Well, I got my shiny new Microlux milling machine, and some end mills and collets.
It was mostly already assembled. I adjusted the gibs on the X-Y table to
take out a tiny bit of play I noticed, put in the arbor shaft, and fired it up.
Works fine.
Besides using end mills and collets,
it comes with a drill chuck, which mates on the end of the arbor shaft. But it is just a press fit. I asked Micro-Mark about this, and they said, yes,
that's all it is. You push the tapered end of the arbor into the back of the chuck, open the chuck jaws all the way, put it on a block of wood and rap the arbor shaft a few times with a wooden mallet, and it will stay in place.
My question (dumb as it sounds) is, REALLY??? You mean if I put bits in that chuck and drill, or grind, or even, say, put a Dremel cutter in it to do some shaping, that chuck isn't going to fly off the end of the arbor?
I'd appreciate advice and experiences on this one, to be sure. I'm a definite newbie at this.