Trying to decide on a mill...

[Duuuuuuuude]

I was showing off my hand-fed drill press mill work to a racing buddy of mine and he says "oh, you really need to buy this thing I have..."

First was an old Atlas #1010 benchtop drill press that he modified for mill duty. Its in fantastic shape, comes with a regular and an end mill chuck (probably not the correct terminology...), an assortment of end mills, dial indicators, mill vice with two different heads and clamps, and a few other tidbits. He's asking $500.

(not the actual machine, just an example of the #1010)


Then he says "if you want to go bigger..." and leads me over to an actual mill. He got distracted and ran off (it was race night) before I could ask too many questions, but its quite a bit larger (said it weighs 600 lbs) with a 3-4' table on it. Belt drive, manual feed, comes with clamps/vice, etc etc. I looked it over but couldn't find a tag or name. Asking $1100.

(can't yet find a pic of it, but its similar to this...)


Neither are in my budget at the moment, but a small mill is something that I've been wanting for a while now. Mostly I'll be working with plastic, but I'm 95% sure that as I get more proficient with making parts, aluminum will find its way on there more and more.

The Atlas will handle aluminum...its what he started out with 20 years ago, and it would be much easier to move around and fit into the garage, plus its cheaper.

But the bigger one is more appealing simply because its an actual mill. But its more expensive and once its in place I most likely won't be able to move it again without great effort.

Or...should I look at a brand new mini-mill that would fall somewhere in between those two prices?

Another option: modify my existing cheapo Skil drill press and buy a mill vice and work off of that for a while...then if I think I should spend the money to go bigger I will...

[tom@vp]

tight budget i would get used with extras, as long as everything works. you wont loose much on depreciation as well.. but i prefer a real mill.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by tom@vp

tight budget i would get used with extras, as long as everything works. you wont loose much on depreciation as well.. but i prefer a real mill.

He said that if I had some time I could come over and he'd show me how to set up and use either of them, so at least I get a test drive.

[punkfan]

I am in the same boat. I have been looking at this set up
LittleMachineShop.com - HiTorque Mini Mill, Tilting Column with Tooling Package
Seems to be the best of the small mills, and this shop carries all of the parts. It seems better than the chines mills harbor freight, and grizzly sell.

[C*H*U*D]

Many companies sell that same mill under their own name. It's actually the same as this Grizzly:

G8689 Mini Milling Machine

This Harbor Freight:

Mini Mill - 2 Speed Mini Milling Machine

And this MicroMark:

MicroLux High Precision Heavy Duty R8 Miniature Milling Machine

I think the MicroMark uses a belt drive which replaces the stock gears. I've heard they are prone to breaking, but don't know first hand. The MicroMark also converts the leadscrews to read in .050" per turn.

It's a neat machine...a friend of mine had one briefly and would be a great machine to do a number of things with.

[Crawling Calvin]

The "Little machine shop" Hi-Torque mill I can vouch for. Its small but nice and has a few nice goodies like a belt drive, brushless motor and its a nice machine PLUS... it has no red nasty grease to get rid of!

If your looking at a mill get a 'square column" one... they are a lot easier to work with and you can accurately locate the work when you move the head up and down

That and get the biggest machine $ and space let you, trust me, your work always magically ends up bigger than your machine

[bigstu]

There are a TON of table top mills out there. If you have the room and can handle the investment, it is REALLY hard to beat the versatility of a Bridgeport style mill.
And, frankly, I have NEVER seen one wear out. If they do have one piece that wears out, you can replace them cheaply.

I have been looking at table top CNC units, something similar to Juan's, or something like this.

Syil America X5 Linear CNC Mill | Bench top CNC | Bench top Mill | Used CNC milling machines | CNC Mills

As you can see, they have a nice price to go with them.

If you can find a used machine to start out, that is definately the way to go.
They can be hard to locate, but definately worth the time.

I would check local machine shops, some times the have one, that isn't used any longer, and will make you a deal on them...

OR, go to the CNC forums and look in the classified sections...

Depending on the condition and what you intend to do with it, the $1100 might not be a bad deal.

[punkfan]

Originally Posted by Crawling Calvin

The "Little machine shop" Hi-Torque mill I can vouch for. Its small but nice and has a few nice goodies like a belt drive, brushless motor and its a nice machine PLUS... it has no red nasty grease to get rid of!

If your looking at a mill get a 'square column" one... they are a lot easier to work with and you can accurately locate the work when you move the head up and down

That and get the biggest machine $ and space let you, trust me, your work always magically ends up bigger than your machine

Yep after much research the Hi torque mill was much better then the grizzly/harbor. More power, bigger work area, and if you buy the tooling kit you get a bunch of stuff you need to get going. I have priced these a bunch of different ways, and this is the best deal.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Space is definitely a consideration. I've done the best I can to keep my garage a garage and not just a big empty space to put stuff so that you can no longer get a vehicle in there if you needed to.

Getting the bigger mill would change that, I'd have to completely rethink storage and tables and whatnot to keep the garage usable. At the same time, its size is appealing because I wouldn't be limited to small sized material. And its an actual mill.

The price is just about what I'm willing to spend on one, and its do-able as long as this year doesn't turn out as chitty as last year (business wise).

Material is still going to be a big factor. More that likely any aluminum I work with will be aircraft grade T6 because I can buy it cheap and by the pound...I just can't be terribly picky about the size and shape of it. I don't know how long the Atlas will stand up to that.

[Crawling Calvin]

Originally Posted by punkfan

Yep after much research the Hi torque mill was much better then the grizzly/harbor. More power, bigger work area, and if you buy the tooling kit you get a bunch of stuff you need to get going. I have priced these a bunch of different ways, and this is the best deal.

I only vouch for it since I have one in my little workshop. Its my friends that im helping CNC but this machine is a beast

I stuck a semi dull "roughing end mill" in (4-flutes x 1/2" dia) and cranked the RPM's up to max, approximated a 3/8" deep depth of cut and let the sucker go at full slotting in aluminum... didn't even FLINCH! I showed that to my friend who just about fell over backwards and was instantly sold on roughing end mills

One other nice thing is I got 2, 4" milling vises for $75 from a friends neighbor on vacation and I can fit 2 of them side by side on the mill after a "little doctoring" but in a CNC OR manual setup having 2 vises lets you securely hold long work without issues . Just if you can, buy it with the solid column... the tilting one is more or less 'a fad' and in my opinion more frustration than help

[SkaldidDog]

Smithy 1324 IMX (lathe/mill/drill) is a fine choice if you budget creeps up. Other smithy 3 in 1 versions are cheaper and all come with a lathe. Unless you have/have access to a lathe, making crawler parts will eventually require one. It's as inevitable as needing a bigger mill.

I agree with the earlier post that a knee mill has many advantages. One day my combo (and garage) will give way to a Bridgeport.

[punkfan]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

Smithy 1324 IMX (lathe/mill/drill) is a fine choice if you budget creeps up. Other smithy 3 in 1 versions are cheaper and all come with a lathe. Unless you have/have access to a lathe, making crawler parts will eventually require one. It's as inevitable as needing a bigger mill.

I agree with the earlier post that a knee mill has many advantages. One day my combo (and garage) will give way to a Bridgeport.

That is something I have wrestled with also mill or lathe. I am lucky enough to have access to a lathe so a mill makes more sense right now.

[Manning]

You definitely need the bigger mill, and a good camera. I want to see what happens.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Manning

You definitely need the bigger mill, and a good camera. I want to see what happens.

I got the camera part covered. Probably should up my health insurance too...

Turns out the pic I posted was closer than I thought...it is in fact an Enco that he believes is about 10-15 years old. 2HP, 28 3/4 x 8 1/4 table top, and will come with a 4'' machinist vise, drill chuck, collets, table hold down clamps and a few different size end mills.

[SMR 510RR]

I have one of the Little Machine Shop High Torque Mini Mills and it is a quality unit for sure. They are the made by Sieg the same company that makes the Harbor Freight and Grizzly mills. I bought it because I dont have a garage and it is the perfect size for my guest/hobby room.

If I had a garage I would probably try and find a full sized mill since they are much more rigid and have more power than the bench top models. That said I have not ran into a project that I couldnt complete on my mini mill, sometimes I have to take a little smaller cuts than I would like but that is basically only on steel.

I did put digital read outs on all the axis since the screws/wheels are .0625" (1/16") per revolution and that gets confusing very fast if you are working in non standard dimensions (not 1/16,1/8,1/4 etc). The micro mark has different screws and dials (.05") but it has the less powerful motor and the smaller table size.

If you want something to use now and possibly upgrade in the future if you outgrow your mill the Harbor Freight mill is a really good value. There are lots of people who have converted the Sieg X2 mills to CNC with good results, that is probably what I will end up doing when I get some more expendable cash.

I have done a bunch of skids for scalers and different brackets and bumpers out of delrin, steel, and aluminum and I am very happy with my machine.

[Joat]

If your going with a LMS 3900 Mill, get the solid column version, I have the tilting colum version,you cant beat it for the price , if you are going to pull the trigger with their tooling kit also, ask to upgrade the vise to a 4".
You should read up here.
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/...eg_sx2/sx2.htm
and you should read everything you can here on any sieg mini mill or lathe
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm

[SkaldidDog]

If you're in the market for a small vice, the Kurt D40 is amazing. It's the best investment I made for my mill, followed by an Albrecht keyless drill chuck.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

If you're in the market for a small vice, the Kurt D40 is amazing.

For $500 it'd better wash my socks too.

[Manning]

I recently picked up a Southbend vise from Grizzly. Really nice for ~$60. The movable jaw is pretty tight, and it's good and heavy.

[sloppy]

the Enco round column needs to be stayed on or it will wander..

I would still go with the biggest mill you can get..