First Mill

[sim]

Ah okay. Will find something heavy and solid then

[jetboat]

My bench that I have my mill bolted to is 3' deep and 18' long with 4x4 legs every 3'. The top is made from 1 layer of 3/4" osv and then 1 layer of 3/4" MDF. Then I added a shelf to the bottom and stacked as many heavy tools as I could on it. The bench itself weighs in at around 400# prolly close to 800# with the tools and its still not heavy enough.

[sim]

Yikes! And I thought the table top mill was the simpler option.
Sounds like I can't just pick up a cheap used table somewhere.

Was mostly thinking of saving space. The spot where I have my flimsy table now is only 4.8 feet wide and if I want to open the (rarely used) balcony door next to it, only 2.5 feet deep.



My wife has since annexed about half of this room since I took this picture.

[jetboat]

The weight of the table helps when you get a little play in the head and either gum up your end mill or try to go too fast into the material and the head chatters. It has shaken my entire table before.

[sweli]

Classifieds section of CNCzone.com

http://www.cnczone.com/classifieds/showcat.php/cat/4

[sim]

Thanks for all the info. I learnt so much from here that I actually bookmarked this thread. I most likely will be buying new. I'm in Malaysia and there's not a whole lot of used equipment that I can find (not yet anyway). But first, will rearrange the room a little for a bigger table. The wife might take some convincing. Heheh.

[sim]

Okay, almost settled on the Sherline 5410 from reading and asking questions, but if I had the money to spend, should I get the package with the 3.5 X 14 Sherline lathe as well?

[STJ7780]

Originally Posted by Sicario666

If you're looking to buy a good mill with high repeatability and rigidity.get a bridgeport and be done.you can make just about anything with a lathe and a mill.with the exceptance of not being able to make radial cuts with a bridgeport unless you have radius cutters.which can all be bought for a reasonable price through enco. You can make beadlocks using a manual mill.you just need to indicate the center of your workpiece and understand how to convert bolt circle formulas from the desired diameter you are working from

A Bridgeport or a knock off will allow you to make whatever you need for sure. R8 tooling for them is cheap and plentiful. They can be had next to nothing if you look for a deal. Got mine for $200. It needed some TLC but time and about $300 in parts got it to this stage. The table is on it now. I am waiting on the last parts to make it complete.

Originally Posted by chevellian

While the Bridgeport is without a doubt a superior machine, it also a wholenother animal. They weigh in at 2000+lbs, require about 100sg.ft. of floor space and 2 phase service. Just the transport of one of these badboys is a project in itself.

It is a whole different world from a bench top mill. You need room for it but not as much as you think. Mine is in my 2 car garage with my lathe and tools and RC collection and a mustang and storage etc. It is close but works good for me. They are a pain to move. Trailer and an engine lift are a must but they are easier to move if you take them apart. 3 phase power is easily gotten with a variable frequency drive or a rotary phase converter. You just need single phase 220 as an input. I think they even make a VFD that is single phase 115 input that outputs 3 phase 220. Hope this helps, or maybe not. Too many choices. Also don't forget to look at a MicroMark. Also another good bench top mill.

[Jeep-Power]

nice Round Ram!

here's mine-




Luck for me I owned the house before I met my wife, so the basement shop was well established-- full metal & wood shop.


A early/small B-port deoens't take up a ton of room, but it did take more floor space than I had hoped.

The 3 phase issue was easy to fix-- a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) allows for running 3 phase motors off single phase, and they double as an ESC! I got this one for about $130. Still have to permanently install it...

[STJ7780]

Very nice. I can't wait to get mine up and running. I picked up a 1HP VFD on ebay for $55. Got it hooked up but I need to finish a few minor repairs to the BP before I really start to make chips. I also put my 13" Southbend next to it last night. Sold the Smithy for $1500 and bought a Southbend, fully tooled for $1500.