Hello welcome to Enots engineering I'm Alan
today in the workshop I'll be making a cover for the mill table and a box to store my milling arbors
The cover for the mill table is because I want to use a milling machine as a drilling machine
for woodwork as well as metal work and do some wood work in the mill
and to do this I think it's best if I cover the table so I don't get sawdust and shavings in the t-slot
this will make it easier to clean the machine and also prevent any damage to the table
at the same time I'll convert a wooden box
to hold the milling arbors safely in the drawer
so let's go to the workshop and see how we do it
I've just finished this box that holds my milling arbors
these are R8 and I've made it so that these all sit in neatly
rather than to have them in the bottom of a drawer where they're just rolling about
especially when you've got cutter edges
I don't want them hitting the sides of the chuck or the other parts to damage them
this box I had in the workshop I have another one here similar
These are the sort of boxes you'll get a bottle of wine and some cheese in as a present
they're made of thin wood plywood back
they useful in this case for holding the arbors in position
If you have a problem where these are rattling in the drawer
or you put them in a little toolbox you need to get access to them fairly easily
and by putting them in this box I can put the box in a drawer and I know they're all held in position
now you need the box and then two pieces of wood
here I've just got an off cut I'll show you how I made the cutouts and one that's a bit taller
the height needs to be at least more than half the diameter of your arbor
so you can cut a semicircle in here and it will rest in there nicely
the second piece of wood needs to be taller
so that when that's in there held the second piece will come at least halfway up to this end
in other words the height of this is at least to the centre
so these two pieces will do
what we need to do to get the tools to fit
The first thing is to place your tools in the box
and make sure that the number of tools will fit the box that you have
and you can space them evenly
then on your small piece of wood which goes to the bottom here
cut the wood length to fit inside the box
so once you've laid out the positions with a pencil just mark the centres of each arbor
and mark the wood so you know which side is left or right
and also remember the positions were you put the different arbors
and the way I cut a semicircle I'm using one of these hole saws for the semi circles
the way I did that was find one that is just a little bit bigger than the shaft
that fits into the hole saw
hole saw into the mill or a pedestal drill
line your drill on the line that you've marked
move the drill up so it just touches the edge of the wood
we're not using the drill to drill through the wood
we're just using the drill to get the centre location
it's clear from the vice it's clear all the way round
The speed is set at 180 rpm
Start this up
so wind it down until it starts to cut
put a piece of paper the table just to catch the bits
just ease off as we get to the bottom
and when you've cut the semicircle for the Arbor
take the piece of wood out then all you do is move it along to the next mark
just lower the saw to cut the second one
once you have your semicircles cut in the first piece of wood you then reset
the saw for the next size
we've cut the semicircle for the base now we need to cut the semicircle for the body of the tool
you do the same thing just select a cutter that will easily fit onto the body
we'll insert this into the holder
and then on the larger piece of wood will do exactly the same
as each component has a different diameter on the other end
you need to select the correct size hole saw to suit each part
so make sure that each Arbor is in the correct location before we use the hole saw to cut the diameter
Now I've changed this for the larger piece of wood there's the mark I made
I've set the larger hole saw in and I'm ready to cut that
now because this wood is thicker I don't need it this thick
I'm just going to the depth of the hole saw and then I'll just trim the wood off to the width
now change the hole saw for the next size to cut the diameter for the next arbor
and continue along the piece of wood until all the positions are cut
once all the positions are cut then slice the wood to the correct thickness to remove the semicircles
and all you need to do now is slice a piece off the bottom to give you the correct height for the finished part
so once you've cut the width of the wood to the width you require
the hole part will come out
and then all you need to do is check that the part fits
that stops you rolling about and when you're happy with the fit of the parts
you can glue the two wooden rails into the box
It stops the arbors rolling around hitting each other
any sharp edges getting chipped and you know exactly where the tools are when you need them
and this box just fits nicely inside the drawer
As this milling machine replaced my pedestal drill I will still need to use this
as a drilling machine for drilling wood and steel
and what I want to do is make a cover to go over the table
so that any sawdust is easy to clean up and doesn't go down the t-slots
what I want to get is a piece of plywood that will fit the table overlap the edges
and then I'll cut out the shape of the vice so that can put a piece each side that covers the complete table
Now I've saved this plywood this is part of a packing case that the milling machine arrived in
and the plywood is about a quarter of an inch thick
which is about five or six mil that will be ideal for making a cover for the milling machine table
the first thing I want to do is cut the bottom of this plywood off
because it's got holes in and split
so I've come in a couple of inches to give me a nice straight edge
The tables nine and a half inches wide on milling machine so what I want to do is
give myself a bit more space so I put some strengthening wood along each edge
The next thing I want to do is cut off this edge were its had staples through and square this edge up
that gives me a piece of ply although it's a bit distorted that will soon flatten out
So the next thing is to decide where the vice is and cut across so I can have two parts
so there's the wood it's longer than the table at the moment
I'm going to but it up against this edge which is the the power drive on the end
I don't want any dust and dirt going down this part and then
I'm just marking the centre of the vice with a pencil and I'll cut along here
split the board in two and then cut out the profile of the vice on this end
and the profile of the vice on the other side
so this is the position I want to cut across
and because the bandsaw will cut here it's not deep enough on the throat
I will use the other saw just to cut straight across
I have just set it in position
mark the cut out in this for the vice
so that just about fits and what I'm doing is mark out the other half
mark the width of the slot
by bringing this down I know that the slot I'm cutting out there it's a lot smaller
than I need so I can cut that out
the first one fits around the vice and this end just pushes down up against this face
and the second side should fit on there
I've cut it off level with the end of the table
so what I need to do is fit a strip on the front and the back so it lines up with the table
and that's another job finish
so If I'am doing some wood work or just want to drill a hole
The swarf or dust will just go on the board and it's easier to take the board off
brush it off than it is to go into the T- slots to get the bits out
plus it protects the table If I drop something the tables protected
That's the finished item all I've done is drill some holes in the top put a strip of wood
underneath place the board so it fits properly put the wood underneath
and then screw it into the wood so it holds it
and one on the back just a guide so it doesn't move backwards and forwards
well that's it for today hope you enjoyed it and hope to see you next time
On Enots engineering