Here it is, right out of the box.
Boy is this thing heavy. And the knurl is sharp. Machining is nice. The gap is set right around 0.040 from the factory.
To make my base I started by cutting two discs with flat sides - one a little bigger than the top of a 5 gallon bucket, one a little smaller. I used 3/4" ply for the top and 3/8" ply for the bottom.
Did a little test fit to figure out where I wanted the mill to live. I decided on dead center for the best weight distribution.
Then I cut the clearance hole with my jigsaw and drilled some holes. Unfortunately, the holes in the aluminum side plates aren't through-holes, so I couldn't use them to locate centers. I had to make my own paper template and make my holes a little bigger. As you can see, I missed. It'd be nice if a template was included or if the holes went all the way through.
Then I cut out a big clearance hole in the 3/8" ply and glued it to the 3/4" ply.
This locates it nicely on the 5 gallon bucket.
In case you were wondering why the flat sides, it's so the whole thing can store neatly inside the bucket when not in use.
Tomorrow or Friday, hopper!
-Joe