If by “different brand” you mean Bolton, no.Beginner here. I'd like to be able to machine small parts in both aluminum and steel. Space is at a absolute premium in my shop, as in I have none, and so I'm considering swapping my drill press for a mill/drill. I only have space for something that is ~24" wide and ~28" deep (or smaller) and mobile so under 250lbs or so. I've been looking at small 13/14" mill/drills. Its my understanding that these small mill/drill combo's aren't the best for serious milling, but for learning and making small parts, I'm assuming it should fit my needs. I've been looking at something like this:
14" Vari-Speed Gear Head Milling Machine
EQUIPPED WITH: Halogen work light Depth stop Digital speed read out Digital readout depth gauge Interlocking spindle safety guard Draw barpalmgren.com
But under a different brand (seems this make/model is sold under different brands) as I can get one at a reasonable price ~$2200.00
Are these machines any good? Or should I be looking at something different in this size and price range?
Unless your projects have a lot of variance in the z axis (tall) the round column will not be an issue. Even if they do there are many, many ways to get around the limitation.
The precision Mathews is a square column mill with belt drive and appears to be a good machine for its size. If you look up blondiehacks on YouTube and go back a year or so ago she was using a PM25. I have a PM940V which is belt drive and I use a 3" face mill with it and have no issues.I've read that the belt drives are a bit of a pain and that depending on the speed you can lose power at the cutting head. Is this true?
Also most of the belt drive units I've seen in this size use a round column vs the square column. Again something I've read is that the round column is less "ridged" and the up/down adjustment tends to be less accurate. Is this true?
If you are talking about the PM mills or most of the Grizzly's and possibly Little Machine shop models bench tops owning a good set of R8 collets would not be a bad idea. If the mill uses R8 quill attachments those collets will reduce the tool make-up distance allowing more work room for your project.Another thing to keep in consideration to not have to move the head is what is called the longest tool. When figuring how to do a project look at the different tools you will need. Then try to make your set up so you can change both the shortest and longest tools without having to move the head. I use this along with ER32 collets. Since doing this I have not had to move the head to do a project. ER32 collets seem to take up the least amount of space, gives lots of wiggle when changing tooling and you don't have fiddle with the drawbar. Drill chucks are the biggest space wasters. I never use a drill chuck on my mill/drill.