Buy Enco Mill/Drill?

[amuller]

I'm thinking about going to look at one of these the seller wants $500 for. Date of manufacture, I think, is 1987. The model number begins with 10 It has a round column and looks like an elaborated drill press. 12 speed cone pulley/countershaft setup.

I've never had a mill and wanted one for a long time.

Can anyone advise as to whether this machine is desirable and he price is right.

How much do these weigh and how much trouble would I have breaking it down enough to bring home in my mini-van?

Thanks for any guidance.

am

 

[twstoerzinger]

Hello AM from up the road in Inver Grove Heights.

Is this perhaps the mill up at Mora, MN? There is one on Craigs List similar to what you are describing.
I am thinking it is an Enco 105-1132. This model still shows up on the Enco website, but is listed as discontinued.
Looks like it used to sell new for $1400, but its hard to tell when that price was valid.
Looks very similar to a Grizzly G1006 mill - may even be made by the same company. Grizz still sells theirs for $1475 (shipping included). http://www.grizzly.com/products/2-HP-Mill-Drill/G1006 The website says the G1006 weighs 680 lbs (shipping weight). You can separate the mill from the floor stand for easier handling. It may not be too difficult to remove the milling head from the column to make for smaller, lighter pieces. You can download a copy of the operators manual on the above site. It might give you some more ideas of what to look at on the machine.

The one I see on Craigs List appears to mounted on an Enco stand with a chip tray (also worth something). Looks like it has a fair amount of surface rust in the photos - not too difficult to deal with, but you would have to clean it up. I would ask to see it run and listen for any bearing issues.

As far as price: I don't know. That's about 1/3 the cost of a similar new mill, and it says "OBO." I guess perhaps $500 if it comes with the stand, some tooling and a vice better than that shown on the photo.

As far as the round column discussion goes, I have never owned one. There are lots of round column owners on the forum. Also lots of "former round column owners."

Some will say that the round column is a disadvantage if you need to elevate the head often to change tooling (you then have to indicate back in on the work piece). Others say it is not an issue. Do a search for "round column mill drill" on the forum search bar, and you will find lots of opinions on round columns versus dovetail columns. I guess it comes down to what type of work you expect to be doing. If you plan to do a lot of smaller work, it may be a good candidate.

Perhaps one or two of the round column owners will jump in and give some advice.

Terry S.

 

[amuller]

Hello AM from up the road in Inver Grove Heights.

Is this perhaps the mill up at Mora, MN? There is one on Craigs List similar to what you are describing.
I am thinking it is an Enco 105-1132. This model still shows up on the Enco website, but is listed as discontinued.
Terry S.

Yes, that was the item in Mora. I talked to the gentleman and his story seemed straightforward. In any event, he apparently sold everything over the weekend, so his pricing must have been OK.

Thanks.

Alan

 

[larryr]

i have had a rong fu mill drill for about 30 yrs and it has served me well. the round column is an advantage if you find the need to locate a job over the side of the table. it is a pain if you have to raise the head in the middle of a job,but you learn to think ahead to minimize those times. the leadscrews are 8 thread on my unit. you have to pay attention to that. over the years i have added power table feed and xyz dro. i also set up a jog and for/rev feature. it makes it easy to power tap. i also have a van norman 12, but i find myself useing the mill drill more often. the only reason i could find to part with it would be a bridgeport.
larryr

 

[bronk]

if it has not been abused it would be a good deal. I have one and have added to it and fixed its issues over the last 10 years. As has been stated before, raising or lowwering the head mid job is a pain as is the head creeping off to the side on a too heavy cut. However, the step up to a "real bridgeport style mill" is a big one in more qys than one.
So in the meantime, get the mill. Check it out and tram the column in. Many are not at all square to the table and the cause of much aggravation and poor surface quality. Later on, if you are using it enough, add a DRO and table power feed which are a big help.