Hi all
I am looking at purchasing a Mill and Lathe for personal and Business use. I service machinery so Mill and Lathe work is not my core business, will only be used every now and then for business.
I am after anyone’s advice on the following mills & lathes or please suggest a different one for me to look at.
Materials I will be mainly using
Stainless Steel (Need to mill now)
Mild steel
Bisalloy (Rarely used)
Brass
Various plastics
I may use some other materials but this will cover the range I would use now.
Equipment I am looking at. Mill
HM-45
HM45 details
SX3
SX3 Details Lathe
AL-60
AL-60 Details
AL-320G
AL-320G Details
AL-300
Sorry couldn’t find a link
Main differences compared to the AL-320 are
1.5Hp motor
Quick change feed gearbox
Threaded spindle nose
Better metric & imperial threading range
(Hafco don’t sell this one anymore.)
My thoughts are to purchase the HM-45 Mill and the AL-320G
Reasons are
The HM-45 seems to be the best choice before getting into the knee mill range. Knee mills are too big for now. I don’t have the space.
The AL-320G Lathe as it seems to be a better choice for what is available. I think I would prefer the AL-300 (even though it was $700 more in 2006 HAFCO catalog)
But I don’t know where I could see one to compare or purchase from as HAFCO don't sell them anymore.
I can’t go bigger in size for the Lathe do to space issues. There for 600mm between centres is max. I could get a way with 300mm between centres if I wanted to, but I don’t think that would be wise choice for me.
Please let me know what you think, known issues with any of the models or If there is another model you think I should look at.
Including suppliers in South Australia of mills and lathes, I only know of Melb suppliers.
Thanks
AJ