Does My Desired Mill Exist At Any Price?

Why bench top I have to wonder? An integrated stand is a much more stable solution that takes about the same space at the end of the day when you consider the table travel etc. If you are taking about non-chinese money I would get a used European machine like a schaublin 13 or deckel fp1, they are superb and as small as you can go to get the capacity you want. Anything bench top with 12 inches of z is frankly not to be taken seriously.

You also can just use a drill press for the reamer if that is the only time you need that much length. buying a mill that is basically a drill press will do nothing all that well.

L

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caspaincmonster said:
Why bench top I have to wonder? An integrated stand is a much more stable solution that takes about the same space at the end of the day when you consider the table travel etc.
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Benchtop means I can have tooling (and other what not) in the bench drawers. Yes the horizontal footprint is similar but vertically I lose all that space and would need a separate tool cart.

If you are taking about non-chinese money I would get a used European machine like a schaublin 13 or deckel fp1, they are superb and as small as you can go to get the capacity you want.
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Well if I were going to spend that kind of money, and have to give up the bench, I'd get a new PM-935TV (Made in Taiwan).

Anything bench top with 12 inches of z is frankly not to be taken seriously.
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The Grizzly G0762 (China, but otherwise checks all the boxes, maybe borderline on rpm) has 18" of Z and weighs 728# without a stand. Grizzly's smallest knee mill is the G0728 and it weighs 60# less with a stand!

So I mean, base stability is something I'd have to address, but at least looking at Grizzly and at least by considering weight, their largest benchtop is more sturdy than their smallest knee mill.

You also can just use a drill press for the reamer if that is the only time you need that much length. buying a mill that is basically a drill press will do nothing all that well.
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I am highly space constrained. I was originally going to try a 3-in-1 but after coming here and doing some in depth research I decided I will almost certainly hate it. So I painfully found a little more space in the shop but to get a separate lathe and mill in, I am hoping to lose the drill press. Yeah it doesn't have that much footprint but I'm really optimizing down to inches here.

Without the Z travel requirement, what are machines that would fit the bill?
 
Probably best just to go Chinese, the value for money is high, they just are very cheap :) could also go really small with a usa made Taig mill. They are very light but are well made at least and big enough for most things people do at home. The European stuff is a whole different universe, nice but very expensive. A standard made in Germany boring head will cost as much as a good size Chinese/Taiwanese mill. A single Swiss made ER collet is more than a full set from China. They are better, maybe not 10x better but if you can find the funds or get lucky with buying a good used machine it is worth it.
Best of luck
L

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Just to add I really don't like the idea of a 800lb machine sitting on a bench, that better be one big strong bench :) a euro pattern mill is better with a column casting going all the way to the floor. It is nice to get the motor, coolant etc down there as well. Gives room for variable speed pulleys and power feed gear boxes etc


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The dream to get a machine into your shop is wrong..
Dream to get a shop that one can fit machines into.
 
If you want a "bench mill" with those specs the only thing I know if is the PM932. However by the time you build a bench with storage under it that will keep it steady you might as well get the PM935 precision knee mill, which you can get with a power feed and about anything else you might want. Storage under the mill is minimal, my previous mill was a bench mill with a tool box under it. You have to bend over each time you want something. I found it very inconvenient and ended up keeping things I did not use in the bottom drawers and a few tools in the top drawer. Id think hard about how or where you could store tools as an alternative.

This, like any opinion I offer, is worth exactly what you paid for it!
 
TakeDeadAim said:
If you want a "bench mill" with those specs the only thing I know if is the PM932. However by the time you build a bench with storage under it that will keep it steady you might as well get the PM935 precision knee mill, which you can get with a power feed and about anything else you might want. Storage under the mill is minimal, my previous mill was a bench mill with a tool box under it. You have to bend over each time you want something. I found it very inconvenient and ended up keeping things I did not use in the bottom drawers and a few tools in the top drawer. Id think hard about how or where you could store tools as an alternative.

This, like any opinion I offer, is worth exactly what you paid for it!
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The PM-932M is geared head, made in China, and only spins 1970RPM.

What I've learned in the past week is that the RF-45VN2F is the closest to what I'd want. It's about $6000 to my door after fitting with DRO and X axis powerfeed.

I looked quite a bit at Wabeco and learned that it's quite a light duty mill, and extremly overpriced in the US. The 1.4kW version is actually garbage. The 2.0kW (3.5HP) motor version goes all the way to 7500RPM and is otherwise great but the base mill platform is too insubstantial to really support that power. 3.5HP on a 250 lb base, uh huh.

I'd be happy enough with the RF but at that price the PM-935TV absolutely blows it away and of course I could do so much more with it.

Thanks for the point about bending over. Maybe I can go overhead for some storage and free up enough space for a tool cart. I will have to reconsider all this.
 
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