Ordered a PM-25MV

jheinen

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Hello all. I'm a new member and I ordered a PM-25MV a few days ago, along with the DRO and power feed. I have never milled anything in my life, so I have a lot to learn. I'm a blacksmith and bladesmith, and I bought the mill primarily for milling blade shoulders, slots in guards, and facing ricassos, as well as making tools like file guides and such.
 
Welcome to H-M. PM has a great reputation for quality machines and outstanding customer service. Matt is top notch.
I’m sure you will enjoy your purchase. Keep us posted on your delivery and setup. Don’t forget pics!
 
I think you are going to love it!
You must memorize this statement and never forget it, “ If you don’t send pictures of every step of your installation, it never happened.”
This is true for any and all projects reported to this group. Enjoy!
 
Congratulations on your new mill. I'm also a knifemaker and purchased the same mill a few months ago to do the exact same types of things. Let me know if I can answer any questions you may have about the mill. First thing you may want to do is to remove the chip shield as most of us have.
 
Congratulations on your new mill. I'm also a knifemaker and purchased the same mill a few months ago to do the exact same types of things. Let me know if I can answer any questions you may have about the mill. First thing you may want to do is to remove the chip shield as most of us have.

Thanks! I suppose all my questions at this point are around how do you mill a guard, and how do you mill shoulders ;)? I'm also wondering what other things the machine is useful for in knife making (e.g. can you use it to face the ricasso so that it's flat an parallel?

I'm taking a class tomorrow night and next Monday on basic mill usage.

-Jeff
 
I'm afraid we're in about the same boat in regards to what applications are going to be suitable to knife making. My main use would be for milling fullers and shaping guards. As far as shaping the knife itself, I don't think a mill is going to be as good as the 2x72 grinder unless you have a CNC set up. And then...its not really a handcrafted item anymore.
 
Hello - I am brand new to the forum, and am very interested in the PM-25MV. I've been on the fence about it for some time, and it sounds like you two might have some first-hand experience with it. I am interested in using it to make folding knife parts exclusively, mainly very small pocket knives out of O1 tool steels and/or stainless steels - nothing overly thick or large though. Could either of you weigh-in on whether or not this might be a good mill for such a purpose? Have you both found it large/strong enough for your tasks? Many thanks!
 
Hello - I am brand new to the forum, and am very interested in the PM-25MV. I've been on the fence about it for some time, and it sounds like you two might have some first-hand experience with it. I am interested in using it to make folding knife parts exclusively, mainly very small pocket knives out of O1 tool steels and/or stainless steels - nothing overly thick or large though. Could either of you weigh-in on whether or not this might be a good mill for such a purpose? Have you both found it large/strong enough for your tasks? Many thanks!
I use mine mostly for aluminum but have cut both O1 and 304 SS on it. The machine will handle them just fine, but you need to be careful with stainless. It doesn't leave a lot of margin for error with your speeds and feeds so you can end up going through a lot of tools learning to cut it right.

Since you say it will be mainly for small ones, I wouldn't hesitate to get the PM-25. If you wanted to remove a lot of material very quickly, a larger one might be better suited.

I have also not found a limit in the rigidity of the machine yet. The limit on mine was the stock motor, but I was always pleased with its ability to remove material quickly and hold relatively tight tolerances (.002"ish in aluminum, I don't recall how it did with the SS).
 
I've only had mine for a couple of weeks, so I can't provide much information. I have milled a mild steel bar to within .002-3 square using a 2" face mill with no trouble.
 
Hello - I am brand new to the forum, and am very interested in the PM-25MV.....
I've had my PM-24MV for a few months now and have no complaints. I still believe its the best choice in its class. For me it was between this one and the similar Grizzly. I think the PM was around 300 bucks more if I remember right. But for that you get a 3 year warranty and a belt drive (like a bridgeport) instead of a gear drive. The result is a smoother running machine without having to worry about stripping plastic gears. For building folders this mill will do just fine. The biggest challenge will be setting up your jobs, and no matter what machine you have, that's always the most time consuming task.
 
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