How much is this Emco Mentor mill worth?

Hi all

Just a quick question, how much are these mills? I really like the look of them. One was up for sale on Ebay not long ago but the seller wanted £950 which seems like a lot to me. What are your thoughts?

Best wishes

Luke

That's very different to my Mentor mill, does it say MENTOR on the side somewhere? The Mentor mill was popular in school workshops, hence it's name

Hi Vic

From the looks of the pictures no I cannot see any model or make. When I searched Google for the Mentor it has some similarity to the pictures on Tony's website but also some differences

Looks to me to be a Mentor mill that has been fitted with a non-standard motor via a custom made adapter - note the Parvalux speed controller in the background. There is a comment on Tony's site about the original motors running hot & expiring early.

Difficult to guess at prices these days, but £950 sounds optimistic to me for a machine with (most likely) zero spares backup. The Mentor pre-dates the FB2 (for which spares support seems sketchy at best ) & I have a recollection of having read that the gearing is a bit fragile, so lack of (or difficult to source, or expensive - or both ! ) spares could be an issue.

I would want to see demonstrated that all the gears engage & run quietly - maybe pop the access panel off the gearbox for a look inside if the seller was amenable.

The quill travel is a bit short (if I read Tony's site correctly it is 40mm, same as my FB2 clone ) & doesn't have a fine feed. From the pictures on Tony's site the Mentor also appears to lack the FB2s adjustable depth stop on the quill feed.

Nigel B.

For about the same money you could get a current production Sherline mill. These are light machines but can do a lot. Very well supported by the manufacturer. Can be fitted with servos etc for CNC later if you wish. Much better known value with one of these than the one in your pics. They are available from many retailers worldwide. I have used Sherline machines at several firms in my day job. They are very capable if light cuts and sharp tools are used. I don't have any connection to makers or the retailer in my link except as a satisfied user of the mills noted.

https://www.robotshop.com/ca/en/sherline-3-axis-5400-cnc-ready-tabletop-vertical-milling-machine-metric.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9ZGYBhCEARIsAEUXITXziiPBX5SIXSxxk9_JSSGvTxKnE9hksgWWlFHlG-69TOAfLYUNplQaAvyaEALw_wcB

Edited By vic newey on 24/08/2022 17:32:21

Edited By vic newey on 24/08/2022 17:35:03

I know that eBay seller, has been a nice bloke whenever I've dealt with him, his main business is supplying/maintaining machine tools for schools and colleges.

That said, there's no way that mill is worth just shy of a grand!

On the second hand market you could (with patience) get a decent full sized mill for that money, or as other posters have said on the new market you could have a far eastern mill of a similar size to that EMCO.

.

If you do fancy that particular mill (it wouldn't be for me, but we all have different requirements) and it re-appears on eBay I would suggest contacting the seller and asking if he's open to negotiation on the price as you've seen it's not moving.

The question really is "How much would that be worth to me personally?" once you know that, you know what to offer and what your walking away point is.

He may have locked himself into a high price by giving a good price to the school he bought it from, but otherwise I would think he'd be open to negotiation, and certainly wouldn't be offended by it.

Thats very rich indeed, you could buy a good used light industrial or ex school Harrison for that! The Raglans only make about 8-900 on a good day, and they are a far better machine. I have seen Bridgeports make less!!

Phil

Edited By Phil Whitley on 14/09/2022 18:51:57