Mill/Drills

[scott-885]

I am in the market for a mill/drill so im needing schooling. I have been looking at the Enco/Rongfu models that are gear driven and realy like the square column. I would like a full sized vert mill but dont currently have the room. Am I crazy for buying one or should I suck it up and get the full size. I would be using it for light milling and drilling applications probably nothing too heavy. Let me know your opinions and and if youve had first hand knowledge with any of them and how you liked them.

[cruzer75]

We have a 2hp Grizzle model that is very decent for the money and does what we want it to do. just don't expect it to be as sturdy as a full size bridgeport and you will be OK.

Stew

[frankenfab]

I have a 3 in 1, which I definately wouldn't buy again :( . If I was going to buy a small mill, I wouldn't get a mill drill. What I would get is a small knee mill like this....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40939
or this
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspx?itemnumber=G3102

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/40900-40999/40939.gif




.

[Nickm]

I thought about this one.


gear driven, without stand (Bench type), less than 500. I wished I could find something bigger in this price range. But thats pretty hard to find.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspx?itemnumber=G8689

http://images.grizzly.com/grizzlycom/pics/jpeg500/G/G8689.jpg

[LittleBlackSambo]

i never seem to use much of my mill's capacity, and do alot of small work from a vise. it is nice, however, to have the power to run a 1"+ drill bit or a fatter end mill when i need it. you may never use your drill press again. i only use my press now for quick-n-dirty work, and chamfering/deburring. you can start out small, and when you can't live without something bigger, sell it off on ebay... don't forget to set a budget for tooling and fixturing!

[scott-885]

Well this is the one Im looking at and kinda wanted a few opinions on it and if it was even worth getting. Ive been hearing mixed opinions on these and dont want to buy something im gonna need to replace cause it doesnt work like I want it too. Just thaught somebody maybe had one or one like it and was wondering how it worked for them.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=307-2792&PMPXNO=7153706&PARTPG=INLMK32

[Rowdie]

I've been looking at this one.

http://www.lathemaster.com/HEAVYDUTYMILLINGMACHINE%207045FG.htm

You mite check out a few of these sites to see what they think.

http://cnczone.com/forums/index.php
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

[scott-885]

Yeah my bro just found a few and is on those sites cheking on them as well. That one you posted is one we are looking into now as well. Here is one we are also looking into a little further.
http://www.industrialhobbies.com/

[hairy kanary]

It all depends on what you want to do and how handy you are.
Any mill is better than your present one (file/grinder/torch).
The small knee mills are actually pretty decent machines...if you can live with their small tables and limited x/y travel.
That Indusrial Hobbies mill is a pretty big advancement on the square column mill but for the price of it you could get into a used Bridgey that would have about the same footprint.
That being said, I've been using a round column mill/drill (2 hp)for several years now and it's a damn handy machine.
No...it won't take big heavy cuts or run a 10" face mill.
I can do almost anything on it that I can on the big mills at work...it just takes a little longer.
I run a custom parts business on the side and this thing has paid for itself many times over.
I cut gears with it, have bored 2 1/2" holes in a bunch of 1 1/2" thick arms for backhoes, made over 200 weld in rod end adapters with hex heads, etc. etc.
I built a quill feed unit for it, have a powerfeed on the table,keep a 5" swivel vice(70#) and a 6" rotary table on it most of the time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/torker/5e334ea7.jpg

[scott-885]

Out of curiosity what make is yours and do you have any trouble with the belt drive. The reason Im looking at the indust. hobbies machine is that its about the same cost as the Enco sq. column and looks to be an all arround better machine. I typicaly dont like to buy any of my macinery or tools used as I dont know how they have been treated but am still looking at full sized vert mills that are used. Im not completely closed minded.

[d.d.machine]

I have made lots of cnc mills out of the RF-31 machines and there a great bang for the $ ..... Just don`t get the china "JUNK" .... RF is way better

I tryed one of the gear head ones and after going thrue 3 busted gears I sold the hunk of junk and well stick to the belts.

[PTSchram]

I'm with D.D. Belts are VERY forgiving, especially with a mill. If they're good enough for Bridgeport, Index, etc, they're good enough for me!

The square column is nice, but don't expect it to be all that repeatable. When you move the head, you'll need to square it to the vise again.

I've used a friend of mine's Enco and it did the job, too bad he wants WAY too many $ for it.

[hairy kanary]

Out of curiosity what make is yours and do you have any trouble with the belt drive. The reason Im looking at the indust. hobbies machine is that its about the same cost as the Enco sq. column and looks to be an all arround better machine. I typicaly dont like to buy any of my macinery or tools used as I dont know how they have been treated but am still looking at full sized vert mills that are used. Im not completely closed minded.

Mine is imported from Taiwan by Busy Bee tools (dumb fawkin name..good stuff) in Canada.
These are about as good quality as a mill/drill gets. As was said...Rong Fu is your US equivilant.
A little trouble with the belts at first....crappy Chinese Rope belts. I changed them out to domestic belts and got rid of the vibrations.
The belts are a bit of a pain to change, especially if I get junk piled up beside the machine but it doesn't take long.
I routinely run a 3" indexable carbide end mill on this @ 800 to 1200 rpm and have no trouble with slipping belts or chatter. Belt drive machines are just plain smoother.
BTW...I'm buying a Bridgeport clone soon and it's going to be a belt drive also.
I'm with DD with offshore gear driven machines. Their gear quality is poor and in some cases they are hard to get. I have a gear driven 14X40 lathe and hope I don't bust a gear. It'll be faster to make my own than to get one in.
The only real problem with the round column mills is the loss of Z (quill) location if you have to crank the head up or down. Too much is made of this by most people who have never used one or can't figure out ways around it.
It ain't that big of a deal.
Next to the power feed the best improvement to this mill is a cheap (Fowler) set of digital calipers I mounted to the quill for a DRO. I use the hell out of it and it makes life so much nicer. I can drill very precise multi step holes or precision depth boring all day long with no real use of brain cells.
I'm not saying that isn't a good machine you are looking at. I have a few buddies who own them and they like them.
I'm just thinking...I bought my M/D for $1600Cnd...I now have over $3000 extra for tooling and extras and STILL counting. I could have bought a better machine but it wouldn't have the goodies this one has without loading up the ol' credit cards. Nice part...this is all R-8 tooling and will work on the new BP clone.
BTW...with the cheaper, lighter machine, I found it really beneficial to buy good end mills. I only buy good quality (usually made in US Niagra) endmills. These things cut well with roughing mills so I use a lot of them. It's a lot easier on the machine.
Just buy the cheapos when you are learning. You don't want to crash too many $50 em's.
I made a lot of other changes to this mill also. If you want to know more...pm me your email and I'll fire you off more pics etc.

[LittleBlackSambo]

Next to the power feed the best improvement to this mill is a cheap (Fowler) set of digital calipers I mounted to the quill for a DRO.

now that's a DAMN good idea! your mill looks alot like my central, which looks alot like grizzly... they git the job done. now i wanna see more pics... i don't have power feed, nor do i have the need, but i wouldn't mind seeing one of your $20 DRO.

[hairy kanary]

Here...Not the best pic in the world...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/torker/29fe213d.jpg
BTW...once you've used a power feed you'll never want to crank handles again.