Need some thoughts on Grizzly G9902 Mill

[Earlkonig]

Hey guys,
Hopefully in this coming March I will be purchasing a nice mill, lathe or both. My experience when it comes to machine tools is a crappy harbor freight drill press. Some future things I want to do are gunsmithing and knife making. These are not the reasons for me to buy these machines. I am looking for a new hobby/skill set. I really enjoy the challenge of figuring things out and seeing the end result as a quality finished product. The companies that I have grown to like are Grizzly and Precision Matthews at this time. Just from my phone conversations with both companies, both took the time to answer my questions. To these guys the things I was asking were elementary and both companies bestowed upon me the impression that they would have talked to me for hours if needed. Now for the mill in question. I have not seen this machine, but it seems to be a bridgeport clone. I searched google and really have not turned up anyone who has had a first hand impression with the machine. For this price range would this be a good purchase or would the money be spent better else where? Again, at this time I am just trying to gather up more facts and data to make a better decision come this March. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[xalky]

I really like the Precision Mathews line of machines. I don't have any first hand experience with either companies machines, but there are plenty of people here that will be glad to answer your questions. I like what I've read on the PM machines. Post up a thread about a PM mill. Someone on this forum just bought one recently.

I do have some experience with mills in general. Some things to consider to make using your machine a pleasure:

Get a variable speed mill if you can afford it. With a belt speed change mill, You'll find yourself making a lot of compromises on speed, and maybe you won't make any speed changes at all, because it's inconvenient to change the belt around. I like being able to change the speed on the fly at the turn of a dial. Ideally each different cutting tool requires a different speed. This decision has to be made before you buy the mill. All the other things like DRO and power feed can be added later as finances provide.

Marcel