Recommendation, benchtop mill

Machine Shop
#1

Dear all,
I am considering a benchtop mill for my lab.

Use case:
-prototyping (precision work can be sent out)
-primarily plastics and aluminium
-accuracy within a few thousandths is sufficient
-largest pieces would probably be bulkhead mount cutouts in face plates for custom 19" rack-mount units (~19"x8")
-low duty cycle (used a few times a week)
-robust/low maintenance
-‘drill press’ function would probably be used most often.
-cnc not necessary
-1/2" chuck is necessary

I would prefer not having a lathe combo, primarily due to safety concerns.
Ideally, the mill would use metric units
220V power is possible, I’d need to have it installed.

Does anyone have experience with mills which would fit this need? There are many options online, few from sources I’ve heard of previously.

Thank you for your expertise,
David

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#2

I have a mill/drill with a round column . I think it weighs 600 pounds .
I am glad to have it but would rather have a mill with v ways .
The travel in y axis is limited(6 inches) . A little slop in column . (.005 in.)
I installed 2 digital readouts that can be either metric or inch .
Its really a matter of time wasted working around the short comings.
I can hold hole location pretty close if I use a center drill .
Changing the spindle speeds can be annoying with belt drive but I have plenty of torque for slow speed operation.
I have it because it was a good price and 2 years ago I was still young enough to move it by myself.v
Round columns loose their location when you have to change the height.
I would advise against round columns if you can afford better.
With in your budget get digital readouts. and the most x,y,z travel you can afford.
Its a matter of time . Accuracy is a matter of skill and patience.
I haven’t owned any other types and cannot recommend anything .

#3

I started with a Grizzly G0704 mill and quickly upgraded to a much larger Grizzly G0761 mill when the opportunity presented itself. Both have a square column instead of a round column often found on small and cheaper mills. G0704 was around 250 pounds and the G0761 is over 700 pounds.

Precision Matthews is known to make some decent quality entry level and smaller hobbiest sized milling machines and lathes. If I had not found some great deals on the mills I got I would have probably bought one from Precision Matthews.

And remember that tooling will almost certainly cost way more than the actual machine. I am slowly building up my tooling for my home shop… Both of the mills I have owned used R8 collets and I have a set of collets as well as two R8 drill chucks.

G0704

G0704
G07041536×2048 313 KB

G0761

G0761
G07611536×2048 384 KB

3 Likes
#4

This. I don’t know if anyone watches Blondi Hacks on YouTube but she particularly likes her Precision Matthews mill.

#5

No Bridgeport? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Btw How are you doing David? Still ok from that accident?

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#6

David was up here … yesterday? I didn’t speak to him, but he looked okay.

#7

@dryad2b It must have been someone else- Unfortunately, I haven’t been to DMS for ~4 m. As I don’t yet have the mill we are discussing, I plan to be up next week.

@TBJK Bridgeports are very nice and what I know best. Unfortunately, they require significant effort to move, high ceilings/strong floors, and won’t fit in the doors leading to my lab. This is a ‘good enough’ solution to tide me over until the new machine shop gets built at my university. I should have added the door/floor constraint.

Thank you for asking- I am well enough. any time you get hit by a semi on the freeway and are still walking, you’re doing great. My van… still dealing with the shop and insurance. I am very lucky this is a project vehicle.

All the best,
David

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#8

@Shawn_Christian @John_Marlow Thank you. I was not previously aware of the Precision Matthews mills. I will investigate.

@Shawn_Christian The pallet jack under the mill is a great idea.

regards,
David

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#9

I have a narrow 21” wide and 36” long pallet Jack that I use in my workshop to move stuff around. Most things are on wheels but the items that are not I can usually move with the pallet jack like some of the tool cabinets.

I also have a heavy duty engine hoist with lifting straps that has been a huge help. Used it to put the 716 pound milling machine on the tool stand I already had that is in the photo above.

Also having a liftgate on my truck makes going to buy and move this stuff much easier.

#10

I’m actually building a mill with these requirements, it’s actually a router but can do plastics and aluminum very well for the price.

The hardware comes as a kit from aliexpress (very reputable shop in China, I got my parts in less than 3 weeks) but it does require quite a bit of work to build.

The biggest benefit is you can scale the CNC to the size you want and the fusion360 model parametrically resizes your parts list, 3D printed parts, and steel tube lengths to build it.

The best part is the price, you can build one of these for under $3000 (steel and wood got expensive recently)

#11

@themitch22
This might be a good choice for my (future) garage.
For use in a common lab, it probably requires too much expertise and front end work investment.

thank you,
David

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