Latest Mini-Mill purchase guidance

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r-mm

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Hello all

I do hobby auto restoration and other projects in the garage. A friend gave me a MicroMark 7x14 (read: small) lathe which I have found many many uses for. I'm interested in a mini mill for the same reason. Its always possible to buy more but space is limited and based on how much use I've gotten from what is more or less one of the smallest lathes out there, I'm looking at the standard small form factor Chinese mini mill. I just don't know what flavor to look for.

Little Machine Shop has a handy comparison which (surprise) suggests their True Inch machine rules. I'm totally open to buying used but haven't seen a machine listed on my local New Haven CT Craigslist for a long time and when there is one, it goes quick. So I'm considering buying new.

Anyone in my shoes recently care to share advice? I'd like to be below $1000, the lower the better since we all know tooling adds up to purchase price and then some.

littlemachineshop.com

Mini Mill Comparison

This chart compares the specifications of the major brands of the mini mill.
littlemachineshop.com littlemachineshop.com
 
Normally I strongly endorse Precision Matthews or Little Machine Shop. But due to your price range, it is a bit limiting.
I have heard both good things and less flattering things from micro-mark, but they have a package which includes tooling, and it is decently appointed. Here is a link.

micro mark package
 
there is much to said about the solid column making for a better mini mill,, both in set-up and operation,, the power feed is really not needed for hobby work,, I went with LMS mill and their mid range tooling package, very happy with it out of the crate, have added goodies over time.. a little more spent at the start will save in the end..
 
Ah I see now that only the LMS is selling the machine as a solid column. Thanks for flagging that. To be clear my budget is for the machine. Tooling is a separate pot that ill buy later. I like to balance import items for use-sometime and the best of the best made in usa for the essentials. But I prefer to wait to see which things fall into which categories for my personal use.
 
I've had good luck with my micro mark mill, but they don't offer a solid column option. LMS does a good job of supporting their products so that's something to keep in mind. The tables on a number of their versions also have somewhat greater travel than the machines offered by micro mark, grizzly and HF.
 
sounds like the tarrifs kick in nov10,, looks like a few people decided to get machines ahead of the date, most of the smaller mills are now out of stock.. as any back ordered units get taxed.. LMS has been upfront about the tarrifs,, the've put it on their home page,, have heard others showed nothing until you started to complete the purchase.. had a friend who was importing a large power hammer when the first round hit,, he had to pay almost a grand more or loose the money he had already payed..
 
Yep, I just missed the worst of the tariffs. My mill is en-route as we speak. The lathe was snagged less than 2 months ago.
 
I decided I'm going to sell a few pieces to make space and cash for a Grizzly G0704 class machine in the $1400-1700 range. So my question evolves from how to pick from the Chinese made mini mill to the Chinese made bench mill - if that's the right phrase for this class.
 
r-mm said:
I decided I'm going to sell a few pieces to make space and cash for a Grizzly G0704 class machine in the $1400-1700 range. So my question evolves from how to pick from the Chinese made mini mill to the Chinese made bench mill - if that's the right phrase for this class.
Click to expand...

Look at the Precision Matthews PM-25 as well, it is very similar to the G0704, same size, and about the same price. PM has a good reputation here, and the PM25 supposedly has some improvements vs the G0704.

I think these are a nice size mill, bigger than a mini-mill but still not too hard to find space for in a small shop.
 
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