Sharp Mill

Sharp just rebrands machines, some of their newer mills may not be as good as their previous, who knows. First (Long Chang) mills are well made, that is what Acra carries. I have no rigidity problems with mine, and everything seems to be tight tolerances along with a high finish both external and internal. Also there may be differences based on an R8 head vs. NST taper, and as I indicated based on the Sharp's current pictures they may be using a different head or maybe they changed suppliers. I guess in the end is it worth their premium pricing which can be 30-40% more.

Opinion on SHARP TMV-1 vs LAGUN FTV-2F

Hey everyone. I'm looking into getting a new mill and these are the two I've narrowed my search down to. I will be using it in a very low volume non production environment and I am curious to know if anyone has any person experience with either. It will have a 5 HP motor, NMTB 40 taper, power...
www.practicalmachinist.com
 
From what I understand they're also made by Long Chang.
That's the thing about price. There is a local SHARP dealer who has offered me a TVM-1 for less than Tom.
I will try to get to this supplier and take a look-see.
 
I would go with whichever is cheaper and also factor in shipping/delivery. The Sharp TMV which is an R8 head appears the same as the the LMV, the TMV-1 uses a number 40 taper and the head is different and larger which probably accounts for the larger ram diameter.
 
The Acts LCMT3AC has the larger quill diameter but $1500 more for the inverter and 5hp Baldor as opposed to the 7.5hp.
 
I've looked at both the Sharp and Acra sites, specifically looking at their VH25 machines. But I can't find prices. Do you have a link to somewhere that lists prices? Also looking at Knuth-USA (VHF 3x), which lists some prices. Any thoughts about the quality of Knuth?
 
They're made in China. From what I've read the Germans inspect them quite rigorously.
Expensive for a Chinese machine, at least what we're used too.
 
ArmyDoc said:
I've looked at both the Sharp and Acra sites, specifically looking at their VH25 machines. But I can't find prices. Do you have a link to somewhere that lists prices? Also looking at Knuth-USA (VHF 3x), which lists some prices. Any thoughts about the quality of Knuth?
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I see no Acra mill called a VH25.
Disregard. I see the VH25 is a vertical/horizontal mill.
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I am not sure what you end game is and what you are looking for. I can tell you the the LCM-50 is a lot of mill, you can get it with manufacturer VFD and Align drives for probably under 10K. On a hobbyist level you can take it to the next level with a 5Hp motor and either R8 or #40 spindle, but I am not sure what you need the increased rigidity and size for. I would not purchase a Chinese mainland mill in this price range, even if it was inspected or supervised under German Blah, Blah, Balh... I had that with my Optimum BF-30 (made in China under German supervision), and I can tell you that the "German Overview" was a joke because there were so many things at of spec. that I eventually sold it and good riddance.
 
mksj said:
I am not sure what you end game is and what you are looking for. I can tell you the the LCM-50 is a lot of mill, you can get it with manufacturer VFD and Align drives for probably under 10K. On a hobbyist level you can take it to the next level with a 5Hp motor and either R8 or #40 spindle, but I am not sure what you need the increased rigidity and size for. I would not purchase a Chinese mainland mill in this price range, even if it was inspected or supervised under German Blah, Blah, Balh... I had that with my Optimum BF-30 (made in China under German supervision), and I can tell you that the "German Overview" was a joke because there were so many things at of spec. that I eventually sold it and good riddance.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's the kind of input I need.

I've been reading a lot about Horizontal / vertical mills lately. I was thinking, "well if you can get both horizontal and vertical at the same time, maybe that'd be worth it?" Best prices I've see on the VH 25 sized mills (sharp or Acra) has been ~20-25k, which is too much. But Knuth has a couple of universal mills in teens (VH 1x and 2x), and there are a couple of smaller Chinese VH mills out there (Grizzly and Palmgren) at 8-10k. I was hoping that Knuth was selling Taiwan versions of the Chinese mills, and that that was the source of the price premium.

Probably just a case of mission creep. Started out with a budget of 5k. But you know, those mills for 7.5k are pretty darn nice, and once you've looked at those, it's only a bit more to look at those ones for 10k. Oh, but my my my, look at what you can get for $15k... and for 20k you get two machines in one!

Sigh. Dial it back, Bob. Dial it back....
 
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