The Infamous what Mill should I get

[markba633csi]

I used to hesitate to recommend the Chinese round column mill/drills but so many people like them I've changed my tune. They are available just about everywhere and not expensive. For about 1500 or less you can be off to the races. They have a couple weaknesses like anything but within their envelope they can be good workhorses till you decide to move up, and they tend to keep their value.
-Mark

 

[hotrats]

When I bought my PM 940 about 7 yrs ago, I knew nothing. Still don't know much. My only suggestion - whatever you buy, get the Z axis power. Your shoulder will thank you

 

[davidpbest]

I assume you've seen these threads?

Pm 728vt with stainless

For anyone with 728vt experience. I'm in the market for a mill and I'd like something smaller since my current shop is small. I'm all about experimenting with different metals. I'm into CAD so the possibility of cnc is very high within the first year. I think I'll throw a touch dro on it and...

www.hobby-machinist.com

PM-932M or PM-835S on the fence

Hello All, For a long time I wanted to get a Bridgeport and restore/refurbish it. But, retirement finally came, the dream shop arrived (1,100 sq. ft. with heating/AC, yeah!), and I'm setting up. I have a LOT of motorcycle related projects to get to and am rethinking the old Bridgeport idea...

www.hobby-machinist.com

The attached might be helpful as well.

 

[7milesup]

DRO are an easy install and a 2 axis can be purchased starting at around $200. You only need X and Y, the quill has a battery operated DRO, never needed a column DRO.

That is interesting Mark. I leave my quill locked when milling and use the Z axis. Too much slop in the quill IMHO. So, I use my Z axis DRO quite a bit.
Everyone has their own way of doing things don't we....

 

[lSherlockl]

I assume you've seen these threads?

Pm 728vt with stainless

For anyone with 728vt experience. I'm in the market for a mill and I'd like something smaller since my current shop is small. I'm all about experimenting with different metals. I'm into CAD so the possibility of cnc is very high within the first year. I think I'll throw a touch dro on it and...

www.hobby-machinist.com

PM-932M or PM-835S on the fence

Hello All, For a long time I wanted to get a Bridgeport and restore/refurbish it. But, retirement finally came, the dream shop arrived (1,100 sq. ft. with heating/AC, yeah!), and I'm setting up. I have a LOT of motorcycle related projects to get to and am rethinking the old Bridgeport idea...

www.hobby-machinist.com

The attached might be helpful as well.

I had found the second one and the PDF (the PDF definately helped push me to go the direction of the RF45 clone or style of machine over its smaller square columned brethren), the first one on the 728vt and stainless was interesting

one thing that I know I will do is notching some small stainless tubing, really I think any of the benchtop mills could handle that operation with proper bit and speeds/feeds figured out.

And boy is it a slippery slope I keep on flip flopping on the best fit for me, the taiwan machines are so tempting but I just don't think i can justify the added cost for certainly what will be novice work of generally speaking not as critical of nature. That being said I have seen in not quite a comparable land the differences between a cheap 3d printer vs the machine it was a clone of and there is a lot to be said about something thats going to work with well minimal user setup and tweaking to get it running well.

 

[Janderso]

I assume you've seen these threads?

Pm 728vt with stainless

For anyone with 728vt experience. I'm in the market for a mill and I'd like something smaller since my current shop is small. I'm all about experimenting with different metals. I'm into CAD so the possibility of cnc is very high within the first year. I think I'll throw a touch dro on it and...

www.hobby-machinist.com

PM-932M or PM-835S on the fence

Hello All, For a long time I wanted to get a Bridgeport and restore/refurbish it. But, retirement finally came, the dream shop arrived (1,100 sq. ft. with heating/AC, yeah!), and I'm setting up. I have a LOT of motorcycle related projects to get to and am rethinking the old Bridgeport idea...

www.hobby-machinist.com

The attached might be helpful as well.

David,
That was the most informative comparative I have seen.
Well researched, accurate and the opinions are spot on IMHO.
Well done.

 

[lSherlockl]

I did want to post a follow-up note as to what direction I plan on going, as well as the sort of mental decision process if it will help others.

I do appreciate the comments and advise. It really difficult for a beginner to truly know what features or how much of a machine to get I think in the end its a bit of a gut instinct and the concept of go for a bit more than you think you will need.

Its very easy to slide down the slippery slope of "for just a bit more" I can get XYZ features or get a higher quality machine but really you have to draw a line somewhere and stick to it.

I started looking at the smaller PM or Weiss benchtop mills the likes of the 25mv or 727m and sort of slipped and stretched some to move to the bigger/heavier PM 932 series machines (or the RF45 clone/ish style of mill). I know too there is alot of love the taiwan made 833 family and as much as I think they would be great the point is they are double the price from what I started at. While they are just over a grand more than what i was looking at with the 932 adding on say a power feed or the jump to variable speed is a much greater one, that and the considerable cost of entry level tooling required coming from a shop that i really only own a decent set of machinist squares currently and a meh caliper that side of things adds up fast.

all that aside I was left a few options within "my price range" and the current and reasonable availability of machinery with these super wonky times and messed up supply lines. a PM-932M-PDF, or a PM-932V (i did briefly entertain a pm 30mV but the quill travel on the 932's was soo good) I will say too that the PM-932M did look like quite a sweet spot in terms of bang for buck however likely being fall or later at the earliest est restock i ruled it out.

that left me with a main decision of well whats more valuable or useful variable speed, or powered Z axis and PDF?

PDF i kinda ruled out as i dont think ill do much large diameter boring and you can do it by hand if needed just likely less clean results.

Which leaves variable vs Z axis; and really the long story short there is they are both desirable from what i could read. A quieter more controllable speed makes it a bit easier to hit the sweet spot for certain cutters in certain materials. And power Z saves you arm and makes switching from milling to drilling operations much easier (well if you need to swap from collet to chuck was my largest mental use case)

Given in my mind I was I think I want both of these things, but nothing has both of these things, It boiled down to which of these is harder to modify or add on? Which of these would cost more to modify or add on?

The answer there is I think it would be cheaper or easier to add a powered Z axis, vs get a 3 phase motor, VFD and convert to a belt system. I know that puts PDF out of the picture but I think I'm fine with that

So that all said I am targeting the PM-932V with a added on x axis power feed, DIY stand for better storage options.

being me I know things can flip flop still or my mind can be swayed but i wanted to at least keep things up to date with where I am at.

 

[davidpbest]

Have you confirmed availability of PM-932V? I haven’t seen that version discussed since 2015.

 

[Tipton1965]

Stretch the budget just a little more and get a 940V.

 

[lSherlockl]

Have you confirmed availability of PM-932V? I haven’t seen that version discussed since 2015.

last week they had 11 in stock they apparently have them but not listed on the website.

only exist in the most basic flavor apparently pretty much mostly for CNC folks who don't care about the other bells and whistles that a manual machinist may want.

I did also find it annoying to try and get more info to research on them as there is some on the 932, but less on the 932V series but my understanding only difference is belt and VFD 3phase motor vs gearbox otherwise castings adn the rest of the parts are the same.