mini mills

[tlevan03]

I am considering a mini mill, ill add it to my Christmas list at least. I don't need a big mill, I don't have a need to make any big parts and I really just want something to play around with. I have been looking at the Klutch mini mill from Northern or the Grizzly G8689. Does anyone have any experience with either of these or perhaps recommend a different one? Thanks

 

[mbshop]

No, but look at the little machine shop or micromark. Just be aware thst the tooling can and will be expensive.

 

[royesses]

Take a look at http://www.littlemachineshop.com/default.php
They have heavy duty versions. Also if money is tight consider the Harbor Freight mini mill. Around holidays you can get a 25% off coupon and get the HF mini mill for about $375 then add the little machine shop belt drive and air-spring kit. You will spend about 3 times the cost of a mini mill on tooling eventually. Here are a couple of photo's of my mini mill. I've made some changes since those were taken.

Roy

 

[theoldwizard1]

While mill-drills and tilting head mills sound like a good idea, in the long run they are not. Tramming the Z-axis every time you unlock it is a pain. Also, the non-fixed Z-column mills tend to have more flex, which is an issue if you are milling steel or trying to mill aluminum or plastic quickly.

Remember, the cost of the mill is 50% (or LESS) of your out of pocket expense before you can make your first chips.

If you have the space, an old Bridgeport which should maybe twice as much, is a much better tool.

 

[zmotorsports]

If you are looking at mini mills/drill-mills/benchtop mills look closely at getting one with a square column. The round columns are problematic to re-orientate the Z or head if you ever have to move it. I had a round column for a while and although I learned to work with it, having a square column mill is much more conducive to changes in the Z.

Also look at Precision Mathews brand. They have a smaller PM727 that is a nice little benchtop mill.
http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM727M.html

 

[HanShotFirst]

Little machine shop: https://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3990

 

[larry_g]

One thing that has been said above is that tooling will cost as much or more than the mill. The grizzly you linked is a mt3 taper and that is not the best if you want to maybe move on to a bigger machine in the future. I would suggest that at minimum you get an R-8 taper so that tooling you get with that taper will move with you if ever you move up to a larger machine. If you think that you will stick with one mill for a long time then the taper is less of an issue.

It's real hard to make good suggestions here as we kow nothing of the what you intend to use this for. Making miniatures or car parts.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Maui]

If you want a really small lathe/mill combo, consider an EMCO Unimat machine made in Austria. I own two of them.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/unimat/

Maui

 

[tlevan03]

Thanks for the input. basically it will would be used for playing around and teaching myself something new and making small parts for motorcycles ( nothing major). I have a lathe but I thought I could really use a small mill. I'm trying not too spend too much because it won't be used all the time for long durations. I found a Bridgeport not too far away but its just way out of my price range ($6K). I think its the Klutch mill that has R8, Thanks for pointing that out Larry_g

 

[zmotorsports]

I agree on the R8 tooling. My Smithy used the MT3 tooling and when I sold it I ended up selling the tooling that went with it and had to purchase R8 tooling. Not the end of the world but definitely something to consider.

I used my Smithy for about 17 years and built a lot of nice pieces for my bikes, sand quads, sand rails, snowmobiles, street rods, etc. and I was able to learn a lot before upgrading. I ended up selling it to a friend who was looking to do the same on a fairly tight budget.

 

[kmacht]

If you have the room keep looking for a Bridgeport. I got mine for $800 from a plastics shop that was going out of business. It also included some tooling.

Keith

 

[jimreed2160]

Well I got a HF mill (R-8 tooling) about 20 years ago and it has served me well. I made blades for antique handplanes and paid for the mill several times over.

All of my cutting is O-1 steel for blades or soft brass for lever caps. I cut dry with carbide end mills and make many passes. These little mills get bashed and trashed online but mine is a champ and was exactly what I need to learn on and them make some $$$ with. The on line snobs are often right but wrong. The right tool for the job has a lot to do with what you expect to make. In my case, the tool has much greater precision than I need. But then, I am a woodworker, so what do I know???

 

[gotzero]

I have a Grizzly G8689 with air spring, belt drive, 3-axis DRO I pieced together inexpensively, and phenom engineering ring light. It does everything I need at home, but I have access to full size mills offsite and sometimes use them. I hardly ever tilt the head, but I am happy enough to have the feature. I have a full set of MT3 collets and do not find them to be a bother at all. The littlemachineshop versions look very nice but are considerably more expensive. Tooling ends up being incredibly expensive but lets you accomplish a lot of fun things. I did get a cheap 2 and 4-flute HSS mill set that came with a ton of sizes to at least be able to rough out the sizes I am missing in my nice cutters.

I was surprised how much I can do with it, and it gave me the courage to also try a 7x12 mini lathe and I am glad I did that too.

I am still on the lookout for bigger (but probably not full size Bridgeport) versions but I would keep the mini mill no matter what at this point.

 

[Murphy4570]

I agree with others about getting a Bridgeport. You can find an old J-head model for $800-1500 usually. There's one near me with a Vari-Drive head that I might pull the trigger on soon...

 

[theoldwizard1]

For you Bridgeport fans, Keith Fenner is doing a major restoration on a Bridgeport on YouTube. It you know Keith, it will be perfect.

 

[Matt Matt]

I am totally in support of full-size Bridgeport (if you have the space). They do take up about twice the space. But they're well worth it (in the long run). Here's a corner my shop. Sorry, I didn't do a cleanup before I took the picture five minutes ago.

 

[gte718p]

If you have the space, an old Bridgeport which should maybe twice as much, is a much better tool.

This is the GJ default answer.

I have a ENCO/RF31 round column mill, probably the most insulted combination out there. I absolutely love it. It fit in my tiny garage, and ran with the limits of power I had available. It is in storage right now and I miss it. The round column has some draw backs. Square column is better, but may not justify the price for you. You can learn and make incredible parts with the smaller cheap mills. Spending more money makes it easier and faster, but doesn't make you any better of a machinist.

 

[Firebrick43]

If you have the space, an old Bridgeport which should maybe twice as much, is a much better tool.

Those old limp noodle bridgports. Maybe a series 2 as a little toy. Kearney and Trekker or a tree much better. Better yet a 4k72 devlieg.

 

[tlevan03]

You guys are great, thanks for all the feedback. To satisfy all the Bridgeporters, I did some searching and possibly have some leads. a local machine shop is closing down and a guy thinks that he thinks there is one there, another buddy owns a pawn shop and he also thinks that he thinks that he knows of one. I guess if the price is right, but I know that a small bench top mill would satisfy my needs. Im in no rush at the moment, but once I consider something I tend to just on it before I get distracted by something else.

 

[kmacht]

If a Bridgeport is a little too big look for an older Index mill. They are about a 2/3 size Bridgeport and have a good following.

 

[BLUE72CAMARO]

Not to sidetrack this but does anyone know where I can look to get values on these mini machines??? I acquired 2 mini mills and 2 mini lathes and a small bench top jet lathe but I cant seem to fine any place to get an idea what they are bringing used. I am currently in process of sorting out what goes with what machines as all the lathe gearing was just tossed in a drawer by the previous owner.

 

[manwithtools]

Value on the mini mills and lathes could vary considerably, try looking on a nationwide Craigslist search and see what they are bringing. As has been mentioned earlier, how much tooling is included will affect values as well.

 

[Maui]

An old Rockwell vertical milling machine will bring at least $2,000 at auction in the New England area, and I have personally seen them go for a lot more. A Sheldon Vernon horizontal mill with the vertical head attachment will bring in the neighborhood of $1,500. The old style Hardinge BB2V mini vertical mills with a full set of the almost impossible to find 2VB collets (if you are lucky enough to stumble across them) will sell for about $3000. These machines can command a lot of money.

Maui

 

[AngryBeaver]

I have a grizzly mini mill. bought it for gunsmith work and small custom automotive parts.. for the money, its not a bad machine at all. need a few spare drive gears on hand for sketchy work (plastic, meant to fail to prevent machine damage from a loose part or bad chatter)

taught me the basics. unfortunately it isn't big enough for some of the things I want to do with it.

 

[John in OH]

I bought a small Enco mill-drill with an R8 spindle quite a few years ago similar to the Grizzly shown here:



Don't use it very often, but it does come in handy now and then. It's definitely not equal to a Bridgeport, but nice enough for the one-off task.

 

[davethorik]

Those old limp noodle bridgports. Maybe a series 2 as a little toy. Kearney and Trekker or a tree much better. Better yet a 4k72 devlieg.

Those devliegs are beasts but you better have deep pockets and a lot of room if you're running one in a home shop. I will say this, if the ways aren't in too bad of shape, a DRO has been retrofitted, as well as a coolant system...they are sheer joys to operate. Easily my favorite manual milling machine to run.

I believe the smallest they made was a 2B36, which has a slightly larger footprint than a Bport, and probably weighs 3-4x what a Bridgeport does. Largest I've ran was a 4K96, and they made way bigger.

 

[larry_g]

I would really like to see some of the casual homeowner type, I'm just dicking around and don't need a new profession type, projects completed on the big mills suggested here.

Can some of you who tout Bridgeport s and such show us some projects in that category?

Milling the saddle of a Index mill on the DuFour; Which has a 9x42 table.

View media item 46250
You can se some more pictures of the process here; https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=4077&page=2

lg
no neat sig line

 

[theoldwizard1]

I bought a small Enco mill-drill with an R8 spindle quite a few years ago similar to the Grizzly shown here:

The biggest knock on mill-drills is the setup required after rotating the head/column.

 

[Firebrick43]

Those devliegs are beasts but you better have deep pockets and a lot of room if you're running one in a home shop. I will say this, if the ways aren't in too bad of shape, a DRO has been retrofitted, as well as a coolant system...they are sheer joys to operate. Easily my favorite manual milling machine to run.

I believe the smallest they made was a 2B36, which has a slightly larger footprint than a Bport, and probably weighs 3-4x what a Bridgeport does. Largest I've ran was a 4K96, and they made way bigger.

O I know, being more of a smart @$$

We have a 4k72 and a 4k144 at work and an equivalent size Lucas. Also have a SIP but I have not worked on or ran it yet. It makes the devlieg look like dull axes in accuracy department.

At home I actually have an atlas MFC mill, and an atlas 12x36. Definitely bottom of the heap for American made iron. But they can do fine work it's just much,much slower and harder than heavier iron.