Hi all! New member here.
The Co. I work for has finally allowed me to purchase a mill/drill machine, after 20 years of begging. It's probably been that long since I've done any milling, but like riding a bicycle, it should come back.
Costs of dealing with a local machine shop, and the ability for me to make prototypes for a few projects that are comming up prompted this.
The machine is from McMaster-Carr (they WONT :mad:tell me the brand, part # is 8774A39) but the choice was made on price/HP/bed size of the machine + we have an account there. Its 2hp has a 9 1/2"X 31 3/4" bed and seems from the photo to be a decent machine.
Questions:
What should be the first things I do to get this machine setup once out of the crate and on it's base? IE: checking accuracy/runouts, backlash, etc...

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Thought I would update. Got the machine yesterday, and as I thought, it's a JET JMD 18. Nice machine for the money. Backlash is a bit much, but manageable (about .005) I should be making chips purty soon.

Some such machines are/can be "works in progress". Sometimes a simple disassembly and rebuild will "fix" a number of things not the least of which is slop, dirt and perhaps lethargic assembly at the factory. In the process, you'll probably find ideas on ways to "fix" or improve things. You may also find ways to lubricate stuff that wasn't lubed or wasn't lubed properly. YOu might even ifnd damaged stuff that should be returned so as not to have "problems" prematurely. THis method of assembly/reassembly also will help you understand and repair the machine which can/will come in handly later on.

Enjoy your purchase and always try to improve it in some way or other - you have the beginnnings of an heirloom...

Thanks NC. Ya I've come to the conclusion that it will be a "work in progress".
My boss came in friday to look at it (he's done some milling in past years) and was impressed with the machine.
Used it a bit this morning. Everything runs smoothly, but the supplied vice is a POS. Otherwise it's a solid machine and as my boss noted, " a machine like this 20 years ago would be about 5k". (maybe ;) )
Lube is not a problem, though cleaning up what they covered the poor thing in was a chore. They made sure it woulden't rust!