Milling attachment or benchtop mill

[markba633csi]

If the Jet combo was a single machine then be glad you didn't buy it.
Even the smallest mini-mill is better than a milling attachment. IMO

 

[sycle1]

I went with a small mill.
It is surprisingly, way more handy and capable than I ever thought and honestly I don't need a Bridgeport.
Wants is not needs, so I am told!

 

[MikeInOr]

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

Is your plan to get a consensus then do the opposite this time?

If that IS your plan I recommend the milling attachment!

 

[Larry$]

even a small bench top mill will be better than either of the other options.

For most things it takes both a lathe & a mill. Like has often been said on this forum, go as big as you can afford. Much depends on what you want to do. If all you wan to do is HO gage trains then the small bench top mill will work just fine. I've found that the Z-axis is the first one I run out of room on. Before you buy, add up the height of the stuff you are going to spin (drill chuck, bits, reamers, boring head, boring bars.) PLUS all the devices you will end up with to hold the work: vice, rotary table, indexing head, adjustable angle plate ..... All the work holding devices have to be big enough to hold what ever work you intend to do. Lots of people have gotten by with mill/drills but keeping alignment when changing Z axis space can be a PIA.

 

[mikey]

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).

You will find that rigidity in the hobby world is a relative thing. With lighter cuts, even a small benchtop mill will do good work. I have a Sherline mill that is all of maybe 40# and it is as accurate as much larger machines and will do everything a full sized mill will do but on a much smaller scale and in smaller bites. I am a hobby guy so if it takes me longer to do the work then it takes longer. I'm okay with that as long as the work is accurate and my machine will work into the tenths.

I also have an RF-31 mill drill. This is a much maligned round column mill but it is an 800# machine that will do all I ask of it. It, too, is as accurate as I am.

My point is that a benchtop mill will get the work done. Much depends on the skill of the user. If I were you, I would look at the PM25-30 class machines and see if they will meet your needs. You don't need big if you are patient.

Oh, and yeah, the naysayers were right. It is far better to have a separate lathe and mill.

 

[Jim F]

What mikey says is true.
I have a Grizzly G0463, it does what I need it to do.
I have no room or power available for a knee mill, and really no use for a machine that size.