[Newbie] Deciding Between models for my First Mill

Magneto&TitaniumMan

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Hi, I recently placed a order for a Craftex CX605 Mini Mill.

But after some more research and videos i've seen have also thought to go with a brushless belt driven model which costs about $800 more when tax is included. Crafted Model CX612. I'm pretty much starting from the beginning with my machining equipment so I have a lot more to spend on tooling. That extra $800 would come in handy.

I plan to work on small parts projects for custom guitars and prototype parts for my friends guns. So typically working with aluminum and brass. Steel would be nice but I know the limitations and honestly right now my options due to space and budget is either these priced models or nothing.

I'm going to be setting up in the basement so noise reduction would be nice and no future headaches of a broken plastic gear. So to ask a more specific question, is spending the extra $800 between these two models worth it for what I want to do?

Thanks and I am open to giving any more information that would help give me a better answer.
 
I would have agreed with you in the past. I never valued plastic anything. Cheap crap! Good steel was uncompromising strong. It had to hold together better.

I was wrong! Yes indeed, plastics bend and flex more than steel, but they don't wear the same. The right plastics don't shed their surface in little particles. The plastic hangs onto itself. There are some you can tell are like that when you try tearing at it with a hacksaw. Now, the most modern hard wearing industrial slideways and bearings incorporate plastics. Sometimes supported by metal, sometimes impregnated by metal. When I saw the best in military grade high load aircraft kit have plastics in critical places, I had to re-think.

A small precision lathe, with bronze-loaded PTFE thin layer on the slides is not to be sniffed at. Richard King, (in this forum) describes grinding down the ways of a lathe to make space for a glued on layer of loaded plastic, that then scraped in. It's a good technique, and the stuff is arguably a more expensive high performance durable surface than traditional steel.
 
Plastic drive gears in a milling machine tend to break. I would go with the belt drive machine. Buy once, cry once.
-Mark
 
I would have agreed with you in the past. I never valued plastic anything. Cheap crap! Good steel was uncompromising strong. It had to hold together better.

I was wrong! Yes indeed, plastics bend and flex more than steel, but they don't wear the same. The right plastics don't shed their surface in little particles. The plastic hangs onto itself. There are some you can tell are like that when you try tearing at it with a hacksaw. Now, the most modern hard wearing industrial slideways and bearings incorporate plastics. Sometimes supported by metal, sometimes impregnated by metal. When I saw the best in military grade high load aircraft kit have plastics in critical places, I had to re-think.

A small precision lathe, with bronze-loaded PTFE thin layer on the slides is not to be sniffed at. Richard King, (in this forum) describes grinding down the ways of a lathe to make space for a glued on layer of loaded plastic, that then scraped in. It's a good technique, and the stuff is arguably a more expensive high performance durable surface than traditional steel.
I quite agree that the use of the teflon bronze material (Moglice) is quite good for slideways, but plastics for gearing are not so durable.
 
Your Craftex CX605 looks like a Grizzly G8689 mill. Craftex CX612 looks like a Grizzly G0781. You might find some information on this forum under those designations in the Grizzly area. Hit the Grizzly web site and search on those mills, there are a number of reviews from buyers.

Just curious, Paul McCartney fan? Venus and Mars (loved the song Magneto and Titanium man).

Bruce

 
Your Craftex CX605 looks like a Grizzly G8689 mill. Craftex CX612 looks like a Grizzly G0781. You might find some information on this forum under those designations in the Grizzly area. Hit the Grizzly web site and search on those mills, there are a number of reviews from buyers.

Just curious, Paul McCartney fan? Venus and Mars (loved the song Magneto and Titanium man).

Bruce


Oh that helps a lot. Thanks everyone for the help making decision. Pretty sure i'm gonna go with the CX612.

Yeah i'm a huge Paul McCartney fan! His solo work is some of my favorite stuff right now.
 
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