Snob appeal pecking order of milling machines

Deckel seems to be the hands-down winner for snob appeal. Personally, I'm thankful to be able to use anything with a knee.

Bridgeport is kind of the "Kleenex" of milling machines, common to the point of becoming a generic term. A Bridgeport is a very good and serviceable machine for a typical home shop. It is heavy, but not to the point of being unmanageable for an average HSM'er and it uses (well, most use) the very common and inexpensive R8 spindle taper.

Other machines are arguably superior in various ways, but those advantages mostly applied to production use pre-CNC days and has little relevance to a typical HSM'er. Other machines are more rigid, but this also makes them much heavier and difficult to move. Other machines have more power, but this makes issues like VFDs and phase converters more of a problem and also typically moves them to other spindle tapers which are considerably more expensive than the R8 equivalents.

Thanks for your most helpful and logically presented explanations. Metinks me will not aspire to anything more grandiose than a Bridgeport, if even that. V

Good choice if you have the space, ceiling height and don't have to move it down stairs.

If not, a Clausing-size knee mill or a mill-drill should be mostly adequate for a home shop unless you plan to rebore an engine block or air compressor.

I'm happy as a Murff with my RF45 clone ... a perfect companion for a

10X30 lathe .

Hey, Terry. What kind of stuff do you make? V

We would love to be able to machine small engines although, given our skill level (zero) that seems like a laughably unrealistic ambition. I see your point about "going down stairs". We're still struggling to get a 650# bench mill / drill over a 6" threshold. But that's only because I'm old and wimpy and my forklift has gone kaput. We are starting our machine shop in a back room of a farm house (cement floor). As soon as the forklift's back in business I intend to simply cut a hole in the back wall and shove it through. I will frame up the hole and put in a door. V

Cut a 4' long 2x4 diagonally to give two triangles. Nail 3/4" ply to the top of the triangles with an overlap at the pointy end of the triangles. Use a belt sander, plane or planer to chamfer the end of the ply to match the underside of the triangles. Rest the thick end of the construction on a bit of

1" scrap (ply offcuts) and push or pull the mill up the ramp you have just made. 650lb is quite manageable on rollers with a gentle ramp. If age and infirmity (or common sense) require more control, use a rope from the mill, around a solid post beyond the threshold and back to you to belay the mill whilst you lever it forward on the rollers.

You absolutely have to have a forklift for that sort of job.

regards Mark Rand RTFM

Snip

As soon as the forklift's back in business I intend to simply

No. The only things you ABSOLUTELY need when moving heavy equipment is patience, rollers blocks and a long crowbar. The most important of these is patience. Take it slow and careful, and you can move nearly anything.

Roger that!

It s true about moving a heavy item on a flat surface, but not so true about loading and unloading top heavy items from trailers.

i

vernon "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

almost no one can stump up the price of a bridgeport new unless they are going to make money from the work done on it. if you can good on you! truely!

second hand bridgeports are more than likely pretty well flogged to death by the time they are disposed of on to the home workshop market. their reputation was given them by the users and they arent traded unless they are stuffed. all the ones I saw were very well worn, basket cases in fact.

so I bought a new hafco HM50. it is a chinese mill with dovetail slides and a knee. about 7ft tall and weighing 700lbs. it uses er32 collets. I've routed wood parts for an Auster on it, made lots of metal swarf. I havent found a problem with it in all honesty.

consider that any half reasonable chinese mill bought new will give better and more accurate service than a totally worn out bridgeport.

in a flash I'd have a bridgeport but I've been totally happy with my chinese mill.

Stealth Pilot

Oops. I missed out the word "don't". Somewhat changes the meaning of that last sentence :-(

You don't absolutely have to have a forklift for that sort of job.

Mark Rand RTFM

and/or pry bars with PROPER cribbing makes it easy and safe to move heavy equipment vertically. House movers do it regularly.

Don Young

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:56:47 -0700, the infamous Gunner Asch scrawled the following:

I sure hope your liability insurance is in place, mon. With that kind of tonnage, shit flattens.

-- Some days, it's not even worth chewing through the restraints.