How do you know???

joebiplane

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I have been searching for a milling machine to satisfy my desire to delve further into shaping metal ( I now have a Emco/maeir Compact 8 that I have owned for perhaps 20 years) i have researched the web and have decided that I must have a Seig SX4 soon to hit these shores late Winter-early Spring.2011.
My problem is that there are more than a few companies that will handle this machine but each of them Buys from Seig at a †Price point†that is determined by qualityâ€. There appears to be several versions of the same machine as sold by Seig to importers/retailers that are divided up by Quality or , Lack there-of†and I am looking for a guide to which importers /retailers here in the USA buy the best quality that Seig is capable of getting from its local manufacturers in China.
Harbor freight, Grizzley, Little machine Shop, Lath master and many more will, likely, all offer the SX4 but they will all differ in quality and price.
How do i decide who is offering the best quality ??? for that specific machine model

The SX4 encompases all the features I feel I will need and is a size I can handle in my shop, but I am looking for a top quality example of that model...I fully realize it will not be the cheapest, nor would Ii expect it to be. But I cannot buy a "Pig in a Poke" My nature won't allow it,
Please give me any recomendations you can and I will check them out and be, forever, in your debt
thanks
Joe
 
Joe, as you imply, there seems to be a quality structure tied into the price range from different dealers. Unless you go to the showroom or dealers location and actually run the mill of your choice and then take that machine home with you, any machine you buy will be a "pig in a poke". We can have the best recommendation for a particular machine and never have the first minutes trouble with it and you could get the next machine off of that assembly line and end up with a piece of crap machine. Maybe the guy that assembled my machine was training the new man on the job and let him solo on the assembly of yours. Who knows? The best you can hope for is just what you are doing, checking all of the dealers of that machine, their pricing and options, and others experience with that dealer and their machine. Good luck and I hope you find the perfect machine, I know I haven't......yet.

Patrick
 
Thanks to those whohave responded so far and those who will
I should ask " The shadow"....cause....' He Do !"

i seem to remember reading about a dealer who offered to uncrate a customers purchases, clean it up and chech out the entire machine for proper oporation and accuracy before shiping it to the buyer.... This was all for a fee, of course. I can't remember who the company,/ retailer/importer was though... can anyone help me out with this ?

The IH (Industrial hobbies) unit ....SEEMS to be a contender for my quest...It SEEMs to be as good as they get
And I can drive 4 hours to their showroom and " lookie...feelie....Toucheee" the unit. I guess if Ii have a pocket full of cash I could bring it home....Hmmmmm
I Will visit them in a month or so
thanks for the tips i've gotten so far....Keep those csrds and letters coming in...
joe
 
Well Now I know !

On a crummy slushy rainey Tuesday I headed for Muncy PA ...The East Coast super shoowroom for Grizzly machinery. 4-1/2 hours later I was in the Hobby-ist land of OZ.
I perused the Mills and got all the information I had been seeking for the past 6 months. The drive home went smoother as I had visions of millig machines and toolein to think about all the way.
For two weeks I poured over the catalog....discussed the financial options we had available.... I talked long and hard about the " Bill me later" plan Grizzly had available and after making sure I kept mama happy as I could with chores and helping her with the dishes and stuff...You know how it is...
Well..... two weeks ago I placed an order for the G0619 ( Seig SX3) and got a call 4 days later it was ready for pickup.... so at 5:30 AM the wheels were rolling ....and at 8:25 I was in the Grizzly parking lot waiting for the doors to open.... by 10:00 I was loaded up and on my way home....as happy as a clam at High Tide. This time the drive only took 3 hours each way ) much better road conditions
Stay tuned for the next issue " Joebiplanes Mighty Mill" (single handed un-loading and set-up)
.
 
chengdave2003 link=topic=492.msg4082#msg4082 date=1297133242 said:
We're waiting!!!!

With bated breath!! ;)
 
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and the plot thickens

While doing all my rescearch and i came upon an article about the review of the SX4 ( i've lost the article in a computer crash) but the reviewer used a Cherry picker engine crane with good results, so i included one from Grizzly when I made my pick-up.
the crane raised the crate and i just drove the truck away....lowered the crate to a piece of plywood laid acrossthe legs of the hoist then rolled the whole thing in the shop through the double doors. ( of course i had to assemble the hoist firat but that was only 2 hours work... then Iputmy furniture dolly on top of my Motorcycle jack and slid it between the hoist legs ( with the crate in the air0 and lowerd the crate to the dolly, un-hookd the rigging straps and removed the hoist temporarily . now I could open her up.
the crate was in perfect condition and when the top came off there was a fine example of the SX3 positioned squarely in the center of the crate covered with a plastic bag and exactly the way it left China, ....i was impressed after hearing horror stories about what can happen in shipping. The crate was removed and the machine raised again...The bottom of the crate removed and machine lowered to the dolly again for De- greasing the external , obvious areas that wer liberally covered with the " Cosmoline like red grease that is used. this was not detailed...just general clean up. then the Mill was raised again and move over to the bench that willl become its home and set in place. in the following days i began taking parts off for de-greasing more carefully and bolting it to the bench and de-greasing where needed and oiled or lithium greased where required then the break in process directly from the owners manual. at the ed of the break-in period thr spindle was hot enough that some of the Packing grease in the spindle nose got warm enough to get flung onto the chip shiels and against the front of the rear column dovetail. i i hope his is normal the test was about an hour, of which 30 minute or so was at 1750 RPMs any body have thoughts on this ?

The engine crane ( 2 ton) was a God-send as I had no help available... and Harbor freight would have been $ 208.95 but you could use a 20% off coupon Grizzly price was 175.00 plus tax and it was red .

I finally made something today...the clamping kit i purchased had T-nuts that didn'f fit the slots in the bed so i milled the down and got a perfect fit on all six nuts. fortunatly the machine came with two nuts and studs to bolt the base to the shipping crate so i used them to bolt the vice to the table. i got to say i was worried that Grizzly might not be what i exoected....especially at a tad over 1,350.00 a full $650.00 less than a tool company in Northern climate is asking for the identicle machine in a white-ish color.

Well I am a Happy camper
I have included a couple of useless picture but i just had to do it
joe

in showroom & out of stock in muncy.JPG My first look at one in showroom.JPG crate in the shop.JPG On the dolly 7 on the MC lift.JPG Ready to clean.JPG Almost like Alabama red clay.JPG On the bench.JPG G0619.JPG View from the top.JPG
 
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Re: and the plot thickens

joebiplane (south jersey) link=topic=492.msg4156#msg4156 date=1297221072 said:
I have included a couple of useless picture but i just had to do it
joe
Thousands of words in those pics, looks like a nice addition to a nice shop.
Good luck.
 
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Nice mill I bet your really Happy! And it looks like you have a nice clean shop. Did you used to live in AL. ? Because you know about the red clay Oh BTW thanks for sharing your new toy and your shop.

Paul
 
I used to go through 'Bama on my way to Marianna Fl..( Near Dothan, Al.) Acres od diamonds airport and flytire community From my past life in the mid 90's
 
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