The experience that stands out in my mind recently with Harbor freight is the drill press we have at the PSU EPL - the amount of play in the drill head as the bit moved toward it's target is really awful: 0.5 - 1mm of wobble off center. I can't speak for the mill, but the craftsmanship in these things is pretty lousy, and if you're planning on automating it, I suspect you'll get poor performance.
On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 9:35 AM, Jason Barnett <[email protected]> wrote: > Jerry, > Thank you for your suggestions. The mill I am looking at does have an R8 > spindle and is one of the many rebranded Sieg X2 mills. I will look into > the Sieg X3 more, but my quick research shows that it would more than > double the price, and I am having a hard time justifying the $500 + extras. > Since > space is a primary concern, a full size mill is out of the question, but > that X3 might be small enough to fit in my work area. As far as the CNC > aspect, I see it more of a project for fun than a tool I would end up using > often. Regardless of what I decide, I will make sure it has the R8 spindle, > so if I upgrade later, all of my accessories will be able to be used on the > new one. > > Thanks again, > Jason > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 12:58 AM Jerry Biehler <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> If you have the room and can afford a bigger mill, do so. You run out of >> room fast on a mill, even as large as the one I have and when you go that >> small it gets tiny fast. Whatever you get, make sure it has a R8 spindle >> and not a MT3. If you do need to get a mill that small look at the Sieg X3, >> it is a lot better machine. http://www.mini-lathe.com/X3_ >> mill/X3rvw/X3.htm >> >> Figure a lot more in tooling than just getting a couple end mills. You >> will need clamp kits and vises, collets or tool holders. And when you buy >> end mills do not cheap out and buy the crappy TiN coated things at harbor >> freight. Do yourself a favor and buy name brand quality end mills, you dont >> need carbide, HSS will be fine. >> >> For aluminum you need cutting lube of some kind. I use Bijur spray mist >> units on my cnc mill and lathe. They work well and can be found used on >> ebay for pretty reasonable prices. >> >> If you want a cnc mill, buy a cnc mill. By the time you spend the time >> and money on ballscrews and everything else to retrofit a manual machine >> you will be right there with buying one complete and ready to run. This >> especially applies to the larger bridgeport mills, when you retrofit a >> bridgeport you just killed the value of the machine. The best deal for a >> cnc mill is to get a used cnc knee mill like a bridgeport boss or interact >> with a dead control and either fix the control or install a new one. The >> mills can be often had for scrap prices. >> >> -Jerry >> >> > On Mar 2, 2015, at 12:25 AM, Jason Barnett <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > I have been toying with the idea of getting a cheap desktop "mini mill" >> for some time. I think I am finally ready to pull the trigger and buy a >> harbor freight 44991 mini-mill. It's reasonably priced for the little bit >> that I will ever use it and there are a ton of people that have hacked them >> into CNC machines. This sounds like a fun project sometime down the line. >> > My question is this, is there anything I am missing that should change >> my mind? I know it is a very low end mill, but for my needs (cutting >> notches in aluminum extrusion, making aluminum stepper motor brackets, etc) >> I think the accuracy is good enough. I can get one for ~$500 delivered + a >> bit for some mill ends. >> > Has anyone had experience with this mill or with doing the CNC >> conversion that can give me an opinion? >> > _______________________________________________ >> > dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber >> >> _______________________________________________ >> dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber >> > > _______________________________________________ > dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list > [email protected] > http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber >
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