Milling attachment or benchtop mill

[better-lathe-than-never]

Now that I've had my bench top lathe for a while and am getting used to basic turning of various round stock - aluminum mostly, I miss the ability to mill flat surfaces on my work. Trying to weigh in my mind if I should buy a milling attachment for my lathe next, or if I should spring for a small-ish milling machine of approx same size. In retrospect I should have bought the JET combo with both mill and lathe - but listened to too many neysayers.

I'd like to be able to run a fly cutter type of operation to produce a smooth surface: approx. 3 inches wide, square a piece of rectangular stock, cut a key way for a shaft, make a hex bolt, etc.

My reservation about mini mills are same as mini-lathes: rigidity - seems that smaller units will may not be rigid enough, but I really don't want a full size Bridgeport knee mill (as much as I love 'em).

 

[T Bredehoft]

I used to run a mill bigger than my car, have now a PM25, bench size, seems to be the smallest PM offers. while there are disavantages, it does everything I want it to do. (I guess I dont' want a lot. ) I'll suggest that, with DRO and power X feed, it'll do a lot.

 

[WobblyHand]

The real answer, is to get a mill. Milling attachments are very limited in their abilities and are a poor substitute for a mill. This is not to say that they are useless, but you will get to the limitations very quickly, maybe even on the first use.

I bought a PM25 mill. For most of my work, it is ok. But I already have come to the limits of the machine doing a couple of things. So I have to agree with the "general wisdom" here, and buy the biggest machine that will fit in your space. Actually, buy a size a little bigger than that, and shoehorn it in. I was intimidated by the weight of mills and rigging, and bought too small, in hindsight. Now that I know how to rig a little better, I would get a slightly larger machine, should the opportunity arise. You simply can do more things with a more capable machine.

 

[jwmay]

size. In retrospect I should have bought the JET combo with both mill and lathe - but listened to too many neysayers.

The is why I try to tell people to buy what they want. Cause they will always think if they just trusted their own judgement, they'd have the better thing. Fwiw, I think you're better off listening to the naysayers.
Buy the thing you think will suffice. If it were me, I'd buy a benchtop mill. Actually I'd buy whatever I could get the best deal on locally. But I'm cheap, and work to +-.050 at best.

 

[benmychree]

I would never consider a milling attachment, they are very limited in what they can do.

 

[ttabbal]

I've done it both ways. Milling attachments can do a lot, and people do it all the time and do good work. Same with combo machines. It's like a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife. Sure, they can do a lot of things, some of them not so well, but they can do them. Probably good enough for a lot of stuff. But if you have the option would you break out one of them instead of a socket set to turn bolts on a car? Might work in a pinch to use the pliers, but it's going to mess up the fastener. Better than nothing in an emergency, but if I'm in the garage, I'd go get the right tool.

Setups can be difficult on milling attachments. Just holding things where you need them is tricky and somewhat annoying. Particularly if you do need close tolerance. For a flat or a slot, sure, they can do it. You just might have to hold the work with some really bizarre piles of 123 blocks, clamps, tee-nuts, etc.. Where on a mill, you could probably just set the part in the vise and be good to go. For simple stuff like a slot, get an end mill holder that fits the taper on your lathe with a drawbar or threads on the spindle (don't hold end mills in the chuck. they WILL come loose). And an angle plate and try it. You would be limited to movement in the cross slide direction, but it's a place to start and make sure you will use it before you spend more money on a milling attachment.

I don't think you will get similar capacity for a similar price. The attachments tend to be very small. Even a Sherline mill is probably able to handle larger parts and certainly would cost more.

 

[savarin]

A milling attachment is better than nothing so I made one.
It works ... but ....
get a proper mill, wish I could afford one.

 

[tjb]

Others may disagree, but in my opinion, it's a near certainty you would have been disappointed with a combo machine. My first was a very nice Granite 3-in-1, but I barely got it in the shop before I realized it would be inadequate for the level at which I was hoping to operate. I'm sure there are folks out there, but I've yet to hear of or read about anyone who was pleased with them. In the grand scheme of things, you're probably better off by listening to the naysayers. Count your blessings that you're not needing to unload a combo so that you could buy other machines.

I sold mine pretty quickly and upgraded to single purpose machines. I've never looked back. I've never used a mill in the size of a PM25, but obviously there are many here who can give you an objective appraisal of that machine and other brands.

Regards

 

[silverhawk]

They call them milling attachments, but they were originally sold as keyway cutters or slotting attachments. They are not rigid enough for standard milling, but can still work if you need it in a pinch.

I would recommend a bench top milling machine. I have used both (harbor freight milling machine), and the harbor freight out performs the milling attachment in both capacity and actual performance. The attachment just wasn't rigid enough for a good depth of cut unless it was aluminum, and even then, I needed to take it slowly.

Sent from my SM-T500 using Tapatalk

 

[matthewsx]

If you get a milling attachment it will convince you to get a mill. If you had gotten a combo machine it may have convinced you to try a different hobby.

if you have the choice go bigger but even a small bench top mill will be better than either of the other options.

John