Which To Get, I Am At A Crossroads of Sort

I

IamNotImportant

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i have looked and looked for a mill, nothing online used is either too big to get into the garage, or, just plain too old and worn out. So I am considering a PM mill. I will not be doing any CNC conversions, will be using it strictly manual with X feed. Largest pc of stock will be about 35 inches long. Thankfully I will not have to mill the whole length of that pc.

It seems that looking at thread titles, the popular ones to buy are the 728, pm30, 833tv or the Pm940. Of those, as of right now, the latter two are beyond the budget. I believe that i could get a 935 in the garage, but where it would sit, i would have to remove the sheet so that the top can sit between the joist. But again, 935 is actually outside of the current budget. But getting it in the garage would be a real issue.

Just how good or bad is the PM 30? Same question for the 728. If you have any other ideas or thoughts.. let them ring out.. as long as it is pertinent to my questions.
 
You really need to tell us what you want to do. I have the PM 30. It has done all that I ask, but slowly. I purchased it for the extra Z range and glad that I did. It has around 20" usable X range, (I'm not where I can see the machine). I can get exact if you need it. It has power X feed and DRO which pretty much today is necessary. I have maxed out the Y travel several times, but unless you buy a really big machine, it is what it is. The cons, which can be worked around is the built in spindle DRO seems to vary in use so the depth will change. There is no quill stop so I added the PM25 one. The adjustment knob gets in the way of the speed control. Biggest annoyance is the quill handle. It seems to get in the way of what you are milling. I made 4" handles that solved most of the problem. If you get the power feed, the motor mount blocks the left side ball lubricator. Every so many hours. I loosen the screws and swing it up to oil the X screw. You will hear it if you don't. You can reduce vibrations by affixing a brace from the column to the wall. Several Youtube videos on that. Took a while to work out the bugs and make it accurate. Now cuts less then .001 total variation across any measurements. That is very close to what I see the big name Youtubers show in their videos. All in all quite pleased. Just wish I had room and money for a real Bridgeport. PM has been real good on any questions. Having real supply issues do to Covid. What else is new?

One thing not part of the mill is the vise. I have a 4" Kurt and the jaw openings are just not enough. I work in the 4" size range quite often. The jaws don't accommodate 4" let alone a copper spacer. I plan to get the 5" version when I get the money.
 
Chewy said:
You really need to tell us what you want to do. I have the PM 30. It has done all that I ask, but slowly. I purchased it for the extra Z range and glad that I did. It has around 20" usable X range, (I'm not where I can see the machine). I can get exact if you need it. It has power X feed and DRO which pretty much today is necessary. I have maxed out the Y travel several times, but unless you buy a really big machine, it is what it is. The cons, which can be worked around is the built in spindle DRO seems to vary in use so the depth will change. There is no quill stop so I added the PM25 one. The adjustment knob gets in the way of the speed control. Biggest annoyance is the quill handle. It seems to get in the way of what you are milling. I made 4" handles that solved most of the problem. If you get the power feed, the motor mount blocks the left side ball lubricator. Every so many hours. I loosen the screws and swing it up to oil the X screw. You will hear it if you don't. You can reduce vibrations by affixing a brace from the column to the wall. Several Youtube videos on that. Took a while to work out the bugs and make it accurate. Now cuts less then .001 total variation across any measurements. That is very close to what I see the big name Youtubers show in their videos. All in all quite pleased. Just wish I had room and money for a real Bridgeport. PM has been real good on any questions. Having real supply issues do to Covid. What else is new?

One thing not part of the mill is the vise. I have a 4" Kurt and the jaw openings are just not enough. I work in the 4" size range quite often. The jaws don't accommodate 4" let alone a copper spacer. I plan to get the 5" version when I get the money.
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i will be doing more drilling and tapping than milling.. so to speak.. on a fairly large pc of slab.. i will most likely will have to use jigs to hold it in place rather than using the vise.
 
932, or 940 would be my choice, of the 2 I would lean to the 940. I had a Grizzly G0755 9 x 32 and the power feed for the z was great. The head's can rotate to move into the garage, just have to save up a little more I guess.
 
Aukai said:
932, or 940 would be my choice, of the 2 I would lean to the 940. I had a Grizzly G0755 9 x 32 and the power feed for the z was great. The head's can rotate to move into the garage, just have to save up a little more I guess.
Click to expand...
yeah.. i can't wait till this fall for a machine that will hopefully arrive on time.. no thanks
 
Aukai said:
932, or 940 would be my choice, of the 2 I would lean to the 940. I had a Grizzly G0755 9 x 32 and the power feed for the z was great. The head's can rotate to move into the garage, just have to save up a little more I guess.
Click to expand...
833 is said that they may be here at the end of June.. by that time.. i might be able to swing one of those.. not sure..
 
The 932, and 940 in the PDF above show power feed as optional.
 
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