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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
milling machine
- Thread starter weld
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 27, 1999
- Messages
- 3,745
Bigger is better to a certain extent. I would strongly recommend one that can use collets. Mill/drills are not really good for anything but the smallest stuff. If you are not prepared to pay at least 2,000.00, save your money until you can. You can get some good deals at Enco. Check them out. Remember it is a very useful piece of equipment for everything except maybe knifemaking. You will use it but not as much as a GOOD grinder. From your name, I expect you will find uses for it though.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 1999
- Messages
- 1,563
I have a benchtop Homier Mini Mill that uses R8 collets. It works great for the 2 uses I put to it, mortising handle material and slotting guards.
It is not the greatest mill....but it works VERY well for what I need it for.
$399 from Homier.
It is not the greatest mill....but it works VERY well for what I need it for.
$399 from Homier.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2000
- Messages
- 5,548
The nice thing about Jet, and Grizzly, is they stock replacement parts, but Jets prices are higher than Grizzly or Harbor Freight.
The good thing is, they are all made by the same company in Taiwan(I believe), so you can get a less expensive Harbot Freight model, they will pay shipping on purchases $50.00 and over, and if needed, get any replacement parts from Jet or Grizzly.
I got a jet years ago, two HP, 12 speed, R8 collets. about the biggest before going to a knee mill. Works great for what I do.
I was a bit ticked, when I found that I could have saved a few hundred, by getting the same thing from HF. Live and learn.
The good thing is, they are all made by the same company in Taiwan(I believe), so you can get a less expensive Harbot Freight model, they will pay shipping on purchases $50.00 and over, and if needed, get any replacement parts from Jet or Grizzly.
I got a jet years ago, two HP, 12 speed, R8 collets. about the biggest before going to a knee mill. Works great for what I do.
I was a bit ticked, when I found that I could have saved a few hundred, by getting the same thing from HF. Live and learn.
Kevin Wilkins
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1998
- Messages
- 1,486
I just ordered a small mill from Holland. http://www.buitelaar.nl/i-index.html the Mill itself is made in Taiwan. After doing a lot of research, it seems the same basic machines are made in Taiwan and in China. Generally speaking the Taiwan machines are better made than the chinese ones. I plan on using the machine mainly for slitting Ti, cutting thumb serrations and light grip and bolster work. I did a lot of looking for older machines too, but the good ones I found were all a lot more money, had no gaurantee, no spare parts available and weighed in at upwards from 1000 pounds... heavier is generally better, but then the moving and installation costs come into play too... I'm anxiuos to see how the machine works out...
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2000
- Messages
- 871
Here are some links, Weld:
www.mscdirect.com
www.useenco.com
www.grizzly.com
I use my mill/drill every day - but then, I mostly make folders.
There are a few recommendations I'd like to pass along:
1. Get the biggest machine you can afford (and get into your shop).
2. Bolt it down securely to reduce vibration. This will improve accuracy. My mill/drill is bolted to a 500lb steel table which, in turn, is bolted to the wall.
3. Consider not only what capacity you need now, but what you might need later. Setting up clamps, jigs, and vises takes time. If you have a fairly large table, you can have several work holding stations set up at once.
4. Consider tooling. Machines with R8 tapers accept a lot of common tooling. R8 collets are generally cheaper than end mill holders.
5. Consider speeds (rpm). Tapping and cutting with arbor saws always works best at lower speeds (about 120rpm or so) when machining tool (blade) steels and titanium.
I hope this helps!
www.mscdirect.com
www.useenco.com
www.grizzly.com
I use my mill/drill every day - but then, I mostly make folders.
There are a few recommendations I'd like to pass along:
1. Get the biggest machine you can afford (and get into your shop).
2. Bolt it down securely to reduce vibration. This will improve accuracy. My mill/drill is bolted to a 500lb steel table which, in turn, is bolted to the wall.
3. Consider not only what capacity you need now, but what you might need later. Setting up clamps, jigs, and vises takes time. If you have a fairly large table, you can have several work holding stations set up at once.
4. Consider tooling. Machines with R8 tapers accept a lot of common tooling. R8 collets are generally cheaper than end mill holders.
5. Consider speeds (rpm). Tapping and cutting with arbor saws always works best at lower speeds (about 120rpm or so) when machining tool (blade) steels and titanium.
I hope this helps!
I bought a HF knee mill not long ago (the red one). It's been okay, but the first one I received was badly damaged. It looked as though it had tipped over on concrete. The second one was fine, and HF was very co-operative in getting the new mill to me, and picking up the damaged one. It did take a lot of time however. One thing I noticed with my HF is that some Enco collets wouldn't fit it. I still don't know why. If you ever buy the quick change R-8 HF collet holder, be advised it uses spring collets. I've never been convinced that of the mills that are otherwise identical, some are Taiwanese, and some are mainland, and the Taiwanese are better. I'm not saying it's not true, I've just never seen a side by side comparison.
Also as Mr. Anderson says, rigidity and lack of vibration are very important, and I too would recommend R-8.
Also as Mr. Anderson says, rigidity and lack of vibration are very important, and I too would recommend R-8.
While a tabletop mill will certainly get you by, if you have the room, I'd go for a used Bridgeport. You can sometimes STEAL these-I got mine for less than $2000 and it was virtually brand new, even though it's 40 years old. A full size Bridgeport offers more travel and more rigidity, and more accuracy.
RJ Martin
RJ Martin
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2000
- Messages
- 863
One more thing to consider is the spindle speed -vs- the type of work that you'll be doing. Small tools need faster rpms.
For example, I had a bridgeport with a "J-Head" which is the step pulley head. It was a great machine however the max spindle speed was only about 2700 rpm I think. And on many occasions on small work I wished that I had more speed! The machine served me well for several years but looking back, it was the wrong machine for a 1/16" end mill. It was simply too heavy and too slow.
Good Luck, Rob
For example, I had a bridgeport with a "J-Head" which is the step pulley head. It was a great machine however the max spindle speed was only about 2700 rpm I think. And on many occasions on small work I wished that I had more speed! The machine served me well for several years but looking back, it was the wrong machine for a 1/16" end mill. It was simply too heavy and too slow.
Good Luck, Rob
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2000
- Messages
- 265
If you really shop around for several months, there are Bridgeports every once in a while for $800-$1000. Passed here on a almost new baby Bridgeport ($1000.) because didn't want to make a 3000 mile round trip to pick it up. Bridgeports are pretty much bomb proof, they often have 3 phase motors which can be replaced if needed. There are many other used USA mills which are copies of Bridgeports out there, often very reasonable.
Not convinced all imported machines are the same. If you are lucky, some might have a lower cost label on them due to some overrun or dead contract. Convinced from using a few, there are a lot of look alikes, there might be a reason for trying to look like a good machine. There are many classes of bearings in these machines, good and not good. That doesn't say the less expensive won't work for you under limited use or for a shorter machine life.
Bigger is better, more power, more stiffness which gives better accuracy. But, consider the size of what you will be making, why buy a 5 ton truck when a pickup will do.
Have a Jet tabletop here, and it is very accurate, needed no adjusting or rework out of the box and they stock parts. While a table top mill, it has milled some 12" chunks of tall RR track without a problem. Some of the low budget guys don't stock parts beyond a few years, parts are important for an expensive piece of machinery down the road!
Not convinced all imported machines are the same. If you are lucky, some might have a lower cost label on them due to some overrun or dead contract. Convinced from using a few, there are a lot of look alikes, there might be a reason for trying to look like a good machine. There are many classes of bearings in these machines, good and not good. That doesn't say the less expensive won't work for you under limited use or for a shorter machine life.
Bigger is better, more power, more stiffness which gives better accuracy. But, consider the size of what you will be making, why buy a 5 ton truck when a pickup will do.
Have a Jet tabletop here, and it is very accurate, needed no adjusting or rework out of the box and they stock parts. While a table top mill, it has milled some 12" chunks of tall RR track without a problem. Some of the low budget guys don't stock parts beyond a few years, parts are important for an expensive piece of machinery down the road!