Newbie Mill use question

Leu Custom

Leu Custom

Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Messages
1,354
I have never used a Mill or actually seen one in person. How many uses are there for a mill other than drilling a hole or removing metal or wood partially? Is that about it?

What mills can you get for less than $1000.00 shipped to my door are worth the money? Thanks!

Can a slot for a guard/tsuba be made with a mill? and what kind of bit/cutter would that be?
 
Mark, there is a lot of good information there. Thanks for the link. I've been trying to decide which model to buy and that helps.......it doesn't settle the issue, but it definitely helps.

SDS
 
For knifemaking or any metal/wood working a mill is a very valuable tool with so many uses. The tooling will cost more then machine itself but with each tool upgrade the uss multiply.

I have been using the Grizzly mid size mill/drill since last winter and have no complaints at all. It was around $1400 with freight and state sales tax. Two people and a come-along can set it up and it can be taken down into two pieces that are just over 200 Lbs each. It's worth it just for drilling and guard slotting alone.:thumbup::thumbup:

mill-web.jpg
 
I've been using a Taig Tools Micro mill and Sherline (micro size) mill for years.
I do mostly slipjoints and linerlocked folders. and have no complaints with either brand of mill.
If you are going to do something like integral hunting or Bowie knives, you might consider the lease to buy deal that Enco offers on a larger mill.
 
i second the grizzly mid sized mill... sturdy enough to work on most knife jobs, not overkill but the fact that everything is dovetailed makes it well worth its money.... i have a buddy who has done some integral work on this mill also... works out fine if you work with the right speeds and feeds. and you can set them up really nice with DRO's and power feeds... anything you need. nice machine. well worth it
 
Just so you know. Bigger and heavier mills are much more rigid which means you can take more metal and surface quality will be better. You also have less chance to break end mill due to chatter. On a small mill you can take only light cuts so everything will take long time. This drives me crazy. You also can't use larger end mills.
IHMO You should always go for a bigger mill if you have space and funds.
I've used Sherline size mill before and getting a full size mill was a HUGE relieve for me.
 
alexmin said:
Just so you know. Bigger and heavier mills are much more rigid which means you can take more metal and surface quality will be better. You also have less chance to break end mill due to chatter.

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I'll second that.

Used Bridgeports and clones come up on auction all the time for $1,000-$2,000 and are a lot more mill than the littlest mills if you have the room.

At 1 to 1 1/2 tons, they're still considered small mills...
 
Nathan, just curious is that $2k figure the starting price or what they are ending at? I stopped at one of the few used machinery dealers here last Friday to look around and get an idea of mill prices, he had 4 or 5 Bridgeports with the cheapest at $4,000 and none were exactly pristine examples. Since I’m not ready to buy right now I didn’t go over them with a fine tooth comb and didn’t try to haggle, but was surprised at the prices, epically after reading about everyone seeming to find a Bridgeport for $2000 or less like you mention, hopefully I’ll run into one of them sooner than later, but probably not in this part of the country. I’m really split between trying one of the import Bridgeport styles from Grizzly, Enco, etc., getting a small one like B Finnigan’s while looking for a Bridgeport or just waiting until that deal too good to refuse shows up.

Todd
 
Nabok said:
Nathan, just curious is that $2k figure the starting price or what they are ending at? I stopped at one of the few used machinery dealers here last Friday to look around and get an idea of mill prices, he had 4 or 5 Bridgeports with the cheapest at $4,000

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Todd
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Todd,

Wait for the deal.

Get it at auction.

If you don't loose most of your bids, you're bidding too much.

These things cost much more at used machinery dealers. I once bought a lathe and a mill for the company I worked for from a used machinery dealer back in the 90's. I guess I got what I paid for. Wasn't my money, which I guess is their main cliental. For the money, I could have outfitted an entire shop.

I've bought many mills on eBay and got way more than I paid for. You see, this stuff is "industrial waste" in that it is high dollar "junk" that industry dumps for penny's on the dollar. It is already "paid for", they're just removing it. That's the stuff you want.

It is 240 volts (or more) and three phase, so most people can't power it and are intimidated by it. But running two leg high voltage to your shop and wiring in a phase converter really isn't a big deal, and most big motors can be rewired for 240, but it scares away many folks from buying it.

It may require maintenance such are bearings. This freaks out some people. It is well worth it.

My favorite kind of auction:

Somebody in a company (who really doesn't give a $h!t) is told to move some old equipment. It lists it on eBay, improperly, in the wrong place, with a poor description. Something like two $55,000 CNC milling machines (this really happened). Starts the bid for practically nothing. Nobody notices it, or knows what it is, and I swoop in and get them both for less than 10K. Then I "re-Bay" one and get all my money back out of them. Heh heh heh.

You should be able to pick up a good Bridgeport mill, with quiet spindle bearings and the hand scraping still showing on the Y axis and digital read out for a finishing bid of under 2 grand if you are patient.

I spent more than a year looking and bidding before I got my first CNC mill, but when I finally got one, it was almost new, had the Fanuc control I wanted and I got for less than .25 cent on the dollar. Just took a year.
 
One of my first restoration projects, when I was a kid helping in my dad's machine shop was a an old horizontal mill. It had a patent date of 1872. It was probably actually made around 1895 - 1905. It used an old line shaft to run it and we converted it to an electric motor, and even ran an old smog pump of a old mid seventy's chevy to blow the chips away. It was awesome. then we upgraded to a 1940's Kearny and Trekker #3 1/2 B Horizontal mill, then finally Dad got himself a Bridgeport 1 1/2 years ago. It's great. we've made a few guns and a few other toys on it once you turn into a machinist though, be prepared to be sucked in to the hobby more than you'll ever dream. I'm atleast a 4th generation machinist born with a Mill Bastard File in one hand and a Gun in the other. Anyway yea Mills are great, they'll lead into other cool tools like rotary tables, sine plates, R8 collets Brown and sharpe anything. Morse Tapers, Starrett measures... the list never ends dont even get me started on lathes and shapers... Good Lord Where's The Tylenol
 
What I would like to know is a good small machinist web site. For the guys like me that have some equipment and a bit of a clue, but need some help and a tip or 2 on projects.
 
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