First mill/drill help

Bottom line, at the low end of the market, new or used, you may have to do some work before you have a good running machine. Anyone who comes here for advice should be told that upfront.

You can improve your odds by going with a reputable supplier but you may still have some work ahead of you before you have what you want.

John
 
matthewsx said:
Bottom line, at the low end of the market, new or used, you may have to do some work before you have a good running machine. Anyone who comes here for advice should be told that upfront.

You can improve your odds by going with a reputable supplier but you may still have some work ahead of you before you have what you want.
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Agree.

verbotenwhisky said:
After rehabbing 2 machines 1 in particular I, personally, would not counsel a person with zero experience to buy a used machine.
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I appreciate your position here. And I agree with your reasoning.

I still may buy a used machine, just not for my first entry into the field. Like many here, I have an affinity for vintage USA made tools/machines. In fact I have many tools I have no use for that I bought simply because they were quality US made. (I do like German tools too)

When I said I'm a beginner, that is in metal working. I'm an engineer by profession and I've been a semi-professional woodworker for 20 years, ran a custom shop for about 10 years. I have loads of experience dealing with woodworking machines.

I've always been one of those guy's that would chase 1/16 out of square in a cabinet. Would drive my partner crazy. "Its wood damnit, doesn't matter. Get that job out the door!" I think this is why metal working has always been something I wanted to get into. The level of precision that can be achieved is leaps and bounds above woodworking. Now I can chase 0.003 runout in a drill press, hehehe.
 
Charles scozzari said:
Did you run out and buy a $20.000 lathe when you started ??????. I think not, you got a used car.
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I bought 2 new machines in the last 1.5 years and did not spend 20K, I have experience rehabbing old machines and I found it far simpler to tweek the Chinese machines. None of this means I will never buy another old machine the positive for me is I have 2 good machines that I can use to rehab an old machine. Rehabbing an old machine when that is your only machine is a daunting task and if you've never worked with any machine it would send you down the road and give you a bad impression of the hobby pretty darned quick.
 
drcrea said:
Agree.


I appreciate your position here. And I agree with your reasoning.

I still may buy a used machine, just not for my first entry into the field. Like many here, I have an affinity for vintage USA made tools/machines. In fact I have many tools I have no use for that I bought simply because they were quality US made. (I do like German tools too)

When I said I'm a beginner, that is in metal working. I'm an engineer by profession and I've been a semi-professional woodworker for 20 years, ran a custom shop for about 10 years. I have loads of experience dealing with woodworking machines.

I've always been one of those guy's that would chase 1/16 out of square in a cabinet. Would drive my partner crazy. "Its wood damnit, doesn't matter. Get that job out the door!" I think this is why metal working has always been something I wanted to get into. The level of precision that can be achieved is leaps and bounds above woodworking. Now I can chase 0.003 runout in a drill press, hehehe.
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I understand completely and appreciate you thoughts. I am lining up for retirement and I want to machine obsolete parts for people who are restoring old stuff and I would like to restore some old machine equipment myself.
 
drcrea said:
Agree.


I appreciate your position here. And I agree with your reasoning.

I still may buy a used machine, just not for my first entry into the field. Like many here, I have an affinity for vintage USA made tools/machines. In fact I have many tools I have no use for that I bought simply because they were quality US made. (I do like German tools too)

When I said I'm a beginner, that is in metal working. I'm an engineer by profession and I've been a semi-professional woodworker for 20 years, ran a custom shop for about 10 years. I have loads of experience dealing with woodworking machines.

I've always been one of those guy's that would chase 1/16 out of square in a cabinet. Would drive my partner crazy. "Its wood damnit, doesn't matter. Get that job out the door!" I think this is why metal working has always been something I wanted to get into. The level of precision that can be achieved is leaps and bounds above woodworking. Now I can chase 0.003 runout in a drill press, hehehe.
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This is the guy who's going to stumble on a mint condition Deckel for $2k....

:encourage:

John
 
verbotenwhisky said:
I bought 2 new machines in the last 1.5 years and did not spend 20K, I have experience rehabbing old machines and I found it far simpler to tweek the Chinese machines. None of this means I will never buy another old machine the positive for me is I have 2 good machines that I can use to rehab an old machine. Rehabbing an old machine when that is your only machine is a daunting task and if you've never worked with any machine it would send you down the road and give you a bad impression of the hobby pretty darned quick.
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Good morning, and thanks for your reply. I just put put the $20.000 as a figure. When I started my first lathe as mentioned was a 618 Atlas that I rebuilt but at that time around 1990 parts were almost readily available. I still do have my Logan 400 as a back up but I found I outgrew them and in 2009 Purchased a Chinese knock-off in my opinion of a Clausing lathe for $2.700.00. I did this after looking at many used lathes that were going for twice that and in some way or shape needed some TLC. As said and with all the tweaking I have been more than satisfied with it. It now seems these lathes are pretty much the only game in town for the home hobbyist. Same goes for my 1965 42" Bridgeport that I bought in 2000 after many smaller mills. My point is after all my self inflicted mistakes it's still a learning process. When I answer posts I always say buy the big stuff right off the bat because if you really love this hobby you'll outgrow your smaller machines very very quickly. If by chance you don't have the room, that is a problem. The original post gave a need for a mill with a footprint of around 2'x2' which means your choices are few. I hope the gentleman who posted the original question finds a machine that works for him. Anyway thanks again for the reply. Charlie.
 

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