Hi Ben,
I made ya a little starting list based on what David recommended and a few things that I thought of. The mill is the Harbor Freight one and the accessories are from Little Machine Shop.
HF:
Milling Machine $299.99
LMS:
2034 Drawbar $9.95
1752 2MT Collet Set (7) $49.95
1242 End Mill Set (2 flute) $15.95
1243 End Mill Set (4 flute) $16.95
2653 Starter Kit $73.95
2249 Spare Parts Kit $19.95
3088 Cutting Fluid $3.95
1591 2" Screwless Vise $44.95
2983 Electronic Digital 6" Caliper $14.95 (sale price)
1782 Dial Indicator/Magnetic Base/Points $19.95 (sale price)
The total comes to just over $550.00 plus freight. You will need a few bucks to get some material. Get 6061 aluminum. It machines really nice. DON'T get the crap at Menards or other hardware stores. It does not machine very well. It is too "gummy" for lack of a better word.
You need the dial indicator to get the vise jaws straight to the cutter. The 6" digital caliper is just handier than crap to have. You should get the spare parts kit because that has all the replacement plastic gears. The X2 mill comes with a drawbar, but I did not see one in the micro mill owner's manual.
You will spend close to every penny of $700 to get set up decent. You can shop around and maybe save a few bucks on ebay, but the shipping might offset any savings on the pieces. If you don't have drill bits and files...add that cost in.
However, for a little bit more money, you can get the X2 instead. That is a very popular mill. I bought mine from Cummins Tools on ebay. I think I paid around $399. I did a search for them, but I could not find any listed today. Alot of the tooling will transfer right over to the X2 (with some minor changes). I could make you another list for that if needed. I think there is a lot more info out there on the X2 versus the X1.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Mike  |