Re: New benchtop mill
 

The set screw gibb adjusters in a sieg type minimill (harbor freight, little machine shop, grizzly etc) are an absolute non starter and not recommended.

They're horrible to adjust and go out frequently.

The stepper motor, fixed column, size, r8 collet option, available accessories are great for small parts machining. But you'll never get an accurate part with those gibbs. The spanner wrench collet loading isn't great either. Was a big mistake.

The graciously donated JET mini mill drill has been the workhorse of the shop. We lock the z stalk because switching between drill chuck and collets wears out the clamp bolts and requires rezeroing the dro, wasting a lot of time. So we just use shorty drill bits in appropriately sized collets for drilling functions.

So the RF 45 or similar would be great minimal entry for a benchtop mill.

Re: New benchtop mill
 

Kent
Having a local distributor in orange county is a benefit I suppose.
http://www.kentusa.com/mills/

Re: New benchtop mill
 

Although I also recommend the RF45:

There are times I'd rather adjust set screw driven gibs than try to move a 700lb+ machine. Besides pretty much all the aluminum Sherline/Taigs/MaxNC machines are going to have issues on anything harder than aluminum. The Seigs X2 and below will never be as rigid as a Bridgeport or an RF45.

On the opposite end of this, we have the ShopBot style routers with aluminum parts here and there and square tube frames with ER collets on the spindles (if you are lucky).

There are times I prefer a good Bridgeport knee mill for messing around.
There are times I prefer to load 4' square plates.
There are plenty of teams running around with ShopBots banging out robot drive trains - they obviously won't be broaching with them - but they can locate and make holes and do some light work.

Re: New benchtop mill
 

It definitely looks to be worth taking a closer look at it. Call them and schedule an appointment to inspect the Bridgeport in person, it has a lot of good features on it but I can't see any detailed pics of the ways. If you can see the flaking marks on the ways and it feels mostly smooth up, down, left, right, front, back, quill up and down, DRO functional. If that all looks good then it would be a great machine.

Re: New benchtop mill
 

Generally any government surplus machine that makes it to public auction is a piece of junk. Every federal agency and then state agency had a Crack at it and passed. Tons of govt surplus material sits outside completely unprotected from the elements as well. This mill doesn't look like it had that problem, but be wary.

Kent is the same rebadged Chinese/Taiwanese machines as every other brand. They are by no means a premium brand.

From everything I've heard, Sharp is the best Asian clone (the high end Acras are the same as Sharp).

New benchtop mill
 

Just saw this auction. What are the worthwhile items for an FRC team? Does that Haas VF-1 have any use in FRC? That and the manual mill particularly perked my interest.

Edit: Here is the link for the Haas

Re: New benchtop mill
 

FRC11/193 has a Haas TM-1P mill and a TL-1 lathe.
Fine machines but probably overkill only for FRC use.

You definitely want to make sure you know that VF-1 is in running order also notice the mill table size:
http://www.haascnc.com/we_spec1.asp?..._VMC#gsc.tab=0

It's big, it's heavy, and if there's something seriously wrong with it any money you save might be a drop in the bucket compared to the repair cost.

Re: New benchtop mill
 

It is a fantastic machine, my work has a VF-0 of the same year. It will be costly to move, require 3 phase wiring routed to it with a fat breaker, and I doubt it will go for very cheap. You are better off getting a CNC router first if you don't have one already. It was running code in a demo video, but it is a lot of machine and it is old making parts and support harder to find.

Re: New benchtop mill
 

The manual machines, tooling for them of machines you have already, bandsaws, hand tools, and various power tools. Bench tools such as grinders, drill presses, vises, and saws are usually pretty solid. Tool chests can be nice especially when sold with contents.

In the end it all really depends on what you have, what you want or can use, and what you can accommodate in the space/power/skills you have at your disposal.