Looking to get a Milling Machine and a Lathe. What should I look for? What brands are good and which ones should I stay away from. I don't need anything too large. Looking to do my own machining of transmission parts, motorcycle parts, etc. If you have one or the other let me know your thoughts of it and what you would change.
Shop Equipment
- Thread starter V6RACER
- Start date
www.sherline.com
good for small stuff, you can make ANYTHING. Worked with a guy who had the manual and a cnc version of the same, 5 axis? Their manual lathe.. and some other brand CNC lathe.. all the table top variety.
You couldnt do anything really heavy but they are incredible tools for what they cost. I think he managed 2500 for the 5 axis cnc table top setup slightly used. Thats excluding the bajillion accessories you will want for it as you get better at machining. That and the Starret catalog were that guys best friends.
BTW the CNC is not necessary for what you want to do I would think. It seemed to me that the CNC aspect was for repeatability more than anything else.
good for small stuff, you can make ANYTHING. Worked with a guy who had the manual and a cnc version of the same, 5 axis? Their manual lathe.. and some other brand CNC lathe.. all the table top variety.
You couldnt do anything really heavy but they are incredible tools for what they cost. I think he managed 2500 for the 5 axis cnc table top setup slightly used. Thats excluding the bajillion accessories you will want for it as you get better at machining. That and the Starret catalog were that guys best friends.
BTW the CNC is not necessary for what you want to do I would think. It seemed to me that the CNC aspect was for repeatability more than anything else.
The problem I've heard with the lathe-mill combination units is the limited travel on the mill quill and the table, and the limited distance between centers on the lathe. This kind of question comes up at least once every 3 months on the Usenet news group rec.crafts.machining (one of the places machinists live on the Internet 
) - if you don't have other access to Usenet news go to google, select groups, and start searching. The two answers seem to be "buy new Chinese imports" and "buy used American iron". Several companies sell basically the same imported machines, such as Jet, Sherline, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, etc. The differences seem to be in the fit and finish and customer service. HF is definitely on the rough end and the other three seem to be towards the higher end. All of the cheaper imports seem to need some finshing work when you get them, such as replacing junk screws, cleaning casting sand out and regreasing, and so on. The used American iron is also going to need some reworking, so having watched this get argued back and forth at least five or six times now I really don't think there is much difference. You can get a small mill-drill for under $1k, and a very small lathe (like the 7x10 or 9x20) also under $1k, but you will then need tooling. Depending on where you live you might be able to find some deals on used stuff, which is nice because it often comes with tooling. Anyway, do some reading on rcm to start with.
) - if you don't have other access to Usenet news go to google, select groups, and start searching. The two answers seem to be "buy new Chinese imports" and "buy used American iron". Several companies sell basically the same imported machines, such as Jet, Sherline, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, etc. The differences seem to be in the fit and finish and customer service. HF is definitely on the rough end and the other three seem to be towards the higher end. All of the cheaper imports seem to need some finshing work when you get them, such as replacing junk screws, cleaning casting sand out and regreasing, and so on. The used American iron is also going to need some reworking, so having watched this get argued back and forth at least five or six times now I really don't think there is much difference. You can get a small mill-drill for under $1k, and a very small lathe (like the 7x10 or 9x20) also under $1k, but you will then need tooling. Depending on where you live you might be able to find some deals on used stuff, which is nice because it often comes with tooling. Anyway, do some reading on rcm to start with.I think any decent condition/quality American equipment is out of the question at that price.
I would stick with Grizzly. Their quality seems to be controlled better than Jet/HF (No experience with Sherline), their customer service is very good, and they have a good reputation with the home machine/hobby shop crowd. With any of these machines you will want to perform a complete disassembly, thorough cleaning, inspection, lap the ways, perform various adjustments (shim stock here or there), removing casting flash etc. etc.
Of the two machines would the mill or lathe serve you better intially?
Chris S
I would stick with Grizzly. Their quality seems to be controlled better than Jet/HF (No experience with Sherline), their customer service is very good, and they have a good reputation with the home machine/hobby shop crowd. With any of these machines you will want to perform a complete disassembly, thorough cleaning, inspection, lap the ways, perform various adjustments (shim stock here or there), removing casting flash etc. etc.
Of the two machines would the mill or lathe serve you better intially?
Chris S
EightSecV6
MDBL
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2001
V6RACER said:
To be honest, to get a mill and a lathe that will hold an 8" piece of material, you better add another ZERO to your spending allowance.
EightSecV6
MDBL
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2001
V6RACER said:
Basically, look at them as you would a car to see what kind of care has been given to them. For the most part, quality machines (bridgeport, sunnen etc) never wear out and the have a very stable resale value.
BoostedBug
Contents Under Pressure
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2002
Bridgeport....
Great Mills...
Great Mills...
Anyone have any thoughts on this machine? Looks like it would do what I need.
http://www.wttool.com/p/3014-0015
http://www.wttool.com/p/3014-0015
MSC has a full size bridgeport copy for 4000.00 , a new bridgeport for 13,000 , if you take good care of the copy, it will work fine,. I have the import bench model mill with power down feed , and x travel power feed, this mill was around 1600.00 and x feed was another 250.00,its fine for around the house , I am a Tool and Die Maker and have access to the full size, better made machines at work when needed. Ialso bought an Atlas 5 by 20" lathe for 175.00 , the guy wanted 450.00 , he didn"t flinch when I offered 175.00. , you have to watch out for good deals, . If I were to start all over I would buy the MSC copy for 4000.00 because the bench mill wont take a very deep cut without vibrating and shaking , therefor the need for a full size mill ..... Jeff
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