Lathe paid off now searching for a mill

Dan has a good idea, if you are in the market for a used machine may want to go around to area machine shops and ask if they have any machines in the corner for sale.

CNC's may have made them unwanted. Just a thought.

David
 
I've actually had a fellow looking for me. He's a tool salesman to all the plants, machine shops and industry here locally. I've missed out on a few before I was in the position to be serious. So far the few he's come up with needed work and I'd just as soon not have to go that route.

Thanks Dan for all the PM leads!
 
Be patient and your diligence will pay dividends in spades. I waited for a good long while for my situation to improve and for a Mill to become possible and when it was finally on the horizon, a good friend found me a cherry machine. I was even looking at the new Precision Mathews because I didn't want to get involved in a restoration project or waste a bunch of time trying to save a machine that was destined for the scrap heap either. Bill found me a really sweet machine and has been a real sweet heart and done a bunch of work to it to insure that it will meet my standards nicely. So two thumbs up to Bill Gruby for being a stand up guy and helping other members of the forum. While you are looking keep an eye on the local pick up only Ebay ads because freight is such a hassle on big iron that most folks are willing to accept way less for a machine if someone will just come and get the darn thing. Another good source of machinery is the local auctioneer. My wife works for one and he runs into the weirdest stuff in his travels around the area. You would ne surprised at the number of large metal shops in garages and small buildings in any given area. So a connection to an auctioneer would be a great relationship to cultivate if you have the opportunity too. The local Bankruptcy liquidator is also a good place to look for deals on a good used machine too. Unfortunately it will require you to go and look and make the decision of the quality and merit of the machine, but it should give you more than enough opportunities to see a good bit of equipment and tooling too. Remember to think outside the box and your patience will pay off well.

Bob
 
If you are interested in them the rf45 clones are real nice. I'm loving my G0755, $2345 delivered. Would leave some room in your budget for tooling too. The PM932 looks good as well and is available with power down feed for the boring you mentioned. Jumps4 did an incredible job on his cnc zx45 so that's a thought for part of your budget and would handle boring, surfacing and most other tasks. I know they're half the weight of a small BP but with a little tuning they can handle a lot.

Dave
 
I got my Bridgeport from Carroll Machine in Houston. May still be listed in Katy but he's moved to NW Houston. Not the cheapest I saw but it was CLEAN and tight.
 
Still hot-N-heavy on my mill search and want to run this unit by the members. I'm looking at this unit on Fleecebay. Comes with a vice and some tooling.

Opinions?

Thanks much,

Dale
 
 
drs23 said:
Still hot-N-heavy on my mill search and want to run this unit by the members. I'm looking at this unit on Fleecebay. Comes with a vice and some tooling.

Opinions?

Thanks much,

Dale
Click to expand...

You can do a LOT better than that for that kind of coin.
I hope you won't mind if I come back with some of my suggestions.
 
Senna said:
You can do a LOT better than that for that kind of coin.
I hope you won't mind if I come back with some of my suggestions.
Click to expand...

Eagerly.

I feel like I'm getting impatient but then I think not really. Fact is, I don't really know what I'm doing and I DON'T wanna buy something sight unseen without someone who knows what they're doing look at it first. I realize that's a severely limiting factor. I know I can get a refund if it's not "as advertised" but there's no reimbursement on shipping (both ways). I've talked to the guys at HGR(?) and it's "as is/where is". They don't even know if the machines run, let alone if they will do what I'm paying good money for them to do. I don't have the expertise to make a rotten apple nice, shiney and red again.

I guess I just really knew more than I do. I guess then this undertaking wouldn't be so intimidating.

All that said, I'm open to anything you forward Ken. I trust your judgement and feedback. Thank you so much for the time you've afforded me already.

Thanks again,

Dale
 
drs23 said:
Still hot-N-heavy on my mill search and want to run this unit by the members. I'm looking at this unit on Fleecebay. Comes with a vice and some tooling.

Opinions?

Thanks much,

Dale
Click to expand...
First off, I'd spend a few more bucks and get something newer. The shipping on that thing is gonna kill ya. With a $5000 budget, you should be able to get something that you'll be very happy with, with tooling. It's worth a 2-3 hour drive to go look at in person if you see something with lots of promise. Bring your truck and some cash , when it pops up on the radar.

- - - Updated - - -

Of the bunch that chuck posted, I like these 3

http://houston.craigslist.org/tls/4280713080.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/tls/4300434405.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/tls/4292602875.html
 
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