# Grizzly mini-mill 8689



## Investigator (Apr 10, 2017)

Looking for opinions on the Grizzly 8689 mini-mill.  Is it worth it as a starter mill?  Pros, cons?

Found one local for about $400.  Wondering if I should push the button.


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## hman (Apr 10, 2017)

This mill is very similar to the Harbor Freight 44991 that I've happily owned and used for a number of years now.  The only negative (and the reason I originally bought from Harbor Freight rather than Grizzly) is that Grizzly's spindle taper is MT3.  The HF uses the much more standard and universal R8.

I don't know how tightly MT3 holds mills, or how easy/difficult it is to tighten and loosen.  

Be sure to check what kind of tooling, fixtures, etc. come with the mill.  As is always the case, tooling can end up costing as much as or more as the mill itself.  Little Machine Shop sells lots of goodies and retrofits for this mill.


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## master of none (Apr 10, 2017)

I have the Grizzly G8689 and it is my starter mill and I'm happy with it as far as starter mills go and there all about the same except for the spindle some are R8 and some are morris taper like mine which hasn't been a problem,holds good and tight . the mini mill is just that a mill that is mini works more or less like the big ones but you have to go very slow and very shallow,it just takes longer to mill something, but I've learned a lot and it's a very good starter machine to learn about mills and milling.


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