Complete drill press milling setup tutorial with details and links (2 Viewers)

[Colquhoun]

Love the idea of a clamp. I made my way through about a barrel tonight after the initial sacrifice of about 5 chips. I think the depth looks pretty good so far? I’ll knock down the center mark the bit leaves and try out a few labels.



I think I’ll add the additional piece before proceeding with anymore chips. The one takeaway I made was how important the size of the hot stamp being milled is. These horseshoe stamps literally max out the 7/8” bit and often leave traces of gold that I carefully remove afterwards……



View attachment 1612639

That recess looks perfect...nice and shallow.
Regarding centering, I found that almost all Paulson chips are off-center. Actually, the mold is a bit off center, but the hotstamp is usually centered on the chip, which makes it look a little out of whack. Sometimes, I would put the chip in the jig perfectly centered and it would look a bit off when done.
It's a little back and forth game to get it right. Milling it perfectly in the center doesn't count if it doesnt look centered when done, right?
I also used an x-acto knife to scrape some of the hotstamp remnants off the chips that still had it.
Fun job, right?

 

[ChippinUp]

That recess looks perfect...nice and shallow.
Regarding centering, I found that almost all Paulson chips are off-center. Actually, the mold is a bit off center, but the hotstamp is usually centered on the chip, which makes it look a little out of whack. Sometimes, I would put the chip in the jig perfectly centered and it would look a bit off when done.
It's a little back and forth game to get it right. Milling it perfectly in the center doesn't count if it doesnt look centered when done, right?
I also used an x-acto knife to scrape some of the hotstamp remnants off the chips that still had it.
Fun job, right?

I literally sat there with a round edge exacto blade carefully removing little edges of left over hot stamp. Some were so thin but actually made the recess look not perfectly circular….if that makes sense. After a small clean up with the exacto blade to remove it all was well.

I know understand why smaller initials etc are much better candidates than these or even a starburst

 

[ChippinUp]

Anyone have a preference on cleaning chips prior to milling or afterwards?

 

[Mudfever]

The first step, cut a hole in the box…

Mud

 

[ChippinUp]

View attachment 1637801

The first step, cut a hole in the box…

Mud

That flexible light is a nice touch

 

[ChippinUp]

As the journey continues I have been working through the milling on my workhorse $5 chip. I have about 140 chips left out of 550.

I have a question for all the “millers” out there. The reds I have are in good shape and I’ve experimented with washing vs no wash. My normal procedure when milling is mill, wash, label and finally light oil.

I discovered after testing 10 chips that the washing didn’t yield any noticeable difference which means I could change the process on the $5’a to mill, label and oil.

My question is how is everyone removing the dust, debris etc on the chips prior to labelling? Should I just give them a scrub anyways? Or use compressed air etc??

 

[Mushmanchuman]

As the journey continues I have been working through the milling on my workhorse $5 chip. I have about 140 chips left out of 550.

I have a question for all the “millers” out there. The reds I have are in good shape and I’ve experimented with washing vs no wash. My normal procedure when milling is mill, wash, label and finally light oil.

I discovered after testing 10 chips that the washing didn’t yield any noticeable difference which means I could change the process on the $5’a to mill, label and oil.

My question is how is everyone removing the dust, debris etc on the chips prior to labelling? Should I just give them a scrub anyways? Or use compressed air etc??

I do a pretty rough shake in the salad spinner/ zip tie combo. Takes most of the debris off even though you’ll ones and twos that are stuck when you’re labeling.

 

[Timmah]

I was reading through this thread and I’m in the beginning stages of milling some H-mold chips. I’ve purchased the drill press, the magnate bit, and all the other goodies. Everything should be delivered in a week or so.

My question is about setting the depth of the drill. Do you eye ball it? Or is there a specific depth from the top surface?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ChippinUp]

I can’t speak for everyone but I eye ball. After some practice you get a feel for it.

In the beginning I would mill a small amount and check the depth. It’s common for some to go to deep.

I don’t have experience with H mold but on THC you are basically just removing the hotstamps and no deeper.

The biggest thing I can say is make sure the chip is secure to avoid it spinning

 

[ChippinUp]

The one thing I can say with the cheaper drill presses is they have much weaker tolerances.

If you have a higher end setup you may be able to set the depth. My drill press had some give at the bottom of the range so if I set the depth it still went deeper basically

 

[Josh Kifer]

I was reading through this thread and I’m in the beginning stages of milling some H-mold chips. I’ve purchased the drill press, the magnate bit, and all the other goodies. Everything should be delivered in a week or so.

My question is about setting the depth of the drill. Do you eye ball it? Or is there a specific depth from the top surface?

Any help would be appreciated.

Don't use depth.

None of the chips you are going to be milling are the same thickness..each one is different by micro amounts. You mill by feel and remove just enough. But if you use a depth setting, you'll find some chips too deep, some chips too light, and some chips just right. Specially in used mixed racks.

 

[Mushmanchuman]

Don't use depth.

I set my depth gauge just in case I fall asleep or pass out while milling. The depth stop is just a way to keep from ruining the chip when you get a heavy hand.

With some chips I’ve noticed the color changes when the proper depth is reached. Usually just after the stamp is gone.

When I first started milling I was going too deep. I was holding the bit to the chip for way too long as well.

Realistically you just need two quick hits with the bit. The bit mills better when it’s free of debris. The second time you hit the chip it’s a clean swipe that will take the stamp off along with the rest of the top layer. That’s about it.

 

[Josh Kifer]

I set my depth gauge just in case I fall asleep or pass out while milling. The depth stop is just a way to keep from ruining the chip when you get a heavy hand.

With some chips I’ve noticed the color changes when the proper depth is reached. Usually just after the stamp is gone.

When I first started milling I was going too deep. I was holding the bit to the chip for way too long as well.

Realistically you just need two quick hits with the bit. The bit mills better when it’s free of debris. The second time you hit the chip it’s a clean swipe that will take the stamp off along with the rest of the top layer. That’s about it.

I do 2-3 pulls. One to open the chip up. One to mill. Then one feather light one to clean the cup.

 

[Bacon Dad]

What's the best clamping system to keep the chip from spinning and the inlay centered under the bit, yet allows micro-adjustments to center the inlay?

 

[ChippinUp]

What's the best clamping system to keep the chip from spinning and the inlay centered under the bit, yet allows micro-adjustments to center the inlay?

I can’t help with this question at the moment as I went pretty ghetto. I expected my jig and silicone mat to keep the chip from spinning and that wasn’t the case. I used a banged up chip to lightly press against the chip I was milling and that worked great for me.

I intend to create a swinging arm in the future to hold chips in place tho….

Basically pressing the chip lightly into the other. My setup above, pretty basic but worked well.

Now in terms of centering, the only viable option for me was rotating the chip slightly but you will go insane if you attempt to centre each one

 

[Mushmanchuman]

What's the best clamping system to keep the chip from spinning and the inlay centered under the bit, yet allows micro-adjustments to center the inlay?

Just a bit of pressure from a chip will be enough to keep it from spinning. Just gotta make sure to press it the same way each time for uniformity. My jig has a little wiggle room and is also pretty ghetto.

 

[Timmah]

How many chips can I expect to destroy before dialing in the process?

 

[ChippinUp]

How many chips can I expect to destroy before dialing in the process?

Being a first timer I milled about 700 chips and lost 7 or 8 chips in the process.

 

[LeGold]

How many chips can I expect to destroy before dialing in the process?

You can initially use dice chips for that.

 

[Mudfever]

I bought 200ish ASM/CPC chips on auctions/sales for odd/barrels to practice on before I get to the ones I want in sets.

Mud

 

[foreverdev]

Is it crazy to grind down a Forstner bit in order to make it a bottom cleaning bit, so as to be able to mill RHC chips @ 1-1/16" depth? has anyone tried this? Or, how are folks milling their RHCs?