Customer Reviews

Milling

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When I began working with hobbyist mini mills and lathes I had a very difficult time finding reference material that defined use and application for tooling and accessories. It was even difficult to find a information that explained spec sheets published for mini mills and lathes. Consequently, I had a lot of expensive false starts and own many less than useful tools.

Stan Bray does a good job of explaining the basic types of milling machines and what circumstances they serve, beginning with the largest horizontal machines to the smallest bench top vertical mills. In doing so he identifies equipment strengths and weaknesses by machine type and application.

He covers virtually all accessories; the purposes they serve, the way they are used and how they are set up to perform a task. Some of the topics are: a multitude of cutter types, boring heads, fly cutters, spindle tapers, vises, coolant systems, types of lubrication, material selection and the effect they have on process, etc. There are good sections regarding methods of measurement during set up as well as during production.

I think Milling would enable a beginner to better select a machine and certainly to restrict tool and accessory purchases to essentials. For the same group, and maybe a little more advanced, there are excellent sections on setting up specific job and the reasons for doing so. There is also coverage of typical problems encountered and how they can best be resolved.

The font size is readable, the black and white photo's are very good and the language is clear, concise and easy to follow. The information applies to all milling equipment, not just bench top equipment.

The book was published in 2004, but the information on specific mini machines is a litte light, although information on use; setting speeds, clamping down material, getting accurate results is still very much applicable. Good book. Glad I bought it.

This is a beautifully turned-out book with little content. It names things and distinguishes mill types but is little use to a beginning mill wright. What end mill is best for Al and at what speed? Those sort of answers are few. Not a how-to.

Pretty pictures, but not much useful information. It fills the (rather obscure) niche of a coffee table book on small home milling machines. If that's what you're looking for, I think this is the only such book. For more practical information, I'd go elsewhere. There are some good online guides to milling machine purchases, and there are the great, classic instruction books such as Audel Machine Shop Basics or Home Machinists Handbook for more home shop specific matters.