Milling on the lathe

[Paul Allwood]

Since I don't have a mill, but I do have a milling attachment for my lathe....

Looks like a carbide insert boring bar makes a pretty good milling face cutter. First time trying this. This might not be news to the real machinists out there, but I'm not a real machinist by a long shot.

1 June 2026

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[Yooper]

Paul, research and order a vertical milling machine and don’t look back! That’s an order!

 

[Paul Allwood]

Paul, research and order a vertical milling machine and don’t look back! That’s an order!

It's certainly tempting, and yes, I have looked.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I like the concept of that attachment.





JUST WOW…………….

One of my “Superpowers” is spending other peoples money……So, just for “kicks and giggles”, I just looked up “round column mills" and was floored at what they are asking for them now.

Although I can’t recall with 100% clarity, I believe that I paid something like 6 or 700 dollars for my “Chi-Com mill” ~30 years ago. (It was an impulse buy that was on “clearance sale” at a place called Production Tool that was located at the end of my block, where I used to take “long romantic walks, down the ‘abrasives’ isle” )

Man…..I look like a “genius” now……Between 3 and 4 K without much/any tooling?

 

[Paul Allwood]

It's a similar price (converted to AUD) here for a similar thing. I'm getting by just using the lathe for now.

 

[Yooper]

As a general rule of thumb, I tell people that are considering buying a mill that you will invest the same as the purchase price buying tooling. Collets, chucks, boring head, vise, end mills etc. But you don’t need everything at once. Buying new accessories is part of the fun. And it opens up a whole new world of things you can make!

 

[PHPaul]

I bought this Grizzly square column used for $1200 with some tooling - end mills, a full set of R8 collets, drill chuck and a cheesy vise.

I've since spent probably half that again for a real vise, ER40 collets, a small rotary table, boring bars and fly cutters.

I doubt I've put 10 hours on it in 10 years, but when I need it, it's worth every penny.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I doubt I've put 10 hours on it in 10 years, but when I need it, it's worth every penny.

I agree and I/we could probably say that about the majority of my/our tools….

This “micro-wrench” set was (probably/maybe/could be) the dumbest/least useful/most expensive “tools” that I have………..But when I need/needed them, there was no substitute at the time and Snap-On dude happened to be “in the right place, at the right time"



Although the "exact price" has been “lost to time”……I am recalling/feeling that they were “hundreds upon hundreds, of dollars”…...

 

[Hugo Habicht]

... and Snap-On dude happened to be “in the right place, at the right time"

Never ever disclose your location to any tools rep. He will bankrupt you in no time. And get a guard dog.

 

[PHPaul]

I call those "ignition wrenches" and I have two Crapsman sets, SAE and Metric. Again, used once every other Blue Moon, but just the ticket when I need them.

 

[fatjay]

I bought a fairly cheap milling machine off amazon for $800.

WEN 33013 4.5A Variable Speed Single Phase Compact Benchtop Metal Milling Machine with R8 Taper

Remember when you could remove material evenly and precisely? Machine perfect channels and grooves into metal, wood, plastic and more with the WEN 4.5A Variable Speed Single Phase Compact Milling Machine. This versatile 13-inch swing tool helps machinists and woodworkers alike create flat...

wenproducts.com

I've been using this thing for about 5 years and have never had a problem. Plenty powerful to do what I want.

 

[TheOldHokie]

It's certainly tempting, and yes, I have looked.

Dont be hasty. I had the ubiquitous Taiwanese mill drill for years but they are very limited. Tool changes and repositioning will work you to death.




In 2007-2008 and after extended searching I was about to pull the trigger on an old Van Norman when this unexpectedly turned up 10 minutes from my house. The cost of a 2⁹ hour rollback rental and $1300 cash put it on the shop floor. Unloading it without a fork truck was the tricky part. Took a good gallon of Dawn dishwashing liquid and some iffy rigging



At this point I have way more than that invested in tooling

Dan

 

[Paul Allwood]

Dont be hasty. I had the ubiquitous Taiwanese mill drill for years but they are very limited. Tool changes and repositioning will work you to death.

View attachment 175360


In 2007-2008 and after extended searching I was about to pull the trigger on an old Van Norman when this unexpectedly turned up 10 minutes from my house. The cost of a 2⁹ hour rollback rental and $1300 cash put it on the shop floor. Unloading it without a fork truck was the tricky part. Took a good gallon of Dawn dishwashing liquid and some iffy rigging

View attachment 175361

At this point I have way more than that invested in tooling

Dan

Looks like a nice machine for $1300.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Looks like a nice machine for $1300.

You could say that. Corning paid ~$80K for it new in 1995 and sold it at auction 10 yeats later when the plant closed. If you can accomodate them big used machines are way better bargins than smaller hobbyist size stuff. And sometimes you get lucky...

Dan

 

[BX25D Rookie]

It was probably 20 years ago when I started looking for a Bridgeport "J" head vertical mill.
I had worked long enough in that industry to realize that the rotary dial type variable speed units
were expensive, and the heads were expensive to rebuild.

So I started going to auctions and looking for the older J head Bridgeport machines where you must manually move the V-Belt into a different pulley groove to change the spindle speed.
That's when I discovered that auctioneers pay people to attend the auction and bid up the price.

I ended up talking to a fellow at one of the auctions, and he gave me his business card.
He owned a small machinery business (one man operation) and he told me that he had an older Bridgeport
back at his shop that fit my needs perfectly. It also had a single phase motor on it.

The next weekend, I drove about 2.5 hours and inspected the Bridgeport.
It was equipped with the hard chromed ways, and in reasonable condition.
I gave the guy a 50% deposit and went back home, arranged a day off from work and borrowed an equipment trailer and 3/4 ton pickup truck from my brother-in-law.

I went and picked it up, the seller also let me pick through boxes and milk crates filled with collets, chucks, and tooling. All the extras were included in the $1000 total.

The downside to owning your personal Bridgeport is when you need to move.
I have a move scheduled sometime later this summer, and you guessed it, the Bridgeport, my lathe,
the shaper, small horizontal mill, and everything else out in the shop has to be moved.

 

[BX25D Rookie]

Paul,
My lathe has one of those milling machine attachments that mounts on the toolpost/carriage.
It's better than nothing, but in my experience, they aren't very rigid.
They do however, outperform files and chisels.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I bought a fairly cheap milling machine off amazon for $800.

WEN 33013 4.5A Variable Speed Single Phase Compact Benchtop Metal Milling Machine with R8 Taper

Remember when you could remove material evenly and precisely? Machine perfect channels and grooves into metal, wood, plastic and more with the WEN 4.5A Variable Speed Single Phase Compact Milling Machine. This versatile 13-inch swing tool helps machinists and woodworkers alike create flat...

wenproducts.com

I've been using this thing for about 5 years and have never had a problem. Plenty powerful to do what I want.

I have a few “WEN” products, and have been VERY HAPPY with them……(for the price of course )

 

[Paul Allwood]

Paul,
My lathe has one of those milling machine attachments that mounts on the toolpost/carriage.
It's better than nothing, but in my experience, they aren't very rigid.
They do however, outperform files and chisels.

Same - mine is also not very rigid. I need to pick the best direction of cut to suit.

 

[BXHoosier]

I built a milling attachment for my Hardinge lathe and a few months later I bought a mill so I no longer use the milling attachment. I did use it to make a 2” boring head just to see if I could.

 

[Paul Allwood]

I built a milling attachment for my Hardinge lathe and a few months later I bought a mill so I no longer use the milling attachment. I did use it to make a 2” boring head just to see if I could.

View attachment 175380

View attachment 175382

View attachment 175381

Nice job and nice mill. I think the milling attachment you made looks quite a bit more rigid than mine.