Micro Mills

William Schrade

William Schrade

Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
632
Hello Knifemakers,
I've been checking out Micro Mills and found out that all the imports are made in the same factory in China. Grizzly, Micro, Harbor freight and Little Machine Shop. I'm leaning toward Taig just because it's made in America. Any you guys own and use one and are they worth the investment?
Thanks, Bill
 
All the import micros might be made in the same place, but they are Not the same quality! Grizzly is better than Harbor freight is one example.

I bought the Little Machine Shop mill a year ago and it is pretty high quality. I'd put it a notch above Grizzly. I want a smallish older US made mill, but have not been able to find one.

I've used a US made Sherline for over 15 years and it will do anything I need as a full time knife maker. Very High Quality, but very small. Highly recommended for the small knife shop!

The Taig is a nice mill also.
 
I have a Taig and like it. I did find a larger Clausing mill which I just
got set up. Because the Taig is small it may take longer to do your
work but it does a good job. It's a quality piece of equipment.

Email me at bahoffmanAtEarthlinkdotnet
Bill
 
I have one of the Hi Torque Solid Column Mini Mills from The Little Machine Shop and really like it. I am very pleased with the performance of it so far. They are by far not a replacement for a full sized mill, but I think the quality and performance is very good for the small sized package it comes in. I would get another if I needed to.
 
Thanks for your input. All Harbor Freight products scare me. I was leaning towards the Taig but I've heard a lot of good things about the Little Machine Shop.
 
William Schrade said:
Thanks for your input. All Harbor Freight products scare me. I was leaning towards the Taig but I've heard a lot of good things about the Little Machine Shop.
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I'll never own any Harbor Freight stuff! I'd get the Hi Torque Solid Column mill from LMS. The one I have has been flawless and high quality.
 
Don points out something about the chinese import stuff. Ive got a few things and it was something I researched a little when I bought my 441 clone sewing machine. It was still pricey being a import at $2500 but about half the price or less then the domestic version. Over there they are very good at reengineering items and there castings are usually pretty top notch, where they usually lack is in the bearings, screws/bolts, items of that nature. The heat treated items like that can be and usually are not as good as domestic items. Now there are different levels of manufacturing plants over there. On a few occasions these will be decent to pretty good and other times they will be less then stellar at best. What makes it even worse is dealing with a place that will outsource the work to different plants. Sometimes they will get stuff from a good plant but then will source it from somewhere else because of cost or plant shutdowns and it will degrade in quality rather quickly.

The best imported items like this come from guys that work with there supplier over there and actually go there and check the plant out and ensure the product is of there specs. Now does HF do this, not a chance. However depending on what you get and who you get it from can determine the quality of the import usually.
 
my HF mini mill has worked jsut fine but if i was doing it again and had the bucks i woudl get the one from LMS. i now have my mini mill and a well used bridgeport that i can use and slowey have built back up to high grade (still miles better even out of spec then any mini mill )
 
Butch,
I grew up about 5 miles from Bridgeport Machines which is out of business. I was in the crane and rigging business for 30 years and saw Bridgeport mills go for $1000.00. at auction. They still can be bought for around $1500 to $1800. Unfortunately I have a micro shop. Another option I'm exploring is convincing my brother, whom I was partners with and now retired, that he needs a Bridgeport mill. Ha. But he's tighter than 2 coats of paint.
 
I've started to swear off any HF / grizzly / etc tools. Even just this weekend I got so @#sed off at my HF metal cutting bandsaw that I went on craigslist and bought an antique power hacksaw... and it's infinately better and faster than the HF bandsaw (which I think that I'm going to cannibalize for some parts and scrap the rest)

As far as mills go, if you're patient you can many times find a fairly decent price, not too much higher than scrap, for a mill in the new england area that does not have power feed. The biggest cost is going to be getting it moved, since even the small ones weigh around 1000lbs or so, but as butch said, even an out of spec old van norman or clausing or bridgeport is still probably much more accurate than any mini-mill.
 
Justin.Mercier said:
I've started to swear off any HF / grizzly / etc tools. Even just this weekend I got so @#sed off at my HF metal cutting bandsaw that I went on craigslist and bought an antique power hacksaw... and it's infinately better and faster than the HF bandsaw (which I think that I'm going to cannibalize for some parts and scrap the rest)

As far as mills go, if you're patient you can many times find a fairly decent price, not too much higher than scrap, for a mill in the new england area that does not have power feed. The biggest cost is going to be getting it moved, since even the small ones weigh around 1000lbs or so, but as butch said, even an out of spec old van norman or clausing or bridgeport is still probably much more accurate than any mini-mill.
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Grizzly is not the same poor quality as Harbor Freight. I have two Grizzly band saws, one 23 year old, one 13 and I can't kill em... Grizzly also has 'better' models within their own line.

I agree on the old USA iron, but in over 20 years I've not been able to find one (smallish mill) within driving distance around southern Missouri.
 
I have to agree with Don. There is a huge difference in the quality of power tools between Grizzly and Harbor Freight. When considering power tools, those offered by Harbor Freight aren't even a consideration for my shop. I use a Grizzly bench top drill press (G7943) and I still think it is one of the best bang-for-your-buck drill presses available. Especially when comparing it to ANY drill press available from HF.
 
Adam Buttry said:
I have to agree with Don. There is a huge difference in the quality of power tools between Grizzly and Harbor Freight. When considering power tools, those offered by Harbor Freight aren't even a consideration for my shop. I use a Grizzly bench top drill press (G7943) and I still think it is one of the best bang-for-your-buck drill presses available. Especially when comparing it to ANY drill press available from HF.
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Yep, and Jet used to be a step above Grizzly, but I'm thinking they are closer now.

I just bought a 14" Grizzly wood band saw and am very impressed with it. Not the cheapest model, but one of the 'made in Taiwan' machine. Never thought I'd see the day when 'made in Taiwan' was a better choice. But today it's a hell of a lot better than 'made in china'... ;)
 
i was in the same boat adn was hopping to fin a nice 6-700 lb 2/3 BP sized mill then after keepig my eyes open i stumbled on a 9x32 BP and it was a done deal whilel its still a 1800lb mill the short table makes it almost "small"

as for saws i killed 2 cheaper 4x6 sized and again after nearly a year of looking found a used roll n saw (takes up about 3x4 feet of shop space but most of that is the 18x30 inch table ) also does not hurt that its made in the USA. jet has a saw the same style that cost a bit more the i got my used one for
 
I was in the market for a 7 X 12 metal cutting band saw got to looking at the Grizzly, jet. & HF there the same saw just different color. HF model was already cheapest plus no freight and I could have it that day. The 25% off coupon you can get on line sealed the deal.
I use it most every day and no problems.
 
Jim McGuinn said:
I was in the market for a 7 X 12 metal cutting band saw got to looking at the Grizzly, jet. & HF there the same saw just different color. HF model was already cheapest plus no freight and I could have it that day. The 25% off coupon you can get on line sealed the deal.
I use it most every day and no problems.
Click to expand...

Same design, but Not the same machines! But yes, the HF is always the cheapest! :)
 
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