milling machine VF-1

Uncle Phil's VF-1 tiller

The people's milling machine - build a fully fledged CNC milling machine yourself
Milling machines are expensive, heavy and so big that they don't fit in a hobby room. You can leave it as it is – or you can do it like YouTuber Uncle Phil. He has developed a fully-fledged CNC milling machine on his own. And not only that: he created all the construction plans and construction drawings and put them online for you to build. If you are now wondering what a people's milling machine actually is, what you do with it and why this CNC milling machine will also enrich your hobby room - then you should definitely read on!

What actually is a milling machine?
Milling machines are quite an “old” invention. The first machines were developed as early as 1818, in which a rotating tool – the milling cutter – processes a stationary workpiece. The original milling machines still had to be operated by hand. And that for quite a long time. Because it was not until the 1970s that the triumph of computer-controlled milling machines began. Computer control is also the namesake for today's extremely widespread CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) milling machines.

And what exactly is a CNC milling machine?
What humans have to do with conventional milling machines - namely adjusting the individual axes of the machine to produce a desired geometry of the workpiece - is done by the computer-aided control on CNC milling machines. The arithmetic unit of these machines calculates and regulates each axis, so that a continuous control of the relative movement between the workpiece and the tool is guaranteed. Coordinate systems are used so that the machine knows where the tool is at all times – you remember them from school.

A simple CNC milling machine has three axes:
• X-Axis: The longitudinal axis of the tiller
• Y-Axis: The lateral axis
• Z-Axis: The vertical axis

Through the combination of coordinate points of all three axes, the milling tool is moved to the programmed point and can carry out its work, the cutting, there. To ensure that the machine hits its target with pinpoint accuracy, the axes of a CNC milling machine have their own control loops with absolute or incremental measuring systems. The systems measure the position of the axes and report this to the controller. The controller compares the target and actual position and makes the appropriate corrections and adjustments.

Enough theory: Uncle Phil makes it practical
CNC milling machines are extremely practical machines. Anyone with a little knowledge of G-code programming (the "language" of CNC machines) and mastering CAD programs can produce just about anything out of aluminium, steel, stainless steel or even wood. CNC milling machines can mill, of course. But they can also drill, cut threads, make grooves and and and. The problem with the practical helpers: They usually weigh several tons, cost a few years' salary in good industrial quality and only fit into really spacious hobby workshops.
Uncle Phil impressively proves that milling work can also be carried out in the hobby area with his CNC milling machine brand self-made. So that you can get a first glimpse of the machine, click here for the common milling machine and visit Uncle Phil's website!

In months of work, he and his team of “people with special abilities” have developed a do-it-yourself CNC milling machine. The machine is cheap to build (under $1,000 if you want), fully variable in size, and has enough spindle power to cut aluminum. Or plastics. Or even wood – if you want that. Uncle Phil has even successfully chipped steel!

The portal tiller
Uncle Phil designed his self-made CNC milling machine as a portal milling machine. With this type of milling machine, the tool is guided on a crossbeam between two machine stands. If you look at this structure, the eponymous portal quickly becomes visible. With portal milling machines, the workpiece is clamped either on a fixed table or on an adjustable machine table. With Uncle Phil's CNC milling machine, the table with the workpiece on it is fixed while the movement is carried out by the axes. Why did Uncle Phil choose this design? Well, portal milling machines are ideal for the quick processing of larger areas - for example aluminum sheet or aluminum plate. And portal milling machines offer another advantage: the rigid design enables extremely high positioning accuracy! Vibrations, which often occur during milling and cause poor workpiece surfaces, are also not an issue with portal milling machines.

It depends on good leadership!
In order for milling machines to be able to reliably carry out the movements of the axes, they must be guided. In general there are several options:
1. The flat guide. For this purpose, steel strips are installed on the base body. Recirculating roller shoes - to put it simply, mobile ball bearings - move on the steel strips, which are mounted under the moving parts of an axis. These guide systems are particularly in demand when heavy workpieces have to be moved. A guidance system with enormous stability. But clearly oversized for use with a homemade milling machine.
2. Hydrostatic guides. This is where it gets oily! This is because hydrostatic guides work with a liquid lubricant that is pressed into chambers between the bearing surfaces via inlet channels. The bearing surfaces are thus separated by the thin lubricating film. With this guide there is no friction between the sliding surfaces, and there is no sliding resistance when the axes start and stop. An ingenious system - but neither necessary nor affordable for hobbyists.
3. Linear guides. When axes need to be positioned quickly and extremely precisely, linear guides come into their own. This guide system consists of rails on which either ball cages or recirculating ball guides move. Linear guides are cheap to buy and absolutely maintenance-free.
Uncle Phil decided to use linear guides for his tiller.

Mill, print, build!
Uncle Phil's CNC milling machine consists largely of assemblies that were milled and 3D printed by the YouTuber himself. The nice thing about it: You can watch the individual construction steps on YouTube. Because rebuilding is expressly permitted and encouraged.

The milling machine consists to a large extent of milled aluminum parts. Or to put it in the words of Uncle Phil: "Since I was clever enough to build a milling machine that consists of parts that are made with a milling machine, in this video I mill the milled parts of the milling machine with a milling machine".

Other components of the machine come directly from the 3D printer. Some geometries of the required parts could only be made in this way.

A milling machine requires a stable basic structure. Of course, the forces that can develop during machining should not be underestimated. CNC milling machines in industrial applications usually have a cast iron substructure. This material absorbs vibrations and is quite heavy - which allows the machines to be really stable. Uncle Phil didn't happen to have a foundry in the neighborhood, though. That's why he decided to use 60 mm aluminum profiles for the base frame of his milling machine. These purchased parts are available in a wide range of dimensions - a guarantee for the greatest possible flexibility in terms of the dimensions of the individual axes.

You don't have a milling machine or a 3D printer, but still fancy a self-made milling machine?
Sure, you don't have a milling machine in the basement because you want to build another one. Therefore, you cannot produce any milled parts that you need for your new milling machine. Even a 3D printer is not necessarily a toy that everyone has standing around.

Of course, Uncle Phil has a solution for this as well. And in tireless work we have initiated cooperations with a wide variety of companies that provide you with all the parts you need for the people's milling machine in a practically pre-sorted way.
Of course, you can also find every aluminum sheet and every aluminum plate in raw form for Uncle Phil's milling machine in our shop. And so that you don't have to spend a long time searching for the right aluminum parts, we've been busy - and have put together all the aluminum parts you need in a set:

Set of aluminum plates and angles for the people's tiller

Of course in the best quality as aluminum plates already milled flat on both sides including protective film on both sides.

or to the complete overview of our aluminum plates

And now: On the shavings, get set... GO !