I need a mill

H

Happychicken

Joined
Nov 14, 2018
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176
looking for some recommendations for a mini mill. I need it mainly for squaring bolsters and cutting slots for wa handle. I was told to get one with a dro and was wondering how helpful that actually is to have?
Last time someone said to only buy a ginder with a VFD. I did and I’m glad I did.
Now I am asking if the DRO is as useful and addition to mill as VFD is to grinder?
Btw I heard (could be fake news) that all the small milling machines are made in the same factory in China and are basically the same? Any thought?
Also I would love to get a big mill from Craigslist but I can’t fit it nor could I get it to my house
 
What's your budget? Don't forget that you have to buy tooling. A vise, parallels, end mills, collets, edge finder, a chuck, boring bar, face mill, rotary table, power feed, the list goes on.

You absolutely need a DRO, if for no other reason than you can switch it to metric and forget about 1/64th and all that...

I have a Precision Matthews and I am pretty happy with it so far.
 
Hubert S. said:
What's your budget? Don't forget that you have to buy tooling. A vise, parallels, end mills, collets, edge finder, a chuck, boring bar, face mill, rotary table, power feed, the list goes on.

You absolutely need a DRO, if for no other reason than you can switch it to metric and forget about 1/64th and all that...

I have a Precision Matthews and I am pretty happy with it so far.
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No DRO uses fractional inches
If you're using a DRO, or just a milling machine for that matter;you are using decimal inches - thousandths of an inch.

It's got absolutely not a damn thing to do with the metric / inch debate.
Just leave that alone and stop trying to confuse the issue.



Yes DRO's are handy.

Get a mill with R8 collet so that the tooling will go with you if you ever upgrade to a bigger one. (No MT#3 or such)

No round column mills, get one that you can go up and down on without losing position, Knee mill, or square column benchtop
 
12345678910 said:
No DRO uses fractional inches
If you're using a DRO, or just a milling machine for that matter;you are using decimal inches - thousandths of an inch.

It's got absolutely not a damn thing to do with the metric / inch debate.
Just leave that alone and stop trying to confuse the issue.



Yes DRO's are handy.

Get a mill with R8 collet so that the tooling will go with you if you ever upgrade to a bigger one. (No MT#3 or such)

No round column mills, get one that you can go up and down on without losing position, Knee mill, or square column benchtop
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to confuse issues, and I do realize that the DRO gives you fractional inches, but then you still have to remember that the 1/64th is 0.015625. I am just happy that I can set the DRO to metric! Sorry, I grew up in Europe and can't get over it. Maybe it's because I had to order a size "Q" drill bit today...
 
dro would be handy on my mini now and then but woudl be a life saver on my bridgport and a upgrade that im saving for. have used my mini mill about 15 years slotting guards and facing scales off you can get by with out but spend the $ on the base tool and then upgrade the extras.
as to the fractional stuff a mic doesnt give fractions and cheat sheets for drilling and taping list all known drills mills and tap sizes. most the time you cant count on a drill cuttign a true size anyhow. for guards under size drill then use an under sized endmill to clean up. step the mill over one side or the other widen the slot to the needed spec
 
Hubert S. said:
Honestly, on most everything I do, I don't worry about 25.4 microns!

I like your utility knife. Just came back here from watching your youtube video.
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Thanks! I appreciate the feedback!
 
Right now I am looking at this little machine shop 4190 which is a mill with dro. I am also looking at a grizzly 759 or something which says it has a dro but it doesn’t look like it does all three axis
Are r8 collets the most common? I’m looking to stay minimal in terms of tooling for now. I want a mill for squaring the bolster and a cutter to slot it.
 
Happychicken said:
looking for some recommendations for a mini mill. I need it mainly for squaring bolsters and cutting slots for wa handle. I was told to get one with a dro and was wondering how helpful that actually is to have?
Last time someone said to only buy a ginder with a VFD. I did and I’m glad I did.
Now I am asking if the DRO is as useful and addition to mill as VFD is to grinder?
Btw I heard (could be fake news) that all the small milling machines are made in the same factory in China and are basically the same? Any thought?
Also I would love to get a big mill from Craigslist but I can’t fit it nor could I get it to my house
Click to expand...
You should check out "Little Machine Shop" they have been around for years specializing in Bench Top Machinery. Quality products for the Hobby Garage Machinist.

https://littlemachineshop.com/
 
Busto said:
You should check out "Little Machine Shop" they have been around for years specializing in Bench Top Machinery. Quality products for the Hobby Garage Machinist.

https://littlemachineshop.com/
Click to expand...

That's a branded Sieg SX2.7. It seems to be a "standard" för many hobbyists. Check out the reviews, they are mixed. I was almost buying one recently. Might still do it.
 
Scaniaman said:
That's a branded Sieg SX2.7. It seems to be a "standard" för many hobbyists. Check out the reviews, they are mixed. I was almost buying one recently. Might still do it.
Click to expand...
You are correct they are a "Knock-Off" of the "Rong Fu" Taiwanese Made machines. Most of the Mills in this size class will be very similar in features and pricing. The benefit of "LMS" is they cater to hobby size machines and have repair parts for most benchtop machines.

I don't have small machines, but occasionally they have small tooling I can use. Good Customer Service and Quick Shipping!!!
 
I have a grizzly G0704 mill. I changed it from R8 to ER25 collets. I use the collets instead of a drill chuck. Three axis DRO's are awesome as is the x axis auto feed. I rarely use my drill presses (2) for knives anymore.
 
I've had several mills and now have the Griz G0704 and am loving it. It came with a DRO which I never use, and I do exactly what you want to do.
If you were going to do folders, I could see it.
A big mill isn't necessary, and for me, I would opt for the griz over a bridgeport considering what I use it for. A big mill for me would be too awkward.

I used the Mini mill from Harbor Freight, the red X2 with a belt conversion and it worked very well for this task for many years for me. The griz is a bit bigger but not too big, and maybe a bit tighter.
I can also mount two vises on the griz which can be handy.

I would also say that it has completely replaced my drill press. I have a tiny benchtop DP that I use to drill leather stitching holes, and that's about it for the drill press.
Now if you had to drill larger pieces that might not fit in the mill you have to consider that.
 
So for the money is the harbor freight ok? I mean 699 - 20% is the best deal I see. I can’t see myself making folding knives. Again all I want to do is mill the slot in the bolster of wa handle and square the bolster. Maybe slot the dowel?
I didn’t think the add on pieces would be so expensive. Even though someone said in this thread to budget for them also.
 
Happychicken said:
So for the money is the harbor freight ok? I mean 699 - 20% is the best deal I see. I can’t see myself making folding knives. Again all I want to do is mill the slot in the bolster of wa handle and square the bolster. Maybe slot the dowel?
I didn’t think the add on pieces would be so expensive. Even though someone said in this thread to budget for them also.
Click to expand...
You could find yourself spending as much on "Tooling" as you spend for the Mill....A decent Vise is about $100+...Parallels about $40-50...Collets $100 (R8's) that's the cheap route...Center Finder $20-30...Clamp Set $50-75...Dial Test Indicator $80-200...It ADDS UP Quick and that is not counting End Mills...Cheap Chines Set $60.

Some people with machining experience may not need to use DRO's, but for a layman that has no machining experience they are worth the money you would spend on materials you would throw away because you missed the machining tolerance and screwed up the piece. I have Trained machinist that work for me and even they make mistakes With DRO's from time to time!!!
 
I’ve had the harbor freight mini mill for years and love it. I think someday I might upgrade to the grizzly though. I like the idea of two vises on the table. I would avoid sets of end mills, sets of collets, sets of drill bits. Just get the collet, end mills you need for now. Same with drill bits. If you do get the harbor freight model, I’d get the air shock conversion and if you can swing it, a dro. Iguage makes an affordable dro setup. I bought it two years ago and still haven’t set it up yet though. I’m sure it would have helped a ton over the years.
You don’t need a face mill, the mini mill really won’t be strong enough for it anyway (at least that’s what my experience has been). A 3/4” endmill will be good to face handle material in a couple passes.
Keep on the lookout on Facebook market, Craigslist, eBay for r8 tooling.
You definitely want a small machinist vise like the others are saying and parallels. You’ll have to tram it occasionally so a dial indicator and holder for it. The mini mill is a tool I use on almost every single knife as well as other projects.
 
well, If you were in Texas Id say buy my HF mini mill. Ive used it for the same thing for the last few years but just got a real BP mill. And id say DRO is a huge time/headache saver. I added them to my Hf years ago
 
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