[ZipSnipe]

Well come May 10th I,ll be heading to Wholesale Tool to pick up a mill ( after I drop the wife off at the airport and outta my way ) I,ve been checking out forums and info on two machines. This one http://wttool.com/p/3006-0080
. And this one http://wttool.com/p/3004-0095
. I like 'em both. If any of you guys had this choice which would you choose and why? I know many of you have answered my pestering questions in the past and I appreciate it and your answers have led me to believe that for what I want to do in the future a mill of this size would be wise choice.

[Runner4404spd]

i bought the Rf-45 clone from IH. its similar to the first one you listed. i didn't like the mini knee mill because it didn't give me much more travel than my round column bench top mill. i already find myself exceeding those boundaries so i bought a bigger mill. i think that the mini knee mill also has less quill travel. this could be a problem when drilling. also if your planning on CNCing this machine then the RF-45 style mill has plenty of support.

[wizard]

Sort of like being torn between two woman. You make your decision and then find, a few years down the road, that you are wondering if you made a big mistake.

The good thing about this decision making process is that it won't cost you as much if you make a mistake. Plus as a group we can handle this rationally.

So the first thing that comes to mind is CNC, are you interested? If so the bed mill is the better choice right off the bat.

Do you expect to bore holes? From what I can see niether have a quil feed option, so they are equal in this matter as bse machines. Add a z-axis drive or CNC and I think you will find the bed mill is a better option ofr boring operations. Yes you could add a drive to the z on the mini knee mill but I'd be concerned abotu limited travel

The bed mill does have more power so that is good, in one sense though I have a guestion in my mind if you can effectively use oall that power on either of these machines. The speed range is the same so that is not an issue. The knee mill is belt driven which means in my mind that if I wanted to I could modify the machines belt drive for other speed. Now adays though the smart mod for issues like that would be a variable speed three phase motor, so I'd say the machines are more or less equal. A slight advantage yes for the knee mill do to the thought that it would be less noisy

Beyond that the machines are more or less similar. If you expect to do a lot of manual work with fine detail then the knee miil might have an advantage due to the more or less constant tool hieght. This is something not often considered but if you expect a lot of variety in the pieces you are machining and doing so manually a knee mill mounted at the right height is a big pluss. There is a reason that Bridgeport could sell as many machines as it did for as long as it did and I think the big component here is the ease of use for the average machinest. It is interesting that I can walk into local shops with nice CNC rooms and sperate rooms where the manual machines are situtated. You can see ten or 15 manual Bridgeports set up in a row and nothing in the way of a manual bed mill..

Now it sounds like the machines evaluated to the bed mill being the better machine. Generally I'd have to say yes. But for many some would find the knee mill, as a manual machine, more convient to operate. SO we are still torn a bit here, one has to think aobut all tthe feature you would think you would need a few years down the road. Though most of us do not have the space or resources to go that way a manual full size Bridgeport would be an excellent choice. That is as long as one expects to use it manually.

Thanks
dave


Thanks
Dave

[WhiteTiger]

The little knee mill is almost a clone of my old JET bench mill, and that one has been a real workhorse for me. I used it for years as a manual, and for years more with a microkinetics cnc retrofit package on it.

Stout little machine that avoids almost all the pitfalls of the mill/drill units, and aside from work envelope constraints it does pretty much anything the big boys do.

Obviously, I'm logging in in favor of the bench mill


Tiger

[ZipSnipe]

Thanx Gents, I do lean a little toward the Zay 45(bed mill) one just a bit. As far as cnc goes I had planned to get one of these to make cnc machines so most likely I,ll leave as a manual machine( and yes thats where the knee mill kinda shines) however the Zay does have more travel which I believe after my countless inquiries on the subject is one of the keys to purchasing the right mill. The knee mill comes with a stand which makes it attractive where as the Zay I,ll either have to purchase a stand(add $200) or build on which I don,t mind doing that either. I did find an almost perfect stand at a salvage yard but the thing weights a ton and I,m debating how I can get it off my trailer and into my shop. Thats some thing else I,d like to see is pics of guys moving these size mills. Thanx again

[WhiteTiger]

Don't have any pics of moving mine, but I always did it by hand. Break it down to table, knee, head and column and pack 'em to the new place then reassemble. Gets a bit fun climbing the stand while carrying the head to put it in place, but not too terrible.


Tiger

[ZipSnipe]

Yeah thats what I figured, just break it down clean it up reassemble..

[Runner4404spd]

i completely disassembled mine to transport it home in the back of amini van. then i used my engine hoist and a dolly to move all the mill parts into my basement and then slowly reassembled it. right now i am adding scales for my DRO. gosh the new mill is alot nicer than my old one.

[vacpress]

ive transported a mini mill on a wooden 2x4 'pallette' using a hand-cart pallet jack.. it took myself and 2 friends to move it from the place i bought it assembled to my shop.. when i got to the shop one of the huge polish worker guys who shares my building was there. he looked at us in growing disgust, skinny, white, emmaciated hipsters, struggling with a ~800lb machine.

he grunted, came over 'geeet out ov my weeeey' (thick, plesant, polish accent).. then he single handedly hefted the thing on its jack over to the crane, wrapped 1 wrap of thick synthetic rope around the column, gave it a yank, and craned it up through the floor, retrieved it floating above the upstairs with 1 arm, yanked it over, craned up the pallet jack, and hefted it 150yards into my space, all alone... we just watched, mouths agape.

that was sweet.. if that isnt an option, you could always consider renting a truck and borrowing some friends...

[rhino]

If i had a choice,
id get the first one (the geared head one) it looks more solid, and if you can anchor it to something solid you'll have a good machine.
I hope this helps you out and all the best in your machining.

Rhino

[ViperTX]

Well the non-knee machine has greater spindle travel and greater y travel....so, it's your best bet.

[ZipSnipe]

Thanx guys it is a daunting decision, and while I,m sitting here trying to decide an auction has popped up this weekend close by. Now I know everyone hates the round column mill drills but if the price is right it sure would leave me a lot a money for all the other goodies I,m gonna need. But then again business has been good( For now!) and I really don,t see a problem getting either one of those other machines that I first mentioned. Yeah I,m leaning towards the square column myself, plus I figured someday Industrial Hobbies might sell their longer table( Hint hint) and I could always make it bigger if needed. Ya know whats funny is I started out wanting that HF micromill but after reading these forums and realizing that for whatever I want to do in the future that one of these bigger mills is the way to go and I hope anyone else that is stuck trying to figure out what type of mill to get can learn from these forums like I have. Well thanx to all for your input.

[JRouche]

Ya know whats funny is I started out wanting that HF micromill but after reading these forums and realizing that for whatever I want to do in the future that one of these bigger mills is the way to go and I hope anyone else that is stuck trying to figure out what type of mill to get can learn from these forums like I have. Well thanx to all for your input.

You are not alone. I started out looking at the micromill size also. After reading numerous posts I started looking at abit larger and larger mills till I decided on a square column mill. I am in the process (long process) of converting it to CNC. At the time I bought my mill the X3 mill was not readily available. If it had been I might have went that route. I didnt need a mill as large as the square column and the X3 would have been ideal. JRouche

[gto7419]

Zip Snipe, one thing I learned from the research I did before I bought the dovetail column was that I didnt want a round column. The round column is a compromise much like a 3 in 1. You are not getting the advantages to be had from a dedicated mill.

In the end, you have to live with the machine (or you could sell it and buy a different one), but why waste time and money?

Get what you really want - if you'll be ok with an X3 or a round column, go for it.... BUT, if you're buying the machine you dont really want to save a few bucks, you wont be happy in the long run...

Just my .02

Danny :cheers:

[jeanpierrepujol]

Hi there, what is the principle for turning a spiral column?
speed of travel vs rotation of stock.
Thanks JP