Complete drill press milling setup tutorial with details and links (5 Viewers)

@Josh Kifer seeing competition on the horizon

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I spent a little time last night on the milling rig. Got everything all dialed in. The drill platform was not level. It has a side to side adjustment that I could make, but it was also off front to back, so I had to shim the jig a little bit. Then I found a box that it would fit into. Got everything pretty well centered and ran through about a barrel of chips. Smooth sailing, and I am pretty happy with how closely I got it centered.

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Looks great!
I do recommend cleaning the chips a bit before milling, sometimes those blobs of dirt can make the chip sit uneven, and will ruin all the effort put in to leveling the deck.
 
I need to get on this. Drill press is still unopened after almost a year.

Did you make just a 39mm jig or 43mm as well?
The top piece in the jig is 1/4 inch red oak that came in a 2 ft by 3.5 inch board. The jig only needs 6 inches, so I have enough left to make 3 more different sizes. The Paulson chips are VERY snug in this one, so if I decide to mill some ASM/CPC chips, I will need a different one for them as they are about 0.7 mm wider in diameter. And yes, would be easy to make one for 43mm chips too. I just don't have any of those that I plan to mill yet.
 
Looks great!
I do recommend cleaning the chips a bit before milling, sometimes those blobs of dirt can make the chip sit uneven, and will ruin all the effort put in to leveling the deck.
Probably a good idea. Although that pad I'm using to keep the chips from spinning is tool drawer liner, and it's pretty spongy. So I don't think those little blobs of dirt (hooker juice) are really making any difference. Could be wrong though.
 
Based on the pictures from @Eloe2000 's thread I personally think that milling RHC looks better with the 1-1/4, and for that matter milling THC looks better with the 1" than with the 7/8".

My gripe with milling is that it leaves an extra, artificial recess within the chip's "natural" molded recess. I seem to be one of maybe two or three people that are bothered by this. I think the milling and subsequent labeling looks better if the natural recess is entirely "overwritten" by the new artificial recess by using a bit that reaches out to the edge of the natural recess, i.e. just barely touches or just barely goes past the innermost "ring" on the chip.
 
You can buy these bits is every mm in the range so hopefully, one of those gets you close. I suppose it depends whether it has an inlay already or hot stamp.
 
You can buy these bits is every mm in the range so hopefully, one of those gets you close. I suppose it depends whether it has an inlay already or hot stamp.

Where is this? 1-1/8” is 28.575mm, so let’s just call it 29mm. Do you know where you can buy a 29mm bottom cleaning/surface planning bit?
 
I feel like I've seen them all on eBay or manufacturer sites. Is 29mm one that is difficult to find? I could be wrong and that is one that's skipped. I'll see what I've bought and from where and get back to you.
 
My gripe with milling is that it leaves an extra, artificial recess within the chip's "natural" molded recess. I seem to be one of maybe two or three people that are bothered by this. I think the milling and subsequent labeling looks better if the natural recess is entirely "overwritten" by the new artificial recess by using a bit that reaches out to the edge of the natural recess, i.e. just barely touches or just barely goes past the innermost "ring" on the chip.
I think if the milling is done very shallow, it matches the real inlayed chip. On THC with a 7/8” inlay, there’s a larger recess as seen in the blue chips below. I think the pink milled chip looks very close, even though the inlay doesn’t fill the whole ring.
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Is anyone milling inlayed RHC chips? What bit size is required for them?

It’s not really possible with a drill press. The inlay size is 1-1/8 but the only commercially available bits are either 1 or 1-1/4, and 1-1/4 is too much and goes into the outer rim. I have some experimentation photos in one of the other threads.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/inlay-removal-by-milling-with-a-drill-press.51172/

You can buy these bits is every mm in the range so hopefully, one of those gets you close. I suppose it depends whether it has an inlay already or hot stamp.

Where is this? 1-1/8” is 28.575mm, so let’s just call it 29mm. Do you know where you can buy a 29mm bottom cleaning/surface planning bit?

Oops, I was mistaken above. RHC inlays are 1-1/16" not 1-1/8". The info in the thread I linked to with photos is accurate however.
 
I did purchase a 27mm bit here link. I have not tested this, but 1 1/6 is 26.9875mm. If I ever get this up and running, I'll try that one first, lol!
 
I did purchase a 27mm bit here link. I have not tested this, but 1 1/6 is 26.9875mm. If I ever get this up and running, I'll try that one first, lol!
What's going to cut the 6 or 7 mm in the center? The cutting edges don't cover the entire area.
 
I think if the milling is done very shallow, it matches the real inlayed chip. On THC with a 7/8” inlay, there’s a larger recess as seen in the blue chips below. I think the pink milled chip looks very close, even though the inlay doesn’t fill the whole ring.
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I have seen some pretty close fits, some chips that wouldn't bother me too much. But they're the exception. Probably because most people aren't as sensitive about that particular fine detail as I am (i.e. most people are sane).
 
I have seen some pretty close fits, some chips that wouldn't bother me too much. But they're the exception. Probably because most people aren't as sensitive about that particular fine detail as I am (i.e. most people are sane).
Nothing wrong with aiming for perfect!
 
I did purchase a 27mm bit here link. I have not tested this, but 1 1/6 is 26.9875mm. If I ever get this up and running, I'll try that one first, lol!
What's going to cut the 6 or 7 mm in the center? The cutting edges don't cover the entire area.
lol, good point. don't anyone buy it. I haven't tried it yet!!!
It's double the work, but you could hit the chips first with the 7/8ths, then go back over them all again with the 27mm T slot.
 
I believe this two step process it what we were discussing, but I can't remember. Seems like a lot of work.
 
I believe this two step process it what we were discussing, but I can't remember. Seems like a lot of work.
yup. Might be worth it for a couple barrels, but not much more.

Edit: Need to weigh it against the amount of time it takes to murder. Some chips are a real bitch, and even milling them 4 times might take less time than murdering them.
 
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True, but then you have to match the depth very precisely to avoid a step or line, which is difficult.
I think it's doable, if it's worth the time. We're only taking off the inlay, not plunging into the clay that much. And even if it's not absolutely perfect, covering it with a nice thick laminated label ought to give a little leeway.
 
I think this is where the bottom mount router method might be worth looking into. Your diameter precision is not dictated by the size of the bit, but the size of the jig and your ability to center the bit within the jig. I'm sure with 3D printing you can make all sorts of round jigs of precisely the diameter that you need.
 
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Finished my first chip. Made the mistake of not reading this all the way through and didnt get the Magnate bit so the chips are a little convex but have a magnate bit on the way now to get it sorted out
 

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