Busy bee craftex B048... Worth it?

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Giorgio

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I've been looking for a decent hobby mill for some time and most of he time is too big, too small or too pricey or sold within a day or two.

Can any one shed an opinion or two on the value of a Craftex B048 please? One just became available in my neighborhood for $1900 with some tooling.

Thanks
 
It is a really nice mill, getting the really nice benefit of having a Knee --- but (theres that but) there are two drawbacks that you should be aware of.

It is generally referred to as the "6x26" mill (Chinese cloned a Clausing mill) The 6 in the description is the 6" Y axis travel and it is not very much and can become an aggravation. The max distance from spindle to table is 15" - put a 3-4" vise on the table, then a tool and holder in the spindle and theres little room left...

I had one and loved it for about 2 yrs, but as soon as was able I moved on to a Bridgeport type mill.

As Gerrity pointed out HF sells it, so does Grizz and Wholesale Tool. Do so searching under the mentioned "6x26"
 
Thanks pacer,

Are we talking about this machine, note the 8" travel, power feed, 20" table to spindle?

SpecificationDescription
TABLE SIZE8" x 30"
TABLE TRAVEL8" x 16"
SPINDLE TAPERR8
SPINDLE TRAVEL3-1/2"
SPINDLE SPEEDS200-3000 RPM
SPINDLE TO COLUMN7-1/2"
SPINDLE TO TABLE0"-20"
MOTOR1-1/2 HP
ELECTRICS220V
APPROX. WEIGHT1190 LBS

Equipped With:

STAND
CHIP TRAY
LAMP
COOLANT SYSTEM
LUBRICATION SYSTEM
POWER FEED




​
 
That mill has been imported under many different names; Enco, Grizzly, Craftex, HF, and a list of others. I have a 1978 version under name of Hong Da; another recent thread on that brand. I can see a few limitations, but I think it wall serve my needs well for some time. I got the mill, a 4" vise. an 8" tilting Palmgren rotary table, and large box of end mills etc for $1000
 
Those specs sound a lot more like an 8 x 30 than the Wholesale Tools, Grizzly, and Harbor Freight 6 x 26 machines - more like the $4000 Grizzly G0731. They all do look alike unless you see them side by side like I did at the Grizzly showroom. The 8 x 30 machines are a quite a bit more machine than the 6 x 26 machines. I'd love to have one myself. If it is in your price range and not a piece of junk, the price sounds reasonable to me. I'd go for it. What kind of tooling comes with it?
 
The B048 is an 8x30; to borrow from one google return: "...Specification, Description. TABLE SIZE, 8" x 30". TABLE TRAVEL, 8" x 16". SPINDLE TAPER, R8. SPINDLE TRAVEL, 3-1/2". SPINDLE SPEEDS, 200-3000 RPM...." (caps were in original, dont blame me)

Most, other than the HF version do push the $4K amount. If the seller will bargain a bit and there is any tooling, the OP should have a good deal
 
Thanks guys for you insights...


Looks like the seller won't be bargaining as response to the ad has been high and swift. I just showed up first. I haven't paid yet but she just called and agreed to sell to me. Also, they wanted to make sure they weren't selling it for to low a price given the large response to the advert and they don't know what the thing is or does.


Husband passed away and wife is selling the mill that has had somewhere between 10 and 30 hours hobby work done on it. It is in mint shape with the usual tooling like vise, rotary table, end mills, fly cutter, clamps and a box or two of stuff I have yet to see. Much of the stuff is still in wrappers and new, not like new, but new.


It's on wheels on the ground floor of a warehouse and should easily transport and wheel into my garage/shop.


I am a tad tired of looking and it's more machine than I am machinist, so I think I'll go back and pay her and move on to making swarf.




Will up load pics soon.... Thanks again... Don't know how'd I'd get thru some of this without you all
 
Congratulations, machines that size don't come up for sale very often here in Canada so I think you did well. Especially since it has a bunch of accessories! I tried for months to find a used mill around that size and finally bought a new one from Matt at Quality Machine Tools. I have no doubt your going to love it.

John
 
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