Milling machine,

[slim_boy_fat]

Think that might be including stamd

Aye, I'd assumed that [remember seeing pic of skotl's when he got it] but the OP is looking at bench-top ones - best to check.

 

[addjunkie]

Due to his lcation, id suggest a trip to the chester show room, that will give him a feel for size

 

[skotl]

Is that for a bench-top model? Surely not.....

It's the "30" model which ostensibly seems to be the "25" model with a stand (and a couple of other extras)

Think that might be including stamd

Indeed, but then you're going to have to put the non-stand model on a stand or bench which, I suspect, takes it back to around 6ft 8" assuming the base is at a usable height.

Aye, I'd assumed that [remember seeing pic of skotl's when he got it] but the OP is looking at bench-top ones - best to check.

Exackerly but still close to that height on a roll-yer-own stand/bench.


All told - the original advice, to measure what you're thinking of buying, is golden advice!

 

[ronan]

Why not buy a larger mill like the Tom Senior or even a Beaver or Bridgeport ? They are much more robustly built and probably cheaper to buy than the Chinese imports.

 

[compositepro]

All the Tom Seniors are, the colums are heavy but I've them about the workshop on my own.

I keep saying for what I do this would be ideal , if i had readies for a machine in that nick id be trying to find room for it , sadly there isnt room...sad man is made sad

 

[Arc Tourist]

Have a look on the GANDMTOOLS site. There are some used non-import mills available.

 

[ashley smith]

Thanks for the comments, I'm limited to a bench top one firstly by the fact the cellar steps are very narrow with a right turn at the bottom (don't particularly want to start knocking down walls) and secondly the larger mills are out of my budget

 

[Burdekin]

Thanks for the comments, I'm limited to a bench top one firstly by the fact the cellar steps are very narrow with a right turn at the bottom (don't particularly want to start knocking down walls) and secondly the larger mills are out of my budget

I'd ask over on a model engineers forum. There must be some nice wee bench milling machines about and those guys might know better. A guy I know had a Clarke but assume there would be much better quality ones about. A good quality used machine would be the way to go if possible.

 

[GW8IZR]

and at some point you have to et it out of the cellar - to be fair all of the small bench top mills are capable of good results in the right hands and you will learn a lolt using one. I think the ones with plastic gears in the drive are a nuisance and its worth keeping some spare gears in stock.

You will spend a surprising amount of time working round the top so plenty headroom is a benefit.

tooling is expensive but things like clamps can be made on your new toy and are a good way to learn. After all with a good mill and skill you ccould replicate your mill just with itself and a bit of raw material.

 

[ashley smith]

Yes after reading about I'd prefer a belt driven machine if possible but depends what turns up, thanks again everyone, let me know if you hear of anything
Thanks again
Ash

 

[GW8IZR]

for sure, and its only pulleys. A project to modify a gear driven one if you wanted to.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Yes after reading about I'd prefer a belt driven machine if possible but depends what turns up, thanks again everyone, let me know if you hear of anything
Thanks again
Ash

I used to have a little Chinese bench top mill, and while it was better than nothing, not much better. Ended up getting rid of it. Depends what you want to do with it though...............guess it would have been fine for very small parts?

 

[ashley smith]

yes I would agree we have a tiny micro-mill style thing and its useless.. hence we are after a bigger version, the older warco are made in Taiwan and apparently the quality is a lot different to the modern Chinese rubbish..from what I can read anyway iv been and looked at a friends RF30 and it seemed of relatively good quality,
thanks

 

[migmug]

The most Mill drills from the 80s to early 2000s were made by these people, and the reason for the RF on the manuals and in the names.

http://www.rongfu.com/en/Milling-Drilling-Machine.html

 

[ashley smith]

yes that's the machine im after preferably the slightly smaller 25... second hand as my budget wont stretch to new, preferably with a little tooling to get me going..but I can source this afterwards if need be.
thanks again everyone

 

[Arc Tourist]

I have a Tom Senior now, but had a Rongfu bench mill overseas, which I bought used. It was easy to dissemble into several parts as I had to move and load it by myself. With good operator skill, it could do accurate work. The spindle was R8 and could handle larger cutters as long as you took light cuts. When taking heavy cuts, sometimes the head would move on the round column damaging the work; but all in all, it was a good tool and served me well.

 

[ronan]

Looks like the mill John Doubleboost uses in his videos on youtube.

 

[Arc Tourist]

I believe john has a more substantial machine, where the Z axis works by adjusting the knee. The mill in my photo required loosening bolts on the head, cranking the head up or down on the round column for rough adjustment, then using the quill feed for fine adjustment.

 

[Seadog]

I think John has a floor standing Chester.

 

[doubleboost]

I think John has a floor standing Chester.

Chester 626