Rong fu-v-Enco or other Knock offs

[Traceycnc300]

I've been machining profesionaly for 13 years but lately I've been considering buying a small mill for home use and later converting it to cnc.But I was wondering if any of you thought there was enough difference in quality to make up the price difference in the Rong fu versus enco or other Knock offs.
Thanks in advance Tracey
PS I'm only considering square column mills.

[lakeside]

i DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE MACHINES BUT ONE THAT
SOUNDS LIKE ........"WRONG FOR YOU"......... I'LL WOULD RUN FROM

[Zumba]

buying a small mill for home use and later converting it to cnc.

If by "later" you mean 15 minutes, then I would give the others a shot. Otherwise, stick with Rong Fu.

Seriously, the knockoffs are pretty crappy machines. They make decent CNC machines because the conversion replaces practically every moving part and doesn't even utilize the quill.

A short list of problems for starters:
1. Quill doesn't track straight.
2. Z-axis column leadscrew has immense backlash. If you ever forget to lock down the gibs, expect a messed up part.
3. Cheap hardware throughout. The bolts on my industrial hobbies mill came rusted. Handwheels are garbage.
4. Cast iron is not high quality. Will it last for a few years? Sure. But I noticed a HOLE underneath the cross slide table on the Y axis saddle. Not a critical section, but come on. I wonder what happened.. maybe someone blew a snot rocket into the casting while it was still hot?

[Traceycnc300]

Thanks for the reply guys.Sometimes you do actually get what you pay for but I didnt know if this was one of those cases or not.Probably be ayear or so on the conversion so I wanted to get something that was servicable till then.

[toolmaker1973]

Check out a tormach. We just bought one for our shop

tormach.com

[dgalaxy]

enco gives a 90 day warranty rong fu much longer right there will tell ya something i have a enco 40 and a south bend 10k i know this is appeles and oranges but the quailty of componets on my lathe are just smother and nicer and 20 years older i would opt for a nicer machine than an enco
but of you only got limited funds then i geuss it would be ok ( that was me limited funds so i got an enco

[ironDigit]

well i dont know were you live m8
but if you are able to get your hands on a bf20 benchtop mill
for less than a K(no tooling) i'ld say you got a pretty sweet deal right there.
But none the less what you get is what you pay for. especially the Z-axis is a pain in the ass man if you are used too nice solid industrial machines.
but the castings slides and so on are very nice on this machine as well as 'the documentation is pretty detailed when you buy it so you'll be precisely aware of any flaw so you can calculate this in to your plans up front.
only too convert to cnc you cant miss out on the ballscrews man and the 2750rpm's spindle speed might not be that satisfying also
alltogether i'll say unless your into heavy inox and stainless steel machining
this is quite a nice home,kitchen,garden machine
there are some threads on this one in the benchtop mills section
mine got me quite satisfyed so if you got any questions bout this mill pm me

almost forgot : dovetail on the Z makes life much easier than the round drilpress column the WRONGFORYOU packs

[Traceycnc300]

I've looked at the Tormach.Very nice indeed and not overly expensive but I would like to have more x.
The bf20 is also alittle small for my needs but it to appears to be a nicely made machine.
Price always is an issue for me as for most people I supose but if RF is worth the extra $1000 over the Enco or others I will spend the extra money.
I've looked at the bf46 vario optimum but can't seem to get them to send me any imformation.Does anyone know if its avalable in the USA?

[Halfnutz]

From what I learned the bf46 is not sold here in us. I wish, it looks like a very nice machine, compared to the square collums that size that are available here.

[Traceycnc300]

That is a shame it looks like a very good machine from what I've seen on their site.Do the RF's have chrome ways? I'm guessing they don't but would be pleasantly surprised if the did also does the quill have a farly close fit to its bearing surfaces?

[PeteZ28]

i DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE MACHINES BUT ONE THAT
SOUNDS LIKE ........"WRONG FOR YOU"......... I'LL WOULD RUN FROM

Caps lock anyone???

Actually the Rong Fu is a fairly decent quality, and higher priced Asian machine. The original poster was referring to the machines sold by Enco, Grizzly, etc that are actually copies of the Rong-Fu machines.

[Traceycnc300]

yes I have heard there pretty good quality and hope to order one next week or so.But I may try to hold off alittle while because a guy from optimum Emailed me last night about the 46 vario machine and I wanted to see what was up with that.Have to collect on a few side job anyways.