Jon H Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Back in 2022 i asked the masses for recommendations for a mini lathe. Today, its a milling machine. I wont be buying immediately as im currently broke following a house move 2 months ago, but i am trying to get my ducks in a row so that when i am ready i have all i need. My house move has afforded me the luxury of a garage, which is now cut in half with a dividing wall allowing the back end to be a workshop. As fortune would have it, I was able to nab 2 sets of drawers and some bench tops from work for free as they were updating them all. A bit of carpentry later i have a nice space to work all illuminated by the lights i nicked from the old laser factory in apsley. As my dividing wall is made mostly from 3 free doors from facebook and offcuts of a broken wardrobe its been quite an economical build so far. Anyway, i have set aside room for a mini mill. Nothing fancy, and i have a few options bookmarked, i was just wondering what everyone else is using as i work on a return to the hobby after loosing my interest for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stainforth Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Jon, I am intrigued by your need for a mill? Are you going to start making your own model engines? Otherwise, what do you need a mill for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Simples a lathe is a lathe and a mill all be it a horizontal or vertical one is well a mill, horses for courses. If you could do everything on a lathe then mill would not be needed although I have seen some very skilful use of backplate clamping and holding of work pieces on a lathe (very scary seeing something so off centre whirling around!) I don't have a pillar drill as I use my vertical mill for that + it is far easier to clamp the job and move the cutter than the other way around. I have a The SIEG Super X2P Hi Torque mill and all the best to Jon with his model flying hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 11 hours ago, John Stainforth said: Jon, I am intrigued by your need for a mill? Are you going to start making your own model engines? Otherwise, what do you need a mill for? always wanted one, plenty of jobs are easier with a mill. Even simple stuff like putting flats on oleo mount pins for retracts. And going forward it will allow me to have a crack at more complex projects like my own engines, or at least my own crankcases with complicated bits bought or scavenged from old engines to make my own random things 43 minutes ago, Chris Walby said: SIEG Super X2P this was already on my short list. How do you find it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I’ve got the smaller Clarke CM10 (yellow painted version of the Seig X1) fitted with the larger table and X axis screw from Seig, which just copes with modelling tasks and the odd larger job but you have to go very carefully, especially when machining steel components. As a small “precision” drill, it comes in very handy and performs well. I use it constantly in this role. It’s invaluable for making such things as “oleo” legs, custom retract components and various fittings but if I was buying it today, I’d go for something a little heavier - but I don’t think any of the budget machines would come close to the industrial equipment you’re used to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 11 minutes ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said: industrial equipment Im just looking for a 'desktop' mill. I have a really cheap milling table for use with a pillar drill which is utter rubbish, but in fairness did 90% of what i asked of it. I was able to modify some retracts with it and while not the prettiest job, it did get the job done. The clarke cmd300 was also on my radar but its quite pricey compared to the competition. The Sieg is in the naughty corner for its postage price. Arceurotrade want £85 for postage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) Looking them up, really cheap,, https://www.sieg-machines.de/Pre-order-Mini-Mill-Drill-SX2L-brushless-Motor Arceurotrade want £85 for postage! That's the price for a big envelope today.🤢 Lucky that you aren't buying Methanol in france, 10l from Marseille to me 100klm, 68€ ! Edited January 5 by Paul De Tourtoulon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I find the mill does everything modelling I need it to do as very few toy aeroplanes contain large steel parts. Its cost vs how many times you need to use it...not very often, but when you do its really handy. I would like to do more with it but messing around with a pesky 360V is consuming my time. You could do it on a lathe, but it will take a lot longer to set up, but if its all you have then people find a way! Mine arrived in a very well protected wooden shipping create, not the bit of kit you want to find was thrown off the delivery van and damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I would suggest that a phone call to Home & Workshop Machinery in Sidcup could be worthwhile. Have a chat and they might let you know if they get something secondhand in at at a good price or they may suggest something more mansized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Hi John . You wont regret Buying a mill. I bought a draper Desktop mill just prior to the Covid . Draper , Sealy, Osaki, Zorro and Clarke are essentially the same machines , just different colours . Be aware that there two main differences , Gear driven and belt driven. Pros and cons . The gear driven is a bit noisier than the belt driven . there were some conversion kits around some years ago but they seem to have died out now as the manufacturers seem to offer both with a price jump for the belt drive .b Typically from £699 for gear driven to £1000 Plus for a belt drive . There are a few You tube vids of Belt drive conversions . The drive gears are I believe the same gears used in the mini lathes and are cheap and simple to replace . The gears will only fail if you try to take too big a cut or make a climbing cut and overload the machine . The belt drive as said is a bit quieter and will not break if overloaded / jammed . I have the Gear driven version found at best price from a company in Essex . I bought mine to scratch an itch to make a crankcase for a Bodo Mills . while I could probably have done t on my lathe the milling machine is much easier and versatile to use than a lathe alone . Do search around as prices vary considerably for badge engineered copies . My Draper cost around £750 . The Osaki machine sold by Zorro is identical apart from colour to my Draper version . Pics of Crank case made as first project on machine. Hope you find one at a good price . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 Thanks guys ED i was also looking at the osaki job and was pondering the gear/vs belt situation. I dont really care about the noise of the machine as i have ear defenders for use with more or less all of my powertools anyway. Being able to quickly change gear is an attractive proposition for the gear driven version, as changing the belt seems a bit of a faff to me. Then again, how often do i really need to change the speed range? I did suspect that most of the machines are the same but with different hair and makeup. The only differences i can find between them seem to be motor wattage, brushless vs brushed motors etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Hi John . The gears have two settings . High and low easy to change over by a lever . What I was referring to was easy to change is in the event of them breaking . Like I said this will only happen IF you take a bigger cut than the machines capabilities or switch on with the Draw bar locking bar in place . Great little machines . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriew58 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Hi Jon, This may or may not be of interest but there is a very nice Emco FB2 mill for sale at Pennyfarthing Tools. Website pennyfarthingtools.co.uk. Price £1400 with tooling. I have previously found the company excellent to deal with, and incredibly helpful. They also have a couple of very nice Swiss mills too at higher prices... Laurie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 2 hours ago, Engine Doctor said: Hi John . The gears have two settings . High and low easy to change over by a lever . What I was referring to was easy to change is in the event of them breaking . Like I said this will only happen IF you take a bigger cut than the machines capabilities or switch on with the Draw bar locking bar in place . Great little machines . yea it was the convenience of changing gear for rpm that appealed. If the gears are metal, i would guess you need to work quite hard to break them! 2 hours ago, Lauriew58 said: Hi Jon, This may or may not be of interest but there is a very nice Emco FB2 mill for sale at Pennyfarthing Tools. Website pennyfarthingtools.co.uk. Price £1400 with tooling. I have previously found the company excellent to deal with, and incredibly helpful. They also have a couple of very nice Swiss mills too at higher prices... Laurie. Thanks for that. Its a little out of my price range unfortunately and i was leaning towards a new machine as i favour buying new stuff these days after too many issues with used. If its new and its not working, i can just send it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauriew58 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 No problem. Used machines can certainly be a mixed bag! When they are working well they can feel like a joy, but when you are sidelined repairing them or having to make unobtainable parts for them then they can feel more like a curse. For what it's worth I have found Arc Euro Trade very good for a balance of price versus quality. Also very good when things go wrong or there are any issues. I do think that their machines show signs of better quality control than some, and they seem to have more input to the factories. Have only bought tooling and the like from them, but have looked closely at their machines in the past. Also very helpful on the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Wolfe Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Jon, please don't forget that a decent set of accessories can double the cost of your mill. Initially; milling vice, T-slot clamps, a set of collets and cutters. To complement my Sieg X-3 mini lathe I purchased a Sieg X2 mill about 18 years ago, it's proven to be quite invaluable over the years. Some mini mills come with the option of MT3 or R8 spindles, I opted for MT3 as the ER-25 collets could also be used in my mini-lathe headstock (with a suitable draw-bar). Other accessories purchased over the years (rotary table, rotary vice fly-cutters, boring bars, T-slot and bevel cutters etc) have more than doubled my initial purchase price. Still, well worth it IMHO. * Chris * 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Christopher is correct . All other stuff soon adds up to double or mors dependinv on how far you want to go. There are some ok accessories from india but be warnnned they need a lot of fettling and a good strip an clean before use. I bought a rotary table that was assemblef with grease while still caked with casting sand ; msking a ideal grinding paste ! Cleaned and lubed it works ok. All the MT3 accesories sesm yo bs more expensive example, Boring bar with cutters mt 2 are £49 In MT3 £80 plus . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 The same mob that sold me my lathe have a candidate as well and they do it as a package deal with a bunch of accessories for about a grand. Steep, and very much the top end of my budget but it looks like a decent value proposition. Also, tools in used but modeller acceptable condition are skipped every day at work and i have employed an apprentice to intercept certain goodies 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Is that a beer per end mill, an ice cream, or actual money. As a kid, sub 10 year old, dad had me cleaning up bits on his Cincinnati mill for hill climber engines. I settled for contributions for my radio acquisition fund. Just looking after young employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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