Help with bench top Mill choice

[anoel]

I'm considering buying a bigger mill than my little HF Micro-Mill.

I don't have the shop space for a retired knee mill. So I'm looking into the bench toppers. And I want to keep things right at +/-1K. for the mill purchase itself.

I'm trying to decide if I want to go with one of the following:

A: A Seig X3 from Lathemasters.

B: Harbor Frieght 33686 (here)

Both have roughly the same table size within an inch of each other.

The X3 appears to be the better "all around" choice. especially for a CNC Conversion. I've yet to see a finished and functioning X3 conversion though.

Any other decent mill choices for around a grand? (No I don't want a Taig or Sherline)

[FLUTE HEAD]

I have a 33686. I could have paid around 400 more for the geared head version. I paid 7 or 800 for mine on sale. changing belts isn't terrible. Theres also a dovetail column out there but not sure how much. I have found that one of the 2 holes for the y axis flange was drilled and tapped pretty crooked. I guess a round column has its advantages. One day I'll have a "VFD" drive. I like mine though.

[ViperTX]

Go with the Sieg X3....does Bob have them in-house?

[anoel]

I don't know... They are listed on the "order" page. He's on vacation until tommorow. So I would not know if it's available. As far as I know he's the only one in the US that is improting them. (Anyone know of another source? I just assume buy from him since I know that he has a very good reputation.)

[rcazwillis]

You might look at HF 42827. It is comprable to the one you are looking at, but is not a round column style. Listed at $1099.

[anoel]

I thought about that one but it looked pretty junky compared to the others when I saw it in person.

[itsme]

Hi there,

If it were up to me, I'd go with the Sieg X3. I've looked at a few of the Chinese mills and I thought the X3 was one of the better ones. The square column is also always a nice feature to have...

In the 'Model Engineers Workshop' magazine a few months ago, they had an article (actually 3 articles) about converting an X3 to CNC. The guy who did that got an X3 conversion working...so it has been done (just in case you were wondering ).

Regards
Warren

[JFettig]

have you considered the sq column mill from industrialhobbies or lathemasters? Does anyone know how it compares with the x3?

Jon

[CNCadmin]

I love my sieg X3, runs very well and is a soild machine. It's a great buy IMO.

[JRouche]

I bought an Enco square column mill for conversion and like it (still converting). I would have also bought an X3 if available. I like the smaller size of the X3. I may still get one to convert, especially if they become more available and the price comes down abit. I think they were still close to a grand last I actually saw one for sale. JRouche

[anoel]

Jon, I'd Love to have one of the IH or Lathemaster Mills but the budget won't allow...

(actually my Air Conditioning unit pooped out on me today and set me back almost $400 so it looks like I've got a couple of more weeks to decide.)

I'll doubtfully ever get into much steel other than simple drilling and facing. Aluminum, brass are most likely what I'd be dealing with.

Paul, glad to hear you like the Sieg. Have you started your CNC conversion? Are you going ball screw? Or are you going to try the stock screws first? All the web sites and threads I've seen so far only involve "prepping" for CNC nothing complete though.

[Chunky]

Any other decent mill choices for around a grand? (No I don't want a Taig or Sherline)

I was kinda looking at Sherline. Are they crap?