Which mill on 2k budget

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Abody711

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I have a 2000-2500 budgeted for a benchtop mill. Have been looking at Jet Jmd-18 and PM 30mv. Not needing dro at this time. Can power 110v or 220v. Will used occasionally not daily. Looking for advice. I am a novice to milling. No advice to little or to much. Thanks in advance.

Allen
 
If you've got the space I'd get a used knee mill for its greater abilities. You should be able to find one that is decent in that price range. It may also come with accessories that will save you a lot of $. Seems like bench mills would run out of Z travel really quickly with a rotary table and chuck mounted or even just a vice, work piece and chucking reamer. I have a used jet 9 X 49 and have had to work around it's Z travel. Swing & slide the head out so I can clamp the work hanging down outside of the bed. I guess much depends on what you intend to make. I do some repair work so get odd parts to work on.
 
The real questions are:

What is the longest/largest surface you will machine?
What materials will you most likely be working in? (plastic, aluminum, brass, steel)
Do you have floor (or ceiling) space limitations. If it is a big knee mill, the lift-point on your crane/hoist/lift will be above the Mill to put it in place if it is a Knee Mill.

Also, beware of someone's tired old mill, which has scratched/grooved/swaybacked dovetails. If you don't know how to evaluate a Used Mill, bring a friend who can. If you have no machinist buddies in your area, consider a new mill instead.

For the tiny desktop mills, you can stay WELL under you budget. I think right now Micromark has a close-out deal on a Mill, vice, collets, endmills for less than1800 bucks (that model is too small for my goals, but that is why I asked the questions above).
 
You will get a lot more rigidity with the square column on the PM-30MV, variable speed with 2 belt speeds and a lot more Y travel. The Jet is more of a drill/mill and somewhat dated design. The PM-30MV you can change the head height and still maintain an accurate head alignment, down side is the location of the hand wheel. One of the first things I would do is build a powered Z drive. I also would consider a power X drive as you will get much better surface finish with a consistent feed rate. If you are starting out and do not want to spend time restoring an older beat up machine, I would buy new at this price range.
 
MKSJ,
I agree with your statements about function and use. However, he said he had a 2000 to 2500 budget for machine AND tooling, and the PM-30-MV tips the scales at 2400 for JUST the mill, which leaves him 100 for a vice, collets, chuck, and cutting bits (and the shipping which will set him back another 250 bucks if going to a residential address). It is a good machine, but it would blow his budget by at least 800 dollars once he has a basic tooling setup.
 
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Buying the machine is just the start heading down the rabbit hole! Figure on about half that for the tooling & accessories, of course you can add those things slowly as need & money allow.
 
addertooth said:
MKSJ,
I agree with your statements about function and use. However, he said he had a 2000 to 2500 budget for machine AND tooling, and the PM-30-MV tips the scales at 2400 for JUST the mill, which leaves him 100 for a vice, collets, chuck, and cutting bits (and the shipping which will set him back another 250 bucks if going to a residential address). It is a good machine, but it would blow his budget by at least 800 dollars once he has a basic tooling setup.
Click to expand...

Since he listed these two mills and they both list for the same price, then I assumed he is aware of the costs and I compared these two. I would pick the PM-30MV over the JMD-18, hands down. If he has an affordability issue and/or only had 120V, then I would suggest the PM-727V or PM-25MV. I recommend the PM machines over several other distributors because of the service and warranty, they also offer a lot of machine at the price level. Jet on their bench tops are old designs and overpriced, I feel there are better alternatives for mills. One needs to be cognisant of what one wants to use the mill for and the scope of the work, the most frequent mistake is purchasing a machine short of you needs, and then upgrading in 1-2 years and spending much more money.

As far as tooling, I would figure a $500 budget for a basic 5" vise, R8 collets, Keyless chuck and a few end mills and possible an inexpensive indicator for tramming. He may be able to save a bit hunting through eBay or searching Craigslist. We all start out at a budget, but we usually end up a bit north of that point.
 
MKSJ,
Too true, he did mention those models. I saw a dollar value and fixated on that. I have been heavily pricing and evaluating mills recently, and had a strong feeling for what $2500 would get you, and knew it was not a lot (new).
 
Round column mills: ThatLazyMachinist has a video on how to manage the problem of moving the Z-axis on those machines. Part of it is Plan Ahead.
Given the # of times I move the knee up & down when changing operations I would try to avoid the round column mill. But if that is all the $ available it's better than no mill. Knee mills are heavy! beyond the capacity of typical floor cranes. They can be moved in the shop on pipes & pry bars. But you need a forklift to unload them. It's back to what you are going to use it for. Power feeds are really nice but not absolutely required. Chinese accessories, tooling etc. will be what your budget allows and most will be good enough to start with. Though you can find cheaper, buying the accessories from Quality Tool at the same time you buy the mill will save of shipping and get stuff that is backed by a good seller.
 
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