PM-932M or PM-835S on the fence

The best part about the 932 is it fits in my basement with 78.5” to the bottom of the floor joists. With the head at max height the additional 3” of travel fits in between the joists :)
 
Interested to hear/read more about the 932... still think it might be more mill than I need, but probably better to go a bit overboard than to end up with something undersized and underpowered.

I've been all over the place since I decided to get a bench style mill. I've looked at and considered just about every PM model except the 25 now, sheesh. :rolleyes:
 
I agree with Bill, look at either the PM940 or PM833T. One of the major limitation with many benchtop mills is the Y travel, add a DRO with a cover and you loose another inch. Add a 6" vise and you may loose a bit more because it hangs over the back. Been there with my last benchtop mill that had 7.5" of Y travel. The PM932 has 8", PM940 is 12", PM833 is 11". It makes a big difference. Next up look at the Z distance, as that gets eaten up pretty quickly. I use a full size knee and I almost bottom out my knee trying to manually tap holes. If you are just doing small stuff then you can get by with less, but you never have enough Y travel. Knees are nice because you can adjust the head in the Y axis. PM833 is nice if you are looking for a bit better fit/finish, but if the budget allows I would recommend a power feed on the Z and X axis.
 
I agree completely Mark. You can never have enough Y travel!

So far on the 833, I've not run out of Z travel. I've drilled some tall items and still had room to spare. That wasn't the case at all on my smaller mill I had before. Z was the first thing I ran out of.
 
PM didn't have their PM940 when I bought my CO 9x40. Which is too bad, as I suspect Matt's 940 would have been a much higher quality machine. I spent a year tweaking/tuning/modifying my CO to get it where I wanted it. And it was a beast of a mill after all the tweaking.

Noticeably more rigid than my PM935, and could seriously hog metal, especially with corn cob mills (roughers). But, other than just testing, I've never needed that kind of cutting power. I want good Y and Z travel, a head that tilts and nods, and a accurate/quality machine.
 
Thanks for the comments, but LOL you guys aren't helping me stick with the idea of a bench mill, and not a monstrous one like the 940.

Maybe I'm fooling myself, but pretty sure I'll never need to hog off lots of metal in big passes or drill huge holes in stainless. I probably don't have the space for anything bigger than a 932, which I'm leaning towards, at least today. :D

I'm just gonna have to get up one fine morning, get on the PM website, and order something. I'm sure I'll be fine no matter what.
 
Skowinski said:
Maybe I'm fooling myself, but pretty sure I'll never need to hog off lots of metal in big passes or drill huge holes in stainless. I probably don't have the space for anything bigger than a 932, which I'm leaning towards, at least today. :D
Click to expand...

That's why I went with the variable.
 
Skowinski, are you limited on height? Where will you be putting the mill? Do you have 220V 1 or 3 phase power?
 
Skowinski said:
Thanks for the comments, but LOL you guys aren't helping me stick with the idea of a bench mill, and not a monstrous one like the 940.

Maybe I'm fooling myself, but pretty sure I'll never need to hog off lots of metal in big passes or drill huge holes in stainless. I probably don't have the space for anything bigger than a 932, which I'm leaning towards, at least today. :D

I'm just gonna have to get up one fine morning, get on the PM website, and order something. I'm sure I'll be fine no matter what.
Click to expand...

I'm an outlier on the site here, as I have never believed in the 'bigger is better' mantra of some. I work on small stuff, and if I could afford it I'd have a Sharp 8x18 or whatever it is Hardinge HL-V copy. The electronic threading/feeding on that thing just make me drool... ;)

And if I didn't have the room for my PM935 I'd pop for the PM833TV for the extra Y-axis travel, the quality, and the accuracy.

But again, I'm an outlier. :D
 
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