# Purchase advice.  8x36 Enco mill for $2300.



## MikeInOr (Apr 3, 2019)

I found an Enco 8x36 mill for $2600.  I talked to the seller and he is willing to come down to $2300.  Original owner, circa 1994, great shape, comes with power X feed,  Chinese vice and a few R8 collets. etc.  Here are the pics... what do you guys think?










My gut feeling is it is a good deal... and a good size for my shop.  I don't have room for a full size mill.

Enco 100-1525  = Grizzly G6760 = Jet JVM-836.  Parts are said to be interchangeable.


Here are the Jet 836 specs... the Enco "Might" be 10 speed but might be 5 speed.  Enco weight is reported to be 1600lbs - 1800lbs.

*Specifications*


Style (Type) Step Pulley R8
Powerfeed X-Axis
Spindle Taper (In. x TPI) R-8
Table Size (L x W) (In.) 7-7/8 x 35-3/4
Quill Diameter (In.) 3-3/8
Number of Spindle Speeds 5
Range of Spindle Speeds (RPM) 240 - 1,550
Quill Down Feed Rates (IPR) .0015 - .003 - .006
Spindle Travel (In.) 5
Head Movement (Deg.) 90 R & L
Max Distance Spindle to Table (In.) 13-3/4
Distance Spindle to Column (Max.) (In.) 15-3/4
 

Distance Spindle to Column (Min.) (In.) 5-1/4
Collet Capacity 1/8 - 7/8
Table Longitudinal Travel (In.) 22-1/4
Table Longitudinal Travel With Powerfeed (In.) 18
Table Cross Travel (In.) 9-1/2
T-Slots Number and Size (In.) 3 and 5/8
T-Slot Centers (In.) 2-1/2
Work Table Weight Capacity (Lbs.) 500
Travel of Knee (In.) 14
Travel of Ram (In.) 10-1/2
Motor (HP) 1-1/2 HP, 115/230V, 1Ph
Overall Dimensions (L x W x H) (In.) 55 x 52 x 78
Weight (Lbs.) 1,617


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## FOMOGO (Apr 3, 2019)

Appears to have been well maintained. Don't know if it's a screaming deal, but I'd say it's fairly priced, and it meets your needs. The specs below are for a 9x42. Let us know if you get it.  Mike


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## MikeInOr (Apr 3, 2019)

FOMOGO said:


> Appears to have been well maintained. Don't know if it's a screaming deal, but I'd say it's fairly priced, and it meets your needs. The specs below are for a 9x42. Let us know if you get it.  Mike



Thank you.  I replaced the specs with the correct specs... I believe.

Seller says it has always been in his hobby shop.


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## ThinWoodsman (Apr 3, 2019)

Great shape for that price in OR? Yeah, probably should jump on that. Is that a mister on the right side of the table above the power feed?


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## MikeInOr (Apr 3, 2019)

ThinWoodsman said:


> Great shape for that price in OR? Yeah, probably should jump on that. Is that a mister on the right side of the table above the power feed?



NO!!! IT IS DEFINITELY NOT IN OR!!!!  MILLING MACHINES HAVE BEEN OUTLAWED IN OREGON BECAUSE YOU CAN USE THEM TO MAKE ILLEGAL GUNS!!!!  IT IS NOT IN OREGON!!!   I Live in Orlando!

Seller says it has 1 shot lube and "Coolant pump in base works".  So maybe a mister... I have only ever used a good old pump can.


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## bob308 (Apr 3, 2019)

it is a real mill. not a mill drill or clapped out Bridgeport. if it fits your shop what is the holdup? me it would be on my trailer right now.


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## ThinWoodsman (Apr 3, 2019)

MikeInOr said:


> MILLING MACHINES HAVE BEEN OUTLAWED IN OREGON BECAUSE YOU CAN USE THEM TO MAKE ILLEGAL GUNS!!!!  IT IS NOT IN OREGON!!!



Heh, I have been hearing the same thing from my west coast friends. "First they're gonna come for your guns, then they're gonna come for your machinery!"

I forget where I came across the comment, something like "A trained US soldier is a deadly weapon. An Afghani with a file is a gunsmith." So, you know, I have a large collection of files


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## MikeInOr (Apr 3, 2019)

bob308 said:


> it is a real mill. not a mill drill or clapped out Bridgeport. if it fits your shop what is the holdup? me it would be on my trailer right now.



I have scheduled to check out the Mill and buy it tomorrow evening.  I just want to make sure I am not missing something or off my rocker?

So many of the Mills I have seen have been ridden pretty rough... this one seems in great shape for the price.  Like you said it is a real Mill... people are asking over $1000 for a used mill/drill.  The power x feed is a nice bonus for the price.


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## Janderso (Apr 3, 2019)

Why are we still talking? Load it up before it goes to someone else!
You live in Redmond man. Not the North East.


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## Bob Korves (Apr 4, 2019)

What is with the left side table crank handle sitting on the table?  Is that a byproduct of installing the power feed?  Looks like only a short stub sticking out at the left end.  I have a Millrite, which is about the same size machine, and was able to install a Servo X axis power feed while still keeping working cranks at both ends of the table.  I insist on crank handles on both ends of the table on any mill.  Caveat Emptor...

Other than that, it looks pretty good.  Make sure everything works properly, run it at all speeds, cut something, use every control to the ends of the travel.


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## hman (Apr 4, 2019)

OK, no way to tell from the photos if the ways are worn or not.  But the appearance of the mill says a lot.  No grease smears or oil puddles, no piles of swarf all over it, no junk piled on the table, very few areas of chipped paint (repainted?  If so, not too recently).  The rest of the shop looks pretty good, too.  It appears the owner took some pride in it ... so he probably took good care of it.


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## ThinWoodsman (Apr 4, 2019)

Bob Korves said:


> What is with the left side table crank handle sitting on the table?  Is that a byproduct of installing the power feed?  Looks like only a short stub sticking out at the left end.



That's not too unusual. Probably took all the table and knee handles off to move the thing into a more accessible (/loadable) position, then reattached only the ones necessary to demonstrate functionality. The second X handle is pretty much the only redundant one.


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## MikeInOr (Apr 4, 2019)

hman said:


> OK, no way to tell from the photos if the ways are worn or not.  But the appearance of the mill says a lot.  No grease smears or oil puddles, no piles of swarf all over it, no junk piled on the table, very few areas of chipped paint (repainted?  If so, not too recently).  The rest of the shop looks pretty good, too.  It appears the owner took some pride in it ... so he probably took good care of it.



I did ask about a repaint... because of its clean appearance.  The owner said it is still wearing its original paint. 

I am going over there, cash in hand, this evening.  I will post the outcome... but I am pretty sold on the Mill.  I don't have near the machining experience to coax good results out of a sloppy mill... I have tried!

I also posted on the Practical site (I like the members here much better!) and the relevant comments I received were:  No power down feed.  No Back gear.  (Back gear is an underdrive gear,  correct????).  Both seem relevant.


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## ThinWoodsman (Apr 4, 2019)

Power downfeed is basically only used for boring, so depends how much of that you'd be doing on the mill.
I use the backgear a lot as it generally has more torque, but strictly speaking it's mostly for working on hard metals.


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## pontiac428 (Apr 4, 2019)

MikeInOr said:


> I did ask about a repaint... because of its clean appearance.  The owner said it is still wearing its original paint.



The Enco tools that I've  owned or used in that shade of color came from the early 1990's and have said Taiwan on their data plates.  It is good equipment, and came from a time when Asia imports were a little better than some of the China machine tools we commonly find now.  If that mill came up local to me, I'd be racing you for it!


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## westerner (Apr 4, 2019)

If that machine came up at that price in MY area, it would not last a week. Quite possibly less. A Taiwanese knee mill from a HOBBY shop? With power feed in ANY axis? Any tooling AT ALL? Around here, the bidding would START at $3500. 
Perhaps I exaggerate, but I doubt it. Buy the thing, already.


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## MikeInOr (Apr 4, 2019)

I just made it home with the mill.  It is a 10 speed with a better speed range than I posted above... but with a split 3ph motor.  I will be using a VFD.  It will be fine for my uses.  From my limited experience the ways look to be in great shape.  Everything in nice and tight.  I am quite pleased!  The unloading will commence tomorrow.  I will post more tomorrow.


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## Radials (Apr 5, 2019)

Nice, congratulations on the new mill. I figured it wouldn't last long.


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## pontiac428 (Apr 5, 2019)

Excellent decision! Solid machine.

(from mobile)


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## mmcmdl (Apr 5, 2019)

I run a full size Enco in here at work . It's a nice machine . Not my Lagun , but it has a nice speed range and is pretty rigid . Think you got a nice mill for a great price .


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## Buffalo21 (Apr 5, 2019)

I don’t own the Enco version, but I do own a Jet JVM 836, to me a perfect size for the home shop. Mine has a 4” riser block that Grizzly sold for the G6760.


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## e189552 (Apr 5, 2019)

I have recently acquired that exact mill.
Cons:
Table size is a little small.
X axis is a bit short.
Lowest RPM = 250

Pros:
Seems to be accurate
Rigid

Just to note - the spindle does have a power down feed.
The black handwheel/knob on left side of head provides a friction drive for quill downfeed. Just tighten and quill will feed. No federate choice.

Just a gloat in passing, I only paid $350 for mine.
Of course there was a 1,000 mile trip to pick it up.........


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## Buffalo21 (Apr 5, 2019)

I built a lay shaft “transmission” for my mill, mine is 230v single phase with 25 speeds fro 85 rpm to 1750 rpm.


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## MikeInOr (Apr 5, 2019)

I appreciate all the feedback from you guys!

The power switch on the mill has 5 positions.  Fast reverse, reverse, off, forwards and fast forwards.  The motor is a 3ph split phase motor so the motor can be run at 1750 rpm for the "Normal" speeds or 3400 rpm for the "Fast" speeds.  I know this isn't as good as a backgear where the torque is doubled when run on the slow setting but the split phase motor does put out "some" more torque on low speed than high speed.  The speed range listed on the mill are 125 rpm to 3400 rpm which should be fine for anything I need to do.

I am not too sure how I am going to wire in a VFD.  Typically you are not supposed to cut the power between the VFD and the motor... this is hard on the VFD.  But if I wire the VFD in after the switch I will loose the split phase capability of the motor.  Hmmm.... I will have to do some thinking on this one.  Maybe go from the VFD to a Hi/Lo multi contact switch then to the motor.  I would just have to remember to stop the VFD before switching from Hi to Low.  I would just use the VFD for reversing in this configuration.

I will investigate the power downfeed.  That would be really nice to have for the occasional boring operation.  ...and E189552, $350 is just a "you suck" price!  

I have been looking at the rise blocks... that Grizzly no longer sells.  I think there was a 4" and an 9" version?  I am sure I will want to look into acquiring one if I ever get a rotary table.

As Radials will attest... we got a pretty good rain last night.  I dried the mill of the best I could and covered it with a tarp.   I can't wait to get off work and start unloading it!  Rearranging the entire shop will be part of the unloading... I have a long weekend ahead of me!  I will try to post some pictures this evening.

Oh, the mill has a flood coolant system on it... that the previous owner said he didn't care for much.



Buffalo21 said:


> I built a lay shaft “transmission” for my mill, mine is 230v single phase with 25 speeds fro 85 rpm to 1750 rpm.



I saw your post on your transmission when I was researching the mill... very cool!


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## MikeInOr (Apr 7, 2019)

Still cleaning up the shop and need to move stuff around to make room for the new mill.  The closest pallet jack rental was $30 an hour and it is an hour away.    I finally gave up and bought a pallet jack from Harbor Freight for $199.  The pain in the rear is going to be figuring out where to put it when I am done rearranging everything.  It certainly made things easier to move around though!  I built a stand for my lathe that raises it 4" off the floor so I can get the pallet jack underneath it... I actually like the height better.... I am 6'3".

I built my gantry 8' tall... big mistake!  It either needs to be 10' or 12' tall.  I think I am going to make it 10'.


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## mmcmdl (Apr 7, 2019)

MikeInOr said:


> Rearranging the entire shop will be part of the unloading... I have a long weekend ahead of me!



You're gonna have more than a long weekend !  That's a life long chore for me . 

Congrats on getting that Enco .


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