Advise on mill/drills

If you really want a gear head mill/drill, this is a good choice. Of course, depending on when and where it is made, quality is variable. I was lucky to get a good one. The gearbox and quill is smooth and relatively quite, the bed trams out to

This is going to be the hard one, I have several woodworking machines that are in this current range, and resetting breakers is a way of life.

That's how my A1-S knee mill came down, not too bad with two people.

The second depends on the first here. The larger machines are fairly rigid, I worked with one for more than ten years before buying the A1-S from KBC. There is a learning curve, mostly finding out what the machine wants and doesn't want.

There is a big price difference between the mill/drill and A1-S, a little more than double. HOwever, KBC delivered my mill the day after I ordered it, to Burlington, not far from you. I've had no complaints, the only complaint I had with the mill/drill was the handwheels, they're diecast and made as cheap as they can make them, I had go machine new ones out of aluminum to replace them, but not really a big deal. Space requirements for either are about the same, figure double the length of the table.

Rich.

Another one you can look at.

Interesting [stealth technology in a shop...]. Any other contenders?

Motor: 2 HP, 110V/220V/60Hz

Height 42"

Love that dovetail column.

SIEG X3 BENCHT> Another one you can look at.

I read that Rong Fu is the most copied drill/mill maker, just that some makers don't copy it too well.

The Seig X3 weighs in about 165 to 198 Kg, depending on options. Who makes a DRO that fits it without too much trouble?

My Dad is of the opinion that a DRO is not necessary, but I loved being able to zero and then crank 'er right down to the thousandth...

3 axis is where it's at.

Brent Phili> From what i Can see Rong fu seems to the the predominant MillDrill OEM >

From what i Can see Rong fu seems to the the predominant MillDrill OEM

At least up here in Canada it seems almost everything being sold that isnt heavy industrial is a rong fu or a rebadge

Busybee (Craftex) uses RF31's as does King Canada

There is a local store here that sells "honest" Rong Fu's so i might consider the RF40

I've seen the Sieg X3 as another option but are there other manufacturers of similar sized mill drills?

OR really small (1000 pound) real mills

Its more of a style than a specific model anymore, as there are a pile of outfits making them now. Pretty much all the outfits selling mill/drills sell an A1S style mill.

Grizzly

KBC Tools

(its on page 974, top left corner)

etc.,etc.

The real fast rundown on mill/drills is that there are a bunch of suppliers that will sell you a machine, some machines better built than others. Tiawan built tends to be better than mainland China built. Also a bit more money. There are a couple of the benchtop mills that are of similar capacities but vary greatly in the amount of weight that is in them. The RF 25 type vs. RF 30 type specifically, with the RF 30 having a considerably larger column and heavier castings. The RF 45 style mill is about as big as the benchtop models get, and it has a dovetail column and a geared head. The A1S mills could really be called a semi-benchtop mill, as they are really a bit too tall to put on a bench, but not really able to be placed on the floor without being on a stand. If you are minly interested in really small work, the wood mill from Grizzly has a higher top (and bottom) speed.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Thanks for the link to KBC Tools. The A1-S models are a wee bit bigger than I'd like to take down the steps.

Right now the Seig X3 [or Super X3 if I can f> Louis Ohland wrote:

Not long ago I was in the same boat you are now and had a good hard look at what was available. Almost went for the RF45 but settled on a used Clausing 8520, with a 6x24" table and about 650lbs it was just right for the basement and what I do.

They are a little hard to find but turn up on e-Bay and at dealers for HSM type machines. I paid $1750 for mine and it came with a 4" vise, I love it!

Did a full restoration and enjoyed every minute of it:

You can see from the pix how robust it is and the remarkable accuracy.

Here's another site giving more details:

Look for an 8520 with the MT2 spindle, the 8525 has a B&S which is harder to find tooling for.

I once had a 8530 with a power feed, it was indeed nice. I sold it because I did not have space for it, but I was impressed.

i

Another great machine for a garage shop. I've looked at Clausing's gear head drill presses, and wouldn't mind one for a second machine.

Try> Not long ago I was in the same boat you are now and had a good hard

Just to muddy the waters here-

Here on the (east)coast, riggers are $75 an hour, with a two hour minimum. Get what you want and have the riggers move it in. Mentally add the rigging cost into the price. This will open up a number of possibilities.

Kevin Gallimore

Greetings all,

I've only recently heard of the KBC offering, and note that it has more Z travel and quill to table distance than Grizzly's or wholesale tools' versions. (and that's been a common criticism of the 6x26" mills, from what I've read. Some users are making/considering riser blocks.)

But until I found this thread, I hadn't found any info/opinions from KBC mill owners.

Rich/any other KBC owners reading: If you can spare a few moments, would you please email/post re how well you like yours/any issues to be aware of, how much cleanup it needed.... Similarly, anything you can say about taking it apart to move/ballpark weights would be appreciated. (Like which chunk was the heaviest.) (For instance, I can't tell, from the catalog pic, how easy it is to get the knee assembly off of the "cabinet" below it.) Sounds like most folks use a shop crane for diss-assembly and re-assembly. Did you come up with a different scheme?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- greybeard wrote: