Table Top Milling Machine ? ?

[hylander]

Specificly thinking of the ones sold by Harbor Freight and the likes, in
the $500-$600 price range, can't afford anything more.
Are they any good ?


Pro's
Con's

[Dead*Reckoned]

Interested also. I'm thinking I might pick up a used one somewhere...

[rockdogz]

I just started looking into this too. I like the looks of the Grizzly G0704. It's a step above the mini-mills. Check out cncguns.com and cnczone.com.

Another good link:
Ray-Vin (how to machine your lower)

[rabagley]

If you want to do 80% lowers and you have $500, get a good used drill press first (for about $100 on craigslist), buy the right jig and the tooling for it (the one at cncguns is designed to work with a drill press).

For $500, you'll get the beginnings of a tiny milling machine with no money left over for tooling. Whatever the price of the mill, expect to spend 100%-200% that to get enough tooling/measuring/equipment to handle most projects. Expect to spend 50% of the price of the mill to make any progress on one project.

If I was shopping for an inexpensive mill (which I am), I'd wait and save a few more pennies and use the info at http://www.littlemachineshop.com to help me out.

Specifically, I think this is the low-price benchtop winner: http://littlemachineshop.com/3900

That's a Sieg SX2 (super X2) with extended table and ways (Chris at littlemachineshop calls it a Sieg SX2L).

A step upwards from that is the Sieg SX3, and the best deal on that is available from Grizzly: http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-x-21-Mill-Drill/G0619

In either case, you're going to also need to have budget for tooling.

For the X2, I might get something like this pack of accessories: http://littlemachineshop.com/product...gory=879658189

And for the X3, the equivalent (with the slightly bigger vise) kit: http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ory=1963256900

But first, read through these pages on why you need each item and consider if you like Chris's kit or you want something else: http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/ge...1.htm&d=0|2|13

(I'm not affiliated with littlemachineshop, but I do borrow one of their CNC mills at the LA crashspace, and I am a satisfied customer for smaller items).

[rabagley]

I just started looking into this too. I like the looks of the Grizzly G0704. It's a step above the mini-mills. Check out cncguns.com and cnczone.com.

Another good link:
Ray-Vin (how to machine your lower)

That does look like an interesting mill, but it's REALLY light weight and will have most of the same ridigity issues as the SX2 and other mini-mills. The controls do look good in the photo. Precision Matthews has the same line of mills (Weiss) but doesn't offer any that small. Even the PM20MV weighs in almost 150lbs heavier.

I have a few questions for Grizzly on the specs. I'm a little suspicious of the 1HP motor claim when they also say 110V 3.2A. 340W of output power is about 1/2HP, not 1HP, so I seriously doubt that ~340W of input power is going to get there.

[choprzrul]

What about these:

http://www.smithy.com/index_inside.php?id=128

**EDIT**

Here's one: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...938387374.html

.

[rockdogz]

That does look like an interesting mill, but it's REALLY light weight and will have most of the same ridigity issues as the SX2 and other mini-mills. The controls do look good in the photo. Precision Matthews has the same line of mills (Weiss) but doesn't offer any that small. Even the PM20MV weighs in almost 150lbs heavier.

I have a few questions for Grizzly on the specs. I'm a little suspicious of the 1HP motor claim when they also say 110V 3.2A. 340W of output power is about 1/2HP, not 1HP, so I seriously doubt that ~340W of input power is going to get there.

I believe the PM-20 is the same mill. Agreed on the motor output - check out http://www.g0704.com/ and this (long!) thread. This guy Hoss has done a LOT of work with the G0704 and found the motor to be less than 1HP (I think 3/4?) but was still able to take it from 2300 to over 5000 RPM by doing some mods such as replacing bearings and adding a belt drive. Interesting stuff!

[bridgeport]

This is the only multi tool I would even consider. Any serious knob twisting requires a dedicated task specific machine. Lathe, Milling machine, etc.

http://www.shoptask.com/bridgemill_head.shtml

[rabagley]

I believe the PM-20 is the same mill.

Whoops. Looks like you're right, I was reading from the wrong column. In any case, I think I'd rather have the littlemachineshop SX2L with a 500W brushless motor and belt drive, though it's a toss-up for whether the SX3 or one of the bigger Weiss machines.

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

I bought a cheap Harbor Freight Mill. It's just that Cheap Junk. I wont buy HF stuff anymore. Spend a little more for something better.
Check Enco out. They had a nice Milling machine for $1000 But it will last longer than a Harbor Freight

[rabagley]

What about these:

http://www.smithy.com/index_inside.php?id=128

**EDIT**

Here's one: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...938387374.html

.

Two problems with that tool, 1) the mill head has a round column (which seriously limits rigidity and makes it REALLY hard to get back to zero after an axial adjustment). 2) a complaint common to most mill/lthe machines: the tiny little vises you can mount along with the tiny work envelope in mill mode make that a below average lathe and a terrible mill.

[rabagley]

This is the only multi tool I would even consider. Any serious knob twisting requires a dedicated task specific machine. Lathe, Milling machine, etc.

http://www.shoptask.com/bridgemill_head.shtml

On discount, the base machine is $3000 before shipping. That's a good price for a sound multitool design, but is way, way outside the OP's stated budget.

I recommended a $100 used drill press plus a jig and bits made for a drill press. Does anyone else have a different recommendation for how to spend $500 to have 1) the ability to complete an 80% AR and 2) a few more useful tools in the garage?

I'll add to the chorus against Harbor Freight. Harbor Freight offers both a Sieg mill and a Rong-Fu mill. The Sieg is okay (it's an X2 model) but I'd buy one of the Sieg models I already mentioned (littlemachineshop for x2 and grizzly for x3). The Rong-Fu is total crap.

[hylander]

I have a good table Top Drill Press ( Delta )
Was just wanting to try some Milling without spending a ton of money

[Carsgunsandchics]

Friend of mine bought a Harbor Freight Display unit. About half the bolts were missing, which is why my friend wanted it. It cost him $125. With the money he saved he removed all the remaining bolts and bought quality nuts and bolts and taps to clean out the holes. It tightened up everything considerably. He removed all the factory "cheap" metal rulers and fastened real machinist rules. He later adapted a digital readout system/controls. Finished it off with a nice machinist vise. He wound up spending about $100 on fasteners. He's been happy with this setup for about 18years now. The machine is not that bad actually it's just the junk fasteners for the most part.

[ojisan]

I have a good table Top Drill Press ( Delta )
Was just wanting to try some Milling without spending a ton of money

Great thread, thanx everybody for all the info!
I need something like one of these to make prototype parts.
It looks like it's a least a grand or more for a decent starter home set-up.
Careful shopping for a used machine of one the better types mentioned above with some tooling may be the best way to go on a budget.