Mill recomendations ?

Just testing the opinion of the forum -

I would like to add a small mill to my workshop, I have a Myford super 7 and have done a little basic milling with it but it's quite limiting what you can do with only 2 axis movement.

Space is at a premium, so floor standing mills are probably out, will have to be a bench model, single phase. If 3 phase then inverter etc will have to count into the budget.

Have seen some mill / drills for sale (machine mart etc) but most seem to come with standard drill chucks which, I understand are not up to much, milling wise. I already have a decent bench drill.

Top budget is £1000, but would like that to include some basic tooling etc in that so I can make use of it without having to spend a load more on "accessories"

I don't mind buying used, but I don't want to take on a worn out restoration project like I did with my lathe, which I'm now very happy with but it took a lot of work.

So any mill pointers / tips recomendations chaps ?

Cheers - Dave.

Hi Dave,

Do a search for mill, milling, small mill, etc. There are many posts on this forum discussing the choice and use of a mill.

Cheers, Paul

Sieg SX3.

And avoid combo lathe-mills as they are a compromise at best.

Hi Dave,

The SX3 is a nice milling machine, a friend of mine has one but a bit over your £1000 budget. The SX2.7 is lighter and a bit cheaper. The SX2P is even smaller and within your budget. The WM16 is around your budget but comes with a MT 2 spindle, today I would have bought one with a R8 spindle. I have an old version of this, it has served me well for nearly 10 years. You will find similar machines from other suppliers.

Thor

quite limiting what you can do with only 2 axis movement.

If it is only a third axis you require, you could get away with a milling attachment for your lathe. Regarded as still limited but used by a huge number of hobbyists before milling machines became much cheaper.

Remember that tooling is likely to be a large chunk of your budget. If classed as a ‘mill-drill’ the machine shoud have a spindle which will be appropriate to milling needs (mostly MT2 &3).

Edited By not done it yet on 19/05/2020 07:02:05

Don't rule out an R8 spindle, many would say more appropriate than MT as suggested above..

Just because the machine comes with a drill chuck should not put you off, just treat it as one accessory you won't need to buy as a mill makes a far more accurate drilling machine than a bench drill.

Might find some useful info on Journeyman's Workshop but no guarantee of enlightenment!

John

Mills have a spindle, this can hold a variety of things, one of which is a drill chuck. There are many types of tool, and many ways to hold them in a mill, typically suppliers/manufacturers expect that you will buy the items that will suit your requirements, rather than throw in the box stuff most customers will never use. The cheap drill chuck is the one thing many do throw in.

Your budget is very small, to avoid disappointment you should spend time working out your needs and expectations, and finding a machine that matches those. Then you figure out how to achieve that with your budget.

To be fair to the suppliers of the mini mill/drills while they can have a drill chuck fitted, this is removed for milling and an appropriate collet or mill chuck fitted in its place.

One approach might be to look at the costs of essential tooling and at least one supplier sells 'starter sets' that might help you here and this will tell you how much of your budget is left for the machine itself.

If the machines available for that price are too small, or don't have features you want, you now have a good idea how much your budget needs to be modified.

If you are tight for space (I was) check how much space either side and up and down you will need to extend the table and head fully - it can be surprisingly large.

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 19/05/2020 09:16:18

There's a "Heavy Chinese bench mill" for sale in the classified section for your budget. It includes "accessories" unspecified. Could be worth an email at least.

John

Put all your budget into the mill and only allow £50 for tooling. You can always buy more tools next year but you can't buy and extra add on 6 inches of mill table.
Mill-drills are a perfect complement to a Myford sized lathe and often available. Note that there are two sizes and it might not be obvious which one in a simple picture. yes they have shortcomings but it is better to have something you can afford than nothing at all.
If the Chinese one mentioned above is still available you might ask for more details. The problem with the adverts on this site is that there is no room for a real detailed advert.

Bazyle - I think you are a little behind the times price wise - even two or three collets, cutters to suit and the most basic clamps will be more than that buying new nowadays. if you want a machine vice as well you are now coming close to £150 - £200!

It is what shocked me after buying a very small mill - the accessories etc for a milling machine work out far more expensive that what you need to begin using a lathe.

I would agree with what you say normally, however in this case the OP did mention he did not wish to spend money later on accessories etc.

Take care & stay safe,

Nick

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 19/05/2020 12:54:22

I would say you should look at the Chinese mill in the classifieds. Assuming it is still for sale, it could be just right for you. It looks to be a SIEG X3 which I hear is a good mill like its newer version the SX3. Which I have just bought.

Adrian

Don't rule out an R8 spindle, 9many would say more appropriate than MT as suggested above.

Sorry, must take more care of my grammar. What I should have written was:

If classed as a ‘mill-drill’ the machine shoud have a spindle (most are MT2 & 3) which will be appropriate for milling needs.

I didn’t mean to suggest anything being more appropriate, just that most mill-drills have the facility for better tool-holding than a Jacobs type chuck.

Edited By not done it yet on 19/05/2020 13:24:31

Thanks everyone.

I did have a search of older posts and did a bit of digging, The Seig SX2P hi torque with R8 spindle is looking like a good candidate so far as the price leaves me a few quid to get some basic tooling.

However I will continue to look at some of the others mentioned...

Just thinking - How much use is a pillar drill in the workshop when you have a lathe and a mill ? If it's going to be pretty much redundant then I could unbolt it from the bench to free up some extra potential room for the mill. ?

Or would it be a poor choice to ditch the pillar drill altogether ? It is fairly tall and I have used it for jobs like drilling broken studs out of car cylinder heads, that I doubt would fit in a bench top mill. (just talked myself out of that idea I think !)

Thanks again - I'm finding this is a very friendly and helpful forum..

Edited By Dave Whipp on 19/05/2020 23:38:39

I recently bought a milling machine, which of course is also a pillar drill. I also have a pillar drill. I do still use the pillar drill for anything not needing accuracy. It is handy to have but not essential if space is at a premium.

Steve.

Hi Dave,

In addition to my milling machine I do have an old pillar drill, it doesn't get used very much but is very useful when I need to drill a hole in something that needs a lot of headroom. I have moved the pillar drill into a corner so it is out of the way. So if you have jobs that would be difficult to do on the milling machine and you could find somewhere to store it, I would keep the drill for those odd jobs.

Thor

I think the chines mill in the classifieds is long gone. The ad is dated January and I emailed the seller months ago and got no reply.