Mini Milling Machine

[K3vX]

Originally Posted by ThunderCactus

I actually fix machines for a living
It actually doesn't matter for the sizes he's working with as long as he's milling soft non-ferrous alloys. As a cheap solution, a drill press works just fine. I've done plenty of light milling in aluminum on drill presses.

What is a light milling machine but a slightly reinforced drill press with a 2 axis table anyway lol

Even a jacobs chuck is okay for light duty milling, not recommended, but I doubt the belt driven motor could supply enough torque to break the end mill loose in the chuck.

The only thing you'll really be missing from an actual milling machine is precise Z axis travel. And unless you're looking at an $800 cross slide vise, you may have real crap tolerances and slop. The actual head of a milling machine is not worth a whole heck of a lot more than a drill press, it's the table that makes up the rest of the price.
It's around $1500 for a decent bench top light duty mill, $700 for a decent drill press with a cheap cross slide vice

Nice info. But, if I may ask, which model would you recommend at 1500$ for a small mill?

[m102404]

There's this one at Busy Bee.
http://www.busybeetools.com/products...EADOUT-R8.html


Craftex aren't the greatest...but when you compare what you're paying vs. what/how much you'll do and the accuracy you'll practically need it's not too bad.

Factor in the costs of getting the vices, endmills, collets/chucks, clamps, coolant, etc...

I have one of their smaller lathes and it's ok for tiny stuff, but the setup is awkward and getting everything just right twice in a row is a PITA. It'll do it...but not as nicely as other setups.

The next step up are the X* (i.e. X3) series...they're decent (IMO...but I don't do this for a living...just a family man hobby budget for toys)

Whatever size you think you can get by with...get the next size up

[Jamroxorz]

Oh nice, 1500 isn't horrible I guess. With taxes and tools looking at 2k I'm assuming. I'll probably wait for this then.

[Grudge]

Depending on what you are doing you could look at one like this: http://www.micromark.com/microlux-mi...hine,9683.html

[Jamroxorz]

That one actually looks pretty good too, it's cheaper, the digital read out isn't really required.

[ThunderCactus]

The micro mill is a perfect example of something you dont want to buy. It'll be extremely flimsy, and although you might not care about holding .02", your tools would never survive that much wobble
Find something with a significantly larger column. The wider the column and base, the more stability and accuracy you'll have. And stay away from machines that slim, or built entirely from machined steel sections. You want castings.

[ThunderCactus]

What you want is in one of these two styles
the belt heads will be around $1000 less, perfect for very light duty stuff, best if you can find one with a solid column instead of a rotating column since it's very unlikely you'll be machining anything that requires you to turn the head.
geared head machines are surprisingly tough and durable, more expensive but provide more torque and fast speed changes.
Belt head would be best for you since in aluminum and other non ferrous materials you'll generally always be at maximum rpm to do all your cutting.