What milling machine

Having moved things around in the workshop (shed ) I now have a little more room so given that my drill press is passed it I thinking of getting a bench top milling/drill machine but which one ! I do not have a great demand for milling just servicing my 3" Burrell and to date have milled on my S7, I have done a search for buying suggestions but still would like to ask the question and suggestion as to what 'budget' bench top machine should I go for

Cheers H

From my experience go for the biggest you can fit /afford.

My first mill was Warco WM14 size/style. It was great for doing small steam engines but I started doing bigger and bigger projects and ran into issues with the table not having suffient travel or being able to fit the parts under the head . The final straw .. burning out the motor after being too impatient taking too big a cut.

I replaced it with a Major Gear Head Mill / Drill. Good work envelope and more power for getting the jobs done. If I was going to change I would look at a similar size machine but with a Dovetail column and inverter speed control.

Just my two penny worth

I would second the idea of the dovetail column, it is often useful to be able to raise the head without losing the position relative to the job.

John

Hi Harry,

I agree that a milling machine with a dovetail column is easier to use than a round column. If you are interested in a review of the WM 14 you can find it here.

I started with a Sieg X2 milling machine, and soon found it a bit too small, so I upgraded to a Weiss WM 25, there is a review of it here.

Thor

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'Knowing what I know now' in relation to a few years ago I would say one of the most important specs on a milling machine is the distance from 'Spindle to bed'

This being due to once say an ER type collet holder and a decent vice has been added the available working space can be reduced considerably from what you thought you had available. - Start adding a rotary table with a chuck mounted on it and the distance is reduced even more.

This may or may not be an issue depending upon what you intend to machine upon the mill. But I would say one always needs more capacity than one 'initially thinks' they do.

Nick