Becoming hobby machinist in the near future.

[Rodneyk]

Hello,

I am a long time woodworker, 3D printer builder/maker (even built a wood cnc) who has wanted to get into machining for a couple of reasons. First I want to make custom designs for 3d print heads which requires working with Steel (nozzles/heat blocks) and Aluminum. I also want to be able to work on firearm components. So I have been reading a lot of forums, watching lots of videos and generally putting my dreams in order. Originally I started looking at some of the Grizzly equipment, but eventually started getting the feeling the PM might be a better value for the money. So I had a few questions and would in generally appreciate any advice before pushing the buy button. My budget is flexible, but not unlimited, and I would prefer Buy once Cry Once over the alternative. Other things I am interested making are precision gears, tools, adding CNC motors to the mill (would love to mill the parts myself).

I intend on purchasing both a mill and a lathe, but since time is a thing and I am only one person I think I should buy one first and buy the other after I have time to get acquainted with the basic operation of the first that I buy. Which would be best to get first? Mill or Lathe. My thought was that the mill should be first since it is slightly more versatile. Also depending on availability.

I have been looking at the PM-935TV as the mill.
What options should I consider, and what options can I hold off on?
What are the things I will need to actually get it working? (endmills, collets, vise, )
How much space around the mill should I plan for?

For the lathe I am looking at the PM-1340GT.
What options should I consider, and what options can I hold off on?
What are the things I will need to actually get it working?
How much space around the lathe should I plan for?

Lastly Grizzly runs a special where you get a 5% discount for first time buyers on the website, does Precision Matthews have any deals like this?

Am I crazy or is this a reasonable place to start?

 

[mmcmdl]

You came to the right place ! Welcome aboard .

We are in the process of setting up a worksheet of sort for first time buyers that you could go thru and get most of your questions answered . I'm not sure if it's up and running just yet , but it should be soon .

We have close to 36,000 members on the site to date . We are trying to eliminate all the opinionated answers to the questions asked by our newest members . Lately when one asks a question , he'll get more confused from so may different opinions . We are trying to let the purchasers to go thru some basics and then they should be able to come up with a general plan for what they either need or want .

There are plenty of very well versed members on the site and all are more than willing to help each other out .

 

[Jim F]

As new guy to the hobby, I will jump in first.
1) shop location ?
2) power available ?
3)Access to shop, ie Doors?,basement?, stairs?, etc.
4)Can you move the machines yourself or will you need help ?
5) What kind of work size will you be doing ?

These are things that need to be thought through.
You also need to consider that the machine is going to be about 1/2 of the $ you spend after you get tooling.
It is just a start,also.

As an example.
I have a garage, access is a 28" walk in door, 2 110V outlets.
Only a neighbor to help move things.
I only intend to do small projects, AR, AK and pistol stuff.
I opted for a used Grizzly G0463 benchtop mill/drill.
I have done 2 80% lowers and some glock parts with ease.
For a lathe, I went with a SB9C.
22" between centers, does everything I need.

 

[7milesup]

Welcome RodneyK.
You come from a similar background as I. Woodworking. 3D printing. etc.
Rest assured, all of us are very adept at spend others money.
Based on your projects, it sounds like a mill would be good choice for first machine, as long as you don't plan on turning 3D nozzles, although there is a way to do that on a mill too.
If you are thinking about converting the mill to CNC at some point, you may be interested in reading the following PDF from one of our esteemed members, David Best.

 

[wrmiller]

I've been using a 935 and 1340GT for about 5 years or so. Great machines for what I do (mostly gunsmithing). I have no interest in CNC anything, so can't help you with that. But they are really good machines.

 

[davidpbest]

Welcome RodneyK,

[Edited}

I was asked last week by a friend who is buying a new mill and lathe to suggest some get-started items he will need. So I put together a list, based largely on my own collection, with comments and suggestions from another member here. The list is attached. It does not include any cutting tools (end mills, lathe tooling, etc), nor does it speak to the issue of accessories such as lathe chucks, DRO's, power feeders, power drawbar, etc. But it does represent a pretty complete list of the items I wouldn't be without for the kind of work I do. A few lathe-specific items are included where versions of drill chucks and ER collet chucks would be common to both machines.

The list will probably come across as daunting, but you'll be amazed how much gear is required to properly support a mill and a lathe. I've often heard that tooling up a lathe is about the same cost as the lathe itself, and I don't think that's far off, especially if you factor in DRO's and chucks.

I have tried to color-code the items in the attached list, with green being what I consider "must have", red for more advanced work, and yellow for specialty and REALLY advanced work. Hope this helps. If you download the file and open it locally, the hot-links should be enabled.

If you're considering a CNC mill project eventually, personally, I think a benchtop like the PM833TV is a better platform than a knee mill. I've not done a CNC conversion, but studied it enough to know how I'd go about it, and attempting that with a knee mill looks like a very tough journey.

 

[Aukai]

Say RK welcome, I'm a junior hack here, I have a 1340 3ph in transit right now, I started out with a PM 1228. I went over to the Grizzly site, and they seem to be back ordered as well as the PM machines also. so that may complicate your time frame. There are some very knowledgeable 1340 owners here, David being one of them, you should be able to glean a considerable amount of information from their previous posts. One strategy may be to put in a down payment, and hope someone backs out, and gives you a crack at getting one early.

 

[talvare]

Rodneyk,
I'm only commenting on one thing you mentioned in your post as there are plenty of folks here who have and will offer plenty of good advice. You mentioned that in the future you would like to add CNC capability to the mill. My personal feeling about this is that if you know you want CNC, buy the machine that way to begin with. Adding CNC to a manual mill is a pretty substantial project in terms of both effort and expense.
Just food for thought.
Ted

 

[Rodneyk]

You came to the right place ! Welcome aboard .

We are in the process of setting up a worksheet of sort for first time buyers that you could go thru and get most of your questions answered . I'm not sure if it's up and running just yet , but it should be soon .

We have close to 36,000 members on the site to date . We are trying to eliminate all the opinionated answers to the questions asked by our newest members . Lately when one asks a question , he'll get more confused from so may different opinions . We are trying to let the purchasers to go thru some basics and then they should be able to come up with a general plan for what they either need or want .

There are plenty of very well versed members on the site and all are more than willing to help each other out .

Totally understand. I am not really looking for opinions like this is good or bad (i.e. brand loyalty and did not mean to express any in my post) but rather information to help me sort out the order in which I might get started. I am very much a list maker and shop trying to sort out stuff on my own looking at the Pros and Cons. It is just that there is SO much information that I need a little help to distill it a bit.

Thank you for any assistance, it will be appreciated.

 

[Pcmaker]

If you are eventually converting to a CNC, I think a benchtop mill would be better than a knee mill. Get the heaviest Taiwanese made bench mill from PM you can afford.

I recommend the PM1340 as the lathe