M-Head Bridgeport Getting Started

Hey guys, I am just getting started on using my mill. A 70's bridgeport with an M-Head. I am a steel fabricator mostly doing interior design pieces (railing, doors, hoods etc) for new construction. I am hoping to learn to use this mill and the lathe I have in the shop to do different types of work and broaden my capabilities as a fabricator.

I have done all the basic maintenance, lots of way lube, spindle oil through the gits oiler, made sure the spindle nut is tight etc.

This is me running my M-head, I am milling a shaft coupler to size so I can weld it into a window frame that will pivot on a shaft and flange bearing. This is my first time cutting heavily with the mill. To me it seems like the machine is making a rattling noise somewhere in the head (do you hear that?) and also I can feel the vibrations in the handles pretty badly.

Not sure where to start. Anyone in the sacramento area want to come over and teach me how to use this thing? I am more than happy to compensate someone for some valuable instruction.

Thank You!

It's not uncommon for M heads to clatter because of slop in the spline. No worry there. You are taking a cut with quite a bit of surface area and it also sounds like it might be chattering some. Typical.

Ted

I see. What is the max this machine could do? For parameters lets say a 1/2” roughing endmill on a facemilling operation, what is my max depth of cut?

And for side milling, Same endmill how big a square and depth could I do?

There are way too many variables involved to answer that question... How ridged is your setup? Are you using coolant? What speed are you running? What's your feed rate? What condition is your cutter in? How tight is your machine? How far is your quill extended? etc. etc.

There are feed and speed calculators available on line that can help serve as a starting point. Most of this is simply trial and error. If things move on you, start bouncing around, break, cutters get dull quickly, then you need to back off.

M heads are not as ridged as the larger J heads, so that's one thing to keep in mind.

Ted

Yah after thinking about it more I realize I asked a question that has a million answers on the internet. After looking around I found a guideline I can start off from. So I am happy about that. Here is what I milled today, .010 at a time. I figure I will cut light passes to simply get a hang of using the machine. This project doesn't necessarily need this precision but I'd rather learn on a non crucial piece.

These are rigid couplers for a 7/8" shaft bought off amazon. I did a bandsaw cut to near size and I milled off the last .040 to get it to fit with a stick out of maybe .015

This will be welded into the tubing.

Here are pics of all the tools etc that came with the mill. I am not sure what a lot of these are.

If it were easier and more convenient I would upload more pics more frequently.

Might imgur work?

Imgur: The magic of the Internet