am i crazy for wanting a mini mill??

Josh Rider said:
Iguaging makes a relatively inexpensive dro if you decide to upgrade it later. I’d get the air shock upgrade too.
Also, look for 20-25% off coupons before you drop the money on the mini mill
Click to expand...
No way I would pay the listed full price . Already found the coupon

if the dials ate totally useless, I will probably go manual ... until I get tired enough of it to get that dro ...
 
Cushing H. said:
No way I would pay the listed full price . Already found the coupon

if the dials ate totally useless, I will probably go manual ... until I get tired enough of it to get that dro ...
Click to expand...
I think the point the Count was trying to make is that the amount of "Backlash" in the lead screws on these low end machines makes the hand wheel dials less than accurate when you're doing precision machining. You might have to turn the hand wheel 5-8 thousandths just to take up backlash before the table axis moves and engages the material. Just something to consider and the reason DRO's can help eliminate mistakes.
 
The mini-mill is good but make sure you get a good vice for it. Along with everything listed I also cut the finger guard curve with it.
 
Busto said:
I think the point the Count was trying to make is that the amount of "Backlash" in the lead screws on these low end machines makes the hand wheel dials less than accurate when you're doing precision machining. You might have to turn the hand wheel 5-8 thousandths just to take up backlash before the table axis moves and engages the material. Just something to consider and the reason DRO's can help eliminate mistakes.
Click to expand...
Even very high end machines have backlash - you definitely need to be aware of it and work with it. If the precision of the screw/gear train is bad - that is a different story.

lol - I would not be surprised if there are some experienced machinists out there that would argue that if you were not constantly aware of backlash and dealing appropriately with it, that you would be really screwing things up.... :-). But I guess that is just a point of philosophy...

is there anyone here who can shed light on whether the gear train calibration (NOT backlash) on these small machines is somehow just unacceptably bad?
 
Cushing H. said:
Even very high end machines have backlash - you definitely need to be aware of it and work with it. If the precision of the screw/gear train is bad - that is a different story.

lol - I would not be surprised if there are some experienced machinists out there that would argue that if you were not constantly aware of backlash and dealing appropriately with it, that you would be really screwing things up.... :). But I guess that is just a point of philosophy...

is there anyone here who can shed light on whether the gear train calibration (NOT backlash) on these small machines is somehow just unacceptably bad?
Click to expand...
I spent 30 years as a Machinist at a NASA facility...The Best Machines have Backlash it's built in or else the Table Axis would just lock up. There are machines with "Ball Screws" by far the smoothest most consistent at keeping close tolerance. The point is to Be Aware that budget Chinese Machines are what they are Cheap Chinese Machines. Your posts from the past point to more precision details with your projects so just saying be Aware of the Less than Precision Tolerances...I have a Professional Business Machine Shop and we do Government Contract work....
 
Busto said:
I think the point the Count was trying to make is that the amount of "Backlash" in the lead screws on these low end machines makes the hand wheel dials less than accurate when you're doing precision machining. You might have to turn the hand wheel 5-8 thousandths just to take up backlash before the table axis moves and engages the material. Just something to consider and the reason DRO's can help eliminate mistakes.
Click to expand...

Not the backlash, the actual dial graduations were useless.
I have both inch and metric graduations, but the production seems to have changed lead screw pitch since the dials were designed.
Neither the inch nor the metric graduations on the dials matched the movement. Not even close.

DRO, or at minimum a dial indicator on each axis is a necessity for me.
I can't believe that my machine is unique in this regard.
If you had to buy 3 brand named indicators, that's well on the way to DRO

My mill is basically a HF 6x26.
It's a copy / reimageinig . cheapening of a Clausing 8520
There are many shortcuts done to lower costs which affect function.
There's a list of things that were changed to be cheaper
 
Got the Griz. Just remember there is a learning curve with these machine so get extra mills and drills.
Use mine for flatting scales but mostly for guards.Using a mill for guards is really a quick way to make a guard.
Take care
TJ Smith
 
I would like a mini mill like the Sieg SX2.7, but everytime I go there in the end the fear of the Chinese build quality scares me away..
Right now I am more leaning towards investing in a real quality, non-China, gear head drill press. I know, they are different tools.
 
Busto said:
The point is to Be Aware that budget Chinese Machines are what they are Cheap Chinese Machines. Your posts from the past point to more precision details with your projects so just saying ......
Click to expand...

12345678910 said:
Not the backlash, the actual dial graduations were useless.
I have both inch and metric graduations, but the production seems to have changed lead screw pitch since the dials were designed.
Neither the inch nor the metric graduations on the dials matched the movement. Not even close.
Click to expand...
I am actually mostly interested in the machine for flattening and parallelizing (right word???) opposite faces (and rigidity of the drill head) rather than any real precision machining - I was mostly planning on relying mostly on hand measurements (scale and caliper). That said - I am forewarned: one might wonder why on earth they even bother to put dials on the things if they have messed with the drive train enough to render them senseless. Maybe they think they look good???

if/when I get into anything that needs more precise machining (like guard slots) I will likely look very closely at a dro (or if I get sick of the manual measurements) - I'll just take it one step at a time - the fixturing/tooling is expensive enough :). A question on this: most of the ones that come up quickly on a search are single channel - so you would need to buy three of them to complete three channels. Are there any out there that are inherently 3 channel (axis) - or is it typical that you just need to buy three single channel?
 
argel55 said:
The mini-mill is good but make sure you get a good vice for it. Along with everything listed I also cut the finger guard curve with it.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of going less expensive on the vise. There are a lot out there, and they get really expensive really fast. Is there perhaps one in particular you could recommend? ( I doubt I would need a swivel - but then again "famous last words" might apply ........)
 
Cushing H. said:
Yup... It comes with the drill chuck - so that is ok.

Yeah - I know - as I said, I know there is a list of additional cost items that goes with going this route.... :-(
Click to expand...
A quality Vise is a Must....you can get quality at a reasonable price from Little Machine Shop and they cater to the Hobby Machinists. When you Tram the Head stock on the machine you can then consider getting Parallel or Flat Sides on your scales, you need a set of Parallels that sit in the vise they are matched sets in height. But if Head Stock is off then you will not be able to get Parallel Flat sides.
 
Busto said:
When you Tram the Head stock on the machine you can then consider getting Parallel or Flat Sides on your scales, you need a set of Parallels
Click to expand...
I guess I should have guessed/anticipated the need for something like tramming the head - makes sense though. Lovely - more equipment to buy :-( . Thanks for that heads up though. (though there are apparently some techniques out there for tramming without a gauge....

I was aware of the need for parallels - they are on my list of "stuff" to get :-)

Am not sure whether endmills or a flycutter will work best for wood and stabilized wood.... I guess I will need to get both.....
 
Cushing H. said:
I guess I should have guessed/anticipated the need for something like tramming the head - makes sense though. Lovely - more equipment to buy :-( . Thanks for that heads up though. (though there are apparently some techniques out there for tramming without a gauge....

I was aware of the need for parallels - they are on my list of "stuff" to get :)

Am not sure whether endmills or a flycutter will work best for wood and stabilized wood.... I guess I will need to get both.....
Click to expand...
I never had any luck with a fly cutter. I couldn’t find much information on getting the geometry just right for wood. Now I use a three-quarter inch End mill. Works great so far.
 
Cushing H. said:
I was thinking of going less expensive on the vise. There are a lot out there, and they get really expensive really fast. Is there perhaps one in particular you could recommend? ( I doubt I would need a swivel - but then again "famous last words" might apply ........)
Click to expand...

With the vice, buY once cry once. I tried a cheap vice, and put it on my work table for holding blades when claying for a hamon. You need a solid vice to make the machine useful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top