Opinions On Mill Placement

J

joshua43214

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I am bringing home a new mill this Tuesday. The new mill is a PM45G (I think it is his last one) which is a small Taiwan mill that weighs in at about 1000lbs and runs on 240v. I'm feeling pretty excited about it, this looks to be about the nicest small mill out there until you get into really big bucks for the "tool room" models.

Currently my shop occupies a 1st floor bedroom (my son moved out and I stole his room lol). After a lot of internal debate, I decided the best place to re-locate the shop is the basement (instead of the garage or the woodshop).

I am looking for opinions on where to place the new mill.
Imagine the basement is divided into unequal quarters. When you come down the stairs, the quarter to the right has the laundry and folding table, the quarter to the left has the electrical box and shelving, the quarter to the far left has the furnace, water heater, and a small work bench, the quarter to the far right is the largest and will be where my shop is.
The lathe will go along one of the walls.
The mill can go in a corner, along a wall, or in the middle of the floor.
I have noticed that many professional machinists have their mills pretty far from any wall, or even somewhat central in the shop. Is there a good reason for this?
Any opinions about good mill placement? At a 1000lbs, moving it will require effort, so it would be nice to get it more or less right the first time.

I will try to take some picture and video of getting it down the basement stairs. I expect it to go really fast, so I might forget to do a good job. A winch to pull it onto the ramp, and a chainfall to lower it down makes quick work of about anything.

-Josh
 
Mine's in the corner. It seems to be the best use of a corner space, since the footprint of the mill (including table travel) is basically a triangle.
 
Even with a small mill it is nice to be able to walk 360 degrees around it.
 
Corners work well. Ideally you have it set so you can walk around it for cleaning, maintenance, adjustments etc.

Daryl
MN
 
I placed mine in the middle of a wall as no corners were available that would work. So far I haven't noticed any problems with the location. The best thing I did was make a scale drawing (CAD) of the space and a simple shape to represent each machine and the minim space it requires, then moved them around to the best configuration. The final plan was different from what I originally had in my head, I think better.

I also have my shop in the basement. The mill weighs 2,300 pounds so I had to bring it down in pieces, some photos here:http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ling-machine-in-a-low-ceiling-basement.38765/
 
I placed my two mills in the middle of a wall. The reason being if you have some extra long workpiece, you can work with it. The longest piece that I have worked on was 10'. The space to the left and right of the mill can be occupied with shallow cabinets, bookcase type or short cabinets below the mill table height. It is nice to be able to get around to the back side for maintenance so spacing 15 to 20" from the wall is useful. If the mill is a bit further from the wall, a lathe could go on the right hand side. A bench grinder or similar stationary power tool could go on the left.

Bob
 
My PM25 sits on a (old recycled) kitchen counter, against a side wall, but I'd like to have been able to get behind it. Working on it requires me kneeling on the Formica counter, hard on the knees and awkward.
 
I like my lathe and mill facing each other with about 3 feet between the handles. If your lathe is along the wall, then the mill would be in the middle of the floor. Also makes it easier to sweep up around it.
 
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