Mini mill or lathe

[xxdabroxx]

If i were to decide that i wanted a mill or lathe of my own. Which should i get first and why? How much should i plan on spending?

I am very green when it comes to machine work, but it has always intrigued me. I don't want to work with junk, but i don't need top dollar equipment either as this is a hobby for me.

Help me take into account that i will need some additional items to go with either piece of equipment. Also i do not have 3 phase at my house , one more reason big pieces are out.

[TMC]

I had no machine experience either and I started with a Grizzly mini-mill. Its an ok machine but limited in how much it can cut due to the length of the table and its light weight. In total I spent about $800 for the mill, a vise, collets & such.

When it died I looked a mid sized Grizzly mills which run about $2,500-$2,800. Then I went on e-bay and found a used Sharpe (Bridgeport clone) variable speed with a 9" x 42" table, power feed, one-shot lube system and DRO for $1,600. I wish I would have done that in the beginning. I have a much better machine with more features that I can sell for about what I paid for it. This machine sells new for $5,000-$7,500 without power feed, one-shop lube or Digital Read Outs. The lack of 3-phase in your home can be over come with a converter. In total I have about $2,500 in the mill, tooling, bigger vise and 3-phase converter.

[xxdabroxx]

I had no machine experience either and I started with a Grizzly mini-mill. Its an ok machine but limited in how much it can cut due to the length of the table and its light weight. In total I spent about $800 for the mill, a vise, collets & such.

When it died I looked a mid sized Grizzly mills which run about $2,500-$2,800. Then I went on e-bay and found a used Sharpe (Bridgeport clone) variable speed with a 9" x 42" table, power feed, one-shot lube system and DRO for $1,600. I wish I would have done that in the beginning. I have a much better machine with more features that I can sell for about what I paid for it. This machine sells new for $5,000-$7,500 without power feed, one-shop lube or Digital Read Outs. The lack of 3-phase in your home can be over come with a converter. In total I have about $2,500 in the mill, tooling, bigger vise and 3-phase converter.

Do you have a lathe as well? What kind of stuff have you done with your mill? How big of material could/ would you work on with your old mini mill? Could you finish and 80% AR lower, or would that be to big a task for it?

[TMC]

I don't have a lathe.

You can finish an 80% on a mini but it is slow and the set-up is complicated but many people have done it. In fact there's lots of people who have done 0% lowers on a mini with great results. Check out http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

On the mini-mill flat-topping a 1911 slide was about the biggest job I could do in one pass. There is not enough table travel for anything longer.

I built this on the mini-mill starting with a bald slide.

[xxdabroxx]

were you lucky enough to find the mill you bought on ebay local, or did you have it shipped? If shipped what did that run?

I am thinking if i save until next tax season i should be able to accumulate the funds by then.

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

Just don't buy a cheap Harbor Freight mini mill. You will be sorry.
Remember the tooling cost more than the mill.

TMC,
Nice pistol. You did a great job.

[TMC]

were you lucky enough to find the mill you bought on ebay local, or did you have it shipped? If shipped what did that run?

I am thinking if i save until next tax season i should be able to accumulate the funds by then.

The mill I bought was about 50 miles from my home. The auction company recommend a local guy who picked-up the mill and delivered to my house for $400.

It weights about 2,500 so I didn't want to try and move it myself. Sure my truck could haul it but I'd have no way of getting it into my garage. If you buy a mini they will deliver but only to your curb, if you get a heavy mill it may be hard to get it into your garage/shop.

I was looking at another in So Cal and it would have been about the same money for me to rent a trailer and drive down and pick it up. Most sellers will load it for you. I still would have hired or rented a fork lift to get if from the trailer into my garage.

If you do buy a large mill and need it moved get some one who knows how to move a mill. It needs to be picked up by the head, not the base or table.

In the end its cheaper to buy a bigger used mill than a new small one. If you stick with machining as a hobby you'll want a bigger mill eventually. If you don't like and want to sell you'll recover more money on a bigger mill than on a small one.

gr_111 is right, the tooling will be you largest cost in the long run.

rg_1111, thanks for the compliment, I like it myself and it shoots great!

Here's my machine

[popeye4]

Which you buy first depends a lot on what you have planned. If you are doing general gunsmithing, I beleive that a lathe would make the most sense to get first. Check on ebay and Craigslist, particularly in SoCal. Many machine shops are going out of business and the equipment ends up getting sold. Lots of machine liquidators post on ebay. I got a nice South Bend Heavy 10 in LA a few years back. It needed a little work, but it is much nicer than the new Chinese lathes you find today.

If you can fit it in, I'd get the full sized mill (like the Bridgeport clone shown earlier). When someone said tooling would be more than the machine, they weren't kidding.......

BTW, I solved my 3 phase power problem with a variable frequency drive I found on ebay. Up to a certain limit (I believe it is about 1.5 hp), you can get one that will convert 240V single phase into 240V 3 phase and give you infinitely variable speed adjustment as well.

[xxdabroxx]

How much was the VFD though, those can be pretty pricey? Maybe not on a smaller scale though?

[Mud]

I've been down the road you are on a long time ago. I started with Mini-Mill, then a Mill Drill, next a Square Column and finally a Bridgeport clone. Wish i would have started with the Vertical Mill, could have saved a few dollars. The tooling over the years was worth it though. Good Luck and remember always go bigger then you think you need.

[50BMGBOB]

I've been thinking of the same thing. My big problem is space! It will be many years before I can get the space to set a full size one in my garage (my wife has put down carpet to turn it into a toy room for our 5 kids). I am looking at a small Grizzly unit knowing that it is not the best and will cost about the same as used full size equipment. Also, it won't do everything I would like to do, but it will do a lot, just slower. If I waited until I have more room, I would have nothing for a long time. Get the best you can to start with. Figure out what you want to do, and how big a machine you will need to do it. Then get the next bigger size if you have the space for it.

[ojisan]

I overheard a conversation the other day about used mills (like the one above).
The Statement of Fact: A good used mill is $2,000.
The ones that are found locally are $1600 and cost $400 to be moved.
The ones out on the middle of nowhere are $400 but cost $1600 to be moved.
$2,000 + the tooling and goodies.

[phish]

Hardinge

[Spiggy]

Here's my machine

Nice mill! I cut my teeth(figuratively) on this particular type back in school

[lead chucker]

If i were to decide that i wanted a mill or lathe of my own. Which should i get first and why? How much should i plan on spending?

I am very green when it comes to machine work, but it has always intrigued me. I don't want to work with junk, but i don't need top dollar equipment either as this is a hobby for me.

Help me take into account that i will need some additional items to go with either piece of equipment. Also i do not have 3 phase at my house , one more reason big pieces are out.

I don't know much about it, but wouldn't that depend on what kind of work you want to do?