Any nice people with a Mill?

[RafeZetter]

I've come cap in hand - but I haz cash too, and not beer money, happy to pay a proper rate.

I'm hoping someone might have a milling machine to do 4 straightforward cuts to enlarge 15mm slots into 19mm slots on two tablesaw tops - one is cast iron (Axminsters average TS200) and the other I think is Magnesium on my Kity 419.

Would prefer (if I have a choice) a mill with a DRO simply because both mitre slots have to be 100% parallel to each other and 90deg to the front face where the fence attaches without deviation for obvious reasons. My blade mounting mechanism has some tolerance for adjustment.

If you need to buy a mill to do it - I'll pay for that too.

There's enough meat either side to allow it, and I'll finally be able to use standard mitre slot accessories.

I live in Bristol, but willing to travel a little.

I'm asking on here before risking a commercial company as there's only 1 shot at this.

No rush on time, but weeks rather than months if possible .

Cheers

Edit - I absolutely do not trust myself to try this at home, I don't have a router table even remotely accurate enough, and even though I know a man who does, thanks to a very kind Steve Maskery, I still have no way to make the slots 100% perpendicular to the front fence mounting system, which only has minimal adjustment.

It's either a mill or not do it at all.

 

[Trevanion]

You’re asking for quite a difficult job to be done there Rafe, or at least quite difficult without a very large milling machine with enough capacity to accommodate the tables. The most ideal machine would be a metal planer or a very large shaper rather than a mill, in my opinion.

You could do it with a handheld router, it will be slow taking very light passes, god-awful loud, and you would likely go through several bits but with the right setup you could accurately mill the slots.

It might be worth asking on the MigForum, there’s guys there with serious machines and serious know-how.

 

[RafeZetter]

You’re asking for quite a difficult job to be done there Rafe, or at least quite difficult without a very large milling machine with enough capacity to accommodate the tables. The most ideal machine would be a metal planer or a very large shaper rather than a mill, in my opinion.

You could do it with a handheld router, it will be slow taking very light passes, god-awful loud, and you would likely go through several bits but with the right setup you could accurately mill the slots.

It might be worth asking on the MigForum, there’s guys there with serious machines and serious know-how.

The tablesaw tops aren't that large from side edge to slot is less than 8 inches, 200mm without running out to check- and I've seen mills from various YT channels that look like they could accommodate quite easily if going parallel to the bed instead of front to back.

I've thought about a router, even bought a downcut milling bit for it, but this is a one shot deal and I just don't trust myself to get this perfect.

 

[Guineafowl21]

If you need to buy a mill to do it - I'll pay for that too.

Ooh! I’ll have a Bridgeport, please.

I’d second the advice to ask on the MIG welding forum. Lots of serious machine lads there. It would be a stretch for my Tom Senior.

They would need a bit more detail, maybe some pics with a scale to get an idea of dimensions, and some of the undersides of both tables, to see where the machined surfaces are for mounting and supporting dead flat on the mill bed. This could be straightforward, or could involve farting around for hours with 123 blocks, parallels and shims. Once done, you’d then clock in to the existing slot, then mill away. Machining jobs are mostly setup. DRO is certainly a good idea - since you’re nibbling from both sides, the backlash would be a nuisance without one.

Don’t forget to take a specimen 19mm slide, to give an idea of fit/tolerance, and for sanity checks.

Final thought: this job would be a short morning’s work, at a rough guess. At commercial machine shop rates (£72/hr + VAT when I last used one a few years ago), you might be pushing the economics a bit. Have you considered selling the two saws, and buying a bigger one with 19mm slots, or just converting your 19mm slides to 15mm?