I've been offered a bench mill

[Browser]

As per title, a mate has an Alpine Complex bench mill going begging that he's said I can have. I already have a bench mounted pillar drill, a National Machinery Company one which I've had a few years and just about does what I want. I know the mill won't be up to doing much milling as it's really a glorified bench drill and a couple of comments I've seen here didn't paint this machine in a glorious light, but is it worth the aggro of re-configuring the garage (yet again) to accommodate it or would I be better just sticking with the pillar drill?

 

[ford34/2]

far better offer it to me. Stan

 

[Fazerruss]

If its cheap or free then a man can never have too many tools.
There is an official mathematical formula for how many tools you should have.......

N+1

N=number of tools you currently have.

 

[Wallace]

A Toolmaker friend of mine has a similar round column mill at home and has turned out some fantastic custom car parts with it. Having a pillar drill and a mill is always a bonus.

 

[penfold]

Nowt wrong with a round column mill; the only problem is losing your datum when having to adjust up/down the column through running out of Z/quill travel, everything else is fine. The only other thing people complain about is the minimum spindle speed being a bit high, but that's hardly a dealbreaker.

 

[Mr shiney]

I have a Dore Westbury round column mill and love it. I have a DRO on mine so datum is not an issue but its rare I have to change the column height on a single job.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

2nd dibs........

 

[addjunkie]

I had one of the chester ones, with a round colum, for the money it wasnt bad, though loosing datum taking the head up and down when making pairs of motorcycle yokes was a pain.

But well worth having!

 

[julianthegypsy]

South Lincs is not far from me, I could safely dispose of it for you before it gets you into any trouble....

 

[daleyd]

South Lincs is not far from me, I could safely dispose of it for you before it gets you into any trouble....

It's absolutely miles away from me, but I'd be willing to help out if needed....

 

[Browser]

Thanks for the replies lads, and to those who've selflessly offered to take it if I don't want it, I'll keep you posted. I'll have to have a bit of a tidy out and sort through of some of my garage stuff, and blag some decent-sized steel to make a bench for it to stand on, but it should fit with minimal disruption and I should be able to keep the pillar drill as well, happy days

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Oi you lads, join the queue