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Seeking input on my first milling machine

Ledd Slinger

Ledd Slinger

Silver $$ Contributor
I am in the market for a mill and have been doing a TON of research. Starting this thread to further my knowledge with your opinions and wisdom. I only want something big enough to open barrel channels and machine soft metals and polymers or make small cuts passes on SS/carbon steel. Basically I don't want to deal with a 3,000+ lb machine. Trying to keep it around 400 lb or less with a 1-2 HP spindle motor. No plans on being a gunsmith. Just want to be able to make certain things for rifle accessories and do a little stock inletting when needed.

Been looking at some of the more affordable models like Grizzly, Jet and Bolton Tools mills. Seems like they will keep tight enough tolerances for rifle stock work and machining small insignificant rifle accessory parts. Been mainly eyeballing the Grizzly G0759 with DRO. Has enough X axis travel to open a barrel channel and enough power to work on a little bit of metal with the right tooling while maintaining a fairly small footprint and light weight.

Willing to consider other machines from your input, but am not sure how much money I want to spend because I don't really have experience with mills, which leaves me unsure about what I will need/prefer. The use of a good DRO on X,Y,Z seems to be a unanimous consensus in my research. Power feed on the X axis is highly recommended as well. I have a large industrial high precision vertical mill and lathe at work, but haven't got around to using them much yet. Plan on playing around with both in the near future making random parts just to get a feel for things.

So again, I'm just looking for a good hobbyist mill that won't require a forklift and chain blocks to move or take up a whole quadrant of my 2 car garage. Thanks guys.
 
If you can find a used Clausing 8530 or 8520 they make a great hobby mill as well. I have an 8530 and really like it a lot. They are about 400-500 pounds and if they are in good condition sell for around 2k
 
I know many of the cheaper mills like Grizzly are made in China. The Chinese mills only have a 1 year warranty because they obviously know the quality isn't quite all there. But they do cost less for that reason. I don't plan on building the most precise parts on the planet right off the bat just starting out, but I am very demanding of my equipment nonetheless. I like to find a good deal for my money, but with a light case of OCD, I am always willing to pay a little extra money when I see the advantages in quality.

Like I said earlier, the Precision Matthews is a lot of machine for the money AND it is built much better compared to the slightly cheaper Chinese mills. Then with the 3 year warranty, the decision started to become much more clear.

So I just ordered a Precision Matthews PM-25MV. Like I said earlier, I have been researching these bigger bench top style mills in the 25"-30" table size for quite a while. Been reading reviews and watching every video on YouTube I could find. I was honestly getting tired from it all...especially listening to some of the monotone voice machinists...zzzzZZZ. Lol.

The PM-25MV has more travel than the Grizzly 0704, much better build quality, way better warranty period, better spindle drive system with a belt drive brushless DC motor that is CRAZY quiet. And many other quality features that put it far over the top of the Chinese mills i have spent countless hours reviewing.

The other nice thing was that the tooling from Precision Mathews seems like much better quality and yet is much cheaper than the tooling offered by Grizzly. Ordered everything directly from Precision Matthews because they listed all the compatible tools and accessories right there with my mill before checkout. Very convenient and saved me a lot of time searching for tooling. I got the PM-25MV mill with spindle DRO (comes standard), power feed X axis drive motor, nice 52 piece clamping set, 11 piece R-8 arbor set, 2 and 4 flute HSS 10 piece end mill set, precision ground 5" swivel vise (.0006 tolerance), and 1/32 to 1/2 high precision keyless R8 drill chuck for only $2300 lift gate delivered into my garage. There are a few other tools i'll need for stock work like ball end mills and whatnot, but thats a hell of a price to start with a great benchtop mill that meets all of the specs I wanted and that much tooling with a great warranty. I didn't pay the extra $450 for the installed X, Y, Z DRO because the PM-25V has nice adjustment handles with .100" per revolution and .001" markings. Might add the 3 axis DRO later.

The video that put the Precsion Matthews decision over the top for me was this one below. Thank you for the great advice @rgc54 I honestly think I got the most for my money with this PM mill and tooling :)

 
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I had a Little Machine Shop mini mill. I sold it because I felt I would be money behind buying a DRO for it. The X and Y adjustments were .0625 per revolution. Just crazy math. The PM will be the one for me when it comes time to replace it. I look forward to hearing how you like the one you picked up.
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Do you guys know some good places to buy quality R-8 tooling at good prices? Thanks
Click to expand...

You talking the collets? You can get most anything youll ever need from ebay. You can get new cheaper stuff or older better stuff. According to the precision you need you can spend as much as you want on collets and such. For hogging out a stock for bedding the chinese stuff is fine. Anything else youll have to decide the precision you need and no need in getting top of the line stuff with .0001 tolerance if your mill can only hold .001 so thats another consideration. The grizzly catalog and shars has stuff good enough for most people’s gun work especially mill work where you dont even really need to measure 99% of what you have to do
 
Yeah I've seen the tooling on ebay. Already have collets and center drill 2/4 flute HSS end mills coming with the milling machine. Need to pick up some ball nose end mills and core box bits for barrel channel inletting. Ebay has a pretty good selection, but can't find 1.250" in either style for doing straight barrel channels. Could go smaller and make a couple passes. Would prefer carbide so I can inlet carbon fiber and fiberglass stocks easier. When looking for carbide ball nose or core box on ebay, the selection gets even smaller. Grizzly has a good selection of tooling, but I think they are a little overpriced for what you're getting on certain tooling. Will buy from Grizzly if needed. Just looking for other tooling sites that have quality products at fair prices
 
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Trimming in a mill can be very awkward if you do not do it on a regular basis. The tool your looking at may help to make it easier. You just need to visualize in your mind what you are trying to do. Good luck and have fun.:D:D

Paul
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Ok, tramming the spindle to the table.....

My plan is to buy the Edge Pro Tram System with dual indicators. Is this the way to go or would you fellas recommend something else?

http://www.edgetechnologyproducts.com/pro-tram-system-01-000-10-000-09-000/

I know there's other ways using a single dial indicator on a single arm. Just seems the Edge with dual indicators would be faster and more convenient.
Click to expand...

What type of mill? Some of the basic ones have fixed quills/heads and can not be swung on an angle so tramming isn't a viable operation. Wear in the gibs can be a factor. You could be dead nuts perpendicular in the center of the table and off on the ends.
Having said that, a five inch spread between the indicators is less than what I use with one indicator. I go for five or six inches form the quill centerline and lay a ground parallel on the table.
 
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For tooling, there are several groups on Facebook that buy/sell/trade so that's another option.
 
hogpatrol said:
What type of mill? Some of the basic ones have fixed quills/heads and can not be swung on an angle so tramming isn't a viable operation. Wear in the gibs can be a factor. You could be dead nuts perpendicular in the center of the table and off on the ends.
Having said that, a five inch spread between the indicators is less than what I use with one indicator. I go for five or six inches form the quill centerline and lay a ground parallel on the table.
Click to expand...

The head on the PM-25MV I ordered does swivel. Though I don't plan on using that function much for what I am trying to achieve right now. I purchased the Edge technology shank mount indicator arm and a swiss dovetail dial indicator to swing out wider on the table if required. Also got the Edge vise jaw squaring tool to help true up both ends of the vise jaws simultaneously. And of course a T-slot mounted vise stop for duplicating parts or return to zero when swiveling the vise. Basically trying to cover all options to see what I like best.

Already spent another $700+ in tooling and indicators....:oops: Think I have everything to get me started anyhow. Will gradually acquire other tooling when I find it is needed. Don't want to buy too much right off the bat or I may end up wasting money on things I won't use
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Like most mill operators i use this handy gadget to get my mill into action. All those other trinkets are just that. May make your life easier but imagine the money left over if you simplify.

http://www.flexbar.com/shop/pc/TEST-INDICATOR-HOLDER-FOR-MILLING-MACHINES-p5225.htm
Click to expand...

I went with the Edge shank mount holder in the link below to ensure my tooling mounted within the spindle is square. I will probably get a clamp style as well just to check the difference
http://www.edgetechnologyproducts.com/indicator-holder-shank-mount/

Edge clamp style holder. I like the Edge holders better due to the more heavy duty rigid design.
http://www.edgetechnologyproducts.com/indicator-holder-clamp-mount/

I figure the Pro Tram dual indicator system can also be used to check top sides of both vise jaws and ran on the table with X and Y axis to check square during travel.

Trinkets? Maybe. But can't hurt to have more than one way to check square on a mill. I will probably get the spindle clamp holder so I can have that mounted at the same time with the Pro Tram dual indicator. Could check square of the X and Y axis at the same time.
 
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A Noga flex arm and a back plunger indacator is all you really need to tram in your mill head and vice. I'd spend the money on cutting tooling and such to get going them buy the neat stuff later.
 
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