So now I have a milling table that works and a powerhead that is suitable. A few test cuts using a 1/2″ carbide cutter rendered some nice slots that were cleanly cut, however I could not keep them straight for the life of me.

The little vise that is held in place with 3 thumb screws kept sliding one way or the other halfway through any slotting. Again, not acceptable. I removed the 3 thumb screws and drilled and tapped the holes out to 8-32 holes and added 3 new ones on the other side. Now 6 8-32 set screws are holding the vise place and my slots are coming out PRECISE.

So now at this point I have a machine I can use, although the acra mill had to be extensively modified to work with aluminum I am pleased with the results.

My final addition to the drill mill was a sears craftsman drill laser, which makes lining up cuts and squaring the table to the cutting tool so very easy. In retrospect I wish I had just bought the mini mill for 300 from harbor freight. I am happy with the machine I built for what I need it to do, however I could have gotten a better machine right out of the box for the cash I have in this setup, and had it right away. It’s been almost a month of trial and error with the acra mill and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for a metal working mill.

ACRA mill table bolted to drill press, milling an aggressive single pass cut into 6061 aluminum. Note the laser guides. Before the tool makes contact to the metal a full “X” is easily seen on the material, making it hard to screw up.
http://webshareimage.com/images/iwc64d2e38noows3np.jpg

another view:
http://webshareimage.com/images/dm13ao4ig9v6q2we01z.jpg

whole machine:
http://webshareimage.com/images/0ezfombuybijfvw0mht.jpg

The acra mill is a neat little tool, but it is best considered a light duty device.

I needed something that would hold the tool and not flex as the material was fed into it. I needed something with variable speeds. I needed something with some balls.

What I did was a big leap of faith. I went to sears hardware and checked out their 99 dollar drill press. The chuck was easily flexed by hand- not a winner. The 350 dollar one felt much firmer of course but that’s not in hte budget.

I reluctantly went into harbor freight and picked up an open box drill press that has a STOUT chuck, no flex at all. Adjustable depth stop and a power cord were the only “features”. There were no papers or chuck key- 40.00 out the door, plus a 5 dollar 4 way chuck key. Now I have the power and stability to cut. But no way to mill.

I came home, took the acra toy mill apart and began tinkering. I then realized if I used just the table of the acra mill and bolted it to the drill press I could possibly make this work…

First, I was getting some nasty jagged cuts in 6061 using a black and decker dremel copy and the 1/8″ carbide cutter. Not acceptable. The vibrations from the tool against the metal caused the depth screw to rotate and it was impossible to maintain a set depth.

The flexibility in the B&D dremel copy was not helping either. Also, the 3 miniature thumb screws that hold the vise intact are not adequate for holding the vise for any serious milling. More on this later.

This tool would be perfect for soft material like wood, or wax. Not at all suited to mill harder metals.

So what did I do you ask? Well I am into the ACRA mill for 279 + some bits and accessories so far. This is the mill as configured by vanda-lay and assembled by me. Copy and paste into a browser to view pics.

http://webshareimage.com/images/s4hq7iwpkkcpdwhhcbyj.jpg

It took me maybe 45 minutes of careful examination and drooling over the craftsmanship to put it together and I only looked at the instructions on the website to see the illustration. My first impression is that this tool is very well built and there was a ton of thought poured into this little mill. All the materials are top notch. Once I lube the threaded rods with some white lithium grease she is ready to cook.

I use a black and decker 3 speed RTX dremel knock off and it fits perfectly in the clamp. I may need to replace it as it is well used but I will see how it holds up.

I just went to http://www.widgetsupply.com and spent about 70 bucks on dremel bits. Widget rocks by the way- they have great deals on dremel accessories by many makers.

I picked up from widget:
6 inch Stainless Steel Digital Caliper
100pc Bit Set in Deluxe Wooden Box
EUROTOOL BUR-180.00 Cut Lube
1/8 inch Carbide Cutter - Compare to Dremel 9901
1/4 x 1/2 inch Square End Carbide Cutter, 1/8 inch shank
20pc 150 Grit TiN Diamond Burr Set
20pc Vermont American Black Max Tap and Drill Set, USA

If you went to home depot you could not get half as many bits for 70 dollars. Waiting a couple days for shipping is no big deal- waiting for UPS is the story of my life.

Once the bits arrive I will play with some scraps of aluminum stock and report back my findings + some links to pics of my rig.

Anyway so for a total of 279.98 shipped I got X, Z axis and machinists vise. As of this writing the mill has went up 25.00 on the site too, I was lucky enough to find it on sale.

will update once I have the mill here.

You can get “end-mill” ish bits that work pretty well as such. I’ve used them to cut AZ91D in a similar fashion as a Bridgeport. only hand held. with a Dremel.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/attachments-and-accessories/attachment-accessory-detail.htm?H=188537&G=66240&I=66303

did not take the website

The bigger issue for me is that all the pictures show wood being cut. I’d need it for aluminum. I can’t remember whether Dremel (or equiv.) sell blades and bits that will cut aluminum. You wouldn’t want to use the abrasive wheels on aluminum. Any ideas?

Anyways, check out this dremel drill chuck by the same company!

http://www.vanda-layindustries.com/assets/images/d-chuck-DT22_1_.jpg

“Say Vanda-Lay, say Vanda-Lay!!”

I would worry about run-out at the collet end if you are doing anything too precise, other than that it looks good.

http://www.tv.com/seinfeld/the-boyfriend-1/episode/2274/summary.html?tag=ep_list;ep_title;33