grizzly g1006 worthy mill?

[daclearwater]

I have found little on this site for G1006 grizzly mill/drill CNC conversion, leading me to believe its not a popular choice for cnc or milling for that matter. Does anyone have experience with this machine, manual or CNC and how does it compare to a square column mill like the X3?

thanks

[bilinghm]

It is a typical round column mill/drill with all of the benefits (low cost) and drawbacks (round column) of the type. I have owned a round column mill/drill for 24 years and it has served very well. Would I buy one today? I would go square. Can it be CNC'ed? Sure, but with a lot of compromises. It is much more suitable as a manual mill.

[acondit]

I have one (actually an early G1007 before the powerfeed). Someday I may convert it to CNC (just because I already have it). If I were to buy a benchtop mill today with an eye to converting it, I too would buy a square column machine.

I have actually given a lot of thought to converting my G1007, but I am really bothered by the limitations of the round column. I have real trouble justifying the effort to cnc convert a machine with a major starting limitation. I think that if I decide to do it, I would also commit to replacing the round column with a square column (shop made). However, that also means redesigning the head. So, I would probably be better off to sell the G1007 for what I can get for it and buy a square column to start with.

Alan