1/4 of the way to a mill

Congrats David. Nothing wrong with a mill/drill. I had briefly thought about buying a mini mill but knew that I would quickly out grow one like I did with my 8x mini lathe. So I waited and got me a mill/drill. Although I'd love to have a knee mill someday I don't have the room for one in my home garage. My mill/drill has done everything I have needed it to & it's a China machine. I still have no regrets in my purchase.
 
Thanks @darkzero what machine do you have?


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I have a PM45-PDF. RF-45 clone with power down feed. It's no longer offered by Precision Matthews, it was the predecssor to the PM-932. Basically the same machine as the PM-932 except the PM-45 did not come with a powered head (z axis) & the PM-45 came with a flood coolant system. The last of the PM-45s came stock with a quill DRO. Mine did not but that's ok as I wanted to add my own anyway.
 
Thanks! I'm leaning toward the KC-20VS because most of what I've read is that round column mill/drills can be a real pain to maintain head alignment. I do know some have rectified this with mods but I haven's seen what's involved.
 
Yep the RF-30/31s have alignment issues when moving the head but as you said there's remedies for that. But even without them if you plan your operations out before hand you can avoid moving the head. Plenty of guys have the RF-31 & have done great work with them. On the flashlight forum I came from there was an experienced machinist by trade & he had a RF-31 which totally surprised me, I expected him to have a BP.

They are more rigid IMO than the BF-30s. At the time QMT only had the BF & RF-45 style mill/drills so I saved up for the RF-45. But nothing wrong with the BFs, I just figured to go with the biggest/heaviest mill/drill that I could as I knew I would be keeping it for a while. I may have gone with the PM-935 but they did not exist at the time, only full size knee mills, well QMT was not offering them yet.

Either one will be good choices & you'll have loads of fun wiith them, can't say the same for your wallet though. You just may have to put Mike, Dave, myself, & the other usual suspects on ignore. :D
 
You need a Bridgeport... :)

Do what you can do though. Maybe while you are saving something nice will come up used near you. That's how I wound up with mine. Never know.
 
DavidR8 said:
Thanks! I'm leaning toward the KC-20VS because most of what I've read is that round column mill/drills can be a real pain to maintain head alignment.
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darkzero said:
Yep the RF-30/31s have alignment issues when moving the head but as you said there's remedies for that. But even without them if you plan your operations out before hand you can avoid moving the head...
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On the other hand, the ability to swing the head can be an advantage as you can put it over any part of the table and still have full travel. I typically have the vise on the left side of the table, and the right side is free for another setup. I couldn't do that with just the X axis travel.
 
I know the general wisdom is stay away from round column mills, and I followed that for myself holding out for a small knee mill.

In their favor the RF-31 and clones can often be found cheap ($1000 or less). I was surprised at how large they actually are the first time I saw one in person.

They may have their issues but those are more ease of use than capability. On a budget, and / or limited space I can see their appeal. They are a lot more mill for the money than most of the mini-mills. They actually have a slightly larger work envelope than my Clausing, more HP and almost as heavy.
 
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