I hope someone else with actual experience with those will chip in.
Personally, the smallest machine I would bother owning is a mill with about 10" of Y travel, and 16" Z travel. This is simply because of fixturing: its nice to be able to hold stuff in a "regular" 6 inch vise, and it may surprise you to learn that it takes a machine this large to really have room to mount a "standard" 6" Kurt vise. It also takes a fair bit of Z travel, because the vise is about 4" high, and then you need room for your 5" cube plus ordinary jobber drill lengths (maybe 6" for a 1/2" drill), so that is 15" of Z travel, more would be better.
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(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management) |