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

I use a cheap digital caliper, but I don't expect it to be more than 0.005" accurate. I switch to micrometers after that. Mine are older Starrett and Mitutoyo I got used for decent prices. I've been happy with them.

I got some cheap HSS cutters and started with aluminum. After that I got nicer HSS and carbide on steel. A fly cutter is particularly handy, though the X power feed is a requirement so that I don't go insane slowly cranking it. You might have more patience than I do. :)
 
I a bit old school on calipers and have a USA made Starrett 6" dial caliper that I won't part with. Same for my old school Starrett micrometer set I got on Ebay. I bought a couple of new digital micrometers a while back, but got tired of putting batteries in the darn things. ;)

In my own defense though, I typically only work to a thou tolerance on most things, and occasionally to a half thou so I really don't need reading to 5 places... :D

I test my calipers and micrometers on gauge blocks and pins fairly frequently and I trust my calipers to a couple thou or better, but it depends on what I'm measuring.
 
Slacking last week on ordering cost me a couple hundred as the more basic model was out of stock. My version has power x feed and the pdf on the z
 
I think my experience mirrors most here. I love my Mitituyo digital calipers, and my Fowler’s are okay. My Mitituyo 1-2” digital mic—for measuring barrel tenons—is awesome. The Pittsburgh 1” digital mic is okay for quick measurements. That said, the Pittsburg non-digital mic set (from Harbor Freight) is as accurate as the Mitituyo. Don’t even bother with a cheap digital dial indicator, though cheap non-electronic ones are okay.

So I think with any electronic measuring tool quality is a must. Non-electronic tools are more forgiving. That said, my Interapid long reach indicator is too notch. Make sure to buy good quality measuring tools where the measuring is critical.

I like to buy better quality mills. The work without fuss, aren’t that expensive, and the quality of the mill is a big determiner in the quality of the finish. I am not so worried about getting expensive high quality clamps, v-blocks, and angle plates. When it comes to a rotary vise, I will probably go with a Taiwan made Vertex brand.

In general, like with most things, aim toward higher quality. I am still fairing new to machining but now new to precision measuring and gunsmithing. I find my learning curve has been steep and I have quickly been able to figure out where I need to quality.
 
I want to bore the 5mm pivot bearing hole. Anyone suggest a boring head for that size? Also, is it called a boring probe to locate it?
 
Rockgolfer said:
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
Click to expand...

Hi Jeff,
Just a suggestion:

Before you decide on your mill, and especially if you have never cut pure metallic titanium I suggest that you get some and just try cutting it, even with a hack saw. It is is very interesting stuff! It is hard to work and can cause problems. I had to cut a couple of large (3 in diameter) very thin (a few mills thick) smooth Ti washers to be used as bearing surfaces and so I purchase sheets and turned them on my old South Bend 10. It was a task as my tooling quickly dulled. Really good, sharp and special material tooling is required and for some folks in the distant past they resort to heating the material up a lot during the cutting process just to soften it up. It has a high melting point temperature, is hard and briddle, and tends to chip and the pieces burn when being worked.

You certainly do not want to get a weak mill that does not hold the tool firmly or allows vibrations or bending. https://www.americanmachinist.com/features/cool-tips-cutting-titanium

PS. I purchased a PM 940M CNC, but have not tried to cut anything nearly as hard as Ti with it yet. Over all it seems like a nice heavy machine for the money, but it was more than 3K. You may want to give up the CNC, besides it takes a lot of time to do the programming.... usually more than it would have taken to cut the part by hand.... especially if the parts are straight forward. While my CNC came with crank handles to manually move the stages, the stepper motor cogging (jerking) is an issue .... so one needs to disconnect the motors to move the stages smoothly by hand.

Good luck,

Dave
 
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