WTB Tree Journeyman or other small CNC mill

rallyx99 said:

I'm looking for my first CNC mill and I'd like to get my hands on a nice Tree Journeyman, preferably the 425. I'm open to other Journeyman models or other machines if the condition/price/distance is right. I'm in Dallas, TX. I've seen a few little VMCs that are appealing (LeBlond Makino MV55, Mori Seiki MV Junior, etc.), but most of them are at the top end of my budget, PLUS they're heavier and more expensive to move. Anyway, if any of y'all have anything you think I should look at, speak up!

Thanks everybody!

Tim

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sam_stlouis said:

I was going to tell you about my thread but seen you already found it. I found. 310 in my hometown so I went with that. If you don't find one from one of the fine people here, there is one on craigslist in Cleveland, a 325. I'm in St. Louis so don't know anything about it, just seen the add

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rallyx99 said:

I'm looking for my first CNC mill and I'd like to get my hands on a nice Tree Journeyman, preferably the 425. I'm open to other Journeyman models or other machines if the condition/price/distance is right. I'm in Dallas, TX. I've seen a few little VMCs that are appealing (LeBlond Makino RMC 55, Mori Seiki MV Junior, etc.), but most of them are at the top end of my budget, PLUS they're heavier and more expensive to move. Anyway, if any of y'all have anything you think I should look at, speak up!

You may PM me, reply to this thread or contact me directly at [email protected]

Thanks everybody!

Tim

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triumph406 said:

If your making knives and are interested in a machine that will give you very fine consistent finishes you will not go wrong with a Makino RMC55, in terms of accuracy and finish it will be light years ahead of any knee mill. Also having a Fanuc control getting service is easy (maybe not cheap) If the RMC55 hasn't been abused it's a very good machine.

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rallyx99 said:

Thanks triumph406, I appreciate the advice. I'm in the unenviable position of having a very limited budget. I need to tool up to increase income, but I can't tool up without...You get the idea. Ideally, my budget for a machine purchased, moved into my shop and cleaned up is $10k. Any thoughts as to what I should be looking at? Is the RMC-55 your top suggestion? I've seen some decent old Mori MV-45s and Juniors, but (especially in the case of the 45) rigging and trucking will be a real **** and eat up a bunch of my budget. I kind of feel like I'm in between a rock and a hard place here :-(

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moonlight machine said:

You will get fine finishes with my Journeyman 325, Bridgeport work envelope 2x the weight, no tilt or nod on the head, 40 taper. It has a Dynapath Delta 20 control. Dynapath is still in business and parts and service are available.

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rallyx99 said:

I sure love the heck out of my Tree 2UVR-C! Much stouter than the BPort. I think I'm having issues sending PMs for some reason; they don't show up in my "sent" folder. Weird. Anyway, I sent you one about the machine. If you didn't get it, please feel free to just shoot me an email at [email protected][/QUOTE


Got it and have replied.

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triumph406 said:

Another machine to consider would be a Milltronics Partner. Buddy of mine has a Partner IV, and it does nice work, but it's still a knee mill. The control apparently is PC based so getting parts is not a problem, not sure about the servo drives.

For a $10k budget you could get a decent Fadal including moving for that. The nice thing about a Fadal it's probably the most easy to repair CNC with a wide range of vendors selling very affordable parts. manuals are online, and there are no parameters to loose.

Might also want to go to some auctions, I was at an auction last year where a whole line (maybe 8) of Kitamura MyCenters went for $2500ea, another local auction had smaller fadals also go for $2500ea.

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rallyx99 said:

I'm still having a little trouble finding a good Journeyman. Either the machine is completely beat, I can't get the MTD to reply, the listing I'm calling about is old and the MTD hasn't updated their site in four years or the machine is decent but doesn't have the Dynapath controls (this has only happened once). It's my understanding that the A2100 controls are very expensive and difficult to support and the Anilam is almost impossible. Because of this, I'm especially interested in machines with the Dynapath controls. Please straighten me out if I'm wrong. So, anything good out there?

Thanks,

Tim

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moonlight machine said:

I still have my Journeyman 325 with a Dynapath 20 control. 4000.00

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digger doug said:

BL639: TREE #JOURNEYMAN 425 CNC VERTICAL MILL - McKean Machinery Sales, Inc

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chineshop_guy said:

have been considering selling my journeyman 325. tooling and rotary phase converter.
was going to ask $10k for all of it. dynapath delta20 with manual.
if interested pm me and i'll get you a list or some pics of what i have. located in 50 miles north of lexington ky

dave

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