- Joined
- Dec 31, 2013
- Messages
- 327
Well, I have been sitting on these pictures long enough so here's a post about my new mill, a Grizzly G0678. It's a 8x30, variable-speed knee mill.
A little background. I've been shopping for a mill since the day after I bought a 1974 South Bend 10K lathe. I couldn't handle a Bridgeport-size mill in my tiny shop, but wanted something a bit bigger than the G0704 that popped-up on CL 5 miles down the road. For vintage equipment, that meant a Clausing 8530, Rockwell or maybe a Millrite. For new equipment, one of the many RF-45 clones. At the time, I was also limited on what I could get on and off the bed of my truck with an engine hoist.
So fast-forward a year and I still didn't have a mill as all the likely candidates were either too far away, just plain scrap or gone before I could make a move because of work or other commitments. Things were looking-up, however, as I was planning on getting a different truck with a hitch so I could use a trailer. This meant much easier loading and unloading, so I could now go after a slightly bigger mill, while still trying to keep it under a 1000 pounds.
In the spring, I drove up to the Muncy story to lay hands and eyes on machines. What I found was that the Taiwan machines were definitely a few rungs higher on the food chain and that I greatly preferred to operate a knee mill. So the new plan was to watch CL for another year for a small knee mill, with a Plan B of buying a new mill at Muncy when I had enough waiting.
And then a month ago Grizzly decided to close the Muncy store! It was time to poop or get off the pot. With the discounts they were offering at the store, Plan B was going to cost at least $800 more next year and I wasn't exactly seeing a ton of likely candidates on CL and Ebay. The small mills are rare and sell quickly if they aren't scrap. So this followed me home that Friday.
Here you can see the mill being pulled off the trailer. You are looking directly at the spindle (R8) as the head is tilted so it would clear the garage door while sitting on the trailer. Since this was a last minute deal, it took me a week to get the shop ready.
And here the mill is being dropped onto the mobile base. Grizzly had all their machinery in the showroom on these things and it was a freebie since I bought a floor model. It was way too squishy to leave under the mill without some work, but it sure came in handy to push it into the shop as it saved me having to use black pipe. As you can see, the base just fit inside and under the engine hoist.
And here's the mill in it's spot in the shop, doing a little work. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it so far and I'm improving the arrangement as I go. Next improvement will be in the lighting situation with a spindle LED ring.
A little background. I've been shopping for a mill since the day after I bought a 1974 South Bend 10K lathe. I couldn't handle a Bridgeport-size mill in my tiny shop, but wanted something a bit bigger than the G0704 that popped-up on CL 5 miles down the road. For vintage equipment, that meant a Clausing 8530, Rockwell or maybe a Millrite. For new equipment, one of the many RF-45 clones. At the time, I was also limited on what I could get on and off the bed of my truck with an engine hoist.
So fast-forward a year and I still didn't have a mill as all the likely candidates were either too far away, just plain scrap or gone before I could make a move because of work or other commitments. Things were looking-up, however, as I was planning on getting a different truck with a hitch so I could use a trailer. This meant much easier loading and unloading, so I could now go after a slightly bigger mill, while still trying to keep it under a 1000 pounds.
In the spring, I drove up to the Muncy story to lay hands and eyes on machines. What I found was that the Taiwan machines were definitely a few rungs higher on the food chain and that I greatly preferred to operate a knee mill. So the new plan was to watch CL for another year for a small knee mill, with a Plan B of buying a new mill at Muncy when I had enough waiting.
And then a month ago Grizzly decided to close the Muncy store! It was time to poop or get off the pot. With the discounts they were offering at the store, Plan B was going to cost at least $800 more next year and I wasn't exactly seeing a ton of likely candidates on CL and Ebay. The small mills are rare and sell quickly if they aren't scrap. So this followed me home that Friday.
Here you can see the mill being pulled off the trailer. You are looking directly at the spindle (R8) as the head is tilted so it would clear the garage door while sitting on the trailer. Since this was a last minute deal, it took me a week to get the shop ready.
And here the mill is being dropped onto the mobile base. Grizzly had all their machinery in the showroom on these things and it was a freebie since I bought a floor model. It was way too squishy to leave under the mill without some work, but it sure came in handy to push it into the shop as it saved me having to use black pipe. As you can see, the base just fit inside and under the engine hoist.
And here's the mill in it's spot in the shop, doing a little work. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it so far and I'm improving the arrangement as I go. Next improvement will be in the lighting situation with a spindle LED ring.
Initially I was worried about low-end torque with this setup. No worries. One of the first tests of the mill was drilling with a 3/4" taper bit. No issues, tons of torque and the bit went right through. I've done some other screwing around with larger end mills and I'm pretty sure there's plenty of power for what the mill can handle.
