Beginer/economy lathe and mill for me

[roachie]

After the truck sells I intend on fully outfitting my shop lift, welders, ect. I have very little experience with machining and I will not be using these every day. Mostly going to get used to make brackets and other small things. As much as I would like to buy and actual bridgport they have been evading me.

Here is what I have found.

Mill
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Drill-Mill-with-Stand-29-inch-x-8-inch-Table/G0705

Lathe
http://www.grizzly.com/products/11-x-26-Bench-Lathe-w-Gearbox/G9972Z

And this saw is quite awesome.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-8-1-4-Swivel-Metal-Cutting-Bandsaw/G0613

If anyone else has recommendations I'm all ears.

[okie18]

The mill just looks like a converted drill press. If it is, they are not built for the side load/thrust an actual like an actual mill.

[turbom700]

What okie said.

Dont waste your money you wont be happy with either one of them.

The "mill" is what they call a mill/drill works great for drilling and that about it.

Lathe is a joke as the chuck is tiny and you will get crap for surface finish or be accurate.

Search CL and other machinery auctions for a used lathe and mill you will be money well spent down the road.

Mike

[not enoughsmoke]

The Mill is pretty much the same as my small one. It will work fine.It will have its limitations

[Nor'Easter]

That mill is $1500, I see Bridgeports around from $1500-2500 in good condition. Obviously you might not get digital read outs, but it's a large step above that Grizzly.

[SuperSonic]

Hit the auctions Roachie. Plenty of nice older equipment selling at industrial auctions.
We bought a nice 3axis CNC machining center for 2,000 a couple years ago. Recent got a Cincinnati mill with power feed and a newer DRO for 500.

[roachie]

Only issue I have with auction equipment is that most of what I find is 3phase. The single phase stuff is out of my range locally.

I'm not looking for anything massive, just something I can use to make things fit other things, though I am leaning toward a larger mill.

[AHall]

Tagged for later

[shortbusdriver]

Best option is to have the monies laying around and search craigslist every couple days.

11" on the lathe is the smallest I would go, there just isn't enough weight there to make good cuts otherwise. Also something that spins north of 2000 rpm is real nice.

[OSUBeaver]

Only issue I have with auction equipment is that most of what I find is 3phase. The single phase stuff is out of my range locally.

I'm not looking for anything massive, just something I can use to make things fit other things, though I am leaning toward a larger mill.

You can run a phase converter too. It adds cost to your project, but may enable you to get a much better piece of equipment.

[roachie]

That starts pushing the budget, I'm looking for moderate size with this stuff. Anything bigger, I have a friend that works in a large machine shop that makes things for the nuclear sector on occasion. If it has to be extremely precise or is larger than I can handle its going to him. I'll just be making vbands, funky bolts, and random brackets.

I'd like to keep the whole operation under 5k and the floor space for teh mill and lathe to less than 20'x4'

[nwpadmax]

That mill drill does have its limitations, but I bought one years ago and it has paid for itself many times over and has been reliable. Yes it is not a Bridgeport, so you have to go a bit slower, and you don't have a knee axis motion so you have to plan what you do if you use different length tooling on the same hole or feature.

There are a LOT of junk-ass Bridgeports out there with shot ways and shot screws and a whole lot looser than a brand new mill-drill.

Everything has its tradeoffs.

Use. HGR Industrial Surplus - We Buy & Sell Everything! (http://www.hgrinc.com) to kinda baseline what people are paying for stuff. I love that place.

[nwpadmax]

I also have that same band saw under the "Accura" name plate and it works like a champ.

[roachie]

That link is going to cost me money, I'm waiting on a shipping quote now. LOL

Looking at 0113-051-0001 and 0413-185-0005

[AHall]

That link is going to cost me money, I'm waiting on a shipping quote now. LOL

http://www.hgrinc.com/buyOurs/inventory_detail.do

http://www.hgrinc.com/buyOurs/inventory_detail.do

Links must be specific to your cart.

[roachie]

Edited to the numbers instead.

[Astaindsoul5446]

I know where there is a Bridgeport lathe with a ship load of tooling for 800. Idk where you are located.

[RonA]

I've had several Jet brand tools. 2 grinders, a drill press, a 1236 belt drive lathe, and 2 horizontal saws. I have been running the one Horizontal saw pretty much every day for the last 18 years cutting from 3/4" to 6" steel and stainless steel bars. Not the best machines I've ever run, but no complaints from me.

[oldestof11]

That starts pushing the budget, I'm looking for moderate size with this stuff. Anything bigger, I have a friend that works in a large machine shop that makes things for the nuclear sector on occasion. If it has to be extremely precise or is larger than I can handle its going to him. I'll just be making vbands, funky bolts, and random brackets.

I'd like to keep the whole operation under 5k and the floor space for teh mill and lathe to less than 20'x4'

Guys in my factory machine shop said when they were in class 30 years ago, they made a 3ph converter out of 2 motors. A single phase turned a 3ph motor and that one ran the mill. Now, the catch was the 3ph motor had to be 1.5 times more HP than the milling motor.

[9724VF350]

Been to HGR several times, they're about a hour from me. Love it. Buddy of mine went to school with the sales manager, we've walked out of there with stuff for 1/3 of what it was priced at.

If you're serious, drag a trailer up some Saturday, Tracey will give Steve the same old song and dance about how we're just a bunch of dirt poor dumb farmers LOL and we'll get you a deal.

Or give me inventory numbers and I'll have him call.

[joefarmer]

Use a VFD from Variable Speed Electric Motor VFD Drives by Driveswarehouse (http://driveswarehouse.com/) to convert from 1-phase to 3-phase. As an added benefit, you also get a variable speed spindle.

[9724VF350]

Guys in my factory machine shop said when they were in class 30 years ago, they made a 3ph converter out of 2 motors. A single phase turned a 3ph motor and that one ran the mill. Now, the catch was the 3ph motor had to be 1.5 times more HP than the milling motor.

This works, but depending on your hp requirements, a static converter works well but only delivers 2/3 hp. Bonus is that you can fire up another machine, it generates the "wild" leg and the machine you need is back to full power.

[roachie]

Been to HGR several times, they're about a hour from me. Love it. Buddy of mine went to school with the sales manager, we've walked out of there with stuff for 1/3 of what it was priced at.

If you're serious, drag a trailer up some Saturday, Tracey will give Steve the same old song and dance about how we're just a bunch of dirt poor dumb farmers LOL and we'll get you a deal.

Or give me inventory numbers and I'll have him call.

Perfect, do they keep all that stuff in house? I thought it was scattered about the country.

[zstroken]

Use a VFD from Variable Speed Electric Motor VFD Drives by Driveswarehouse (http://driveswarehouse.com/) to convert from 1-phase to 3-phase. As an added benefit, you also get a variable speed spindle.

I would use this^^^^

This works, but depending on your hp requirements, a static converter works well but only delivers 2/3 hp. Bonus is that you can fire up another machine, it generates the "wild" leg and the machine you need is back to full power.


Unless you have multiple machines I would just find said single phase motor to run on lathe


Guys in my factory machine shop said when they were in class 30 years ago, they made a 3ph converter out of 2 motors. A single phase turned a 3ph motor and that one ran the mill. Now, the catch was the 3ph motor had to be 1.5 times more HP than the milling motor.

Going to this trouble would only be good if you have multiple machines. Besides finding a large single phase motor could be fun.

The VFD solution is the best in my opinion.

[9724VF350]

Perfect, do they keep all that stuff in house? I thought it was scattered about the country.

I guess they could have stuff scattered all around, dunno. They have a massive building in Cleveland that I've always went to.


Bonus, you won't have to find a box to ship a flywheel housing. LOL

[roachie]

Dunno, that 8hr drive is almost worth the $900 that quoted me for shipping. LOL

[9724VF350]

Dunno, that 8hr drive is almost worth the $900 that quoted me for shipping. LOL

Don't forget to factor in the free lunch they usually serve on saturday. LOL


Looking at 0113-051-0001 and 0413-185-0005


I can't make the second number work.

[roachie]

Don't forget to factor in the free lunch they usually serve on saturday. LOL





I can't make the second number work.


Free food?! LOL Try this one, I think the one I originally quoted got sold. 0513-051-0013

[kjpcummins]

Use a VFD from Variable Speed Electric Motor VFD Drives by Driveswarehouse (http://driveswarehouse.com/) to convert from 1-phase to 3-phase. As an added benefit, you also get a variable speed spindle.

This style setup works great.

[roachie]

In other news....

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/gms/3862827017.html

[9724VF350]

Looks like a great auction, have a time machine handy?

[1pieceatatime.]

I know where there is a Bridgeport lathe with a ship load of tooling for 800. Idk where you are located.

Got anymore details on? Milford is right down the road from me.

Pardon the Hijack :Cheer:

[roachie]

Looks like a great auction, have a time machine handy?

Would have been nice wouldnt it. LOL

[cetaneaddict]

Also check out your local colleges and boces schools. They have to update there machinery every so often to keep up with the technology. Especially colleges/ trade schools. Get in contact with the machining teacher and become friends with him. He could give you a great deal before they go to auction. They maintain their equipment in the colleges. I went through it about 7 years ago and I keep in contact with my machining teachers so when I get my shop finished and the stars align I'll have a chance to get my hands on a 3 axis Bridgeport protrac. I machine for a living so a conversational mill suits my needs, but you should be able to pick up a nice manual Bridgeport for a good price. Plus you could test drive before you buy!

[9724VF350]

Find anything? Pretty sure I'm going to HGR in the next day or 2.

[joefarmer]

I need a cheap manual lathe that will swing a 16" diameter piece up to ~24" long.

[SINNER]

Search for bank liquidations. I picked up a Bridgeport with over 10k in controls and tooling for less than 2k. All the controls were already set up to run off single phase and I also use a variable frequency drive to do the phase conversion. I actually set up a independent 3 phase circuit in my shop with a single drive. It is programmable with memory so I store the different parameters for each 3 phase tool and just switch it based on needs. Not only will a good freq. drive allow speed control but you can also use it for a ramped start up speed and put a cap on the amperage drawn by each device. Beats the old rotary converter I had by a long shot. On the old rotary it would draw so much power my lights would restart, but with the drive incandescent bulbs barely even dim.

[joefarmer]

My intention was to have a VFD do the phase conversion, but at the new shop it's wired 3-phase. I may still look into it for the variable speed ease.

[roachie]

For some reason this didnt show up on my Sub'd threads.

I'm looking less intently now as I have access to a pair of CNC mills and a brand spankin new MAZAK lathe at work. Plus I now have 3 trucks and a car to fix. LOL