Mill/drill

I get that. No offence taken and I am the one who should have kept things real. There have been millions of these mill/drills sold and many thousands if not tens of thousands have been modified and either wholly or partially mechanised. I look at what people are doing around the world and what you see on this site and sites such as CNCZone is just a tiny fraction of what is going on. China and India have done the world a huge service by making decent machinery at a price point that means that some of us not so rich can purchase new. The volumes of machinery sales world-wide are increasing and not all can be put down to industry. The RF-30 came onto the market when? 40 years ago? There are factories pumping out smaller mill/drills by the hundreds every day. The 'maker' community is huge and growing all the time. I will stand by millions sold of the smaller verticle mill/drill though simply because of the numbers produced and the fact that they continue to sell well.
Upshot is that machinery being bought means people are using it to make something. I will endeavor to to fact check before posting in future or at the least curb my imagination.
 
I'm not an expert on this but rather very, very much a newbie, having bought a mill/drill only last December at 70+ years old. I bought a PM-25, the smallest bench top mill that Precision Matthews sells. Sure I would have liked a Bridgeport but in my circumstances that would have been overkill.

I bought the PM-25 for a number of reasons;

It was light weight (275 lbs), meaning I could get it into my basement workshop without difficulty - a serious concern at my age.
It was powered by 120V and my workshop would have to be re-wired to accommodate a Bridgeport.
It was small and took up less space in a shop already overcrowded.
My projects are not large. The largest thus far is 4" long and don't expect things to get beyond 12".

I have been very happy with the machine thus far. Although I have questioned it's accuracy sometimes, it is always within a few thousandths and close enough for what I do. I just need to take my time and use small cuts. My first projects were to modify the machine to make it more user friendly.

My father was a lifelong machinist and I inherited many, many, many tools of his tools, mostly all Starrett or Brown& Sharpe. I fill in any gaps with Chinese stuff, not the best but, again, good enough for what I do. I usually can't tell if I'm using a Starrett tool or a Chinese tool unless I read the name on it.

I recently wanted to add a QCTP to my South Bend Model C 9x20 lathe, a small lathe built around 1940. I bought a Bostar from CDCO Machinery for a little over $100. Would an Aloris have been nice? Yes, but again overkill for my lathe, experience and projects. However, this addition has made my life easier and I am now getting better accuracy than with the lantern style tool holder.

So I know that the Chinese stuff gets a bad knock most of the time and it is usually well deserved, but not always. For some of us, it's been exactly what we needed and were looking for. I've been thinking of replacing my lathe and a PM-1127 just might fill the bill. It's cheaper than most used lathes in this area and those used ones that are a lower price look pretty worn out and would require a workshop re-wire. Another Chinese machine just might be in my future.

If you are thinking of a Chinese machine and/or tooling, do your homework first and you might be surprised at what you can find.
 
I have a 1986 Central Machinery mill/drill head assembly on a 1950 round column Bridgeport base. The mill drill head replaced a trashed m-head, it gave me 12 speeds and a R8 spindle. I’ve found the head assembly very capable, well made and durable. Originally it was a temporary stop gap measure until I found a better head, but its so solid and capable, I never looked further.
 
Buffalo21 said:
I have a 1986 Central Machinery mill/drill head assembly on a 1950 round column Bridgeport base. The mill drill head replaced a trashed m-head, it gave me 12 speeds and a R8 spindle. I’ve found the head assembly very capable, well made and durable. Originally it was a temporary stop gap measure until I found a better head, but its so solid and capable, I never looked further.
Click to expand...
If you could, it would be great to see a picture of your setup!
 
BaronJ said:
.... These machines are either all good or all bad depending upon who you talk to...
Click to expand...
That aren't the people to talk to, then.

Limitations:
Less rigidity, meaning you can't take big cuts. Whether this is a problem depends on you.
As stated, round-column units lose calibration when moved. Whether this is a problem depends on you.
Will "typically" be less reliable, but how much so depends upon how much you use it, and for what.
Parts availability may be an issue, which is related to how much it's used, which is related what you need to do.
They're small. Height becomes a big limiting factor once a cutter/drill bit, holder, and vice are added, leaving very little room for the actual part. Whether this is a problem depends on you.

Pluses:
Smaller than domestic iron, meaning it's an easier fit into a typical garage
Cheaper
Lighter, so easier to move around.

A Chinese square-column knee mill gets around most of the problems, but they tend to be a bit bigger than "small."

That about covers it, and as you can see, YOU are the biggest component in this equation.
 
Buffalo: Is that the 32" table?
Also, how did you splice that head on? Hard to see from the pic
Mark
 
The mill has a 8” x 32” table, I bought the mill for $400, about 12 years ago, the knee and table assembly, are tight and smooth, the previous owner cracked the m-head casing, replacing the spindle bearings, I then decided to adapt the mill/drill head. The mill could within about 30 minutes, be reverted to either a m or j-head, if a good head was found. It works so well, I’ve felt no urgent need to do so.

I later added power feeds, a one-shot oiling system and a EOC 25 collect system

Attached is the photo of the head joint assembly


0704707F-257E-4F61-8A82-28D50B161901.jpeg
 
That is an awesome conversion. Well done


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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