Torn between a PM-25MV and Taig CNC Micro Mill

[jdsantiagojr]

Hello all,

I own a Chinese mini-lathe and am looking to invest in a milling machine. I have spent a lot of time tweaking and fixing my lathe so I would like to buy a milling machine that just works out of the box. My goal is to learn milling and get my feet wet with CNC machining. I want to find something for learning and making serious parts.

This is a dangerous question with fans of both machines in this forum, but which one of these machines would be a good investment to learn and build milling skills? Any honest opinion would be very much appreciated.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

When I faced this problem, I though about the sizes of the things I would end up milling, this lead directly to the notion of a knee mill, and the smallest proper knee mill is something like the 6×26 from China or Taiwan, but I went one step larger at 8×30 G0730. I have had a lot og good times with this mill over the last 3 years.

Note: if you get something smaller than a knee mill, do not get a round column mill.

 

[Pcmaker]

Save up for a PM-728VT

It's made in Taiwan

 

[RJSakowski]

A CNC mill does offer some capabilities that are difficult, if not impossible to duplicate otherwise. However, a manual mill can accomplish 99$ of what needs to be done with a little thought. For a novice, a manual mill is a good place to start. You will learn far more about the machining processes than you would with a CNC mill. Another consideration is operator error. It is fairly difficult to have a serious crash with a manual machine. A crash with a CNC machine can end up costing a bundle.

To gain the most benefit from a CNC machine, you almost have to have CAD and CAM software which is yet another skill which must be mastered and depending on what packages you choose, can be a significant additional expense.

I have had a manual (round column ) mill for forty years and a CNC mill for nine years. Most of what I do on the CNC is essentially manual milling.

Another consideration is the size of the work envelope. You will get much more for your buck in that regard with the manual machine.