I need advice on buying a mill

C

Cavecloth

Joined
Nov 8, 2015
Messages
35
Hey guys. I'm in the market for a mill and don't know what size mill to buy. I don't want to buy the bare minimum and have to upgrade later on, so I'm willing to save and wait to buy one that will last a long time. My question is what HP motor would be good for knife making?

I was looking at the 1/2 HP, but I don't know if it's worth it to step up to the 3/4 or 1 HP motor versions.

Please chime in and let me know what ya think and what mill you have so I can get an idea of what's working for you.

Thank you!
 
Most knifemakers don't say "I wish my mill was smaller," but some do. Most of the knifemaking tasks "can" be done with a small mill. The general consensus is to get the biggest mill you can afford that will fit in your shop.

I ended up with a Rong Fu 31. It's round column (meh), about 600 lbs (not mini), and does what I need it to do. If I were a better machinist, I'd be dissatisfied with it (no DRO, etc), but for a guy who makes parts for parts, it works well.
 
Jason Fry said:
Most knifemakers don't say "I wish my mill was smaller," but some do. Most of the knifemaking tasks "can" be done with a small mill. The general consensus is to get the biggest mill you can afford that will fit in your shop.

I ended up with a Rong Fu 31. It's round column (meh), about 600 lbs (not mini), and does what I need it to do. If I were a better machinist, I'd be dissatisfied with it (no DRO, etc), but for a guy who makes parts for parts, it works well.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. I'm going to need to buy a mini mill. I should have said that in the beginning. I don't have the space for a full sized mill.
 
Does anyone have the Grizzly GO781? I'm going to need to buy a mini mill due to space restrictions.
 
Cavecloth said:
Thanks man. I'm going to need to buy a mini mill. I should have said that in the beginning. I don't have the space for a full sized mill.
Click to expand...

I have the Little Machine Shop 3990. Does everything that I need it to do. It has the DRO and the power feed for the x-axis. I wanted the Precision Mathews, but didn't want to spend the extra money and wait for months on end. The 3990 has some upgraded features on it that the HF mini mill does not. I use mine for milling stop pin tracks in folders, lock bar reliefs, and pocket clips. Sometimes I'll use an end mill to flatten some wooden handle scales.
 
barlowchiro said:
I have the Little Machine Shop 3990. Does everything that I need it to do. It has the DRO and the power feed for the x-axis. I wanted the Precision Mathews, but didn't want to spend the extra money and wait for months on end. The 3990 has some upgraded features on it that the HF mini mill does not. I use mine for milling stop pin tracks in folders, lock bar reliefs, and pocket clips. Sometimes I'll use an end mill to flatten some wooden handle scales.
Click to expand...
That's awesome. Thanks for chiming in!
 
I have a mini mill, a little bit larger in terms of weight - probably the equivalent of little machine shop HiTorque Bench Mill (it's more than 100 kg, very similar form factor). Got it second hand.

I added a DRO myself from an aftermarket kit, you pay a lot less for it that way. I highly recommend the DRO, I use it all the time.

I also added an auto feed for the x axis - DIY project, does not look like much, but works great and as with the DRO: you pay a fraction of the cost compared to the off-the-shelf solution. It's also useful since a lot of the time you simply need to take light cuts (which equals slow and steady feed rate).

I have 750W / 1 HP motor, but to be honest I do not think I need all that power. For milling guard slots and squaring stock, you generally can take only fairly light cuts anyway (because of the low rigidity of the machine). Maybe if you plan on drilling large holes under slow speed - then you can use the power.

As usual you should also account for buying a lot accessories - they can cost a pretty penny. Good vise, dial or test indicator, set of parallels, fly cutter, edge finder... I hope you find a good deal!
 
"My question is what HP motor would be good for knife making?"
get the most that is available that you can afford.... you will never regret overbuying
 
Weight of machine which is directly tied to how rigid the machine will be, and rigidity tends to be more important than hp of motor. Remember, all desktop mills take up about all the same amount of space.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top