Small milling machines

[Hannibal]

Are there any small milling machines out there that are worth the price? I know the big machines are best for rigidity and power but that's not practical for my home shop. I get along fine with a SouthBend Heavy 10 for a lathe. I know it's not what is needed for a business but I'm not operating a business nor do I plan to start one. I'd just like a decent machine for my personal projects that isn't huge but still has decent capabilities.

Thanks for looking.

[redneck1]

Oh they can be very useful to a home shop , what's your budget like ?
I've had a grizzly g0704 for quite a long time , sure it's not a Bridgeport but if you work within its limitations it does some fine work and it didn't break the bank to buy it.

Something you'll here a lot of is you'll spend more on tooling then the machine ... ignore that .
Don't just go spending money on things you think you will need .
Start with the basics , a vise , parallels , set of collets and just a couple endmills . And then don't buy anything unless you absolutely can't find a way to work around it .
If you don't already own a test indicator it's a good investment over a drop indicator for dialing in your tram and setting a vise.

[Hannibal]

Oh they can be very useful to a home shop , what's your budget like ?
I've had a grizzly g0704 for quite a long time , sure it's not a Bridgeport but if you work within its limitations it does some fine work and it didn't break the bank to buy it.

Something you'll here a lot of is you'll spend more on tooling then the machine ... ignore that .
Don't just go spending money on things you think you will need .
Start with the basics , a vise , parallels , set of collets and just a couple endmills . And then don't buy anything unless you absolutely can't find a way to work around it .
If you don't already own a test indicator it's a good investment over a drop indicator for dialing in your tram and setting a vise.

Good information, thank you for the post.

[Mal Paso]

I bought the Harbor Freight Mini Mill and added a DRO. I just bought a 4.5" angle vise to make a bracket for a sonic sensor. I often need a bracket or reshape one. Laying out hole patterns is a snap with the drill and DRO. You can't do large projects or take large cuts but it's done everything I've tried. Added pictures of the mods.

[BLAHUT]

Look into Grizzly and Harbor Freight Mini Mill. They work good for light duty?

[elmacgyver0]

I have a Precision Mathews PM-25MV complete with factory installed digital readouts, or DRO if you like.
I bought it when I decided to retire as I figured I wouldn't be able to afford it after I retired.
I also have an old HF Drill/Mill that looks more like a benchtop Drill Press with an integral X/Y table.
I built a single shot .50 BMG rifle with it and my Southbend 9-inch swing lathe.
So, did I "need" the PM-25MV? Probably not, I just wanted it.

[Jeff Michel]

Depending on the size of the footprint, you have bunch of options. If you need to have one double as a drill press, I'd look at any of the square column styles rather than an R30 or something with a round column, R-8 taper. Most of the stands sold with light duty mills are pretty flimsy, your better off making something substantial with the ability to roughly level. If you have the room and don't need the drill press option. Nichols tool room mills (they made three different types) are readily available and pretty cheap considering they can do real work. They are horizontal machines and built like a tank. MT 40 taper, tooling not bad price wise and they will fit in a space of 4x4 feet. I'd install a DRO after you make your purchase. If you go new, the sellers really inflate the price if you add it on in a package deal, I've picked a couple off Ebay for small money, no they aren't a Newell but they work pretty darn good for Chicom stuff. I have one that I use and in the process of restoring another, wouldn't be without one. Good luck on your search.

[elmacgyver0]

I bought the Harbor Freight Mini Mill and added a DRO. I just bought a 4.5" angle vise to make a bracket for a sonic sensor. I often need a bracket or reshape one. Laying out hole patterns is a snap with the drill and DRO. You can't do large projects or take large cuts but it's done everything I've tried. Added pictures of the mods.

A lot of people would be surprised at what you can do with a little machine like that.
It won't take the cut of Bridgeport but with a little patients you will get there.

[country gent]

The mini mills will do a lot of work but you do have to work in their limitations and with smaller end mills, although fly cutters can be used. The hobbyist isnt as concerned with time as he is the job.
Tooling to start with
A good test indicator, a back dial is handy in the mill
collets for the machine maybe not a full set but from 1/8-3/8 to start
A drill chuck here a straight arbor to fit in a collet makes the chuck more versatile
A good edge finder for picking up parts.
A vise.
With the above you can make almost all the tooling you will need fairly easily.

Another option you have since you said you have a south bend heavy 10 lathe might be to find a milling attachment for it. Not as handy as the stand a;one machine bbut they can be found very reasonable and will do a lot of work. these normally replace or sit on the compound of the lathe and work horizontally.

[redneck1]

Another option if you want to expand your possibilities, a brand new Haas vf2ss nicely optioned is only about 85k and only needs a 100 inch square for its foot print

[elmacgyver0]

Another option if you want to expand your possibilities, a brand new Haas vf2ss nicely optioned is only about 85k and only needs a 100 inch square for its foot print

I guess money is no object with you.
2k seemed a lot to me.
My shop is in the basement so that put a lot of restrictions on me not counting money.

[redneck1]

Oh I wouldn't say that , in my case it'll be earning my daily bread .
But the op hasn't stated any limits to a budget so .....

[country gent]

A friend had a 8" X 36" sheldon lathe and index 55 end mill in his basement. both lighter machines.
The chicago Campbells plants tool room was on the 3rd floor even worse everything had to go up. You have to wonder when these plants were set up what they were thinking.

[HollowPoint]

Since retiring I've sold off most of my machining stuff. One of the few things I've kept was my Harbor Freight mini-mill and my Grizzly gunsmithing lathe.
I bought these brand new well over a decade ago. I've used my mini-mill as my drill press for all of these years and the lathe is just a mainstay in my tiny home shop. I plan on taking both of them with me when I die. They both still hum right along for doing alot of the small milling project I'll still do on occasion.

I just recently used both of these machines to hollow point one of my cheap little two cavity Lee 9mm bullet molds. I guess it all depends on what kind of things you're wanting to do with your mill that determines what size of mill you can get away with buying.

Bigger and more expensive is always better if your budget allows for it but, it's not always necessary. I know of several folks who routinely make some awesome stuff with the kinds of entry level milling machines that those online milling-machine-snobs look down on.

HollowPoint

[elmacgyver0]

Oh I wouldn't say that , in my case it'll be earning my daily bread .
But the op hasn't stated any limits to a budget so .....

That is true, but he does seem to have a space limitation, or he would not be looking for a small machine.
He was also looking for something worth the price, so money must be a factor.
He sounds like someone who wants to spend as little as possible but still be able to do what he would like to do, like me.
We would all like to have the big heavy machines, but sometimes they are just not in the cards for all of us.
i don't mean to be speaking for Hannibal, just me.

[redneck1]

Yea your right , but I think the best bang for your buck is in the size range of your pm 25 and my grizzly g0704 .

They don't eat up any more space then the mini mills and the extra z height makes a huge difference when you need to drill .
Plus you can get an off the shelf power feed for them , cranking that x gets tiresome after awhile .

I'll add this ... it's been years since I looked at prices so they might not be quite so affordable any more . I think my grizzly with a power feed was right around $1300 after shipping . It's been a awhile .

[Hannibal]

That is true, but he does seem to have a space limitation, or he would not be looking for a small machine.
He was also looking for something worth the price, so money must be a factor.
He sounds like someone who wants to spend as little as possible but still be able to do what he would like to do, like me.
We would all like to have the big heavy machines, but sometimes they are just not in the cards for all of us.
i don't mean to be speaking for Hannibal, just me.

You've got me figured about right. I was hoping a cheaper option might be available but I know you get what you pay for when it comes to tools and machines. I definitely don't want to buy something that won't do what I need. But the cost of and space required for a bigger mill just isn't an option. I like the looks of the Grizzly g0704 but I'm not sure I can justify it.
I just started this thread to get some feedback from those who'd either owned or knew someone who owned one of the small mills. The mini-mills are definitely not capable of doing what I want. That much I do know.
One other advantage of the Grizzly over the PM is I can get it delivered to my local Home Depot and not have to worry about being home to receive it or find unexpected shipping damage when it arrives.

[GONRA]

The old Clausing Vertical Mill can be disassembled into (maybe ~300 lb, each) loads for moving.
That + olde SB 10K lathe verk Just Fine for GONRA!

[Hannibal]

Yea your right , but I think the best bang for your buck is in the size range of your pm 25 and my grizzly g0704 .

They don't eat up any more space then the mini mills and the extra z height makes a huge difference when you need to drill .
Plus you can get an off the shelf power feed for them , cranking that x gets tiresome after awhile .

I'll add this ... it's been years since I looked at prices so they might not be quite so affordable any more . I think my grizzly with a power feed was right around $1300 after shipping . It's been a awhile .

It has been awhile. They're double that and then some without the power feed now from what I'm seeing.

[redneck1]

That changes the landscape a bit , I'd be inclined to start looking for a used mill , grizzly has made tens of thousands of the g0704 and it seems to be quite common for a fellow to decide to upgrade after a year or three or just learn that metal working isn't for them .
If your not in a hurry one's sure to pop up .

I can't think of any problems mine ever gave me , some complain about the plastic gears , I've never had an issue or replaced them .
I did take it completely apart when I got it , cleaned it and stoned all the gibbs and sliding surfaces , kept it cleaned lubed up and used the heck out it .