Lathe/milling machine Inputs

[ricer]

i am thinking about picking up a small lathe and or milling machine for my garage (strictly for hobby not pro., and making/modifying little parts on the car) and have been looking at the Grizzly Mini Mill (P/N G8689) and 7x12 lathe (G8688). I would love to have the combo one but budget wise that is not possible. So i am looking to spend around $500 or so. I know for that price my abilities will be limited but i am running out of room in the garage and money is getting tighter :_paranoid

Any of you guys have inputs/recommendations/etc?

[E.rodz]

I would sugest if you were going to buy one or the other go with the mill but keep this in mind the buget that you have is not the full picture what i mean is that you need tooling to go with the eqip.you can pick up a used brigeport with a bunh of tooling included for about 2,500. if you buy a small bench mill you will end up spending twice the price of the mill in tooling. I think you should save some more cash before you purchase you will never loose any money on a great tool purchase.you will always loose in the end in a sub standard made in china crap. good luck with your purchase.;)

[Garage Dog 65]

Check out CNC Zone's Mini-Mill and Mini-Lathe sections. They will recommend you not do it unless your doing modeling plastic, brass or other light materials. They just don't have the power, stability or working range to be of much use for the price.

www.cnczone.com

I'd also save up and get a good used Bridgeport somewhere. Using standard industry equipment will also allow you to get used tooling that's been surplused by manufactures or the government at low costs.

Jim

[Northeast Rod Run]

your $500 budget is not really going to get you much in the way of something decent. like the others have stated, save up a little more and buy a more common piece of equipment or you tool-up costs are going to cost you much more in the longrun. plus, a lot of those offshore no-name brands have a hard time holding consistancy while just cutting brass. sometimes you can get lucky and find a decent used Bridgeport (or cheaper version) with digital readouts and a powerfeed for under a grand

I'm a bit lucky that I'm about to close on a house, and there is an old benchtop lathe in the basement. I told them if they don't want to go through the trouble of lugging it out, they can leave it there. they said ok. now I just need to pick up a used bridgeport for the garage and I'll be all set!

[comp-spec]

I'm a bit lucky that I'm about to close on a house, and there is an old benchtop lathe in the basement. I told them if they don't want to go through the trouble of lugging it out, they can leave it there. they said ok. now I just need to pick up a used bridgeport for the garage and I'll be all set!

More parts for the GTO??

[Northeast Rod Run]

More parts for the GTO??
Nope. got to start making some for the Camaro because once you get your hands on it, I have to do A LOT of upgrades!

ok, i still need to make a couple of more small ones for the GTO:_paranoid

[GregWeld]

Ricer --

You're not going to get any machine that is going to make anything for $500... Sorry. That's just not a realistic budget. I have a Jet Mill/Drill (about $1800) and the tooling alone is 3 times your budget and I can't make anything. LOL

At this point - take your idea or piece to a machine shop and just have it done.

[GregWeld]

I should add -- that my Mill/Drill is a really nice drill press - very accurate - very stable - easy to maneuver parts precisely once you're set up...

As a Milling machine - it's next to useless - not enough power to do any "hogging off" -- and the belt slips if you make to large of a cut (and we're talking TINY cuts here) and it chatters on steel - the head is on a clamp set up on a round stock - and there's no way you're going to hold that head still..

So on aluminum it works pretty well - and if I'm just modifying a part - it's fine... But to call it a mill - is only a dictionary version of what a mill is... <grin>

It's a 2 hp - single phase - 220V machine... and that it is a total ho hum...

What we were saying about your budget -- is that, for a decent vise - or v blocks - or cutters - or any additional collets etc - you're going to blow your budget just on that minimal stuff.

[John S]

Looks like I am going to go against the grain here but this is my experience.
Many of the previous comments are correct but you need to decide on a machine based upon your needs. And a budget of $500 is not going to get you much if anything.
I bought the HF44991 which is a Seig x3 clone similar to the grizzly you mentioned. I bought this mill for a specific purpose keeping in mind that I did not have the power or space available for a larger unit and especially a knee mill. And I never intended to mill anything very large. The carry over to car support would be in the way of various brackets and mounting tabs all of which an X3 clone are very capable of making. Since having my mill I have put it to a lot more use than expected and so far I have not run into anything I could not make or modify within reason.
I did add a few upgrades to mine which combined exceeded the cost of the mill itself but I found that the upgrades proved to be worth the expense since they increased reliability, repeatability and precision.
If you have the room and power definitely go for the biggest you can afford but do not dismiss the versatility of the mini mills.
Pics of my setup;
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/johnspo/AR%20Build/DSCN0059.jpg

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/johnspo/AR%20Build/DSCN0050.jpg

[Garage Dog 65]

Hi John,

Can you give us more info on the setup and use please ? I don't have the space for a bridgeport machine and would prefer the mini - but have consistantly been told I can't perform auto hobby level type work with it. (steel, 4130, stainless, etc)

Can you show us some projects you've completed, type materials, project size, manual usage or is it cad/cam process, what software, etc ? Just looking for the real truth out there from someone who actually owns one.

Thanks much !!

Jim

[John S]

Jim,
The only material that I have worked with so far is aluminum, brass and UHMW. I primarily bought my machine to machine gun parts and have made 8 AR-15 lower assemblies so far as well as some brackets and mounts. Unfortunately The only things that I have pictures of are the AR-15 parts. Here is a link to a website that I have been getting a lot of info from as well as where I have bought some equipment. http://littlemachineshop.com/ in addition to the main site you can visit their information page here http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/links.php which has links to a lot of different user information.
Another great source of information for me was the forum at cncgunsmithing.com. Here is a link to their machine shop forum http://www.cncguns.com/forum/index.php?board=9.0
I should let you know that prior to purchasing my mini mill I had no machining experience but the information I got from online resources was enough to get me going and now I am very confident in my abilities to machine to tolerance.

The three main upgrades I performed on my machine was to replace the gear drive with a belt drive, this allows for smoother running and forgiveness should you take too large of a bite and lock the bit up. I replaced the torsion bar support with an air strut support which allowed for additional working height and smoothness. And the most costly addition (more then the mill) was to install a three axis DRO. The DRO is great for being able to get the precision I needed for machining the gun parts.

I believe that as long as you work within the size and power limitations of the machine there is nothing that you can not do with it. You may need to take smaller cuts but I do not see why you could not machine most metals including stainless steel. The largest bit that I have used is a 1/2" end mill and on aluminum I have taken up to .125" roughing cuts and the largest fly cutter I have used to date cut 2.5" with a perfect finish.

Another thing to keep in mind is that tooling is transferable. My mill uses standard R8 collets and everything else I have could easily be used on a larger machine.

[Garage Dog 65]

Thx very much for the honest info and all the links !!

Very much appreciated. :thumbsup:

[mikespeed95]

Hey guys, just wanted to bump this thread. Looking for a lathe to make suspension parts, was trying to keep it under $1k. Been hunting craigslist but just haven't seen any deals that are spectacular enough for me to jump on. Just curious if yall'd have any advice, thanks!

[GregWeld]

Have you tried looking at Grizzly tool? They have lathes from mini (size of a sewing machine!) to big commercial models.

Not sure what you can get for a grand though... and tooling alone will cost that much... but worth a look.

[mikespeed95]

yeah, been hunting on CL didn't think thered be anything but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask

[JRouche]

I have alot of hobby type lathes and mills. And some other lathes and mills that are small but not hobby type. Like the bridgeport and monarch 10ee. Like the monarch, it doesnt have a very large working envelope, but it has tons of power and more importantly, its super accurate, one of the most accurate small lathes out there.

But it is limited on the length of a shaft that can be turned. Thats when I go to my southbend 10" lathe. And it was only 900 bucks. It has a 48" bed so I can put a 36" bar between centers. The extra length helps alot. And its a small lathe still. Easily moved by one person.

The 900 dollar southbend lathe gets most of the work. It has the power that a hobby lathe doesnt. I can take heavy cuts in all the steels. And it still holds to a decent .001" within a 12" length of cut. And for shorter pieces I can cut a parallel shaft to within .0005" with some careful adjustments.

Id hold my very old southbend lathe up to any of the new chinese lathes in a second. Oh, and it cuts threads that are spot on. In any material.

If you want to cut steel get a heavier lathe thats not a bench lathe. And yes, Id buy a chinese jet, birmingham or grizzly lathe before Id buy a bench top hobby lathe for car work.

But Id buy an old southbend before buying any of the chinese lathes. Only for the cost. Those three lathes are the same lathe, and they are good lathes. But it would be hard to find a decent one for under a 1000 bucks. You can get an old SB lathe for under a 1000 bucks. And if yer lucky, its all tooled up. 5C collet closer, taper attachment and the works.

If you want to cut steel, remove some metal from a three inch dia bar. Or cut some threads on the OD of a 2" bar then the bench lathes wont do it. The 900 dollar SB will make a bench lathe. The bench lathe cant make a SB 10" lathe. JR