Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyson
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.
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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.