What should I get first?

As a newbie too, my advice is probably not all that valuable. I started with a lathe: it's a very popular old hobby lathe here in Britain and it didn't take me long to find second-hand milling attachments.

The thing with mills seems to be that the more rigid the spindle and table the better and a milling attachment in a hobby lathe is not all that rigid, so it's a viable solution if you are on a budget and are planning on light milling for small parts. But, now that I've got myself a serious mill, I think that I'd have been better off not spending the money on the lathe attachments and putting it towards the mill.

As others have said, the hobby tends to suck you in and once you have one machine you soon find that you "need" other machines to support it and get the best use from it... grinding wheels, saws of different types, welding kit, plasma torch, measuring equipment, collets... my poor postman must have lugged several cwt of tools up my drive over the past couple of years!

In short: I don't think it matters where or how you start; simply understand that the first purchase is the beginning of the wallet-drain, not the end.

Good luck,

Nick
 
Uglydog said:
snyper1982,
With the new IT format it is difficult to now your general location.
There are occasionally threads here at HM where someone is looking for a Mentor. Consider posting your location. There may be someone just down the street or at least a reasonable driving distance who wouldn't mind spending a day with you doing some hands on.

Daryl
MN
Click to expand...

That is something I miss about the other forum software, 1 click and you knew the approximate location and types of machines a user has. Now you have to burrow down 2 layers and than the info may not be there... oh well.
 
richl said:
That is something I miss about the other forum software, 1 click and you knew the approximate location and types of machines a user has. Now you have to burrow down 2 layers and than the info may not be there... oh well.
Click to expand...
Me too,

Ied go with a lathe first.
 
I would go with a lathe also. Actually I bought a mill first - never used it much until after I bought a lathe.

Something to consider - check around your area and see if some community college offers a night machining class. I took a one semester basic lathe class early on, at one of our local CC's and enjoyed it immensely. Two nights a week. I learned a tremendous amount and picked up good technique. Got me started in machining quickly, and I was much better informed about buying equipment afterward, as I had a bit of experience to help make decisions.

Grizzly and PM both make decent machines. My guess is you will wish you had bought bigger machines after working with the ones you mentioned. Although, depends on what you want to make.

Glenn
 
First, welcome to H-M!!

I believe you might like the lathe better for your first machine. Learning the basics of machining on it will teach you so much about how metal is worked and how it cuts. There are many basic projects that you can make using only a lathe, and as others have pointed out, you can get tooled up for less initial investment. DROs are nice, but you will want to also learn how to work without it in case the need ever arises.

A book that I can highly recommend, even though it was written long ago, is Machine Shop Practice by K. H. Moltrecht. There are two volumes in the set and they can be purchased from MSC and other vendors I am sure.
 
Welcome to the Hobby Machinist forum! Like mentioned above, no bad questions here.

I'd go with the lathe first, like probably about everyone above mentioned. Once you get the bug, look for the mill. Expect to spend about as much on accessories as you did for the original machine. If you buy used American iron in good shape, you will not lose your money. Machine tools depreciate to a certain level and stay there unless they're worn out or broken. A lot of old American iron was designed for production work, way beyond the use of most of us on this forum. If you decide to sell for upgrading or whatever in the future, you'll get your money back.

Bruce
 
34_40 said:
Welcome aboard. Nice to see you here.
The only stupid question is the one you don't ask! Don't ever think anyone here will "pick" on you for any question. It's a great group to be a part of.

Now to your question about which is first. That will totally depend on what you want to do! Sounds like a cop out but it is true. For me, an old lathe was available at a price I could afford so that's what got me hooked - once you start down this road, you will always want more.

More machines, more tooling, more more more.. LOL.. But it really comes down to what you want to do. You'll probably end up with both machines (I did) and they each have a place. One of my end goals was to create a small IC engine. So that's what I've been working towards.

What are some of the things you're thinking of doing?
Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem. There are just so many things I want to do. I would like to build model steam engines, mini IC engines. Fireworks tooling. Tools for woodworking. I undoubtedly will be getting both machines, I am just unsure of how to proceed in the beginning. It seems like the mill can replicate some of the lathe operations to a very limited degree. For instance, I could turn an OD with a boring head, and bore and ID as well. I'm just not sure the lathe can really replicate the Mill.

What about a dual machine like the G0156 or the G9729?

Also. What type of tooling should I be looking at for each machine? I'm thinking just basic beginner tooling. For the lathe, I'd need a cut off tool, a center drill, boring bar, a cutting tool set, knurling tool, etc. Anything else I will need? Id also like to cut threads, not sure if I will need any special tooling for that.

The milling machine is where I really get lost. I will want a boring head, and boring bar. I will definitely want a milling vice. Taps, end mill assortment (unsure, do I need more than one?), face mills (again, do I need an assortment of these?), Fly cutter (is this the same as a face mill?), dovetail cutters, clamping kit, etc. I am quite sure I am missing a ton of stuff.

As for the mill, which machine do you think is better? The grizzly or PM?
 
There are many of us here that are toolaholics.. Yes. My name is Mike and I am a ... well, you got the idea.

We all want to be able to work with our machines, and that takes tooling. But you don't have to get all of it today! :cool:

I really don't like a combo machine, it's always a compromise. But having said that I have seen a couple projects done that just amaze me to know they were crafted on a combo unit! The others here have given great advice. Especially doing a couple classes locally, you would learn some technique and be able to network with others with the same desire and maybe get a lead on a machine. Having the contacts will always be a good thing.
 
IMHO, from the projects you described a Lathe is definitely the way to start. While neither machine can fully replace the other, the lathe can mill better than a mill can do lathe work but the work envelope is smaller. If you were going to "turn" on a mill you should consider a rotary table, which would work much better for outside radiuses than trying to use a boring head. Also, a mill cannot thread, except for tapping holes. If I could have only have one of the two it would be a lathe, hands down.
I am not a fan of the combo machines either, but if you really want to jump in with both machines it may be an economical compromise. If you were going to go that route, look into getting a used Smithy Granite, much better machine than the Grizzly offerings, they occaisonally come up on Craigslist usually with a lot of tooling for much less than the cost of new.
Also you mentioned fireworks tooling, if you want to make solid fuel engine molds, you will need a lathe with a taper attachment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top