Buying mill and lathe one by one or together?

[mksj]

I started out with a mill, found it more useful for the type of work I was doing. Eventually bought a lathe and can see a good argument to get both if you can afford it. I have gone with new machines, in particular if you are a newbie and do not know how to thoroughly check out the machine. I eventually upgraded to a larger knee mill and heavier lathe, looked at a few used mills and most needed repairs/parts were expensive. If you have the time and experience then the used machine market is a viable option depending on location. It is also an economical decisions and the scope of work you want to do. If I was buying on the used market, I would look for a mill as opposed to a lathe, they are easier to check out.

QMT/Matt has a new mill in the works which is the PM-728V-T which looks like a very nice (smaller) mill made in Taiwan. Otherwise the 727V/30MV are popular models with positive reviews. Going 230VAC in machines is preferred, and the variable speed is very nice. If you plan on doing larger work, maybe look at the used market for a knee mill. As far as lathes, the 1236 is a good all around size, I would look for a standard D1-4 spindle mount and get a QCTP. Combining the purchase may save some on freight costs. Tooling/accessories on the lathe is more expensive than a mill.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

I thought that I buy mill first, clean it, mount on stand and set it up and get familiar with it. Once it is done and everything settled I can get lathe and do the same with it.

Why not get a mill big enough you don't need to put it on a stand?

 

[ezduzit]

You're in Md and can't find equipment ?...

This.

If you're a lazy shopper, or just have a lot of money to blow and don't care about quality, then just order a new Chinese one. If you care about quality, want to save a lot of money and get much more bang for your buck, look for a quality used machine in good condition with comprehensive tooling included. This usually means avoiding machine resellers, as they most often offer only rather bare machines.

I bought my lathe and mill together with several boxes of tooling for $2,000. No repairs were necessary, just some cleaning. It doesn't matter which one you buy first--you'll need both machines. So watch for the right deal.

 

[Firstgear]

I bought both at the same time from PM. I was able to get one price shipping for both since I was close enough and could pick it up at a terminal local to me. Given your locale you might be able to as well. Ask!

 

[davidcarmichael]

I bought a small lathe first and found out its limitations and why I needed a mill. I then bought a small mill and learned a lot from it, eventually realizing I needed a much larger mill (a knee mill). I bought both the larger lathe and the mill from Matt at Precision Matthews and I'm sure I would have got a better deal if I had bought both at once.
Second-hand equipment is great if you are lucky and knowledgeable, but otherwise I wouldn't risk it

 

[Firstgear]

I bought a small lathe first and found out its limitations and why I needed a mill. I then bought a small mill and learned a lot from it, eventually realizing I needed a much larger mill (a knee mill). I bought both the larger lathe and the mill from Matt at Precision Matthews and I'm sure I would have got a better deal if I had bought both at once.
Second-hand equipment is great if you are lucky and knowledgeable, but otherwise I wouldn't risk it

Exactly why I didn’t buy used. I figured I had enough challenges making parts without compounding the issue with machines that needed work. I didn’t want to waste my time....money I have, time I do not.

 

[westerner]

You need both. Don’t kid yourself.

Yup. What he said. As you start using one, you will quickly find you need the other. Matters not which is first. Welcome to the party.

 

[umnik]

This.

If you're a lazy shopper, or just have a lot of money to blow and don't care about quality, then just order a new Chinese one. If you care about quality, want to save a lot of money and get much more bang for your buck, look for a quality used machine in good condition with comprehensive tooling included. This usually means avoiding machine resellers, as they most often offer only rather bare machines.

I bought my lathe and mill together with several boxes of tooling for $2,000. No repairs were necessary, just some cleaning. It doesn't matter which one you buy first--you'll need both machines. So watch for the right deal.

I wouldn't say I am lazy shopper, may be uneducated. I monitored Craigs List and eBay listing for last month in my vicinity and did not see much good machines with right price tag. May be I do not know where to look for.

 

[jdedmon91]

I wouldn't say I am lazy shopper, may be uneducated. I monitored Craigs List and eBay listing for last month in my vicinity and did not see much good machines with right price tag. May be I do not know where to look for.

On the issue of buying both at the same time, in theory it’s a great idea if you have the funds.

I’ll give you my story to see if it helps. I’m on my 3rd lathe. Started out with the el cheepo mini lathe, decided to up grade to a bench lathe,so I did my research look around and decided on an Asian import from Lathemaster. Great little lathe however I decided I wanted other features like a QC gearbox and cross slide feeding.

Tried for a long time to find a 12 inch swing lathe used within a 2 hour one way drive, no luck. So I decided to purchase another Asian machine, I decided on a Grizzly G0750G. My reasoning was the larger company with hopefully better parts availability. I did look at a PM equivalent machine and just decided to go with Grizzly.

After I had the 2nd lathe. I wanted a mill, my shop was small at the time so I needed a bench-top mill. I didn’t want a round column mill because of the positioning drawbacks, so that lead me to dovetail way machine. Based on the the research I went with a PM 25 mill from Matt. Great machine. I mounted a DRO on it and used it for several years.

I now have a larger shop space and out grew the little PM 25. Again I did my research, I wanted the following, long stroke in the z axis for drilling, at least a 30” inch table, power feed in the x axis. After I priced the PM and similar large bench top machines, I also started looking for a knee mill local.

I found a Lagun FT 3 local from a machine repair guy, that took the mill in on trade, it was used in an airline repair shop, obsoleted out and he traded for the machine. Then he done some minor repairs on the mill and put it up on CL for sale. The price was fair, and then I actually hired the machine to be moved here for a fair price.

My advice is, what is your budget? Next how serious are you on machining as a hobby? What kind of space do you have to set your shop up in? Are you someone who wants to make chips or is the challenge of fixing little flaws your thing? Do you enjoy searching for deals, or you want to get started?

The point is most of us have went through a process of elimination to get the machines we using. Unless your a experienced machinist with a good understanding on the direction that you want your shop to go in I’d be careful on buying both. If that is the direction your wanted because you want to get started, then find a vendor like Precision Matthews and buy the largest best equipped lathe and mill you can fit in your shop space and the budget will allow


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[Downunder Bob]

My general advice is get the biggest that will comfortably fit in the space you have available, and buy the best quality you can afford. My reasoning for this is that just about everyone has either upgraded from their original purchase or would like to

Of the Asian machines the Chinese ones are generally the cheapest in the new market, Taiwanese machines are much superior in quality and only about 20% dearer,. The best bang for your buck if you can afford it.

Consider if you will likely be screwcutting threads, and are most likely to be cutting metric or imperial threads, you can order a new lathe accordingly with imperial leadscrew and quick change gearbox for the threads. Likewise you can get the same machine with a metric leadscrew and QCGB for metric threads.

Most new machines can be ordered with a conversion gear, usually on the medium to larger machines a 127 x 120 T gear set and on smaller machines often a 63 x 60 T set. there are some others that are used but these are the most common.