Mill Suggestions?

[phrontist]

We have $2500 dollars. We have:

1. Drill Press (circa '54)
2. Bandsaw (cuts lines about as straight and narrow as a profoundly parkinsonian rhesus monkey with an amphetamine habit and cataracts like jelly beans) (circa '54)
3. Tablesaw, (Takes 5 minutes to start up. If you give it a push. On warm days) (circa '54... 1854)
4. Assorted hand tools

We'd like to buy a mill. Any Suggestions in our price range?

[Yov]

buy a healthy monkey and blow the rest on candy

[Swampdude]

^lol^

We bought this one last year and we're very happy with it.

[phrontist]

How much did that cost swampdude? That looks sweet!

[Cory]

I would suggest that you call around to any local machine shops and see if they have any old machines they're planning on getting rid of that they could give to you/sell to you for a discount.

You can find some pretty good prices on used mills, but ya gotta have someone that knows what to look for inspect them to see if they're any good.

[Andrew Rudolph]

yeah if you look in the papers there might be listings of machinesfor sale. If you live in an area where there are machine shops odds are one is selling somthing.

[Swampdude]

I'm pretty sure we paid what they're advertising on the page there. $2695 + $200 shipping. It took about 4 weeks for delivery. Assembled pretty easy, we needed an engine hoist to get it setup. Compared to the cheaper ones out there, this one seemed much more solid. We did have an electrical problem with the capacitors blowing on the motors. But I think that was our wiring deficiencies in the building not sending enough current for the starters to work properly. It's got some nice features and a lot of capability. We also bought a lot of little extras to go with it. But it comes with most of what you need. If you need extras go to enco instead.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

If you are looking at a mill/lathe/drill press combo... dont get a Smithy!

We have one in our PLTW class and the thing is really horrible. You turn the handle and get no movement but then it just jumps like .5". Maybe this is just ours, but i would never buy one after seeing the one in our class.

[ZACH P.]

Similar to the other one posted, late last year we bought a Smithy Granite 1324 and we are very happy with it so far. Its great for small to medium pieces, and Smithy is the top name in 3-in-1 machines.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Originally Posted by ZACH P.

Similar to the other one posted, late last year we bought a Smithy Granite 1324 and we are very happy with it so far. Its great for small to medium pieces, and Smithy is the top name in 3-in-1 machines.

THATS THE ONE!!

It may be treating you well now.. but oh you just wait. In 2 years you wont even be able to cut a straight line.

[Greg Perkins]

To optimize your effiecency for your dollars....buy a combo machine...


for about 500+ you can get a very decent mill/lathe/drill press combo ANYWHERE...however i would invest heavily in a digital readout for your mill and lathe operations...since these machines are not intended for heavy industry use, the handles and dials arent quite "perfect" so to make your machine the best it can be, i would seriously get a DRO...

a setup like that might run you about a grand... and use the other 1500 dollars for accessories; aka collets, endmills, center-drills, chucks, and other various gadgets.

one more resource you ought to find useful is Harbor Freight, they specialize in overstock machines. you can get a good drill press and band saw for about 200+ bucks.


good luck

[Adam Y.]

one more resource you ought to find useful is Harbor Frieght, they specialize in overstock machines. you can get a good drill press and band saw for about 200+ bucks.

Pssss.. You spelled Freight wrong. It's not the right site.

[Bacchus]

I would be very hesitant to get a 3 in 1 combo machine. They seem to be nothing but trouble. It’s true that they take up less space than it would for all 3 separate machines, but they have some significant drawbacks. As soon as a team gets a mill their tolerances fall. It seems to me that teams who have to do everything with hand drills don’t care about anything much smaller than 0.01", but ever since GRT (192) got a mill we've always wanted to do stuff one step beyond what our machines could handle. So, it seems that mills are like everything else... Buy one slightly better than anything that you think you will ever need and you'll grow into it, and really be glad you spent the little extra bit of cash initially rather than having to buy a whole new machine later.... Also, be wary of what will fit in smaller machines...

Here are some mills that I would suggest.....
As was suggested before, get a phonebook and call all the local machine shops. It’s a lot easier to move one of these beasts across town than across the country...
Another place to look, believe it or not is eBay... Most mills on there are already equipped with dro and cutters/collets and some even have servo control. As someone said before, MAKE SURE TO GET IT INSPECTED BEFORE YOU FORK OVER $3,000

Alright, I’m done... (Finally, I know...)

[sanddrag]

The nice quality machine are Bridgeport, but they are large and costly. I'm not sure exactly what size machine you are looking for. I would stay away from a Mill/Drill or combo machine because most of them don't have a fine Z axis feed.

If you do decide to get a mill/drill, this one is super cheap http://www.homier.com/default.asp?dp...tail&sku=03989 You might also want to search that site for "mill" to see the other selections.

Harbor Freight does have some selections but EVERYTHING that company sells is notorious for being super-low quality, having lots of slop, and being prone to failure. Most people don't care though because it is ultra low price.

I have a Harbor Freight drill press and the chuck wobbles slightly and it doesn't open and close very easy anymore but it is a nice little drill press for $40.

You also might look at this site if you are interested in a small machine http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Main/mini-mill.htm

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by phrontist

We have $2500 dollars. ....
We'd like to buy a mill. Any Suggestions in our price range?

This is one of those wonderful "how long do you have to listen to the answer"-type questions. To get a real, full answer, will take quite a while. But let's start in on the top-level items, and see how far we can get.

First off, look at your budget. One of the fundamental truths associated with buying any machine tool (mill, lathe, shaper, surface grinder, etc.) is that the associated tooling will cost as much - if not more - than the basic tool itself. So if your full budget is $2500, you need to be looking at mills that are in the $1000-1300 range. So right from the start, you can elminate anything like a brand new Bridgeport or large free-standing model. You are in the range of a benchtop mill/drill, or a benchtop mini-mill, or maybe a used floorstanding machine (if you are willing to put in the time to refurbish it properly).

Once you have the budget identified, look around and buy the largest capacity machine you can afford. If you think you only need a machine with a 8x24" table, but you can afford one with a 10x36" table, always pay the extra price and get the larger one. Fundamental truth number two is "the largest piece of material you have to machine will always be two inches larger than your machine can handle." A large machine can always work on small parts, but the inverse is not always true. Even if you can't think of anything on your robot that will need a big capacity machine, you never know what you will want to work on during the off-season or next year.

The next thing to think about is support and maintenance of the machine when you buy it. Is the manufacturer still in business and/or is there a distributor network for spare and replacement parts if you need any? Is the tooling interface a standard size, so tooling will be readily available and inexpensive? Will you have access to other people that have used this make/model machine that you can turn to if you need help? Time for fundamental truth number three: "when your made-in-the-USA machine tools breaks, the part needing replacement is the one piece that was manufactured by a defunct company formerly located in Eastern Slobovia in a factory that now produces shower curtain rings. Your custom-made replacement part will cost more than the original price of the whole machine tool." Having access to a bunch of other owners of the model XYZ mill will help you find sources for these replacement parts (one great resource is on-line user groups - check Yahoo.com for "model XYZ mill users" or whatever).

OK, so with all that said, here are three specific recommendations:

1. Consider the Rong-Fu model 31 mill/drill. It is right in the middle of the price range and capability space that you are looking for. I know of several teams that use this size machine with a lot of success. They use R-8 tooling, which is commonly available. There are several on-line groups (such as the Yahoo Mill-Drill group) that are very active and helpful. And, best yet, Enco has them on sale right now. If you can afford it, go ahead and bump up to the model 45 with a square column - adjustment of the head height is a breeze with this model.

Note: be sure and look for the Rong-Fu model, which is made in Taiwan. They are good quality machines, apparently made by a company that still gives a crap about quality and tolerances. Problem reports on them are infrequent. There are several makes of Chinese knock-off copies, most of which have real problems ranging from sand-filled castings to skewed table ways to horrible backlash problems on all axes. Avoid them like the plague.

2. Since you are in the area, get to a meeting of the Chesapeake Area Metalworking Society (CAMS). The CAMS members are active and retired machinists that enjoy metalworking as a hobby. They constantly debate topics like "what is the best mill for my budget?" and can provide a LOT of good information. There is also an active sub-group focused on CAM systems, and converting manual mills to CNC capability (for when you are ready to take that next step).

3. Depending on your schedule, there is an event in late spring you may want to consider. At the end of March, there is an annual surplus machine tool sale and auction held in Richmond VA. If you are interested in used machine tools, you can get some great prices here (as good as 10 cents on the dollar against original purchase price). The auction is typically supplied by machine shops that are upgrading or going out of business, and the inventory is always varied. If you go this route, just be sure that you have the ability to evaluate the tools for quality so you don't get taken and have access to someone skilled that can refurbish used machines.

I hope this helps. Let us know what you decide!

-dave