What type of Mill would compliment a SouthBend Lathe in a Home Workshop?

Why would you put a new Chinese mill beside a classic South Bend Lathe?

Get a small US-made mill like those above - Millrite, Rockwell, Clausing, Benchmaster.
I have a Powermatic Millrite, and I believe it is the perfect home shopmill. It sits beside the South Bend lathe and the Atlas shaper.

Yes, I have Chinese tools, on the other wall.
 
AR1911 said:
Why would you put a new Chinese mill beside a classic South Bend Lathe?

Get a small US-made mill like those above - Millrite, Rockwell, Clausing, Benchmaster.
I have a Powermatic Millrite, and I believe it is the perfect home shopmill. It sits beside the South Bend lathe and the Atlas shaper.

Yes, I have Chinese tools, on the other wall.
Click to expand...

I think lack of local availability and or several other factors such as lack of comfort in assessing machine wear and condition as well as perhaps a lack of patience playing the waiting game for older USA made stuff are some factors. Another factor that comes to mind is some folks would rather buy a new machine, regardless its country of origin. Personally I do not share those thoughts, but to each their own.....
 
Well, the original question was "What mill would *compliment* a South Bend lathe?"
To me that means a machine of the same era, or that would have been found in a small shop at the time it was made.

I do have a similar issue, sort of in reverse.

I have a Powermatic Millrite mill, and Atlas Shaper, and next to those is an Enco 1024 lathe which I use a lot.

I also have a nice SB 9A, and an Enco 12x24 in excellent condition. And a nice Atlas 618.

Logically, I'd keep the SB to compliment the Millrite, and sell off the 2 Encos.
But those Encos are both really good machines.

And then what about the 618? I already have a VERY nice minilathe, and the minimill to compliment that. Can't break the set.

I figured I'd sell both encos and the SB, and use the proceeds to buy a new 13x40 lathe. Never had a brand new lathe before.
Then I take the cover off that 9A and I just can't do it.

decisions, decisions.....
 
AR1911, That makes perfect sense to me. I just like old machines and equipment better than most new stuff I find. While I know a lot of new equipment will work as well, if not better than the old stuff I like, to me something has been lost through the decades in machine tool design. Compare an old Southbend heavy 10 or an old Monarch to a new like sized machine. Those old machines that have been well maintained and are still accurate would be my choice every time!
 
Uncle Buck said:
AR1911, That makes perfect sense to me. I just like old machines and equipment better than most new stuff I find. While I know a lot of new equipment will work as well, if not better than the old stuff I like, to me something has been lost through the decades in machine tool design. Compare an old Southbend heavy 10 or an old Monarch to a new like sized machine. Those old machines that have been well maintained and are still accurate would be my choice every time!
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more, I felt so lucky when I stumbled across my heavy 10. I was ready to buy a chinese lathe because I could not find a decent used lathe, then I found my south bend. It is worth every hour I have put into restoring it and the quality and spindle bore size is a plus. The other day I was at a fab shop making a delivery and I saw a powermatic mill with a bunch of stuff piled on it and not plugged in, a bridgeport sat across from it. I asked one of the guys about the powermatic and he said he has been there for 6 yrs. and never seen it plugged in. So I asked the shop foreman if it was for sale? He said I dunno, we haven't used it since we got the bridgeport, I'll ask the owner for you, it would be better than scrapping it. I hope to have an answer the next time I am there. As a hobbiest I think it would suit me just fine. I might be able to scoop up this unadvertised machine like I did my lathe. :dunno:
 
I agree and it's generally considered a fact not a theory. When you have a deep cut in the X direction, the force can twist a round column around it's vertical axis and throw it out of calibration (also know as tram). Re-Tramming (i.e. recalibrating) is not difficult but it's one more step to deal with. I have a square/dovetail (PM 45, medium duty) and it's never lost tram. In all honesty, I go easy on all my machines and would much rather take several passes than wear out the tooling -and more important, the bearings and leadscrews. That goes a long way to keeping the machine viable and in tram. Something the size of a b-port is so massive, with so much contact area on the pivot point, it's not too much of a problem.

BTW: The PM-45 is a common clone. They're about as large as benchtop mills come and would consider it heavy-duty in it's class but medium duty compared the b-port as a benchmark. If you're OK with new iron, it's well on par with a properly refurbed SB lathe.


Moparfever said:
I think the round column mills suffer from a lack of torsional rigidity. That said, if there was a round column mill with a 10" diameter support, it wouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
 
well i had narrowed it down to the g0704 and the g0720r and i choose the g0704 for two reasons and that was 1) price and 2) smallest mill that i would have cnc. if i could figure out how to post pics here i will show where my mill is and that is in the wifes laundry room and we dont have any problems as long as i clean up the shavings and there are no clothes on the floor. i also do not mill while i am doing laundry just too much weight and vibrations going on.
 
I have the G3102, because I needed a knee mill.
A Bridgeport would have made me happier, just couldn't afford the shipping at the time.
 
Uncle Buck said:
... I am a hobby shop guy and I could not justify the cost of a Bridgeport plus tooling simply for me to play around.
Click to expand...

I have a Clausing 8530 (currently awaiting a 220V contactor, and some motor rewiring), and I agree it looks like a great machine for someone who can't fit a Bridgeport in his basement.
However I'll warn you that because of that desirable property, they actually command higher dollar on the used market than a Bridgeport of equal age.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top