Grizzly G0704 v. an X3 mill - what are your thoughts?

[BRIAN]

I run the smaller brother of this mill( a 16 ) and am very happy with it .I use the head tilt a lot and find it easy to tram . Most of my work is light weight so I cant comment on its heavy use.

If I have a issue it is the noise that the primary reduction gears make when used at high speed.I had to drill out the motor plate holes to adjust the depth of mesh to improve this. But after 2 years and a lot of use it seems to be getting a lot less, Or i am geting Deaf in my old age.

If you are thinking of power feed you may like to look at. 2 AXIS POWER FEED FOR MINI MILL pdf
I posted some time back.
I think the 20 will definately be a good machine for you.

Best regards Brian.

 

[geraldsd]

I, too, am in the market for a small mill. I saw a reply mentioning the 0463. What are the main differences, besides weight? Is there a measurable difference in ability to make cuts without chatter becoming an issue? What do most people here use this mill for? I hope to use mine for gunsmithing work. Obviously, I would like a full sized knee mill, but it is in the future. Would I be making a mistake by buying this to begin with?

Thanks for everyone's help here!

 

[Splat]

I, too, am in the market for a small mill. I saw a reply mentioning the 0463. What are the main differences, besides weight? Is there a measurable difference in ability to make cuts without chatter becoming an issue?

A lot of, if not most, people associate weight with rigidity. Therefore, a heavier machine should ideally be more rigid, thereby able to take cuts that would make a lighter machine chatter or not be able to take at all (with equal motors, etc.). The G0463 is an excellent machine. It's got a little more travel but the table and the motor HP is smaller than the G0704. Both are capable machines for the home machinist.

 

[mekanix48]

Hi from across the pond.

I have the UK equivalent..BF20L? (Warco WM16, the smaller capacity brother) & have just started to use it in anger after getting my garage coversion sorted, I have milled a couple of stops for head now that I have trammed it in, the first of some mods that I have in mind. I am now in the process of machining some cast iron for a rear toolpost from a kit I bought some months ago,& so far it is handling cutting quite well, I am using a 2" four tip index insert facing mill as a fly cutter, that way it spreads the intermittant loading of a single point fly cutter, I am not being greedy only putting on between .020" - .050" per cut.. 'slowly, slowly catchee monkee' as the saying goes. I started off with 127 rpm as calcs indicated but upped it to 250 rpm & it handles it quite well..so far! really don't like counting chickens & all that.

The machine is straight out of the box & apart from the removal of the travel grease off the table & haven't done any strippinng to bits as a lot of guys seem to want to do etc, if it aint broke don't fix it I say, I am satisfied with the way it is performing so far, the cast iron cutting has not produced any excessive heating of the motor-750 watt DC, & it was running for at least 20 -30 min at a time, there was some clatter which concerned me but on checking the cutter I found that the head (cutter) was not tightened snuggly onto the taper(MT2) this soon quietened down once I gave it a extra tweak with a Allen key & it improved the cutting properties. There is some intermediate gear chatter which seems to be the norm for these chinese machines from all accounts so I am not unduly worried about it.


One of the other mod's I want to do eventually is convert it to belt drive to eliminate the intermediate gear & improve the torque rating as some have done with the X2 version..any one out there have a conversion kit, or plans for one? I would most gratefull.
I have att. a couple of pics..if they have loaded ok. :thinking:

Cheers
George

 

[xman_charl]

I have used both. I gave the x3 to a brother at my church.

I prefer the G0704 or Enco. Seems to be more rigid.

The steel in the sig seems to be softer, the quill bearing tube.

Also had a round column mill, mostly used it for drilling. Its been long
gone.

charl

 

[hey-bear]

The cooling fan is a great idea. I've already lost the first motor, it was covered under warranty and I had no issues getting a replacement.
One thing about the fan switch, Why, just wire it so the fan comes on when the motor is running?