Buying A Mill Need Some Help

I had made an index attachment for my 25-size. That's about all I have left of it. I haven't modified it yet to fit the new one. I might not, at least for a year or two. As I said, the quill has a lot more travel, So I might be able to stay ahead of tooling swaps.
 
Hello Jeff,

I was in your shoes, concerning buying a mill about 6 years ago. I looked at new machines at first, then started looking at used mills. I almost bought one of those mill/drills.

I then put an ad on KIJIJI that I was looking for a mill and received a few responses. I ended up buying this mill out of Pugwash, Nova Scotia...

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When I first laid eyes on it, I was thinking that this mill is way too much mill for me... :eek: I almost backed out of buying it, but the seller said that if I were to buy this mill, I'd never be looking to upgrade down the road. He was right. This mill has a 12"x 50" table with power feeds and rapids on all 3 axes, as well as an R-8 head spindle with power feeds, and a 50 taper horizontal spindle. Now, mind you, it cost me $2500.00 plus $300.00 to ship it to home.

Maybe you don't have the room for as large a mill, but I would hold out for a stouter used mill, if I were you.

Brian :)

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Brain that is a very nice mill . I don't have that space for a full size mill but I want something a little bigger then the mini mills witch is why the one linked to interested me plus I can get a very good deal on it from my bothers work . But after reading the comments I'm not sure what to buy . I am glad I ask now before I bought it .

Jeff
 
lt500r said:
Brain that is a very nice mill . I don't have that space for a full size mill but I want something a little bigger then the mini mills witch is why the one linked to interested me plus I can get a very good deal on it from my bothers work . But after reading the comments I'm not sure what to buy . I am glad I ask now before I bought it .

Jeff
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Have you checked out this mill?

http://precisionmatthews.com/PM45Mbenchmill.html
 
I also advocate getting a square column mill. Yes you can work around the round column issues but why not start off without all those hassles, It will make the journey more enjoyable. Said by someone who used to mill on a drill press.
 
Brian, that's one serious hobby mill. Major tool envy.

Jeff, the guys are right about some of the equipment you can find used. My Victoria U2 can take a big bite out of a chunk of steel. I paid $500 for it, plus another $500 to haul it home and another $500 for a single-phase, 3 HP motor.
 
I have an old round column Grizzly mill -drill. It's around 20 years old now and still going strong. The round column is a bit of a nuisance , mostly because it won't take heavy cuts - anything over .035 is a heavy cut on this mill- without often digging the cutter into the work and swiveling the head around , ruining the setup and sometimes the part. I've found this is a more prevalent problem than needing to raise or lower the head, ruining tram. But overall they are a good learning machine.

I think Grizzly dropped the round mill design a few years ago in favor of a square column.

The other issue with larger mills, is many need 220-240 volts, either single phase or three phase. So assess what your existing shop electric service is currently, and watch for a mill that fits within your power supply.
 
Hi Jeff,

There are lots of other mills out there with a much smaller footprint than mine, yet are stout as tanks. There is a fellow near Fredericton, New Brunswick that has an Abene mill, which has both horizontal and vertical spindles in a very compact package.

The only thing about trying to find a smaller used mill is time. Once I had decided to buy a mill, I wanted it like yesterday... :)

Brian
 
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thanks everyone for the input . I think I will hold off buying anything for a little and see if I can find something used .

thanks again for the help . jeff
 
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