How Good Are the Chinese Mills?

Tony Wells

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My feeling on it is that the lower cost imported machines in general were purchased primarily on price by shops that knew they weren't high quality machines to begin with and they wouldn't lose much using it roughly, or even abusing it. I know of a couple of shops that bought cheap for a specific job and once it was done, they sold it off. They treated it like consumable tooling, and in so doing, neglected maintenance and really didn't care if it were abused, as long as it made the contract. So I'd be wary of a used low end machine that came from a production shop.

In some shops, perhaps they ended up deciding they would move up a notch or two and are selling to upgrade. In that case, it might be a sweet deal, as long as you know what you are getting. In themselves, for hobby use, as long as they are on decent shape, there's nothing wrong with any of them. But, be cautious on older low end import machines, as parts may be impossible to get, should the need arise.

If you don't want a restoration project, buy a used import to get in the game, then decide if it serves your purposes and needs. Later, when you have more experience, you may decide you need more machine. Then you won't be under time constraints, and can save up and then sell off the entry level machine to add to the fund.
 
If it is in your budget, get the Bridgeport type and bypass the others.

Randy
 
generally the machines i see being sold are from people that didnt know what they were getting into from the start....

dont get me wrong the mill/drills serve their purpose.... but if you want to mill, save your money and buy a mill and not a mill/drill...

you dont really want a round column mill or mill/drill, they can be a pain... when you go to a dovetail or square column type mill the cost goes up drastically and there is a reason for it...

for instance, i was looking at purchasing a mill earlier this year, i've wanted one for a long time... i looked at the import mill/drills and also the import 3/4 size mills, when you go to the 1/2 or 3/4 size mills with dovetail column the cost triples and your not getting anywhere the machine that you would get if you spent the same money on a used bridgeport..

with all this being said, i've seen good import mills, but you have to inspect them under power and make sure you know what your buying... i've seen good full size import mills sell from $800 and up, i missed an old Yuasa that looked brand new with vise,collets, sony readouts for $1200.. i would have jumped all over it, but it was 6hrs away, the guy was wanting it gone quick, and i would have had to get a hotel room plus it had snowed like 4 inches that night so i let it go...

i think i did better than the yuasa mill though...
i bought my 1972 bridgeport for $1500, and it was in pretty good condition, i probably could have done better if i looked a bit longer, but it was 40miles from me, the guy held it for me, plus he loaded it for me.

pic of my mill below..., i've been thinking about painting it white :)

if you can afford it go for a full size mill, if you use it you wont be sorry..

IMG00409-20110614-2341.jpg
 
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i looked through my phone and found a pic of an old cinncinati toolmaster mill i went and looked at earlier this year... initially the guy was asking $1500 for it, i went and looked at it and knew i could do alot better for the money....
i told him i wasnt interested, when i told him what i did for a living as i was getting ready to leave the guy dropped the price, he came down $500 real quick, i probably could have got it for $800... he said he wouldnt go below $1000, but if i flashed cash i bet he would have, he was acting desperate, like mortgage payment desperate.. i would have bought his mill before i would have bought a mill/drill though... i thought about offering $700 to see if he would go for it but i decided not to..

a person could've bought that mill and added a vfd to it and it would make a nice 3/4 size mill, it was a solid machine with little backlash..

IMG00354-20110203-1509.jpg
 
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Brucer,
You may want to rethink painting your mill or any tool white. White looks good initially, but in use it always looks dirty and cutting oils and lubes will stain it. Go with gray or a darker color. You will be happier with it in a year or two.
I have a white mill and it looks like hell, no matter how much I clean it.

Randy
 
Whyemier link=topic=3189.msg22861#msg22861 date=1313967501 said:
I've been looking at Milling Machines, with an eye on knowing the going price when I decide to buy somewhere down the road. I see a lot of Enco, Rong Fu, and similar types for sale in the $300-$900 range.

Are they any good or would I be purchasing someone Else's problems?
Can they mill steel or are they only good for Aluminum, brass and plastic?

For $500-$1000 more I can purchase a used Bridgeport 'type' (of unknown ancestry) or a horizontal Cincinnati 'type' (also a redheaded stepchild). They are available here in Florida from time-to time but might need some rebuild or search for missing parts. I'm willing to do that if I need to. I'd also have to invest a long weekend in travel there and back to pick them up. Then also the countless weekends getting them set-up/rebuilt.

But some of the Chinese types have shown up here on the Florida market and if they're any good I'd consider one.

Without regard to where the machine is built, I would try to get a mill that doesn't have a round columm. That leaves out most of the small so-called "mill-drills". I owned an Enco Mill-Drill for about ten years and it worked fairly well for aluminum and brass. It wasn't rigid enough for cutting heavy steel parts.

Although it had an R-8 spindle, whenever you needed to change height for a different tool, you would lose your tram setting. At that point you would need to re-indicate to be exactly where you were at the previous tool height.

The other issue was changing speeds. The belt system was rather annoying since it required a wrench and five minutes of fiddling to change speeds. This is not the case on the Bridgeport type with belt and pulley drives since there is a quick release and they can change speeds quickly. The variable speed units are even easier to use.

It at all possible, I'd opt for a Bridgeport style. After years of looking, I found a Webb mill about two years ago. It was built in Taiwan in 1987 and the company is a goping concern with parts warehouses and technical support in California and Nevada. I needed parts to convert it back from a CNC machine to a manual and all of the parts were readily availabe. That's an important factor.

A budget of aobut $2,000 should put you into a machine which will last you a lifetime, especially for home hobby work. I use my Webb nearly every day and it's already paid for itself with ease of operation, accuracy and power.

JMO.
 
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watch craigslist and ebay.... dont buy from a used equipment dealer, they usually sell way to high..
also if you have any of those "for sale" type monthly papers, here its called Thirfty Nickel.. you might call around to a couple local machine shops/mold shops/tool&die shops, they might have something available in storage, alot of places sell older machines to rotate newer technology into the shop, they will also be in the know of tooling/machinery in the area probably....

Practical Machinist forums For Sale section is also a good place to look..

you should be able to get a good solid functioning usable bridgeport or bridgeport clone for $1000-$2500... just inspect it under power. if i had to do over again i would get readouts with the mill, it'll make the price higher, but readouts are expensive and its easier to just get one with readouts already..

keep us updated, if i see anything that looks good i'll pass it along...
 
Something you have not mentioned but bears heavily on your choice is what are your plans? Watchmaking? Toymaking, Bulldozers? Trying to make small things on large slow speed machinery is a pain, if not impossible. And of course, the reverse applies. Try not to buy more machine than you need.
 
1200rpm link=topic=3189.msg23033#msg23033 date=1314065990 said:
that`s it! i forgot the 7- ZAY7032G

It appears to have a geared head. That's an advantage in that it can multiply torque somewhat. As I said, I used a round column Enco with belt drive for some 10 years. I made lots of things with it, too. I sold mine for $500 after I got "Bridgeportamania" and I guess I priced it too low on Craigslist because I had 15 calls after I sold it, LOL.

In one regard, I wish I had kept it. It was an OK mill but an absoutely superb drill press. I have an old Craftsmen drill press but it was nowhere as good as the Enco. We live and learn. :)
 
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