that cast stand is for sure nice but for cnc which is the main reason for me buying this machine, I am gonna make a nice enclosure and coolant tray to add to the already heavy duty steel stand I welded up so the stand for me anyway is a non-issue. The IH mill is very nice but the 22.5" of z travel is over the top and I doubt you will ever need that much travel anyway. I have a very large Yuasa super accra dex dividing head and with the chuck on it sitting horizontally it is quite huge and even with only 17"( which I think is very conservative) I can still get my drill chuck and my longest drill bit over about anything I might want to put in the dividing head's chuck. With 5" of quill for drilling it is no problem to get about anything you would expect to machine on a mill of this size on the table and access it. The only real machining envelope issue with my machine is the y travel is a bit short but I am working on that..... I agree that no quill travel for rigidity is the way to go on a cnc machine and that Is why I chose the dovetail column machine to allow that setup. For the money, with a x-power feed unit and the machine for the price he is selling it you would be hard pressed to get more machine for less or even slightly more money. Besides to be honest if I were to spend near $2k I would not be looking at a Mill like this anyway, I would go straight to a fullsize bridgeport clone anyway. I looked around for some time before I laid the money down on my machine and despite the grizzly being not available at that time I still think the Lathemaster is better. Bob Bertrand is a super good fella and has taken care of me with replacement parts when I broke something even when it was really my fault. JMHO tho....Any of these mills is a nice addition to any hobby shop and once cnc'd might even be useful for light production or prototyping work. That is where I am headed anyway. Peace all...
Pete Matos
Matospeter@charter.net
865-363-9218