Harbor Freight mini-mill vs. Micromark drill press/X-Y table

[Possum]

I'm thinking I might need to do some minor milling stuff, Harbor Freights small mill at $500 is too much for me, their mini mill is $300 but I can't figure out if its too small or will hold a wide variety of size bits or not. The Micro mark small drill press with XY table is almost $300 when said and done, any ideas which way would be better to go?

[Scott S.]

If you are talking about the Micromark drill press that is about $150, I have one and its great for drilling PCBs and pickup flatwork, but the motor is not very powerful, and for milling I can't see using it.

The spindle doesn't seem to like lateral load, i have tried Dremel end mill type bits in it and didn't work well.

Here's the one I have

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares...oduct&ID=81631

They do have a bigger unit though I think.

[NightWinder]

I think if you grab the digital Press they have for $200, and there XY attachment for it which is extreamly accurate and smooth turning, you may hit the nail on the head. It has a digital depth great for drilling small holes in p-90's so you can recess the screwhead closer to the coil. It mills plastics no problem. There may be a motor difference between the 2 models...
After all is said...the Press willl be alot lighter in weight also so you can move it freely as well, rather than the mill. I've shaved metal strips with this as well.

[Spence]

I have a Sieg Super X1 micro mill. It's just about enough. Anything less than the standard X1 would be useless. The Sieg X1 the one you're looking at on the Harbour Freight site for $299.99

[NightWinder]

Op. I should say I use it for small things- Mostly plastic routing and the occasional shave here and there. This won't do any "real" Milling though- Blocks or jigs??

[David King]

The usefulness of a milling machine is pretty directly related to it's mass. There are no shortcuts. For $500 you could pickup a used horizontal mill that would eat all the seigs for breakfast.

What about just getting a milling attachment for your 7 x 10 lathe??

[Joe Gwinn]

I'm thinking I might need to do some minor milling stuff, Harbor Freights small mill at $500 is too much for me, their mini mill is $300 but I can't figure out if its too small or will hold a wide variety of size bits or not. The Micro mark small drill press with XY table is almost $300 when said and done, any ideas which way would be better to go?

What are you planning to make, of what materials, and in what quantities?

I recall you grumbling that the little lathe didn't work out for making the slugs. What was the problem?

[Spence]

[QUOTE=David King;47041]The usefulness of a milling machine is pretty directly related to it's mass. There are no shortcuts. For $500 you could pickup a used horizontal mill that would eat all the seigs for breakfast.

QUOTE]

That's true but he probably doesn't need anything like that.

[David Schwab]

The usefulness of a milling machine is pretty directly related to it's mass. There are no shortcuts. For $500 you could pickup a used horizontal mill that would eat all the seigs for breakfast.

We have an old Atlas mill at our shop. Boy I love that thing!

I wouldn't mind having a mini-mill for home though.

[Possum]

....

just using it for small stuff, plastic, maybe drilling accurately spaced and lined up holes in metal, stuff like that. I think the Harbor Freight one will work fine, thanks Spence....

[Joe Gwinn]

just using it for small stuff, plastic, maybe drilling accurately spaced and lined up holes in metal, stuff like that. I think the Harbor Freight one will work fine, thanks Spence....

Harbor Freight is touch and go, but often works.

Accurate drilling is greatly helped by use of a mill; drill presses are pretty much useless for this. Spence is right about mass mattering - more is better, and $500 buys a lot more used american iron than those little mill drills. Knee mills are far easier to use because they don't lose their alignment if one has to move the table up and down, while round-column mill drills require realignment if one has to move anything, which happens often in small machines because the quill travel is so short.

The square column machines may be something to consider.

And there are a lot of little details to get right as well, regardless.

[Spence]

Here are some ebony bass pickups I made. The covers I made entirely with my seig mill.



I used the mill as I'm not set up for wood-working. BTW I polished these up with a little oil that I drained out of my '65 Land Rover. gives 'em a vintage touch !

[salvarsan]

Digital Readouts

just using it for small stuff, plastic, maybe drilling accurately spaced and lined up holes in metal, stuff like that. I think the Harbor Freight one will work fine, thanks Spence....

That's why I got mine -- there is no substitute for an accurate compound X-Y slide.

A digital readout (DRO) helps even more since you don't need
to count the number of times you hand crank the slide.

The Shumatech DRO-350 is a DIY digital readout for small mills and lathes.
Check it out over at http://www.shumatech.com.
There is a Shumatech Yahoo forum for support.

The total cost to me for DRO kit and quills was under $250.

An assembled/tested 2-axis DRO with quills! for the Mini-Mill would
run at least $370, $500-600 for 3-axis from Little Machine Shop.

Getting reasonably priced quills is the hard part.

SMW Precision, the best price I found, is now an eBay store at
http://stores.ebay.com/SMW-Precision-LLC
and the web site is still alive:
http://smwprecision.com/

Their 3-axis turn-key systems with all the mounting brackets
aren't too pricey, either.

Until you spring for a $$$ DRO, remember that a cheap set
of transfer punches is very handy. Little Machine Shop has
a nice 28 piece $10 set. So does Emco (www.use-emco.com).

-drh

[David Schwab]

Here are some ebony bass pickups I made. The covers I made entirely with my seig mill.

Nice!

[Spence]

Thank you David. I did PM you about making wooden covers at the time. It was a job that I was quite nervous about.