Mini Mills

[jbroni]

Hi, I'm looking at picking up a mini mill and was trying decide between one of the Chinese mills like the Cummings, or a Sherline (5xxx series). Looks like the Sherline is maybe a more precision-built machine? I understand that the Chinese mills require some mods to make them usable (such as for backlash). Just don't want to go too far down the Chinese path spending time and money to make it better, when maybe I could have just spent more and got a Sherline with DRO. I mean til you add DRO, etc to the Cummings it adds up quickly anyway. But the Cummings looks more rugged. Any words of advice? Greatly appreciated, thanks.

[acondit]

I think you sort of hit the nail on the head. The Chinese mills (X2 and X2) are bigger, heavier and sturdier than mills like the Sherline. So they are capable of larger jobs. However, they also require a little more tlc when you first get them.

So what should you choose? Well you need to decide what you intend to use the mill for. It is easy to outgrow a mill, if you haven't thought through your planned uses. How big are the things you would like to mill? What materials do you intend to cut?

If you are like most of us, you probably can't afford and don't have a place for a mill for which you would never have a job "too big".

Alan

[jbroni]

Alan,
You got that right, I have very little space, and trouble justifying spending a lot considering I am a newbee (don't have a lot to spend anyway).
I got the same impression on the Chinese mills, as far as appearing to be capable of bigger jobs (than the Sherline). I'm leaning toward the Cummings or HF. I'm ok with it needing a little tlc at first, just don't want to throw a stupid amount of money at it getting it setup with DRO, ballscrews, etc. I would also like to follow-through and add CNC, but not right away. Lots to consider and learn. Thanks for the comments. Appreciate any advice I can get.

Steve

[ZipSnipe]

Ya know what I like about the Sherline (besides it being cute) is that you can put it anywhere. It is nicely made and I,ve been impressed with it from day one. As for the x2(sieg) its got its good points too, r8 tooling (means you can use a lot of different cutters and such. Figure out what ya wanna make then decide on a milling machine.

[tikka308]

Why don't you look into a TAIG? It's a great balance between a Chinese X2/X3 & a sherline. It's not quite as rugged as an X2/X3 but much more precise. It's much more rugged than a sherline.

I've posted a lot of video's of my TAIG on my CNC blog: www.nyccnc.com. Most of my work has been with delrin (plastic) thus far - but my enclosure arrives soon and then I'll be working with aluminum.

As for the TAIG's - check out www.lococnc.com - they sell the stock TAIG with some great add-on features.

[GeneK]

Steve, one thing to note about the Sherline, and I hope the Taig also is that they do retain their value and can be sold later for close to your first investment. I have Sherline lathes and mills and have been using them since the mid 1970's. These light weight machines have supported me in the proffessions of camera repair and clockmaking. They will not hog off massive amounts of steel but do fair for themselves in brass and aluminium. What ever you pay for the machine it seems that you are bound to invest a similar amount in to your tooling. Some tooling will transfer to larger machines, some is pretty specific to the Sherline or Taig.
In short I don't think you would be wrong to start with the smaller machines and learn what you do need in the larger machine.

GeneK

Alan,
You got that right, I have very little space, and trouble justifying spending a lot considering I am a newbee (don't have a lot to spend anyway).
I got the same impression on the Chinese mills, as far as appearing to be capable of bigger jobs (than the Sherline). I'm leaning toward the Cummings or HF. I'm ok with it needing a little tlc at first, just don't want to throw a stupid amount of money at it getting it setup with DRO, ballscrews, etc. I would also like to follow-through and add CNC, but not right away. Lots to consider and learn. Thanks for the comments. Appreciate any advice I can get.

Steve

[dang]

Gene's right,

I've spent more on tooling than I did my HF mini mill. The mini mill requires that you upgrade a few things right off the top. Most notably are the belt drives systems, the drawbar, and in your case, a dro.
The belt drive should be considered immediately. The dro can be built pretty cheaply if you look at a shumatech.
I do like the R8 tooling on the X2 though. When I eventually upgrade to an X3, or bridgie or whatever, the tooling stays the same.

[ZipSnipe]

Yep I agree with Tikka, Gene and dang. The Taig is nice too a little more rugged than Sherline, and both machines do retain value upon resale. The x2 r-8 tooling as dang mentioned is transferable should you upgrade to a bigger r-8 tooled mill.

[jbroni]

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm like a sponge for any info I can get at this point. I've been trying to find a good site with more info on the Taig, but no luck yet. The sites I've found are all pretty crude and don't even have a larger image of the mills. Makes the Taig appear to be some cobbed-up thing. I'd have a hard time spending more money on something with so little info on it, as compared to say Sherline or the Chinese mills. Any better links on the Taig?

[tikka308]

Jbroni - did you take a look at my TAIG blog? www.nyccnc.com. I have lots of videos & pictures. If you need anything specific (photo's video's), please let me know and I'll post.

[jbroni]

tikka308,
Yes, thanks for the link. I've been checking out all your posts and videos. I very much appreciate your step by step posts, useful for a newbee like myself. I was just expecting more from the sites that sell the mill. Even the 'lococnc' site is lacking a lot as far as real pics and descriptions of models and options. Not nearly as informative as Sherline, or the Chinese mills. The 'taigtools' site itself is even pretty sparse for info, looks like a grade-schooler put it together. A lot of money to spend based on so little info. One thing I didn't see was a capability to have hand crank wheels on the back of the motors. I know hossmachine shows a nice CNC conversion of a Chinese mill that still allows manual operation. That's the config I would like to shoot for. I was imagining getting a mill, setting it up with DRO. Then later adding the CNC control. Does that sound like a reasonable strategy?

Thanks,
Steve

[tikka308]

The "ultimate" TAIG page is www.cartertools.com. It's a basic webpage that will require some more digging to see everything - but they is a plethora of information.

What's true is that sherline spends a lot of money on marketing. If you read this site, I think you'll find very few (if any) people will recommend a sherline over a taig. Sherline's just aren't rigid.

I went with a TAIG over a chinese for two reasons: 1) a TAIG is more accurate and 2) I'm space constrained. That being said, there are some great company's that really spruce-up the chinese mills and make them into solid machines.

Nick Carter, who runs cartertools.com and posts frequently, is an expert. I'm almost certain I've come across photo's on his site where folks have kept hand-crank wheels on the steppers for manual control.