Thinking about a milling machine

Gossman Knives

Gossman Knives

Edged Toolmaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
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I'm thinking of getting a small table top machine for slotting guards and other small jobs. I was looking at the Harbor Freight machines and wanted opinions about a decent made low cost machine. Are the HF ones any good? Thanks
Scott
 
I have the Grizzly version. It sure makes it easy to do guards.
You can get parts from The Little Machine Shop cheaper and quicker than Harbor Freight or Grizzly if you need them. I've broken 2 gears. Grizzly wanted $9 each and backordered them. Little Mach had them in stock for $4.50./
As i learn to use it I'm sure it will up the quality of my knives.
My .02$
Take Care
TJ
 
Scott, check out the little machine shop web site. They have a chart that compares the mini mills. They are all made in the same factory in china, and the site claims that they have seen no real difference in quality from one to another. I just got mine about two weeks ago from cummins tools. It was 100.00 cheaper than the others, and frankly the only one who had them in stock at the time I was buying. The down side is that they charge 100.00 to ship as opposed to Grizzly's 58.00 anywhere in CONUS rate. Chedk out the chart. I believe the Griz comes with some extra collets, and may be worth the extra few bucks (if its not on back order...)
It may also be worth the drive to a Harbor Frieght is there is one near you. you may be able to save on the shipping. Just call in advance to make sure they have it in stock. I tried Scranton, Syracuse, Albany, and another store and none had it in stock. Glad I called before driving two hours!
If you do get it from cummins, try and have it shipped to a business. It has to be truck shippped (to heavy for UPS) and they charge 200>00 to ship to a residence and only 100.00 to ship to a business.
Good luck!
PS: Don't forget you need a milling machine vise to do ANYTHING and that doesn't come with the machine. After waiting forever to finally get my mill,...I had to wait another week to get my vise. Rather frustrating.
 
Head on over to www.practicalmachinist.com and do a search. There's hours of reading on the Rong Fu mill/drills there (what table top mills are called). Rong Fu makes most of the ones on the market and are marketed by many such as Grizzly, Jet, HF, etc..

There's also a lot of info on http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net which is a forum sponsored by the magazine of the same name.

I had one once, but couldn't deal with it so I sold it and bought an old Bridgeport and am much happier. That doesn't mean that you can't do awesome work on a small machine as Tom Anderson proves on an ongoing basis. Like they say, it's all in the indian, not in the arrow. I just always wanted a BP and once I got back into it enough to get a mill/drill, it was a short slippery slope to slide down to my full sized machine.

Hope some of this is helpful.
 
Hey Happycat,

Did you like your Cummins Mill?? After comparing all the brands on the little machine shop website, I am leaning towards that model and would value your input. I know nothing about machining...what types of cutters would I need to get to cut slots for handguards, etc??? Can you order them at the same time? How about a vise...do they sell one?

Thanks in advance,

Hank Hammond
 
Hank. I'm a complete newbe at this stuff. You'll want some face mills for slotting guards (thinner than your tang). You can get all that stuff from Grizzly. I don't know about cummins. Griz has that nice catalog and a good website. I[d probably go with them or with the little machine shop website.
Good luck,
Ed
Dan, that one looks like it'll handle whatever you want to throw at it. Have Fun,
Ed
 
Don't forget Sherline. Their mills aren't quite as heavy or as cheap, but they're really nicely made in the USA. Furthermore the headstock can be used with thier lathe bed later on and save you some ca$h that way.

I love mine and can't recommend it enough.

-Allin
 
Razorback - Knives said:
Dan, that's the one I'm looking at. Saving my pennies too.
Scott
Click to expand...
Honestly, the reason I'm looking at that one is because I have a HF down the road and can go pick it up. I've seen it in person and it seems like it could do the job.
 
I talked to one of my buddys who is a toolmaker/machinst for Lockheed/Martin and he said he's heard very good things about the Grizzley mills. He has 22 years experience with milling machines. Just thought I'd pass that along. :)
Scott
 
Now that I am doing this stuff full time, I find my Asian equipment seriously lacking. Pricey, but darn good are the machines from Emco, Prazi and like Darrell said, Taig. I have found that with a lot of work, and I stress "a lot", the Asian imports can be turned into solid and precise machines.

My line of thinking here is that time is money, and its time I would rather spend making something than repairing the machine I need to make it with. Every piece of Pacific Rim junk I have in my shop barely does the job unless I coax it along.

:D
 
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