[Hack]

I am in the market for a mini / micro mill and am looking at the hrbor freight varieties as well as sherline and taig mill. Some of th ethings I have been comparing are:

Spindle Power - The Mini mill from HF is rated at around 3/4 hp or so. The others are significantly less. Does this matter that much? The Taig website boasts that the Taing mill can "hog" through 1/8" mild steel. I'd have to see it to believe it.

Table size. I actually like the dimensions of the Harbor frieght Micro Mill.

Travel. The Sherline and Taig are nice for my applications.

Spindle - Sherline and Taig can be had in the ER 16 the Mini Mill in R8. R8 would be nice as I have existing collets etc for a mill / drill in R8. RPM's are a little better on the Sherlines & Taigs. Sherline also has a fan base that has developed an automatic toolchanger. Big Turn on.

CNC Conversion - Minimill, Sherline and Taig have CNC ready options, full CNC or kits available for CNC . Not looking for a big project, want to use cnc soon.

Accessories - Sherline and Taig have a bunch. Minimill and Micromills have a strong fan base with Little machine Shop.Com.

So my application is gonnaa be 6061 aluuminum with circular work (want ballscrews) with some drilling. Part size limited to 3 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Can anyone make any suggestions as to speed and accuracy of each?

Thanks all

Dan

[kdoney]

You say you are going to do circular work. Does this mean 60% of the time? Are you talking about round work pieces or round holes in flat workpieces. If the former then you should get a lathe. First let me say, I've never worked on a Taig so you will have to ask someone else for that info.

You also said you want ballscrews. If you meant you want them on the mill, then the best choice would be the hf mini mill. The only ballscrew conversion I've seen on a Sherline made it a Sherline in spindle and name only. If you meant you want to create or work on ballscrews then once again you are back to a lathe.

Yes you can drill on a lathe. Easily and accurately. A 9X20 would fit your work perfectly but would have to be cnc'd by yourself since the only commercially offered retrofits are WAY too expensive. The nice thing is they are actually easier to retrofit than a mill.

Accuracy out of the box has to go to Sherline. This is a fine American made product. The work envelope and usefullness on everyday projects would go to the mini mill. Any mill will need a rotary table to do circular work pieces easily.
The depth of cut and the work envelope of the Sherline was just too small for me. For that matter, the work envelope of the mini mill was so restrictive I made my own with the head of a mini mill.

Good luck and you've found the right place to ask.

[bkstout]

i currently run a taig but i have yet to push the mill to what they claim it will do i usually program .005 to .015 doc an feed around 10 to 15 ipm with a .005 finish pass the accuracy for my parts have always held around .001 to .003 for the hobbiest this is a good machine if your going into serious machine work you better buy something bigger an more rigid or you will be disappointed in the end hope this helps