# Craigslist score $200 3 in 1 combination mill/lathe/drill



## Ulma Doctor

I was trolling on CL the other day looking for stuff,
fortunately, i came across a 3 in 1 combination mill/drill/lathe for sale. the add said first $200 gets it.
from the picture it looked a little dirty but otherwise complete, less the steady rest.
I emailed him my number, but he didn't post a number to reach him.
About 3 or 4 hours later he gave me a call and said he still had it, and i could come and take a peep at her.
i bolted out the door and made the hour trip to get it.
Upon arrival the previous owner was a real nice guy,
He claimed he hasn't used the mill/drill part since it was new, rather only used the lathe chuck mostly and the tailstock for a few drilling operations. it appeared lightly oxidized on the toolholder and surprisingly enough the ways and dovetails are clean on first inspection.
he fired the unit up and operated all the functions of the lathe, it sounded PDG for $200, so we struck the deal and loaded er' up.
it has a lot of gravity to it for an import mill at somewhere around 350#lbs or so.
 i could only guess it to be an 80's creation but i could be wrong about that. the name plate is missing but after a little research i saw a couple that were very similar, the central machinery LH007 
I just started to wipe her down and clean the crud off of her. the fun just begins...

May i introduce you all to Katie, my first 3 in 1 machine!
thanks for reading, feel free to post experiences or thoughts!!


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## chuckorlando

Cant beat 200 bucks. Nice buy


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## Dave Smith

a very good find--I would have bought it without even seeing it at that price---looks good---Dave


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## Sharky

I'll add the obligatory "You suck"   nice find, I have dibbs on the next one...


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## Smudgemo

Funny there is that much oxidation.  Even here where I can see the bay/ocean from my window nothing rusts even during winter unless it actually gets wet, and even then it doesn't do much once it dries.  I bet it cleans up easily and looks way better underneath.  Evaporust is great stuff should you need a bit more than a polish.  Good score!
-Ryan


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## Uglydog

That's a sweet machine!
And a good price.

Daryl
MN

View attachment 70887


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## chuckorlando

Shoot steel rust starts rusting here just as soon as you think about removing the paint. I have to keep camphor in my school box to keep my projects from rusting over night


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## mattthemuppet2

nice find, that's a great price. Unless you have a mill already, I've seen a few people take the heads off these 3in1 machines and mount them to a column and table from a mini or bench mill. I think you can even buy most of the stuff needed new from Little Machine Shop. That way you get 2 machines for only a little bit more


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## LEEQ

Neat find Mike! If I had one of those I could cross drill and mill key slots without taking the part out of the lathe, right? Too cool. Can it be set up for indexing? I always wanted to play with one. Let us Know as you go. I know you'll clean her up nice.


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## CNC Dude

I have never thought of buying one of those 3 in one, but for $200, I can assure you I will not think it either; I am just going to get it! Congratulations on your treasure find! Ahhh! Those are the cool days...

BTW, I was going to stay away from the CL, but now you just made me look ;-)


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## n3480h

Ha! Don't really need one, but I'd sure as heck have bought that right away!  Nice find.  Post again after she's cleaned up - so we can really get the drool flowing properly.

Tom


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## Ulma Doctor

i just by accident found another piece of information.

I was wrong about about the model number for the combo mill.
as a point of clarification it is a Central Machinery LH009
the LH007 didn't have the quick change gearbox and power feed.


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## Ulma Doctor

My $200 find already paid for itself :biggrin: 

i was able to use her yesterday to machine some aluminum bearing retainers.
 i needed to modify  the retainers to accept a readily available box seal.
the factory seal is very expensive and slow to get.
 so with a little planning and a little skill i was able to pull off another modification for profit and make future repairs easier.


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## Steve M

Congratulations on a great buy!

I have one with the Enco label that is 14 yrs old.  From what I have seen of their designs, yours predates that as the switches, back panel, and control levers resemble an earlier one I saw.  Mine proved to be a good starting point for me to go from wood to metal turning and to play a little with milling.  It is a step up from the 7x machines with decent capacity and power for a small lathe.  The issues I ran into were that adding a QCTP was a little bit of an exercise, as were lack of readily obtainable accessories such as a four jaw chuck and face plate, and rests.  The QCTP needs a 1" riser and longer through bolt to work because the spindle is an inch higher above the bed than the typical small lathe.  I wound up using a 1-2-3 block and making the bolt from a hold down bolt and Tee-nut.   I did manage to find the additional chucks and steady/moving rests from Smithy but they aren't cheap.  I would have nearly as much in the upgrade as I would in simply buying a dedicated lathe.

The mill function was another story.  The problem with these machines is that the milling quill is too high above the combo cross slide/milling vise so you need to get a riser and a better quality milling vise for it as well.  Makes it a bit tedious switching between the mill and lathe function.  I also found the mill setup itself to lack rigidity.  But if you are limited in space and your expectations aren't great, it certainly can be used to good purpose.  

In the end I decided I had outgrown the 3-in-1 and got a 12x36 lathe and a dedicated Jet benchtop mill.  I'll be selling the Enco 3 in 1 but I will miss it's lathe function.  Once I got used to it I realized there was a lot to like about it.

Have fun with yours.

Steve in Central TX


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