Quote:
Originally Posted by DeepWater
Wow, thanks for the user feedback on the Industrial Hobbies machines guys! It sounds like the IH mills are a solid and accurate manual machine and are a much better buy for the money than any of the similar Enco, Grizzly, or even Rong-Fu machines. I get the feeling the jury is still out on the CNC retrofit though and wonder if the IH mill isn’t best left as a manual mill and not try to make it something it isn’t.
If you guys had it to do over again would you still go for the CNC retrofit or not? With the CNC retrofit installed is it still possible to use the mill manually or does the CNC retrofit kit pretty much remove all manual functionality?
Also, how was the “fit and finish” of the manual machine out of the crate? A lot of the import machines seem to suffer in this area. Was it pretty much ready to run out of the crate or was a total disassembly and cleaning to remove excess packing grease, etc. required? Were the ways straight and properly adjusted or did it require hours of frustrating adjustments to make the machine smooth and accurate? How about the tram?
Thanks again for the info guys!
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It wasn't that the CNC was bad it was that it was VERY difficult to install, and there was almost no instructions or info on how to do it. We would definitely go with the CNC again - we just wouldn't install it ourselves... (IH gives you the choice to buy it assembled or DIY)
The CNC retrofit replaces the big handles with itty-bitty ones that make manual milling very difficult. I worried that total CNC control would be difficult, but once I got used to it, it was supper easy. There's really no need for manual control with a computer hooked up
The IH mills are just cheap Chinese mills. They use ACME screws and are not ultra precision. Retrofitting the mill requires replacing the ACME screws with precision ball-screws, which are super accurate. This process is VERY difficult, but when done right it will transform the tool into a high quality machine.
Out of the box everything was smooth and nice. But of course, we had to take it apart to install the new screws - which required re-adjusting it...