I'm looking to start a benchtop shop for prototyping purposes and would like some recommendations on equipment. In addition to a band saw, drill press, sander, jig saw and bender, I'm looking to add a benchtop mill and lathe to the mix. I'm looking for all of the following in a mill and lathe:
- High quality (I plan on taking care of this equipment, so I'd like it to take care of me. I'm not looking to buy junk.)
- Capable of machining a wide variety of materials (Aluminum and plastics will be the primary stock of choice, but I will get into some stainless and other steels at times)
- Fine adjustment 3-axis system (X,Y,Z). Adjustment wheel on Z axis (spindle head)
- Affordability (I'm willing to spend between $500-$700 per machine initially)
For that price range, the machines will obviously be manual and not CNC. However, I do want the ability to be able to upgrade the machines to CNC in the near future once the funds become available. This will be necessary as I plan on doing quite a bit of engraving. I looked at mini-laser engravers, which would be absolutely perfect for what I'm looking to do, but the cheapest one I saw was $15,000. (On a side note, if anyone else knows of affordable laser engravers, please let me know)
I've been looking at the MicroLux Mill and Lathe from Micro Mark for about 2 days now and at $500-$600 they look like nice machines. As a machinist, I've always used the big boys (Bridgeport and Hardinge for manuals and Hass and Mazak for CNCs.), so I'm not really familiar with what companies make good high quality mini machines. Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.