Choosing a new mill

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bom2000

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Going to pull the trigger on a new mill. I have done all the research across many machining sites and have agree a knee mill made in Taiwan is better, and bigger work volume is also better. It has boiled down to a Grizzly G0731 (8 x 30 w power feed @ $3995) or G0678 (8x 30 variable speed @ $3679). My problem is that I told my wife that would cost less than $4K. Shipping and basic tooling will be an additional $500, so I’m really screwed on the budget. The variable speed seems to be the way to go with adding a power feed later. This is based on the fact that I have two drill presses that I have changed speeds less than 50 times in 30 years.

My question to the experienced is: What is more important, ease of changing speeds or the finish that a power feed yields?

Are there better options out there?
 
You are correct: variable now and power feed later (even better scrimp for a while and get the job done right to begin with). I am with you about the drill press - I have a couple of the basic step pulley drill presses and I hardly ever change the belts (stays on the slowest spindle speed). I have a knee mill with a Reeves drive and I often crank the speed change handle.

The knee mill (a Cincinnati Toolmaster) has power feed on the table - if I had to give up one of the features (power feed or VS spindle) it would be the power feed. Of course I would immediately start figuring out a way to have all the features - just saying that the easy speed change is a very nice feature on a milling machine.

Let us know what you finally decide. David
 
You will change the rpm on the mill much more than the drill press, so I too would go with the variable speed mill. Power feed is nice, but unless you are doing some longer-ish parts it is not totally necessary.
 
Once I moved away from a benchtop mill my first knee mill was a Millrite with 30" of X travel and 15" of Y. That mill ran circles around any of the Taiwan downsized knee mills I had tried.
Being a 3 phase machine, running it off of a VFD provided me with the variable speed I wanted to have. It was a simple matter to add power to the X and Y and all said and done it came in at less than $3,000.
My suggestion is to look for some old 3 phase iron that is in good shape. I don't know your location or I would have looked a bit for ya.
If you have the space, go for a Bridgeport. Lots of them out there for less than $4,000.
 
I completely agree with Johnathans (well not the BP part, but certainly vintage...).
Regardless, some people really like having a new machine.

I'm especially excited that the old iron HM and the new machine HM can get along and work together to problem solve, learn stuff and have a good time!
bom2000, you appear to be new here at HM.
Welcome.
We hope to see you back and increasingly active!!!

Daryl
MN
 
Jonathans said:
Once I moved away from a benchtop mill my first knee mill was a Millrite with 30" of X travel and 15" of Y. That mill ran circles around any of the Taiwan downsized knee mills I had tried.
Being a 3 phase machine, running it off of a VFD provided me with the variable speed I wanted to have. It was a simple matter to add power to the X and Y and all said and done it came in at less than $3,000.
My suggestion is to look for some old 3 phase iron that is in good shape. I don't know your location or I would have looked a bit for ya.
If you have the space, go for a Bridgeport. Lots of them out there for less than $4,000.
Click to expand...

"in good shape" is a major qualifier to your statement, as is availability. In Wyoming, there likely isn't a large used machine market. Kinda like my area too.

OP: Welcome to the HM forums! :)
 
As a recent first-time mill buyer, I was in the same boat. conflicting requirements and many options and choices in the new offshore mill. Old iron was not so available, locally. I was about to pull the trigger on one when a Cincinnati 1B showed up on craigslist. I jumped on it even though it broke all of my self-imposed size and weight restrictions.
As far as which of your two specific ones is best for you, I can't say. But I will suggest, being there right now, that your $500 for initial tooling (never mind shipping) is a tad.... optimistic. Mine came with a vise and collets and an assortment of cutting tools.... and I've still spent more than that in the last two weeks ebay'ing used and Chinese starter bits.
 
I have a Grizzly G1008 which looks the same as the G0731.

Changing speeds on my G1008 is a pain since insufficient slack in the belt with the motor all the way in, so a hassle to get the belt off.

A bigger issue is that the G1008 and G0731 have a gap in the available speed range, no speeds between 490 and 950 rpm which is a range I like to use.

The specs for the G0731 state "270, 420, 490, 950, 1110, 1410, 1720, 2050 and 3200 RPM" which is the same as my G1008.

I would go with the variable speed model and add power feed later.

My G1008 has power feed on the X axis. I have not used this often, but it is really nice to have an easy speed change and a range with no gaps in the RPM.
 
New mill turned up at work 2 weeks ago, it should be running in another week or so and will never look like this again afterwards, so I took a picture.
Trac FHM 7

 
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