Grizzly Mini Mill, anyone own it?

[Bmr4life]

Looks like a nice little Mill, but can it handle what we would need it to?

I was told to go to this website because they have lathe mill combos. I saw this guy while surfing around.

http://grizzly.com/products/Mini-Milling-Machine/G8689

["N8"]

one of those is sitting downstairs next to a bridgeport. Because its right next to a bridgeport ive never actually used it. What do you mean when you speak of what we need it to do??? gimme some hypotheticals and I will to use it and give you a review.

[jr104]

Here's a good link with model comparisons, techniques, accessories etc. Also a mini lathe section .

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/...s/versions.htm

[Bmr4life]

We mostly work with aluminum and plastics on this site, so I was referring to milling those.


Thanks for the link.

[SpeedyDad]

I own one and use it quite a bit. Here are a couple projects I used it for:

Wild Willy goes crawling

Wild Willy's big brother

It has served me well so far.

[Bmr4life]

Originally Posted by SpeedyDad

I own one and use it quite a bit. Here are a couple projects I used it for:

Wild Willy goes crawling

Wild Willy's big brother

It has served me well so far.

Wow, nice rigs.

[ToyTundra]

Seems to have more travel in every direction than a Sherline which i find is a hair too small for frame rails. I would get a separate lathe and mill to reduce set up times.

[5150bronco]

Originally Posted by SpeedyDad

I own one and use it quite a bit. Here are a couple projects I used it for:

Wild Willy goes crawling

Wild Willy's big brother

It has served me well so far.

are they hard to learn how to use?

[SpeedyDad]

Originally Posted by 5150bronco

are they hard to learn how to use?

Not really. Its all trial an error for me.

I recommend you get one of these:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3490&category=

or

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3489&category=

or

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3526&category=

The difference between the 3 is the collet type. One is R8, one is 3MT, and one is X3. You'll have to figure out which it is from your Mill info. Several place sell the same mill but they don't all use the same kind of collet. The mill Grizzly and Micro-Mark sell uses MT3. The Harbor Freight version of the same mill uses R8.

The above kits look expensive but it has just about everything else you'll need to get started milling. When you buy the mill, you'll think you can just open it up and get started. In reality, the mill itself is just the machine. You need all the other parts in the above kit to actually mill stuff. You can buy the stuff individually over time as needed but it is nice to have it all there when you need it.

I've used the company above quite a number of times and they have always had good service.

If you can afford a little extra, get the Micro-Mark version of the mill.

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-BE...MILL,8102.html

It has some advantages. The biggest is metal gears in the spindle. If you leave the locking bar in the spindle just once and turn it on, you are likely to shatter the plastic spindle gears that most other mills of this type have. It also has true inch dials which means you can take off a 16th of an inch instead of .000 whatever. Some like this and some don't.

[scorpion]

I did a mess of research before I bought my knee mill. What I found supported this simple fact: Light duty mills and mill drills are good for light duty work like plastics. Once you start getting into aluminums and really want to make some chips or run some large tooling, you really should start considering stepping up to a full size knee mill. The smaller setups aren't very rigid and can leave a lot to be desired when making larger parts or working with tougher materials. Also, the smaller machines weren't designed to last a lifetime of average use, they're really made for the occational/hobby guy. The knee mill I purchased was in excellent shape and I spent about $4k on it. It will last a lifetime machining anything I'm patient enough to machine.

Rigidity is the most important thing when machining and heavy duty ways and screws are the key. Most of these smaller machines just don't have the beef.

Plastic on the other hand, given the right chip load (though plastic chips shouldn't be called chips), wouldn't hurt these machines.

[SpeedyDad]

Yeah a big honking $4000 mill would be great to have if you can justify the cost. Most of us will never need that much mill. I model RC in 6th to 18th scale. The practical answer is that this mill will do all I need. It takes up very little space in my shop and turns out parts that are decent enough for me. Yeah, if I was doing production stuff, I'd invest in the big one. I'm not, so the small mill works just great. And, I have a lot of money left for my toys. I've used mine for aluminum and it works fine for that as well as all the delrin I've cut.

[5150bronco]

Originally Posted by SpeedyDad

Not really. Its all trial an error for me.

I recommend you get one of these:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3490&category=

or

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3489&category=

or

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3526&category=

The difference between the 3 is the collet type. One is R8, one is 3MT, and one is X3. You'll have to figure out which it is from your Mill info. Several place sell the same mill but they don't all use the same kind of collet. The mill Grizzly and Micro-Mark sell uses MT3. The Harbor Freight version of the same mill uses R8.

The above kits look expensive but it has just about everything else you'll need to get started milling. When you buy the mill, you'll think you can just open it up and get started. In reality, the mill itself is just the machine. You need all the other parts in the above kit to actually mill stuff. You can buy the stuff individually over time as needed but it is nice to have it all there when you need it.

I've used the company above quite a number of times and they have always had good service.

If you can afford a little extra, get the Micro-Mark version of the mill.

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-BE...MILL,8102.html

It has some advantages. The biggest is metal gears in the spindle. If you leave the locking bar in the spindle just once and turn it on, you are likely to shatter the plastic spindle gears that most other mills of this type have. It also has true inch dials which means you can take off a 16th of an inch instead of .000 whatever. Some like this and some don't.

thanks a lot. So, if you just buy the kit than you could use a drill press?

I wonder if there are videos showing how to do this process. This looks like so much fun to be able to craft anything.

[SpeedyDad]

Originally Posted by 5150bronco

thanks a lot. So, if you just buy the kit than you could use a drill press?

I wonder if there are videos showing how to do this process. This looks like so much fun to be able to craft anything.

Nope. They are different animals. A drill press is not designed to easily change the tooling. A mill is. A drill press has a fixed table. A mill has a moving table. Most mills are variable speed while most drill presses are 1 to 6 speeds and you have to change a belt to change the speed. Drills are designed for vertical loads. Mills are designed to support the tooling while moving sideways.

[STJ7780]

I had a smithy 3 in 1 before I had the Bridgeport. A knee mill is by far the best way to go if you can afford it and have the space. A good knee mill can be had for far less than $4000. I have roughly $600 in mine plus time. I bought it as a project. A couple of months and a few parts later and this is what I have now. The R8 tooling for the bigger mills is also much more pleantiful and cheaper. The smaller mills use MT2 for the most part. Also look into a good lathe. Older american made lathes are cheap now and will do a better job.
Steve
This is my little one car shop.




And some of the RC stuff.

["N8"]

Wow man that M Head is beautiful. Good looking machine.
I do my stuff on a couple of J head mills and a south bend just like yours.

Oh and ive just been rebuilding a bs little rockwell, but its close to home so it will be convenient.

[MTHead]

Originally Posted by Bmr4life

Looks like a nice little Mill, but can it handle what we would need it to?

I was told to go to this website because they have lathe mill combos. I saw this guy while surfing around.

http://grizzly.com/products/Mini-Milling-Machine/G8689

I got the next size up, X3 with the power feed, not the best in the world but for RC cars it's great.

Always machining one-off stuff for my rigs, from simple skids made out of delrin to removing 3.3ozs from a set of Mayhem comp heavys..

Here's the rig I just completed, several parts made on the mill.
TJ

[5150bronco]

STJ......, why did you have to put all those pics up.......!

lol...... I am coming for a weekend sleep over to build everything....

Nice toys. I hope to have a set up like that when I get a house.

[STJ7780]

Originally Posted by "N8"

Wow man that M Head is beautiful. Good looking machine.
I do my stuff on a couple of J head mills and a south bend just like yours.

Oh and ive just been rebuilding a bs little rockwell, but its close to home so it will be convenient.

Its hard to see in the pictures but it is a J head round ram. I found one that had been converted from a M head with the adapter ram. Not a solid as the dovetail ram but it gets the job done for my needs. Thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by 5150bronco

STJ......, why did you have to put all those pics up.......!

lol...... I am coming for a weekend sleep over to build everything....

Nice toys. I hope to have a set up like that when I get a house.

If you were close I would tell you to come on over. I got lucky with all of the machines so its nice to be able to pass along some of the good fortune and help some one else out with them. I use them as much as I can, but a pregnant wife, a 2 year old and a 4 year old get most of my attention. As soon as I can get around to it I am working on a set of upper link mounts for a new clod project, a set of aluminum gears for my frankenstein super transmissions, delrin skids for all of the crawlers(just scored a free 12x18 1/4 thick sheet of black delrin and 20ft of 3/8 black delrin rod), beadlocks for a set of giant tracs and my sons delrin links for his TLT tuber. Lots to do and not enough nights to do it in. Thanks for the comments.
Steve

["N8"]

Originally Posted by STJ7780

Its hard to see in the pictures but it is a J head round ram. I found one that had been converted from a M head with the adapter ram. Not a solid as the dovetail ram but it gets the job done for my needs. Thanks for the kind words.

Steve

Yea that was a dumb mistake I shoulda known when you were talking about the R8 collets and plain as day the auto feed turn wheel is on the left. Yourse looks to be in super nice condition.

Here is the machine I make most of my stuff on:



And here is that little rockwell I am putting back together:

[5150bronco]

thanks steve. kind thoughts. well, good job on taking care of your family and good for all the toys to take care of you when on down time. look forward to seeing the projects.