Which Mill?????

Hello:

I'm looking to buy a new mill for pistolsmithing. Bridgeport is a possibility but I wanted to hear from other forum members with their recommendations. Anybody familiar with the new Clausings or the Manford SP, which is quite appealing?

Thanks in advance,
Ben H

Any of the imports will get you there....Acer, Birmingham, Kent I believe are some of the slightly better imports. Lagun is the best import but I think they're as much as a B-port now. I ran a Clausing/Kondia with a 2 axis CNC about 8 years ago and was not impressed at all, but I hear they're better these days. I did gunsmithing on a 70's Bridgeport with a 3 axis CNC on it...I was happy but I was doing a lot of gun parts and automated machinery parts too.

I don't know about Kent milling machines,but our maintenance blacksmith shop bought a Kent lathe,and I certainly wouldn't recommend it.Try to avoid getting a Chinese mill.The Taiwan ones are much better.The Enco Turn pro is Taiwan.Mine is a 1986 Bridgewood made in Taiwan.I've always been perfectly happy with it.Bought a Chinese mill.Table was .0025" higher in front than in back.Generally crude looking Valumaster from MSC.Sent it back.Got their Vectrax Taiwan mill for my shop at work.Thing is,Taiwan machines cost more.They have been making machines for a long time now,and have gotten better so that their stuff is in an elevated position now.China hasn't gotten there yet.Japan started first,and now their stuff is mega expensive.Bridgewood is from york,Pa.,Wilkes Machinery co.Their new Bridgewoods MAY be Chinese now.Jets are mostly Chinese,too.

Hi, Ben,

Don't fool around with oriental machinery, you might 'get lucky', but you probably won't.......look for a real Bridgeport, Tree, or Index (Wells-Index), and remember the three important things to look for when evaluating a machine tool.......condition, condition, and condition.

If you aren't familiar enough with mills to correctly evaluate the condition of a machine, get someone who knows machine tools to help you.

The 'Craig's list' internet programme is the best place to look, these days.....it costs nothing to put in a 'wanted, Bridgeport or equivalent mill' advert in the 'tools' section of your local Craig's list.

cheers

Carla

Ditto Carla! I owe a '69 Bridgeport. I love it. It is accurate and everything fits right and works. What few parts I have needed are available. I owned an Enco prior to the BP.

If you are lucky, you can work on a Chinese machine long enough to make it work. If you need parts, don't hold your breath. The castings look like they were done by the Chinese version of the "Flintstones".

I wonder what kind of machine tools the Chinese use when they are building parts for a nuke?

IMHO

Good Luck

Grits

well i looked at the bp and thought about it. a used wore out mill for the same price as a new one. so i bought a new enco 8 years ago. with vari. speed and dro. i have never had a problem with it at all.