Small mill

[Bob Korves]

This thread is missing the most important information -- what do you plan to do and make with the mill? All we know is a 1" hole in steel, which is a challenge for smaller bench mills. If you will be doing light work on aluminum for model engines and such, you will have a much different need than if you want to mill bigger chunks of cast iron and steel. A small to medium sized knee mill can be disassembled to table, knee, column, ram, and head pretty easily, then put back together in place. The parts would still need to be wrestled into place, but if you can walk through the entrance, you can move the parts. If you only need a light mill, then go that direction, though I find light bench mills frustrating due to lack of rigidity. Good work on hard metals of any real size takes rigidity and power or it rapidly becomes tedious and maddening. I have a Burke Millrite (like a 3/4 size Bridgeport), and am totally satisfied with it for what I do, but I also have easy access to a 3 car garage that still has room for one car. YMMV.

 

[MikeInOr]

Not an option. The house does have a inclined sidewalk that runs along the side of house to the basement door.

Hmmm... That doesn't sound very pallet truck friendly. Would you feel comfortable with removing the head on a small knee mill to lighten the weight and make it less top heavy? The Husky mill I posted the picture of is about 1100lbs, remove the head and the base isn't really hand truck movable but it is getting close.

I have found over the years that moving heavy machines is usually more about brains than brawn. Could a forklift make it from your driveway to your basement shop?

Maybe that mill will be fine for you... but my hunch is that you will be wishing for bigger pretty quickly. Like Bob said, a lot depends on what you want to do with the mill... I, like most I believe, purchased my mill before I really knew what I wanted to do with it and just went for the biggest mill I could handle. I am guessing you are in the same boat?

 

[matthewsx]

When I shut down my shop five years ago I thought I couldn't move my Gorton 1-22 into the garage where I live. Now I'm kicking myself for not figuring out a way. If you have the physical space for a full size mill I suspect you'll be happy if you go that direction.

John

 

[Firstgear]

You might consider contacting some riggers that move and position this kind of equipment. You might be surprised that they can get it into the basement relatively easy with the right equipment and experience.

The Smithy you have selected above looks capable. Just for comparison sake, you should look at Precision Matthews offering. At any rate what ever you select you will want a square column (if not a knee mill) for rigidity.

What ever you spend on the mill, realize that you will spend at least 50% more for tooling. I bought a Precision Matthews mill and lathe and after buying my tooling I have spent enough for one more whole machine. Did I need all that now? No, but I bought what I thought I would need as I didn’t want to wait for tooling to show up if I was in the middle of something.

Good luck!

 

[ThinWoodsman]

Also, you can reduce costs quite a bit by getting the mill to your driveway and then having the riggers just move it from there into the basement. You're basically paying these guys by the mile, so having them haul and position runs the cost up.

 

[Firstgear]

Also, you can reduce costs quite a bit by getting the mill to your driveway and then having the riggers just move it from there into the basement. You're basically paying these guys by the mile, so having them haul and position runs the cost up.

Remember everything is negotiable.....

 

[rakort]

Well I have a mill similar to the one pictured. My two boys and I got it down the basement (5 steps) in pieces. I paid $500 for it too boot
I love the mill. I think an important feature for this class mill is a riser block for the head which mine had luckly.



As found

 

[pstemari]

One of my requirements for purchasing a mill is that it have a knee. The semantics of what you call a machine is irrelevant to me... I wanted the functionality and rigidity afforded by a machine that has a knee.

???

A bed mill will always be more rigid than a knee mill, all other things being equal. It just comes down to geometry. Knee mills like the table in the air and balance it on a cantilever out from the column. Bed mills have the table and saddle down on the mounting surface, and can be supported easily at all ends.

The ability to reorient the head on a knee mill is useful, but reduces rigidity. I've also seen bed mills with fixed columns and tilting heads, for much the same effect.

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