allamateur
Plastic
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2020
I must apologize if this is the wrong section for this or if it's been discussed to death, I'm still finding my way around the site. I'm new to milling and machining in general.
I've been looking to get a knee mill, probably 1/2 size of a regular Bridgeport, to teach myself some basic machining and make gun/car/general parts I may need. This isn't immediate and may be some months to years before I buy. I've looked around for 6x26 mills since these seem to be the go-to for 1/2 size knee mills, and the top-end suggestions are usually Clausings. These seem to be collector mills by this point in time, and I'm not a collector of milling machines.
The other options I could find of recent manufacture were the two generic Chinese import companies' 6x26 mills. One has since stopped selling this mill, so the only place I can find them are at the other (famous for lower quality tools, this knee mill is $1850 from them).
Does anyone still have one of these, and if so what are your experiences? Are they a good fit for my needs? I'd like to spend $2k or less on the machine when I do finally go for one.
Lastly is there any other manufacturer selling a 1/2 size mill like these?
What I've found: the difficulty of fitting modern stuff like power feeds and DRO to this mill is one detractor, in addition to the 8tpi threads in one axis and the general Chinese cheapness.
The reason I prefer this option over a mill/drill or benchtop is in case I want to pursue the hobby more and get into harder cuts and possibly have a stepping stone to a full-size knee mill. I'm also afraid they'll be impossible to find in a few years from any manufacturer.
I've been looking to get a knee mill, probably 1/2 size of a regular Bridgeport, to teach myself some basic machining and make gun/car/general parts I may need. This isn't immediate and may be some months to years before I buy. I've looked around for 6x26 mills since these seem to be the go-to for 1/2 size knee mills, and the top-end suggestions are usually Clausings. These seem to be collector mills by this point in time, and I'm not a collector of milling machines.
The other options I could find of recent manufacture were the two generic Chinese import companies' 6x26 mills. One has since stopped selling this mill, so the only place I can find them are at the other (famous for lower quality tools, this knee mill is $1850 from them).
Does anyone still have one of these, and if so what are your experiences? Are they a good fit for my needs? I'd like to spend $2k or less on the machine when I do finally go for one.
Lastly is there any other manufacturer selling a 1/2 size mill like these?
What I've found: the difficulty of fitting modern stuff like power feeds and DRO to this mill is one detractor, in addition to the 8tpi threads in one axis and the general Chinese cheapness.
The reason I prefer this option over a mill/drill or benchtop is in case I want to pursue the hobby more and get into harder cuts and possibly have a stepping stone to a full-size knee mill. I'm also afraid they'll be impossible to find in a few years from any manufacturer.
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