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Posted: 1/8/2014 3:43:13 PM EDT
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I am looking at a used milling machine that will fit into our budget and work on the power we have in our space.
The owner said it will typically hold 0.005 and with skill will hold 0.003 Trying to find out if this will be good enough for light gun smithing work, including NFA work. I don't want to buy a HF mini mill or grizzly if this will work as it has a bigger table and is heavier. We are waiting on our FFL and this looked like a cheap way to get into a machine that might be of use. At the moment we are budget limited. Input? Opinions? |
| You don't want that antique. You can find a decent Bridgeport vertical mill for around $3k average. And even a new Chicom mill will trump worn out USA iron. Figure $500 for a DRO which will help minimize error due to wear plus make you more productive. Don't bother with any bench top mills, they're ok for hobbist level work but not for professional use. You want a knee mill. There are some others out there as well, Sharpe, Clausing Kondia. Check Praticalmachinist.com classifieds. |
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Quoted:
I am looking at a used milling machine that will fit into our budget and work on the power we have in our space. The owner said it will typically hold 0.005 and with skill will hold 0.003 Trying to find out if this will be good enough for light gun smithing work, including NFA work. I don't want to buy a HF mini mill or grizzly if this will work as it has a bigger table and is heavier. We are waiting on our FFL and this looked like a cheap way to get into a machine that might be of use. At the moment we are budget limited. Input? Opinions? Since you asked for opinions..... If you aren't sure if the mill is any good and don't know if .003" to .005" is good enough, are you sure you should be cutting into NFA weapons for paying customers? ETA: not trying to sound like a jerk |
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Legit questions
R&D mostly. Not touching someone else's NFA with something like that. The part that threw me was the guy selling it saying that it held decent tolerances when I thought holding 0.001 would be acceptable. Wanted another opinion on it and I now have it. |
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What does "hold .005" mean? Perp over 12 inches? True position? its just meaningless without a qualifier.
I would pass. Especially on something converted. An American cast Bridgeport with a readout can be found for 1000 to 3000. Hell a nice Kerney and Trecker could be as well. Horizontals can be very handy for some gun work if it is cheap enough though. Fluting barrels, slotting, etc. But given the majority of your work will be done on a vertical I would keep looking. |
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Quoted:
What does "hold .005" mean? Perp over 12 inches? True position? its just meaningless without a qualifier. I would pass. Especially on something converted. An American cast Bridgeport with a readout can be found for 1000 to 3000. Hell a nice Kerney and Trecker could be as well. Horizontals can be very handy for some gun work if it is cheap enough though. Fluting barrels, slotting, etc. But given the majority of your work will be done on a vertical I would keep looking. Glad you mentioned that; I was Ebay browsing and saw a couple of horizontal mills earlier today, and got to wondering if they are sort of "obsolete" or not. I've never used one, but it seems to me that a solid horizontal mill would nicely complement a vertical Bridgeport type, if one has the space, and the budget. I'm still looking to get SOMETHING for hobby use, but one of the kids needs braces or something every time I get lined up on one. 
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A vertical is far more versatile, not because a horizontal cant do most things, but because the setup is inconvenient. But for long cuts that happen in one axis, they are hard to beat, especially something like radius bottom barrel fluting. Yeah you could do it in a vert with a ball endmill, but a radius slot cutter will last longer and cut more efficiently.
Of course I would like to have one of everything, so you have to consider floor space. If I had room I would have horizontals, key slotters, shapers, power hammers and all kinds of "obsolete" equipment. |
| I used to use a full size Bridgeport vertical when I was working out of our old shop but when I moved into my current building space became an issue so I downsized to a Rong-Fu RF45 with DRO. You can pick them up in great shape for a couple grand and it's been working fine for the past few years. With that said, I always recommend getting the biggest machine you can fit and afford. |
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Quoted:
A vertical is far more versatile, not because a horizontal cant do most things, but because the setup is inconvenient. But for long cuts that happen in one axis, they are hard to beat, especially something like radius bottom barrel fluting. Yeah you could do it in a vert with a ball endmill, but a radius slot cutter will last longer and cut more efficiently. Of course I would like to have one of everything, so you have to consider floor space. If I had room I would have horizontals, key slotters, shapers, power hammers and all kinds of "obsolete" equipment. I hear that! |
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