this milling machine..?

[timbertoes]

Hello, long time lurker.. ;D
Have wanted a milling machine for some time. Perhaps not the driving desire till most recently.

Wondering if some wold care to comment on this machine:
http://precisionmatthews.com/PMmvbenchmills.html
in say the PM25 version.

Jobs I desire to learn to do:
make bottom metal, Inlet stocks, drill barrel-pin holes for a .22lr here and there...
D&T operations.

PM also has the much more "robust" version at about $2k.
http://precisionmatthews.com/PM45Mbenchmill.html
I do prescribe to the buy once theory as best as possible ;D


thanks for any advice you care to offer!

 

[Larryh128]

Seriously, not knowing what part of the country that you are in, look into shops that buy out closing businesses & re-condition or re-sell equipment. Non CNC mills are stone obsolete so they don't command high prices, look for a bridgeport WITH a digital readout & personally check the slop.
Set the dial on 0 & turn the handles & see how much it moves before the bed moves. But if it has a digital readout, it's still capable of precision work even if it has .020 slop. .00 is better obviously. Unless you are an old school machinist, you want a digital readout.

 

[timbertoes]

Dallas, Tx.

I am not trained.. could not know a rip-off from a decent piece of metalworking equipment.

Around here, when I used to look for the next greatest used woodworking thing-a-ma-bob, from the non-individual sellers, prices were too high.

and unless I get lucky and find a night class, I will have to learn from...books, forums, and the occasional broken bit...

 

[FroggyOne2]

If your set on buying from this company, I would check to make sure that they are not made in China. But my guess that these are made in Tiwian. If so, they are better built then the ones from China. Actually after looking at the PM45, I would gather that this one would be the one to get from this company for a smaller mill and I would get it with the 3 axis DRO.

 

[timbertoes]

definatly not set
Also, dont want to go overboard, if smaller units will work.
Even reading machining forums, its hard to decipher all the info ;D

not sure I can move a really heavy unit into place. Garage ceiling height, vs machine table height, vs a Engine Hoist.... oh lordy.
my ww equipment was bad enough. 8)

 

[butchlambert]

Larryh128
I don't think you will find a new mill that tight. DROs are nice. My 42" table on my Bridgeport is barely long enough to inlet a stock and barrel channel. You do not want to do that in 2 setups. The PM machines are plenty good for a hobbiest.
If used Bridgeports are so available and cheap, it would pay you to buy them and trailer them to Texas and make a killing.
Butch

 

[Larryh128]

I bought 2 with digital readouts for $1500. And no, you can't have them. LOTS of them in Michigan, everyone is going broke & moving elsewhere.

 

[butchlambert]

I have 2 with DROs and power feed. You need to load them up and move them to Texas.
Butch

 

[timbertoes]

;D ;D

Cant wait to see the cement floor crack under those big doggies

Mr. Lambert, I measured a typical? stock.. well ok one on a 541X, 19" worth of inletting work.

honestly, if it was a stock I paid good money for....an almost finished stock, I would send it out.
But a raw wood form, squared up is what I would learn on.

its either that, or the Router or by hand of course. FWIW, I have channel scrapers on the way

thanks for y'alls input!

 

[butchlambert]

Remember to check the travel on the table. A 42" table will not travel nearly that far. My stocks for BR are carbon fiber cloth and wood laminate.
Butch

 

[timbertoes]

thanks for the advice, I have the PM45 ordered