Impure thoughts and a Grizzly knee Mill

[hoz53]

Well this is my confessional--I admit I have been eyeballing a Grizzly(chicom) G0796 Mill this past 6 months at least. Eyeballed it long enough they just raised the price 500 which would bring the total to my door to 7000 without taxes. Still alot of mill for the money. Probably would just have ordered the grizz but the price increase got me mullin it over. I am extremely gun shy about used machinery but I can go 50 miles from me and get a refurbished bridgeport from H and W machine. Pay a couple K more but its a like new US made Bridgeport. The thought of the bridgeport makes me smile-- not so much on the grizz even though i suppose it would do all i needed-- Ive just about talked myself into the bridgeport-- So it's possible there will be Salvation for me yet Whew I feel better I got this off my chest

 

[jghoghunter]

Howdy Hoz
How's the wind at your place? Sucks here.
As for the mill. I have a Grizzly mill and a big lathe. I like them both they both work well but spend the extra money on the Bridge Port you will be much happier in the end. If you need give me a call. I can give you some ins and outs of my mill.
Jesse

 

[hoz53]

Howdy Hoz
How's the wind at your place? Sucks here.
As for the mill. I have a Grizzly mill and a big lathe. I like them both they both work well but spend the extra money on the Bridge Port you will be much happier in the end. If you need give me a call. I can give you some ins and outs of my mill.
Jesse

Windy- Cold- Not much snow though--We are probably 150 miles from lake Michigan and so we dont get the lake effect snow those closer do. Ive got a grizzly lathe - its ok but im going to look into the bridgeport. Thanks for the info Kim

 

[Dusty Stevens]

no matter what brand mill you have you'll always wish it was a bridgeport. I used to collect them it seemed now my best one is a belt drive one that I wish I had a variable speed head for.

 

[paperpuncher]

Hoz sent you a pm

 

[TRA]

If done by a reputable company, Bridgeport's are better the second time around. Are they re-hard chromed at H&W? That's a big plus for choosing a re builder.

 

[hoz53]

no matter what brand mill you have you'll always wish it was a bridgeport. I used to collect them it seemed now my best one is a belt drive one that I wish I had a variable speed head for.

i think your right -- the bridgeport is the one i really want. how many have you got anyway? i do have to decide which model i want and need to learn a little more. why dont you put a vfd on the belt drive? thanks

 

[hoz53]

If done by a reputable company, Bridgeport's are better the second time around. Are they re-hard chromed at H&W? That's a big plus for choosing a re builder.

ill check on the hard chrome-- thanks for the tip

 

[akajun]

For that kind of money, I’d be looking for a used Lagun, wells Index , excello or Bridgeport .
Hell last time I checked a new Sharp mill from H&w was about 9k
Lots of good used Asian machines out there too
Webb, Acer, sharp, pretty much anything made in Taiwan.
Since your that close to H&w have you thought about buying a clapped out Bridgeport or Lagun and have that scraped in and rebuilt?

 

[hoz53]

For that kind of money, I’d be looking for a used Lagun, wells Index , excello or Bridgeport .
Hell last time I checked a new Sharp mill from H&w was about 9k
Lots of good used Asian machines out there too
Webb, Acer, sharp, pretty much anything made in Taiwan.
Since your that close to H&w have you thought about buying a clapped out Bridgeport or Lagun and have that scraped in and rebuilt?

yes that is what i thought as far as buying the grizzly. i have thought about buying a "used"machine and having them rebuild it. never know i figure if that would cost more or less than buying a refurb from them to begin with. im going down to talk with them one of these days soon and ill ask them. Im not going to fix one personnally-been there done that--however i do it when i get it to my shop its gonna be ready to run. ill keep plugging away at it but i have decided im not buying the grizzly. Thanks for the info

 

[hogpatrol]

Another vote for the rebuilt Bridgeport with variable speed. Buy once, cry once.

One plus is there is a large amount of accessories and tooling available used for good prices and you don't have to deal with the metric system for parts.

 

[RWO]

A BP J head ( step pulley) with 3-phase motor and VFD is a far better set-up than a 2J head (reeves drive) because there are no moving parts to wear out. Hard chromed ways are made for industrial use but are not worth paying very much if any extra for a hobbyist shop.

RWO

 

[akajun]

A BP J head ( step pulley) with 3-phase motor and VFD is a far better set-up than a 2J head (reeves drive) because there are no moving parts to wear out. Hard chromed ways are made for industrial use but are not worth paying very much if any extra for a hobbyist shop.

RWO

correct, plus if your gonna use a VFD for you phase conversion, it kind of negates the vari speed head, I just leave mine on the fastest pully and use the POT on the VFD for speed control. If I need to go real slow, I PUt it in back gear.

 

[hoz53]

A BP J head ( step pulley) with 3-phase motor and VFD is a far better set-up than a 2J head (reeves drive) because there are no moving parts to wear out. Hard chromed ways are made for industrial use but are not worth paying very much if any extra for a hobbyist shop.

RWO

thanks thats a couple good pieces of info that will help me