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 Post subject: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 27, 2016, 7:03 pm 
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Joined: November 13, 2015, 1:26 am
Posts: 88
Location: Central Kentucky (Winchester)
For years I have been wanting to get a milling machine.
I have been a fabricator/welder for most of my adult life and have always preferred to repair my own equipment rather than pay someone else to do it for me. (tightwad) :D
I have a 9 x 19 Chinese lathe and it works fine mostly for what I do but a milling machine would come in very handy. I am not looking to turn my shop into a full time machine shop.
I don't really have the room for a big Bridgeport and would prefer to stay away from anything that has to have three phase electric.
Lately I have been looking at the grizzly tool mills but the smaller gear driven ones have plastic gears in the drive???
They make a nice belt driven unit but with shipping it would be around three grand (tightwad again)
I guess I am just looking for advice on what team slotus uses?
Thanks. Dave


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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 27, 2016, 8:48 pm 
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Joined: January 10, 2008, 4:47 pm
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Location: Massachusetts
Here at Team Slotus (North) we use things like files and also rocks.

Having a mill really enlarges the number of things you can fabricate and also how good a job you can do at it. If you don't live in an industrial area it may be harder for you to collect tooling though...

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 2:44 am 
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Joined: April 26, 2008, 6:06 pm
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Location: Under the weather. (Seattle)
I believe that LittleMachineShop.com carries metal replacement gears.

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 8:48 am 
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Joined: February 28, 2009, 11:09 pm
Posts: 1307
Location: Connersville, Indiana
Looking for something that is "affordable" and step down in size from a Bridgeport, gotta look at this:

http://charteroakautomation.com/

A lot of capacity.

Bill


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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 9:19 am 
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Location: England
A friend of mine has a cheap and cheerful mill drill unit, he rates it.

This sort of thing https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cl500m- ... ill-drill/

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 2:35 pm 
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Joined: August 27, 2005, 1:04 am
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
With a mill and a lathe you could make your own gears to replace the plastic ones. I've thought about getting one of the bigger mill/drill combination machines and wish o would have done that instead of buying the drill press I have. Busy Bee tools here in Canada carries the Craftex line of tools. They're made overseas but seem to be pretty decent quality. That's where I bought my 21" drill press from, which weighs about 400 lbs, and is holding up great for the 7 or 8 years I've had it. It cost about $500, but I wish I would have bought the similar sized mill/drill instead at about $2000.
Kristian

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 4:30 pm 
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Joined: May 27, 2006, 9:46 pm
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Location: BC, Canada. eh?
Leggman, I'm in the same boat - I would love to have a mill, but a) the Bridgeports etc. are too large for the space I have, and b) even used ones cost several times the $$ I can free up.

I do have a milling attachment for my 1947 9" South Bend lathe, and it will do small jobs, but it's not as good a solution as a stand-alone mill. I've been looking at Chinese mini-mills, like the ones that turbo_bird was mentioning. The same model seems to be available from many different sources with different branding, but all seem to be in the same general price range and, as Driven5 points out, metal replacement gears (and belt-drive conversions) are available for them. They seem to be popular enough that there is tons of info on the 'net about them, forums etc., so they're a "known entity". At this point, I'm waiting for a point where I have enough spare cash to divert to one of these. :roll:

There are various differences among the Chinese mini-mills, such as the taper (some are MT3, some are R8, etc.), so that would be one thing to consider. I really don't know which is better, yet, so...

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 5:50 pm 
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Joined: October 19, 2012, 9:25 pm
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Location: Summerville, SC
keep your eye on Craigslist or Search Tempest for a used Jet mini mill

I use Search Tempest with the radius set at how far I'm willing to drive for a particular item or set for 3000 miles for things that ship easily.

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 6:03 pm 
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Joined: August 19, 2014, 5:17 pm
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Location: England
Another option if you already own a half decent bench drill or stand would fit a compound vice.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RDG-TOOLS-COM ... 1181024911

bob

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 7:18 pm 
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Joined: November 13, 2015, 1:26 am
Posts: 88
Location: Central Kentucky (Winchester)
Over the years I have become a grizzly tool fan, They have excellent customer service and have always treated me fairly.
The mill I am looking at is the g0759 Same as the g0704 but with a digital readout installed. It has a r8 quill and for the money seems right for me. I would prefer to have a bigger belt drive mill but they are over three grand shipped. Ouch


Last edited by Leggman on January 29, 2016, 2:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 9:55 pm 
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Joined: February 28, 2009, 11:09 pm
Posts: 1307
Location: Connersville, Indiana
Did you even look to see what $2350 will buy at Charter Oak? The machine you are looking at would likely fit UNDER the spindle of a 12z. Or are you just wondering which Grizzly you should buy?

By the way, forget a milling table for a drill press unless it is a hell for strength model with the chuck held in place with a drawbar. Done tried that.

Bill


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 Post subject: Re: Milling machine
PostPosted: January 28, 2016, 10:27 pm 
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Joined: May 27, 2006, 9:46 pm
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Location: BC, Canada. eh?
I tried it too - spindle was nowhere near rigid enough to work...

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