Sieg X2.7 and LMS Hi-Torque 6500 Mill Owners

Daniel Fairly Knives

Daniel Fairly Knives

Full Time Knifemaker
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Hi! Do any of you have this mill?

Is the column solid or is that a cover on the back?

I like the way these mills are trammed... any thoughts on the set tram?

Like it? Thanks for the help!


BTW I have owned a few mills, I need a new one though. I need a spindle dro and something you don't have to mess with.
 
I have the 6500 from LMS. No bench top mill in this category has a solid column that I know of? What it has is a hollow column that is bolted to the base - not the pivoting column that is found on many of the less expensive machines in this class. To tram it you will need to shim the base of the column. I used the plastic shim stock that is available from LMS https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4304&category=

You can find the manuals for any LMS mill on their website and they contain parts / exploded-view diagrams - you can see the column in the manual.

It will never be a Republic Lagun, but it is not a bad bench top mill.
 
Retired Spook said:
I have the 6500 from LMS. No bench top mill in this category has a solid column that I know of? What it has is a hollow column that is bolted to the base - not the pivoting column that is found on many of the less expensive machines in this class. To tram it you will need to shim the base of the column. I used the plastic shim stock that is available from LMS https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4304&category=

You can find the manuals for any LMS mill on their website and they contain parts / exploded-view diagrams - you can see the column in the manual.

It will never be a Republic Lagun, but it is not a bad bench top mill.
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Thanks!

I appreciate the help.

By solid what I really should have asked... is there a piece of sheet metal around the column that makes it look more substantial or is the casting that big? It looks way bigger than other mills that weight. I'll check that diagram.

I had read that the tram was set with a dowel and not really adjustable... lol where were those people coming from? I have never had a mill table flat enough to start measuring tram very accurately and always had to guess. It may be beyond my patience after messing around for a couple of days.
 
Retired Spook said:
Scroll down through this and you will see the column and the sheet metal housing surrounding it: https://littlemachineshop.com/images/gallery/ug/6500 Bench Mill Instruction Manual (SIEG).pdf

What do you intend to machine with it?
Click to expand...
Thanks! That is extremely helpful, I see that shroud and common 4 bolt pattern.

Folders and fullers mainly. Titanium framelocks and liner locks mainly as well as drill press stuff.

I had a really old LMS mill with the Z axis height also being the drill press action and it is OK, not a great design. I also had (have) a G0759 which was great. My shop in CO was destroyed by wind shear and it really tore up the mills, I have only been able to see them once as I'm somewhat stuck here in TX. I want to salvage what I can but I need to get to work.
 
Sorry to hear about your shop - hope you get back up a running as soon as possible.

The 6500 should do any drill press work you might need but I would have to defer to someone with experience machining titanium frame locks and liner locks. There are DRO kits for the 6500 but I have never priced one.
 
ive been using a HF mini mill for years to cut liner and frame lock bars using dremmel fiber disc cutters its sslow but works. i have also made a few Kbars and cut the fullers with a ball endmill that was way to big for the mill but i got it done. the cleanest way for me to make the fuller cut kick the head over 45 degrees and use the mill like a side cutter. ended up at some point braking the gears in the head and got the LMS belt drive. i now have a bridgeport and still use the mini mil more often. mostly as a drill and fly cutter to flatten handle scales
 
I've never cut a fuller but if I was going to I would probably use a convex radius cutter with the knife stock fixtured longitudinally along the lines of how rifle barrels are sometimes fluted?
 
Thanks Butch!

Retired Spook, most appreciated.

I might just get a G0758, it looks easy to deal with and is cheap for a spindle dro mill. I think the ones I listed are almost the same thing.
 
the nicest part of kicking the head off angle for the fullers is you dont get the drag line in the bottom of the cut (sucks to sand that out) i think for my Kbar i used an 1.25" ball mill max the mini specs i think is 1/2" adn i can say this thats still too big in anything but wood
 
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