Mill Choices - Advice

joshua_ said:
That PM 932 is interesting. I'm going to dig in a little more there just to see. It's not too far out of my price range.

I originally hoped to stay under $2000 for the mill and then buy all the tools I need as well.

I would just continue to save and buy bigger if necessary and it sounds like it is. Part of what I do would lead to a decent bit of mill work if I had the abilities. A lot of folks who have me true up and barrel guns would also have me add bottom metal, etc. If it worked out I would mill slides and even flute barrels.

I don't have to be able to do all of those things right now or ever for that matter. I just would if I could. ` I get to see and visit with the owner of a busy shop and he says it could make sense for me to have a smaller machine to do the little tasks and then eventually get a second machine if I want to. I realize there are different ways of looking at this. I don't really ever want to expand to where I work with others so I can't decide if more machines makes sense or not. With my lathe work I can already see how having a second lathe could save me a good bit of time and I will consider that if I get so covered up that it matters.

Anyway, I really do appreciate all of the comments and advice. Some of that Precision Matthews stuff must be the same stuff as Grizzly stuff. I'll dig into that a little more to see if they might have something that would work for me as well and I'll start watching for used mills. I do have a couple of people around that help me that have been at this for a long time. They are pretty different from each other so that has been good to show me different sides of stuff.
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From my research... the PM machines are good value. Matt, the guy who runs QMT, is an easy person to deal with... and Ray C here at this forum helps with advise.

As to similar machines: My research suggested there are a few designs that are made in many names, most of them come from China... Just as an example... whether the equivalent Grizzly and PM and Jet and MSC machines come from the same factory... do not know. I do know that if one is serious about a higher quality machine, and dead on accuracy is their goal... they might want to stretch their budget to Taiwanese machines. Here are a couple of examples in PM machines:
PM 1340GT lathe: http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM1340T.html
PM 935T(S or V) mill: http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-935HighPrecisionMills.html
As you can tell... the price goes up considerably when one goes to Taiwanese quality.

I opted for the lathe... yet got the 932 mill noted in my earlier post... the budget just could not handle both at this time... :)

Again, I would research until you are satisfied you are ready to buy... Much better to order what you want... than to think 'I wish I had...' which is what I probably will be doing with the mill... :)

GA
 
All,

I'm catching-up after being away for a while...

As far as size of equipment, get what's right for you and your needs -and your budget. It's a big mistake to grease-up the credit cards to satisfy non-essential desires. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the really small mills. They tend to struggle with just about everything and break easily if used beyond their work envelope. If you're making really small stuff and start with properly sized pieces of stock -and if you know how not to abuse a machine, they are fine. In reality, it seems the pace of work demands faster turn-around so, those smaller machines don't work for me. Be honest with yourself about what you're using the machine for.

Anhow, the modern medium sized mills (like the 932 and 935) keep up just fine for me. I have a PM 45 (old version, 6 years old) and a 45CNC. They have cut tons and tons of metal and are in perfect condition -not a single problem or issue and their ability to hold tram blows me away.

FWIW, I started-out with older (translated: dinosaur) equipment. It was a good learning experience and taught me a lot about machine rebuilding and how to work-around glitches and problems. For me personally (and your case may be different) I found myself working ON the machines more than I was working WITH the machines. When my BP clone needed 2+ grand worth of bearings, leadscrews, motors etc and realizing that the ways would still be crooked as a Witches finger after all that, I started to buy my first pieces of equipment.

There are countless posts covering this topic and after the dust settles, it gets down to the first sentence of my post.

The rest is history. The shop is doing well (aside from having been recently burglarized).

Ray
 
Yea I think the 45 and 935's of the world are on a diff level then a bench mill. Kinda a line in the sand. Like the 12in lathes I guess. What a 9in and what a 12in can do are often worlds apart. My 9in, like any bench mill, can get it done and do a nice job. But comes with issues and short comings that bigger may have solved. I would love to have one of them larger bed or knee mills though
 
Milling machines are like boats, motorcycles, golf club sets, etc. My advise is to figure out what you want ( a minimum 48" table), Look for a good brand, shop a used one (that has been set up to run on single phase), and buy it for as CHEAP as you can. Be sure to take a machinist friend with you to look at it. A case of beer or whatever his fee is cheap insurance.

The reason for my views are:
1. If you buy it for as cheap as you can, you can easily trade up if you want to.
2. NEVER BUY NEW! There are a lot of guys with good equipment that need cash. Be patient. Plus you don't get the bragging rights with a new HF mill that you would get with a classic BP, Cincinnati, Powermatic, etc.
3. Chances are when you buy a mill from a shop or another hobbiest, you will likely get the accessories and mill bits thrown in the deal, which would cost over a thousand extra if bought new.


Hope my opinion helps.
 
Well..... I ended up buying the PM-932M-PDF.

I appreciate everyone that weighed in and I took the advice serious. I got a with a guy from a local machine shop and really did some homework.

I saved more and wen't looking for a Bridgeport type. Ended up using one at a local shop some and even looked at 4 that were for sale. The pricing was fine. Then I found a guy a few hours away that had an older version of the mill I just bought and he was nice enough to let me check it out and talked with me a good bit about it.

I realize that the Bridgeport is better in many ways for many people.

The one thing about the PM-932M-PDF is the shorter table. If I had a longer table I'd be able to flute barrels easily. I did go ahead and get a dividing head since I'll be able to use it for other stuff I do. I'll flute what I can and outsource what I can't.

Other than that, I believe this mill should be great for what I want to do. We'll see.....

I've read a little about cleaning out the gears and a few other things. If anyone has any good advice for starting off with the mill I'd appreciate hearing it.
 
Congrats on the new mill. My advice is to be super generous with the oiling and maintenance. Many people are penny poor and pound rich when it comes to machines. They spend a small fortune on the machine, then penny pinch with lubrication using cheap oils and oiling infrequently. Keep it slick with oil and it will prevent rust and ensure sliding surface don't prematurely wear. Extra oiling will also push the gunk and chips that can get stuck under the ways out.

Paul.
 
samthedog said:
Congrats on the new mill. My advice is to be super generous with the oiling and maintenance. Many people are penny poor and pound rich when it comes to machines. They spend a small fortune on the machine, then penny pinch with lubrication using cheap oils and oiling infrequently. Keep it slick with oil and it will prevent rust and ensure sliding surface don't prematurely wear. Extra oiling will also push the gunk and chips that can get stuck under the ways out.

Paul.
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Hello Paul,

I sure will, thank you.

This won't see nearly the same amount of use as my lathe... I really do like to keep these tools well maintained.
 
Mill showed up today. Was a long day.

It's up and running. Need to go through the break in and change oil still.

Everything seems good to go so far. I'll try to update if I find anything odd, but it looks like all is well.
 
Anything that says mill/drill is a drill press with x-y table. And that is being kind. Makes work out of doing parts.
A mill/drill is an excuse to get out of the house.
A universal mill (Bridgeport style clone) is a"MILL". Can produce parts that work.
The tooling/tooling cost is the same for either.
Size? Space management is your friend. (Or expando wall? Ha! Ha!):courage:
 
GA Gyro said:
The big beefy cast iron frame of a machine tool is there for ridgidity (not a word, however you get the idea)...
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FYI, "rigidity" is not only a word, but it is the perfect word to describe the massive amount of vibration dampening the cast iron in Bridgeports and other large mills offer.
 
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