G0758, G0759, G0704, Or......

Hey everyone,

I am new to this forum and milling. I know you have all answered this probably before but I have a few questions about a milling machine choice. I have looked at the Smithy 329/409, but the price is to much then I saw the Grizzly models. Out of the G0758, G0759, G0704 or other models in that range give or take a couple hundred which would you choose? I am looking at a model that's not crazy big due to space, but want it to do various projects from polymer milling, aluminum, mild steel, and some gun smithing on pistol slides for light milling..such as Glock slides (hard steel with light cuts). What would be the most accurate, best bang for the buck? I have looked at the G0758, and G0759. I like the DRO on them but would it be wise to invest in a power drive, and driven model? I called Grizzly, and the tech said "sure the G0758 would be great if I get the right tooling and speed down. Thoughts please...

I have the G0704 and been real happy with it. The G0759 is the same mill with a dro For $500 more. Well worth it if you don't plan on going CNC anyway soon. The G0758 is the little brouther to the outher two. There is a huge following for the 704 HTTP://WWW.G0704.c0m But as always go with the largest mill you can afford and have spave for.

Thanks kd4gij! That's the route I may go. Is the DRO worth it?

G0704 of G0759. Well liked machine that is big enough to do some real work. Makes the G0758 look like a toy. The numbers are confusing, since the G0759 is actually the G0704 with a DRO.

G0758 would be chancy for doing a lot of milling on steel.

"Power drive" (aka, power feed) comes in useful in giving you a good surface finish when facing along the X axis. Not vital, starting without one is good because it teaches you discipline in maintaining a constant feed rate by hand. You said you were interested in modding block slides; a power feed would be little help in this type of project.

DRO to me is a must-have. Once you use a machine with a DRO, you are never want to go back to counting hand wheel revolutions.

Another machine you might want to look at is the Precision Matthews PM25. Same base machine as the G0704, but with a variable DC brushless motor and a belt drive, which gives you a better finish.

http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-MV-BenchMills.html

Belt drive is a common G0704 conversion that you can do with aftermarket parts. Below is one G0704 kit, but I am sure there are other sources (I got this from 5 sec of googling, I have no idea of the quality of this kit):

http://www.benchtopprecision.com/bf20_belt_drive_kit.html

In my opinoun yes. I am using cheap Igaging scales on my G0704 The are cheap and do ok but don't replace a ful dro system. The 759 wasn't out way back when I got mine. The bigger thing is the power feed That I would miss the most. It is a add on. If money is tight I would get te 704 and power feed and A member on here has the Igaging scales for sal in the classafieds. DavidH is the member. But if you can swing the 759 and power feed Go for it. Just rember there is tooling and things you will need also.

If you have the bucks, go for the one with DRO. It changes everything and makes manual milling much easier and way more precise. Definitely worth the extra $500.

Power drives would be nice, but I'd opt for other features first.

One down side I'm seeing on them is the position of the Z axis (up and down) crank wheel. Seems like way up on the post where it is would be awkward. You will be cranking that one a lot. On my mill, which is slightly bigger, cranking it up takes a pretty good grunt.

If you end up needing a slightly bigger mill you might consider the G0619 deluxe small mill. That's what I decided on and I've been very happy with it. It isn't a giant mill (just under 500 pounds) but it has enough beef to do a little heftier steel. It has a Z axis DRO, digital speed controls and a nifty threading feature that lets you reverse with buttons on the ends of the quill feed lever.

I am new as well to the machinist world and just got my mill and lathe at the end of last year. I originally ordered a GO759, but they are perpetually on back order and the wait was three months. I cancelled my order and got a PM25-MV. Precision Mathews is a small company and you deal directly with the owner Matt. The mill is almost identicle to the G0704. The belt drive on the PM machine is great. Very quiet, and no gears to worry about breaking. If you go with the 704 plan on doing the belt upgrade, you will be very happy. Matt has a shipment of PM-25MV's coming at the end of the month. He may have some that are not spoken for. I also got a DRO from DRO Pros and installed myself. I am in the process of doing an iGaging DRO with a Yuri's Toys readout for my lathe. It will be interesting to see how accurate it is compared to the one on my mill. I just got the scales from DaveH as mentioned above. He has them in stock, and his prices are really good. Two other thing to consider about the PM-25MV is that it has a brushless motor and includes a three year warranty. Good luck, I don't thnk you would go wrong with the 704 or the PM-25.