Rong-Fu mills

[NDallyn]

I am in the market for a milling machine and have a machinist friend that will have one available in the next 6 months or so for about the same price as a new X2. Does anyone here have one of the round column, RF type mills? What are your experiences with this machine (pos. and/or neg.)?

Thanks,

Nathan

 

[David Wesner]

Hi Nathan. I have a Jet column mill and a Bridgeport type knee mill. I love them both. The one issue that bugs the crap out of me about the column mill is that when you pick up your edges with a wiggler/edge finder for a certain length tool and need to switch to a longer tool that requires you to move the head up you lose position and need to pick up your edges all over again. Other than that my column mill has done ALOT of work. I like it. Its not a Bridgeport but I still use it everyday. I see now that for just a bit more money you can pick up a small bench mill that has dovetailed ways on the Z axis rather than the column, eliminating the issue I mentioned. I have also seen what looks like a mini bridgeport style mill very reasonably priced. If all you can afford or the column type is your only option through your friend the column mill should serve you well and is definately better than not having one at all. Good quality tooling in massive quantities will make it the best it can be. The most awesome machine tool on the planet is worthless without the tooling to make chips :thumbup: