Surface Grinding with milling machine?

Will52100 · Jul 24, 2004

I can't remember where I saw it but some one a while back posted somewhere on there set-up surface grinding with a mini mill.

They had a magnetic chuck and a grinding stone in the mill head, and I can't find the post with particulars for the life of me.

any idea's where I can get the magnetic chuck and grinding rock for my mill? This will only be for short run surfaceing, one blade at a time.

Thanks,

Will

fitzo · Jul 24, 2004

Gary Riner of Fibermascus posted a setup like that some time back on one of the forums.

He went by "pupandcat" on CKD and here, at the time. I did a search in both places and couldn't find it. At CKD, the old fotos seem to be gone from the archive, anyway. You might write him to see if he has the foto, still.

mete · Jul 24, 2004

Remember that when you take a nice machine [lathe, mill etc] and use it to grind , you will get abrasive grinding dust on the machine . This is not good for the long life of the machine. Us a separate grinder and even a separate room for grinding operations.

Mike Hull · Jul 24, 2004

You can do it with a depressed center grinding wheel(use aluminum oxide, not the grey stone wheels that come on bench grinders), of 60-120 grit.
You just need to get the flange, and the arbor that will fit any collet you have. The wheel will be horizontal, and grinds on the side flats. Works great.

All that stuff is available from MSC.

The only drawback is the abrasive dust getting into your bearings, there is no problem straining anything because you are locking your column, it's not like milling with a drill press where the lateral strain eats the bearings.

Find a way(duct tape) to shield the bearings and no problems at all. You can also replace them with the shielded type(if they are not already installed).

Good luck!

Ripper · Jul 24, 2004

Will,

Go to James Park's website and under Tutorials download a copy of Poor Mans Surface Grinder (PMSG). This article turns a MINI MILL into a surface grinder.

Regards,
Greg

You might also want to see Bob Warner's post at KNF about making a " magnetic chuck ".

Will52100 · Jul 25, 2004

Thanks Guys, the poor man's surface grinder was what I was looking for.

ddavelarsen · Jul 25, 2004

Seems like the grinding dust would eat up the ways... I keep my lathe and mill covered all the time so they don't get dusty, I don't think I'd care to coat everything with grit!

I guess if you had coolant running over the work and directed away from the ways it'd be okay.

davebolton · Jul 26, 2004

Hey,
We just use a large endmill to surface grind. It can leave deep groves if you get some chatter or movement, but you can count on having parallel sides when you're done.