Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
OK, now here's a question...
You have limited budget for tools, and nobody knows how to use a mill.
Does the mill still come before the drill press?
(Hint: the answer isn't "yes". BTW, my team is still working on getting a mill up and running--we've got 4 drill presses, and they see heavy use.)
A drill press is useful for drilling lots of holes, and most particularly for precision thru-holes. Can a mill do that, sure (and I'll concede that it can probably do some aspects better). But if you ain't got the budget for a mill and all its tooling, get a drill press, a couple of punches, and a really good pair of calipers. Oh, and a vise for the drill press, if you've got anything left over. Should be a lot cheaper, and do the hole-drilling job just find. Don't try milling with it, though.
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When I was on my older team I got to lead a group of my fellow students to rebuild a lathe and a jig bore, which can be used as a mill.
These machines were honestly, really cheap. For this lathe we paid $700 ( and fixed it up for about another $150 most of it was spent on the paint, oil, and a ACME tap) and the same amount for the jig/mill.
http://imgur.com/a/BZheX (I could not find the mill unfortunately)
Here's the website we got it from, this company can be negotiated with to lower the price,
https://hgrinc.com
lastly, I'm not saying that a drill press isn't important to have, what I am saying though; is that having a mill can do what a drill press can and more. So instead of spending more on both machines, get the mill first, or just by a small bench top drill press at harbor Freight for about $200 Again this is just my view on the matter