Finishing 80% AR receiver

I should of said if you machine can Handel it sorry.

I'm debating doing a .308 lower . Only way I can justifie it is of I can sneak it in to work and not worry about the cost of drill press jig.
 
If you follow the ray-vin doc they tell you where to drill out the holes and then you can mill. Be warned you can overheat the motor on the mini-mills. My next mod before I do any more hard milling is a fan upgrade to the motor. the CNC conversion folks have run in to this as well.
X2 Motor Fan Upgrade - YouTube

7.62x39 said:
I have both 2 flute and 4 flute center cut end mills, but drilling just removes material so much faster on my little machine. I really only needed to drill 7 holes, I only drilled all those little 1/8 spot holes because I wasn't quite ready to take the training wheels off just yet. lol
I'm sure on a behemoth machine like you have, plunge cutting is the way to go.
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I finished it today. I have a comprised a chart with the stop points based o cutter size. I f you need any of that info just PM me.
 

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Gillham said:
Looking good. After doing mine at the build party, I have a sudden craving to buy more 80% lowers and just start cranking them out myself.. Time to hunt for a good, used mini mill [smile] Suggestions on where to look??
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Harbor Freight has them on sale for $499 plus you can use the 20% coupon.
 
dropride said:
Harbor Freight has them on sale for $499 plus you can use the 20% coupon.
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That's the way to do it. When HF has a sale plus the 20% off coupon you basically get the $599 mill for $400 bucks.

Then you need to go to 7.62x39's gunco link above to learn about the Mod's you need to do for a great, reliable, Mini Mill.
 
Gillham said:
Looking good. After doing mine at the build party, I have a sudden craving to buy more 80% lowers and just start cranking them out myself.. Time to hunt for a good, used mini mill [smile] Suggestions on where to look??
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Craigslist - I picked up a nice 5 year old square column RF45 mill/drill with DRO for $600 - machine alone goes for over 3G

I just HATE Harbor Freight stuff.
 
I stumbled across a lot of the Grizzly/Cummins Tools/HF mini mill threads, and it seems like a lot of people were stuck up about getting them, even with the mods. But honestly, I've been eyeing the $400 HF Mini Mill for a while.. I'll read your post on gunco. I think that's one of the main things I couldn't find, a post covering the mods.. If I do end up with a HF mill, I'll mod it so that I'm using a reliable piece of machinery, not a chinese paper weight with tons of slop.
 
From what I understand, all the Mini Mills by Sieg, Harbor Freight, Grizzly, and other brand names they are sold under, are in fact mfg in the the same one plant in China. They have different options like MT2 vs R8 collets, and different color paint but are basically the same mill.

My 2 cents.
 
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DJ_99Wing said:
From what I understand, all the Mini Mills by Seig, Harbor Freight, Grizzly, and other brand names they are sold under, are in fact mfg in the the same one plant in China. They have different options like MT2 vs R8 collets, and different color paint but are basically the same mill.

My 2 cents.
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Yep - I've gathered the same thing. The more I read about them (I just got done w/ the gunco thread) the more I want to buy one sooner rather than later...

Dear Santa,
I want a mini mill, Little Machine Shop replacement parts kits, DROs, a wet/dry vac to make a vac system in my basement, an air compressor......
 
Gillham said:
Yep - I've gathered the same thing. The more I read about them (I just got done w/ the gunco thread) the more I want to buy one sooner rather than later...

Dear Santa,
I want a mini mill, Little Machine Shop replacement parts kits, DROs, a wet/dry vac to make a vac system in my basement, an air compressor......
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Don't forget all the tooling to go with it. You'll spend just as much as the mill if not more.
 
Gillham said:
Yep - I've gathered the same thing. The more I read about them (I just got done w/ the gunco thread) the more I want to buy one sooner rather than later...
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Right now is the time to buy. They are on sale for $499 and there is also 20% coupon that's good till the end of the month. That's another $100 off. So it's $400 vs $600. Shipping is only $22

http://www.harborfreight.com/two-speed-variable-bench-mill-drill-machine-44991.html

ETA. I have the coupon code if you need it.
 
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dropride said:
Don't forget all the tooling to go with it. You'll spend just as much as the mill if not more.
Click to expand...

That stuff does kind of sneak up on you doesn't it?
There have been a lot of little boxes from LMS, MSC and Grainger showing up here over the last couple of months. But I think I've got everything I want now.
I started out with this kit from LMS Tooling Package, R8 Mini Mill Essentials - LittleMachineShop.com which gave me a good start. I wanted this one but it was on BO at the time Tooling Package, R8 Mini Mill - LittleMachineShop.com
I added some 1-2-3 blocks, a couple more collets, more end mills, tramming fixture, machinist squares.
 
Another point to consider. The Harbor Freight mill uses R8 collets which are much better and generally less money than the Morse Taper MT2 collets on the Grizzly Mini Mill. I don't think any vendor can beat the HF shipping charge of $22 bucks for a 140 pound delivery.


7.62x39 said:
They were when DJ and I ordered ours too. We both ordered them the same day. I think it took about a month.
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Yes took just about a month. We received them on the same day too.
 
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7.62x39 said:
That stuff does kind of sneak up on you doesn't it?
There have been a lot of little boxes from LMS, MSC and Grainger showing up here over the last couple of months. But I think I've got everything I want now.
I started out with this kit from LMS Tooling Package, R8 Mini Mill Essentials - LittleMachineShop.com which gave me a good start. I wanted this one but it was on BO at the time Tooling Package, R8 Mini Mill - LittleMachineShop.com
I added some 1-2-3 blocks, a couple more collets, more end mills, tramming fixture, machinist squares.
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A BIG +1 on this ^^

Little Machine Shop, MSC, Enco, and CME just to name a few really love my credit card now...[smile]

I waited for the BO to clear and did get this starter kit (link below). Well worth the wait. Very happy to have the extra collets, 1-2-3 blocks, the extra parallels and a heavier milling vise.

Wow, just got another present from LMS tonight. This time for the lathe.

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3489&category=.

 
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Gillham said:
I stumbled across a lot of the Grizzly/Cummins Tools/HF mini mill threads, and it seems like a lot of people were stuck up about getting them,
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I know I'm definitely stuck up on NOT getting HF stuff - mostly due to having owned some of it in the past. If you're not in a rush, shop around the used market - good deals on much better equipment are out there.
Check out the classified ads on machinery forums, as well as regular ads.

An option is to get a better machine, do the job, and sell it when done. Might work out to be the cheapest way to go.
 
Archilochus said:
I know I'm definitely stuck up on NOT getting HF stuff - mostly due to having owned some of it in the past.
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You have to pick and choose which HF products you buy. True a lot of their stuff is junk, but there are some hidden jewels in there.

This mill is actually a Seig X2. They are known by many names. Grizzly G8689, Harbor freight 44991, little machine shop 3900, Micro mark 84630 as well as models formerly offered by Central tool, Homier and Cummins. They are all the same mill with a few small variations. The most important of which is whether it comes equipped with a R-8 or MT-3 spindle. The R-8 is the preferred spindle due to the fact that there is more and cheaper tooling available for it. The HF has the R-8 spindle.

This is the same machine that Grizzly gets $700 for. G8689 Mini Milling Machine

I also have two HF blast cabinets (a bench top and a full size unit) a parts cleaning tank, a 12 ton press and a turkey fryer I use for my parkerizing tank. All have given me years of problem free service. Just check the product reviews/ratings of the item before you buy, they are usually a pretty good indicator as to whether or not it's any good.
 
A belt drive is certainly not a necessity. These are accurate enough to do something like an AR receiver right out of the box. But If you want to get into real precision work you need to brace the column. All you need is a piece of steel plate. All the rest is bells and whistles
 
7.62x39 said:
A belt drive is certainly not a necessity. These are accurate enough to do something like an AR receiver right out of the box. But If you want to get into real precision work you need to brace the column. All you need is a piece of steel plate. All the rest is bells and whistles
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On sale the mill would cost you $400 & $22 bucks to ship. I purchased 1/2" x 4" steel plate & some 1/4" x 2" steel plate for about $30 for the steel to brace my column, and have a good chunk left for other projects. Cost maybe $20 for the bolts, washers & misc. hardware. Not a bad deal for someone starting out on a budget.

If you want to get fancy (which I did) you can add, lift spring kit =$40, belt drive =$155, and DRO's =$95. Still not a bad investment for a reasonable price. You could always watch CL for mills, but those are not generally given away for short money. But who knows, you could always be the lucky guy that gets a great deal on a sale.

I'm into it for about $750, setup the way I want it, with DRO's, the column is solid and easy to tram, and I have extra steel to play with on my new mill.
 
The LMS solid column machine has some nice upgrades on it bigger table and more travel, (you do have to tram it differently with shim stock) better motor too. (I have the HF I have modded ) I still need to do a motor fan mod, as I did overheat while doing the magwell. But I also have run some big tools while doing real work. (I use it for my small engine biz along with hobby gunsmith work) Would I like a full size mill sure do I have room for it no.
 
CWulf said:
I have a 'I'm new to Northeastshooters' question... what exactly is an 80% AR reciever?
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It's a lower receiver that needs the fcg milled, selector,trigger,and hammer holes drilled. It's basically a paper weight till you finish it and can can have it sent to your house without going through an ffl. There are no numbers or engravings on them.

 

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