Drill Press versus Mini-Mill

[jwmay]

For drilling and tapping large holes, Nothing will outperform a good drill press. And a morse taper DP is fast for changing bits.

@Ultradog MN I think you ought to expand on your personal definition of “good drill press”. Not everyone knows you well enough to know you ain’t talking about a 13” Sears Craftsman. Lol

 

[dml66]

@dml66

We all have our own budget and space constraints and neither should ever be a source of shame (and if someone tries to make it so, you can happily dismiss them as being a no-mark bell-end).

To avoid us suggesting machines that are all either unnecessarily small and cheap or trying to get you to buy something you'd need a NASA launch vehicle transporter to move, could you give us an idea of your maximum size machine (i.e. does it have to be a benchtop mill or can you fit in something like the smaller end of the knee mill market) and what your maximum "I felt a bit antsy spending this much, but in the end didn't regret it" budget?

Excellent question.

Based on keeping my DP, pricewise, it has to be <$1K.

I could fit another floor standing machine on one end of the bench, may have to shuffle a few things around.

If a machine weighs enough that my better half, myself, and the dog cannot move it, or lift it, it's too heavy. Just for the record, the dog weighs 24lb and is quite lazy, that said, we both love her . If an ad on craigslist says "have forklift to load" or "bring engine hoist", no can do.

It may well be I'm better off outsourcing the occasional mill work.

 

[ChazzC]

Excellent question.

Based on keeping my DP, pricewise, it has to be <$1K.

I could fit another floor standing machine on one end of the bench, may have to shuffle a few things around.

If a machine weighs enough that my better half, myself, and the dog cannot move it, or lift it, it's too heavy. Just for the record, the dog weighs 24lb and is quite lazy, that said, we both love her . If an ad on craigslist says "have forklift to load" or "bring engine hoist", no can do.

It may well be I'm better off outsourcing the occasional mill work.

I’ve finally decided to sell my MicroLux Micro-Mill:



You can move it by yourself

 

[SouthernChap]

Excellent question.

Based on keeping my DP, pricewise, it has to be <$1K.

I could fit another floor standing machine on one end of the bench, may have to shuffle a few things around.

If a machine weighs enough that my better half, myself, and the dog cannot move it, or lift it, it's too heavy. Just for the record, the dog weighs 24lb and is quite lazy, that said, we both love her . If an ad on craigslist says "have forklift to load" or "bring engine hoist", no can do.

It may well be I'm better off outsourcing the occasional mill work.

Depending on the terrain at your end, if the mill doesn't go on a bench, 'lifting' can be irrelevant.

There are many members on here that have transported and installed full sized Bridgeports without any lifting equipment. They used a trailer with a ramp, a winch and rollers (and let's face it, compared with many of the member of this forum, at 53 years old, I'm a young whippersnapper!).

Obviously they didn't do it alone but the effort was much more cognitive, than it was muscular.

To be fair, I'd not want to manually lift the SEIG X2; not even with two people. Okay, it's 'only' 170 odd lbs but that's still a fair old mass.

It's not so much the weight, but the combination of its top heavy nature, the awkwardness of its shape, and the risks (both financial and safety) associated with dropping your newly acquired mill.

If you are going for a benchtop mill, for the safety of both you and your wife and your wallet, you really ought to be using some kind of mechanical lifting assistance, like a hoist or lifting platform. You'll probably find somewhere local you can hire an engine hoist for a day or two; it shouldn't be particularly expensive.

For quite a while, I missed out on quite a few opportunities to get a mill at a reasonable price, because of my under and over estimation the factors involved in getting something into my workshop.

I only ended up with my Warco Minor because of an impulse buy, where I abandoned all thought!. It was used, but since the seller was Warco themselves, they were able to deliver on a pallet. I got a bit lucky because the mill was a barely-used, ex-education machine (from a part-exchange), and is a very tidy example.

I honestly think you're constraining your choices more than you need to in this case.

 

[jwmay]

For quite a while, I missed out on quite a few opportunities to get a mill at a reasonable price, because of my under and over estimation the factors involved in getting something into my workshop.

Gosh! The UK machine deliveries I’ve witnessed had me thinking it was old hat over there. A big flat bed with a huge over arm crane just lifted, and placed it right at the door step! I remember being all bent out of shape wishing American deliveries were so fancy. Lol
Screenshots from Doubleboost on Youtube

 

[WobblyHand]

I partially disassembled my PM25 and brought pieces down to my basement. For the head, I got some help lifting it. The contractors who were already at the house for work, helped me get it set up on the stand so I could bolt it to the stand. The moving part took under 15 minutes.

My crate was delivered at the end of my driveway. I wrapped it in more plastic because it was going to rain for another week. Wasn't a fancy delivery, it was tough to convince the guy to back into the driveway far enough so my wife would still have a place to park. Also had to stall the guy so I could inspect the condition of the crate, he wanted to leave badly. I wouldn't sign until it was inspected.