Ready to order my first mill, trying to make an educated choice

[Rockgolfer]

Hello all,
Been browsing for a few days off and on and ready to get my feet wet and jump in. I used a mill over 20 years ago in metal shop class during high school. I can weld and run a cnc router(no gcode needed) and water jet for a stone fabrication shop.

I am looking to make some tools for the shop most likely out of aluminum. I am also looking to get into knife making and plan on milling a lot of titanium.

I would love to convert to a cnc mill but dont think that will be in the budget for atleast 6 months or so.

Maybe a few more details are needed and I am happy to add any info needed. Does it sound like the pm-30mv is the right machine? Can I get away with the 25? Knowing I wont go cnc for 6 months to a year should I get the DRO added from PM?

I have zero tooling or parts or anything and would like to keep it all around 3k to start. If I go DRO on the 30 that doesnt leave me much room for anything else. I can always scrounge for tooling money every paycheck so not to worried about 6 months from now. Just looking to get up and running asap.

Appreciate any advice you all can share, thanks for your time.

Jeff

 

[Spotshooter]

I just bought a PM30

My 2 key decision points -
1). I needed a mill that could make a cut that was almost 20” long - so table travel in one direction is a big deal
I do gunsmithing work on rifles so I needed to have enough travel to cover the barrel / action are = ~20”

2). I wanted a machine that I could upgrade to CNC if I needed to as a part time CNC vs. 24 hour a Day big dog CNC.
The PM30 is convertible, and I can add it on later - this of course I needed in case I start making parts, cheaper machines
From other sources are not so upgradeable, and are lose so I went with the PM30.

Don’t forget you need to order some indicators, a vice (not optional) to hold the parts, and mills... so add at least 500 to your price...
BUT - Cry once is a good thing...

If you look at my other post I’m upgrading from a mini-mill from Grizzly, which I lived with for 5 years... it was cheap and worked ok - but now I will be selling it and kind of wish I had just gone big day one - at the end of the day I would have repeated the same path, but it’s cheaper not too.

 

[INTJ]

I bought a PM 727V nine months ago along with my 1340 GT lathe and while the lathe is awesome, the mill really wasn’t big enough for gunsmithing long-range BR stocks. So I started looking to upgrade. The rule with machine tools is to buy the largest and highest quality that you can afford/have space for. Also, buy more basic machine and less frills—they can be added later. With that in mind I wound up with the 833T, a Taiwan machine that is about the largest I can get in my garage.

I had narrowed it down the 833 and the 940. The 940 was bigger but not as good of quality. I chose quality over the larger size. I am glad I did. Having the Taiwan made 1340 GT lathe next to the Chinese made 727V really showed the difference in quality between Taiwan and China. Now that I have the 833, I am set.

The Chinese mills are not terrible, they are decent and functional. If the Taiwan mill just isn’t in your budget, then get the heaviest Chinese mill that you can. Guys seem to do very well with the 932 and the 940. Chances are had I got the 30MV instead of the 727, I wouldn’t have upgraded.

 

[steamingspud]

I just fit a Fanuc robodrill in a garage. Used ones go for new tormach prices, and tooling isn’t too expensive.

Like someone said, if you have the room (in this case say 90 inches height) get the biggest that’ll fit. Time isn’t just money, especially in a hobby environment. If a project on a slower retrofit or cheaper mill took 10 days and a pile of scrap, the fanuc would do it in one with a nicer looking similar sized pile of scrap, but do it in one. That’s nine days you could have been sitting around staring at your machine drinking beer.

Always something better to do. I promise it’s worth it.

 

[steamingspud]

Sorry, I want to show off. Here’s a picture:

The chip sweeper was not included.

 

[Rockgolfer]

Appreciate the feedback everyone. If things go right, I could see myself buying one of those enclosed cnc machines down the road but not in the budget right now.

Ceiling height or size is no issue for me. I have an apartment above a shop and have an area with a 14 foot roof.

Is the 932 a better machine than the 30mv?

I just realized the 30mv does not have a tilt head and that's a feature I would like (90* if possible).

Any other machines, manufacturers I should look at? I dont mind stretching to 3k for the initial machine purchase.

Steamingspud, I have 3 of those chip sweeping machines. Temperamental at times but worth the investment so far

 

[T Bredehoft]

Chip sweepers are generally more expensive than any machine we can afford. Don't discount their value.

 

[INTJ]

The 932 is a significant upgrade from the 30MV. The 932 is much heavier, has a bigger table, etc. For a $3k budget I would probably get the 932M.

 

[Winegrower]

I have always wondered why people purchase new smaller mills when for the same or lower price used Bridgeports/clones are available. To me the value/cost ratio is better with a used Bridgeport. Parts are readily available and pretty reasonable, the work envelope is relatively huge, available power is good, it's solid and reliable, etc. Is it size? Weight? Just easier to find and get delivered? What?

 

[INTJ]

There are two very significant reasons. The first is space and/or he ability to handle a certain sized machine. My driveway is so steep that the only reasonable way to get something into the garage is by putting it in back of a pickup and backing in. We did tow in my 2150 lbs gun safe but doing that was iffy as it was and a really bad idea with a knee mill. A bench mill is much easier to handle.

The second reason is really common sense. When we are new to a task there is much we don’t know. When you have lived long enough you are aware of your lack of knowledge in a new endeavor. This means you don’t know what to look for in used machine equipment. I can look at a rifle, a trumpet, or a vehicle and tell you immediately if it is a good value and useable or repairable. When I bought my lathe and mill I could not make that same evaluation with machine tools.

There is a LOT of old machine tools that are junk. There are a bunch more that would work well IF you know what to look for and know what/how to repair it. If you don’t know that, you will wind up like my friend that has several mills and lathes and most of them are not useable.

Best I can tell a decent condition used Bridgeport runs $5k or more, and I can’t get safety one into my garage, so it would be pointless for me to buy one. Therefore there is no better solution for me that the exact mill and lathe I have now.