vertical milling machine in the woodshop?

[Nick Crivello]

I recently added an 8x30" vertical knee mill to the workshop. While primarily a metalworking machine, it's a great deal more useful than a standard floor standing drill press in a footprint that's not all that much bigger.

I've used it for a few projects thus far; primarily to cut slots in the metal tubing for the table bases to allow for table top expansion. The DRO is really handy to have for precision and repeatability. I threw together a crude tabletop with fence that clamps in the mill's vise, allowing for easy transition between metal and wood projects. Plan to make a nicer one with t-track, stops, and clamps.

I'm envisioning it's use for mortising, perhaps tenons. Who else has one and what are you using it for? Any suggestions on endmills for use in woods? The mill has variable speed ability, goes from ~10 to 2000rpm and an R-8 spindle.

[Lisa Starr]

Nick, Enjoy your new mill. Although mine lives in a different building than my woodshop, I find it very useful as a compliment to my drill press. I've found most good 4-flute endmills work fairly well in hardwoods. Nothing cuts softwood/plywood particularly well because there just isn't enough RPM.

[Bruce Page]

I've had one in my shop since the mid 90's. It cuts wood just fine. I wouldn't want to be without it.

[Nick Crivello]

I've had one in my shop since the mid 90's. It cuts wood just fine. I wouldn't want to be without it.

Great looking machine Bruce. What operations do you find yourself using it for?

[Bill Dufour]

Grizzly used to sell one with a highish speed spindle for wood. I use two flute spiral endmills. I see no need for LH endmills in wood unless you get some cheaper then RH.
The fewer flutes give more room for chips. A boring head can be nice for boring, internal or external, or as a fly cutter. Get an arbor shank and use small circular saw blades for slotting etc. A right angle head can also be useful, but expensive. A mortiser would be nice but will need a custom quill mount. Consider a rotary broach instead.
Bill D

[Wes Grass]

Mill, and machining center. RPM limits just relate to feed. HSS probably just fine at lower speed, but don't think carbide won't work unless its singing.

Old guy ... 'the material doesn't care' ... don't remember the rest ;-)

[Richard Coers]

We used them in the model shop of my old day job. You really must protect the slide gibs and feed screws from fine dust. It absorbs the way oil and the next thing you see is wear from the dry metal surfaces. Have a custom cover made so you can cover it when not in use. I think you'll find the spindle speed a pain for fast cutting. They are made for metal removal, not wood, so chip load will require really slow feed speeds.

[Warren Lake]

Used to get stuff done by an old school tool and die maker. On one prototype job I mentioned what I was doing and he said bring it over so we machined solid surface on his bridgeport. Im going to guess it was called Avonite. Machined great and an eye opener to see how different he worked. Mititoyou digital read out .0005, nice. have seen them at auctions.

He had a few Deckel Pantographs and the large one was amazing, human CNC machine.

[John Ziebron]

I agree with Bill on the use of 2 flute end mills as most are designed to bore a hole without a pilot hole. Most 4 flute end mills cannot do that and chip extraction is better with a 2 flute.
I have used my mill mostly for making slots in small wood pieces that would be difficult on a router table or with a handheld router. And if you work with small pieces of wood that need their thickness cut a fly cutter on a mill can safely do that whereas planers and thickness sanders have a minimum length requirement. Just remember to use a collet and not a drill chuck when using any end mill cutter.

[Bruce Page]

Great looking machine Bruce. What operations do you find yourself using it for?

Nick, between the mill and my 14x40 engine lathe, whatever I want and have material for. Here’s an old link to a trim router base I made years ago: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....le-plunge-base

There are also times when I need to cut something small that also needs to be accurately sized. If don’t feel comfortable cutting it on the table saw, I’ll cut it on the mill.

[Nick Crivello]

Nick, between the mill and my 14x40 engine lathe, whatever I want and have material for. Here’s an old link to a trim router base I made years ago: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....le-plunge-base

There are also times when I need to cut something small that also needs to be accurately sized. If don’t feel comfortable cutting it on the table saw, I’ll cut it on the mill.

There are a number of jigs and such for the slider and other machines where it'll definitely get put to use. Those projects will be a good opportunity to get comfortable with milling.

That router base is simply amazing work btw.

[Derek Kessler]

I've seen folks use similar machines for a range of woodworking tasks. For mortising and tenons, you're on the right track. To optimize for wood, consider using high-speed steel endmills or carbide endmills designed for woodcutting. Remember to adjust your feed rates and speeds according to the wood species and the type of cut you're making.

[Michael Schuch]

Grizzley tools used to sell a Metal/Wood mill. I think the main difference between it and a standard knee mill is the top spindle speed on the Grizzley was much higher than a typical knee mill.

I haven't tried milling any wood on my Enco (Bridgeport clone) knee mill. I have always kind of worried about gumming it up with saw dust.

[Jim Becker]

Lots of folks use mills for woodworking in addition to their metal capabilities. A project I worked on with Brian Holcomb a few years ago had some angled grooves cut using his Bridgeport mill because it was efficient and the angle was critical. If one showed up in my shop I wouldn't throw it away for sure!

[Lee Schierer]

Where I used to work, I was taught how to operate a Bridgeport milling machine. I used it on several wood working projects. There are times I wish I still had access to one, but I can't justify the cost of owning one for the few times I need it. I used my regular carbide tipped router bits in the one I used.