood working its also great for metal work! Its amazing the number of things you wlll consider fabricating for jigs and such when the milling machine is at your disposal. And you can easily make custom mods to hardware if a stock solution doesn't quite fill your need.