Buying a small mill

It depends on the product, value of the product, how much an international buyer is prepared to pay, location of factory in China, how much hand to mouth it is working, how unscrupulous a boss is, rejection rate sold off on eBbay/banggood, back door policy for financial gain / black market money laundering on eBay/banggood which buyers, local politician and international government support, politics and enforcement of government regulations in the area. Everyone has a mouth to feed - one way or another and who are we to judge?...

As I said before, we all love a bargain ... with or without understanding. What people got was cheap, so why give a dam right?

From 2007 to now, worker rights throughout China have improved immensely. Chances of things being made in the way shown in Hoppers 2007 video are low.

Ketan at ARC.

I don't think Banggood have any video of their suppliers worksheds

Ladies & Gentlemen

All this is fascinating but I'm really interested in readers' experiences of small bench-top mills (less than 50cm front to back).

At present, I would rather spend under £600 so that I will have some cash to spend on tooling and accesories.

Very many thanks for your understanding

MC

Sorry from me. Digress is a terrible thing. Are you biased towards 2nd hand or new. Not sure how much a reasonable new one will cost you. You could drop lucky with a 2nd hand one that comes with extra's. Which would save you on tooling. If new then someone else will have to assist.

Steve.

If I could obtain a second-hand Mill in good condition, I would be happy with that but feel that a new machine with a guarantee and support from the supplier might be a better bet.

And unless the seller of a second-hand Mill lived in East Hertfordshire, I would NOT be able to take possession until after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Nothing is likely to be shareable with my little lathe so interchangibility isn't a big issue.

With best wishes and thanks

MC

Unless you could bag a deal from a supplies who may include some tooling to get you going. Worth a try I guess.

The cutters can be bought at a reasonable price. It is things like a machine vice that will cost a bit more.

Steve.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I inherited a lot of End Mills and Slot Drills from a chum whose wife decided that thy were going to move into a flat.

He had a big workshop - bigger than a Double Garage - with various machine tools, including a lathe, pillar drill and table saw that his father had converted to electrickery from being belt driven. I didn't have space for any of those but I gratefully accepted drills, taps & dies reamers, milling cutters, tool bits, measuring tools to add to what my late father left.

So I have got a selection of cutters to start with.

But I have noticed the cost of Milling Vices! It seems a shame that most seem to come on a swivel base - the usefulness of which is questionable.

Yes I do not have a rotating version. It is a good one by Abwood. If I need to offset I just undo one bolt & clamp that side . I have no problem with height but it could be with table top versions. At least they come off if not needed.

Steve.

You are not going to get a lot of milling machine for 600 billy lids. Take a look at Sieg mills. Their reputation is very good for hobby grade machines but prices might be a bit high for you. The SX3 model is good substantial hobby machine from what I have seen personally. Many model engineers do well with the cheaper and smaller SX2 though.

Be wary of going too low budget or with unknown brands etc and ending up with an undersize or poor quality machine that struggles to do what you want.

Edited By Hopper on 09/05/2020 07:55:20

Except the Fury/Bandit engines incurably shook themselves to pieces on the test bench and self-destructed before they got to market, despite full page ads for them in all the bike magazines. Rather unsurprising as they were designed by the same fellow who designed the Ariel Square 4 in 1928 and the Triumph Speed Twin of 1937. By 1971 poor old Edward Turner, 70, was yesterday's man, despite his outstanding lifetime achievements. Bit like the industry as a whole really.