I'm looking at the possibility of buying a new mill and lathe for a new gunsmith business. Right now I'm trying to get prices for business plan. 3 brands I'm looking at are Birmingham, Sharp and Kent I would prefer American products (I know Sharp in Tiawan). Does anyone have and opinion on these brands. My experience is with Bridgeport, Logan and LeBlond and have no knowledge of these. I"m posting this in the gunsmithing forum also.

Any sort of Budget to work with?

My quick estimate for complete set up was 50K approxmately 17K has been accounted for in other tools and specialty tooling for said machines. I need to get prices on the machines plus an instustrial compressor, 3hp buffer, 3 ton arbor press and depending on what the machines come with chucks, collets, vises holders etc. I'd like to keep the cost of the mill and lathe and associated tooling under 30K.

Does it have to be new? In the last year or so there has been quite a few nice used machines come on the market. You should have some in your area to if you arn't in to big of a hurry and can get out and look around some.Might be a little better tax write off with new but you have to turn more work to pay for them. Good luck with your new buisness.

From the screen name I would think that you are going to do pistolsmithing. If this is correct the smaller versions would be priced better and most are available with R-8 spindles.
Birmingham is Chineese also as are Grizzly and Jet.
Grizzly is now selling machines with the South Bend label, I don;t know anything about the quality. They may be Grizzly machines with a different paint job and a higher price.
I have a 9x49 Grizzly mill and it is about the same quality as the Jet or Rockford I had.

The larger Grizzly gunsmith's lathes should be fine for the work you are doing. My 16" X 40" is extremely accurate in all respects.

I will have to put new prices on the business plan depending on how the money funds will depend on how much freedom I have in buying new or use. Right now used equipment is a steal in my area. The problem is if the inventory says XZY equipment was funded then XYZ equipment better be in the inventory.

I'm much better at pistolsmithing but decent with rifles too. I can do just about anything you want with a 1911 S&W or Colt revolver benefits of some of Bob Dunlap's instruction. I want to get equipment I can to either on in the event a customer wants something reqiring a bigger machine and it's easier to make bigger work on small than the other way around.

Think the first thing you need to figure out is what kind of work you’re going to be doing, that will pretty much dictate the types and sizes of machines you need.

When I first started out I was quite happy with a bench lathe & mill, that was 15 years ago, now I’ve got a couple of “full sized” lathes and three BP milling machines, and lately I found that the 42 inch table is a little tight for some of the machining operations that I need to do, seriously considering a mill with a 50 + inch table.
Remember the tools have to pay for themselves, and you’re not going to get rich gunsmithing.

Mike

It is my impression that you will be better served by buying quality than gleaming new. If I were looking for a smaller mill that will turn out presentation quality products it would be something like Milacron's:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...E:B:SS:CA:1123

The quality of that machine and the flexibility compared to the names you mentioned is worlds apart.

Raymond

And to top it off, the min bid is lower now ! Aciera F4 Milling Machine - Deckel Style- Late ! on eBay.ca (item 200436600137 end time 16-Feb-10 09:48:46 EST)

Why wasn't this thread locked? Someone said the "G word".(grizzly)

Don's mill is a nice lil hunk of iron, but I'd want something with more travel. 16" in X. Try putting a dividing head and a tail stock on it. If you are sticking to pistols, the machine would be great. But get into rifles, it will fall short.(pun ) Sorry for derailing your potential sale Don. With $30K to spend, you can come up with some darn nice iron for you shop.

A Lagun would be a nice mill. I'd take one before a Bridgeport.
Republic Lagun Machine Tool Company - Manual Vertical Knee Mills

Maybe if you bought a lathe and mill from them they'd cut ya a deal. Not sure of the quality of the lathes though.
Republic Lagun Machine Tool Company - Manual Lathes

I'd get readouts on both also.

Oh My!!!! That, Bhagwan Don, is very nice. "It will be the last thing I think about before I go to sleep." Quote from "We're No Angles"

As I recall he mentioned a size of the green bear machine that wouldn't typically be home shop grade Chinese. Some of you are apparently never going to comprehend that important nuance.

Actually I forgot to put a after that first sentence. I guess I failed at being a smarta$$.

Sorry but your information is incorrect. True the X axis is about 405 mm = 15.9" but you fail to take into account that the table can slide an additional 16". It does mean that machining such a length would make it a two stage operation but you suggested room for the Dividing Head which is a non machine area anyhow.

Raymond

Why a 3hp buffer?

Makes no sense at all. Additional 16"? Your'e sayin you can mill 32" of cut? You have 16" of travel. If you want to start working on longer pieces, why wouldn't you just buy a larger machine from the start. Why halfa$$ it with a small machine? True it's a nice little mill, but I was just stating the obvious: it's a little on the small side.

About the dividing head, I was just giving a scenario where a little machine will run out of travel and table space very quickly, barrels for example. (Which the OP stated he maybe working on rifles.) Makes doing any large or long work a real PITA. Always buy the largest machine you can afford. If you don't, you will always want more travel.

That Aciera, combined with a couple of good vises and a sine plate would be a pistolsmiths dream machine.

Yes, and unlike other "Deckel style" machines, the Aciera table is mounted via overhanging V way at the top and half dovetail at the bottom...so it's quite accurate repeatability to reposition the table on it's mounting..and quick/easy to do.

Other Deckel machines you can reposition the table on the vertical mount, but being on T slots they are not as easy or as accurate to move left and right. Aciera may be unique in it's table mount design.