Is there any such thing as too large of a mill?

[Dhal22]

My first mill for my model airplane building (Sherline) was small on purpose (basement hobby room). That purchase was also knowing I would eventually buy a larger second mill. Plenty of room at my shop so I had no size limitations. I ended up with a 10x50 mill (Lagun) and am very glad I found a full size machine.

 

[m1kemex]

I'm eyeing a Phoebus (taiwanese) horizontal / vertical mill. It's very nice, with ballscrews on the x and y axis. It's 2,700 Kg / about 6,000 lbs... maybe in a few years from now.

Problem with machines that big is, of course, moving it, but also the quality of the floor. With both the weight and vibrations caused by machining it can fracture the concrete below. I think a machine like that needs a special foundation to operate reliably. And that, of course, will prevent you from moving it in the future (unless you spend extra to build the foundation again).

 

[GT-6 Racer]

I started with a series 1 Bridgeport. Still have it, but...9X32 table was pretty limiting. So upsize to a Trak bedmill. 10x50" table fits 3 D60 Kurts easily. The rigidity is so much better. 5HP but CNC can't be run on a VFD.

But I think the perfect hobby mill is a Deckel FP2 or FP3. Compact and extremely rigid. 3-4 hp. Can be ran on a VFD for the earlier models. wide range of accessories and both a horizontal and a vertical spindle. Jig grinding, and shaper heads too

here's my FP3 set up to do compound angle tapped holes. fantastic machine if you can find one.

 

[B2]

Sometimes accuracy scales inversely with size. If you want to make small things very accurately you do not usually want a big machine that is commonly used for large parts. Other times you do! A famous talk, "Plenty of Room_at the Bottom", by Richard Feynman might be of interest. It is discussed at wiki but there are lots of other publications on this history. Nano-technology is now common.

There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

For my own milling my machine size fits my available space...but I do wish it was a much higher quality machine.

 

[stupoty]

Sure there is. It’s all about what your purpose is.

I personally wouldn’t want anything that large. Heavy handwheels, larger tooling, bigger vises….just makes it seem too much like work to me.

I make small things, with small machines. I have zero interest in rigging as a hobby. But you do you.

This is a moderately judgement free zone, so long as we stay on the topic of machining. Lol

There is probably a big size of mill where you would be wanting a smaller mill for the quick little tasks





Stu