I've been looking for a mill and came across this one. I'm no machinist, so I don't really know what to look for . . . any input would be greatly appreciated!

Here's the description:

Good basic floor model milling machine. New single phase motor, 7" by 32" Bed with R-8 collet.

Great for small shop or home use. This unit will operate in your garage with its new GE single phase 1 Horse Power motor. Have a small amount of tooling that is available as an extra.

I emailed for some additional info and he said he didn't know anymore. I'm supposed to go and look at it tomorrow (Saturday).

And some really bad pics . . .

Anyone recognize it or know what brand it is?

Alright, here are some better pictures . . .

http://www.fototime.com/FC4CCFBDA20E4C9/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/4D0EB85E89380C2/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/4FEA96338D464FE/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/B5D632EB6C7A681/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/5982A57EA1182EF/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/47A827AC7FA93AB/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3C5D7D678139442/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/4E0B7FEA00FF73A/standard.jpg

Bottom line is the guy wants $650 for it. Is it worth it?

There are plenty of step pully(belt on top) Bridgeports out there for a grand. There will always be parts available for a bridgeport, Where you may not be able to find parts for that mill. Personally i would pass on it although its cheap.

There are plenty of step pully(belt on top) Bridgeports out there for a grand. There will always be parts available for a bridgeport, Where you may not be able to find parts for that mill. Personally i would pass on it although its cheap.

Thanks!

The good, single phase, R-8 collets.

The bad, it's tiny, the round turret won't stay true, smallish table.

Unless you have an immediate need and are able to accept the comprosmises, keep looking.

it looks like a US burk or a rockwell copy... all of the burks and rockwells like that I have seen had a sheet metal cover over the belt. I`m thinking its a early off shore copy.

there small and suck . Save some $$ up and buy a old bridgeport.

it looks like a US burk or a rockwell copy... all of the burks and rockwells like that I have seen had a sheet metal cover over the belt. I`m thinking its a early off shore copy.

there small and suck . Save some $$ up and buy a old bridgeport.

Can you give me some advice on what to look for in a used Bridgeport? features? accessories? what to avoid? problems to look for?

Thanks!

Hey Steve, I've been going through much the same search myself lately. If you have a good candidate locally, I have a friend who is an ex-machinist, somebody I would trust for inspection/feedback on something like this. Be happy to hook you guys up.

One thing he did mention when I found my last candidate is that the variable speed control (i.e. not changing spindles) is a better feature.

One thing he did mention when I found my last candidate is that the variable speed control (i.e. not changing spindles) is a better feature.

Variable speed is nice, But it increases the cost of the machine a bunch. Plus i have found in my experience(dozens of step pully/2 variable speed mills) that the variable speed mills are hard to change gears in. I would say finding a older bridgeport with chrome ways and a power feed in the x is what you should be looking for. Get tooling with the deal. Collets and a good vice are expensive.

This is all my personal experience and can easily be misconstrued if you or anyone else is drunk.:flipoff2:

It all depends on what you expect to do with it. If this will be an ocational every couple months milling something then it may do fine. If you going to be making chips every week, then no. I would look at this one like a heavy duty drill press that you could mill something on if needed. Heck, you'll pay $300-400 for a good drill press.

Here's a nice article on inspecting a mill. http://www.mermac.com/freemill2.html

I agree with everyone else - pass on that one. It's missing too many important features and is too small. We've been through what features you want on a vertical mill on this board before. Search a bit and you'll find a lot of info.

The first thing you need to decide is if you need a mill or a mill-drill.

A mill-drill is a dual purpose machine, but they are not as rigid as mills. In most cases, a mill-drill is more than adequate for a small shop or garage.

The machine you are looking at appears to be a mill, not a mill-drill. It has a nice feature that most mill-drills don't have: The capability of being used as a horizontal mill. It looks like a Jet mill as seen in a previous thread.
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