what can be done with harbor freight mill/lathe

That crossmember is a nice piece of sculpture!!!!!

 

Beautiful work! I have a little Grizzley 9 X 19 lathe and a drill/mill and I never dreamed they were capable of making the things you have. Your projects would make some great tech pieces for tech week here for dummies like me. Thanks for posting!

 

Just goes to show,

It's not the size of your shop, the tools, equipment in your shop,

Its what you can do with what you have in your shop.

 

i had a smithy lathe drill mill which is not a whole lot different. There was NOTHING I could not make on it. When i sold my machine shop the buyer insisted on having it. I still miss it. Don

 

if it was not for the size of the shop i would have a bridgeport and a big southbend

 

You suck.

I know this guy that lives up by Mahwah or something that can do all sorts of crazy shit. Puts your work to shame... Maybe he can teach you?

 

Hey slag,could you check your private messages for some questions that I sent you?
Thanks man!

 

Hey Billy, I know the same guy but he doesnt give away any secrets.

 

This web site has a program that you can download for free. You can make 3D models of parts to get a good look at them before machineing. At work I run a boring mill with a 5" spindel. thats some fine work on those machines.
http://www.emachineshop.com/

 

some more stuff i have made. this is all for my 30-31 a pick up

clutch slave cylinder

front hubs

stainless threaded inserts for brake calipers

caliper brackets

rear tie bar

 

Thanks for keeping this thread going! More beautiful work for us to imitate!

 

You da man dude, Nice Job!

 

sometimes its got more to do with talent than the tool used, nice work!

 

I bought a 7 x 10 mini lathe from H.F. a few years ago... I've yet to fire the thing up for the first time.. Maybe I should get my ass in gear, huh??? I got it on sale for $369. and some change... I priced the same one a couple of months ago and they went up almost 100 bucks... Yikes!

 

get it up and running it will make things so much easier when you need spacer or a threaded insert to weld in place

 

Bingo! You hit that one right on.

 

Good looking parts! I use an Enco benchtop mill and after some work , it does a fine job and I only have a few hundred bucks in it. My experience is that if you take your time and try to not hog it out, the lower quality tools will do almost everything a brand name can do.

 

more parts mechanical brake caliper for jag rear based off wilwood set up

 

most outstanding work. i recently got into machining, and hope to one day have a small mill and lathe of my own. i was looking at the hf ones, and maybe you just sold me on them.

 

Beautiful work!

I hope you don't mind me asking... How do you... or what is the best way to go about learning machining?

I ask because I've always been a visual thinker and have always been creative.
I've worked for many years as a photoshop artist and have always been able to picture in my head what i'm making beforehand... i also am an artist (sculpture) - i make stuff out of old car parts... Due to being laid off (magazine industry) i've always thought about machining....

I'm thinking career change... or at least -one hell of a hobby!

 

the best way to learn about machining is to be around it all your life watching and learning from your father since you are about 6 years old.


well , you are probably a bit late for that....so i would suggest a night class at a local high school or technical college. if that is still being offered in your area

 

all the work i have done machining i have learned as im going and still learning. the hardest part i find is how to hold the part with the limited tooling i have.

 

Where did you get your rotary table? That allows you to do so many different things...

 

rotary table came from grizzly tools it was kinda cheap. the 3 jaw chuck is bolted to it.

 

Slag, i see what looks like a regular carbide tipped wood shaping router bit with a top guide bearing laying on your table there... you do a lot of machining on the mill with those on aluminum? how do they work out in a mill?

impressive work... i likey!

 

I am looking at one from Grizzly. It will exceed my abilities to use it to its potential.

 

I have used these in a pinch just to see if they would work.Worked fine on mild steel but not so much on some tougher stuff like p-20 and 4140.
They actually work just as good as the high speed radius cutting tools.

 

i been looking at either this lathe from grizzly or this one from shopfox

 

"It's a poor craftsman who blames his God-damned tools..." Steve Martin

 

radius bits cost alot more for the mill, a cheap set of router bits with a 1/2" shank are cheap. carbide is carbide it does not know if it is cutting wood or metal