Small table top mill - for aluminum

[trireme]

I looking to entering the world of milling, I need to make several custom brackets, all aluminum.

I would love to purchase something that could later be upgraded to do CNC, but thats not critical.

Hopes for CNC have kept me from investing into anything. But do to low volume requirement, I would like to attempt to make this simple parts with a mill/drillpress.

I have been looking at the Harbor Freight mill/drill "Two-Speed Variable Bench Mill/Drill Machine", it seems like it is good for the low cost. Also have considered the Taig due to its easy upgrade to CNC.

Or should I be looking at the HF 93885, it seems more popular for CNC conversion.

Will these suit my needs? I will be working with 6061 typically, for its strength, unless the part is going to need bending, then I will go for something softer. For the most part I will be modify channel, L, and flat bar to make my parts, so its almost gonna be a glorified drill press. But I will need to do some shaping.

Can I use my existing set of Bimetal hole saws with these mills? What flutes do you recommend for shaping.

Do I need to add a coolant system with a small machine like this?

What equipment in addition to the machine and bits do I need to start?

Thank you to all!

[DMF_TomB]

I bought Sherline lathe then mill and I upgraded or added CNC later. Sherline sells all the parts. Sherline machines are not very big but will machine steel if taking light cuts.

I bought Sherline machines to learn CNC. If not convenient to try something at work I can try the CNC at home. I can do letter engraving easily on it.

Sherline is very good at selling parts and accessories. I have not had any problems with their equipment and they have a good record of fixing anything not right. For example some motors they bought from another supplier they will accept returns to fix and send info on how to fix which ever the customer prefers.

I think this is 10X better than a cheaper machine with no support for warranty or spare parts. Sherline is made in USA and equipment is mailed easily as it is sent more than one box if needed. Sherline machines are more portable. That is you will not need a crane or a fork truck as they are small and lighter. you need to check if they are big enough for what you want to do.

[trireme]

The sherline machine looks very small which does have appeal. And USA
made sounds good too. But it does seem to bring up the cost of the machine, particulary because of the typical 20-30% deals HF offers.

Have you or anyone else used both machines, and could give a pro/con comparison?

Thanks for your input on the sherline mill

[trireme]

is the X2 style harbor freight too small ??? i want to get the X3, but its really huge and heavy, that is a lot to deal with. So sherline and the x2 is really tempting, just afraid I will outgrow it quickly

[rowbare]

The X2 and the Taig are considerable bigger and heavier than the Sherline.

If your ultimate goal is to go CNC, I would suggest getting a CNC-ready Taig and a set of hand cranks for it to get you started. With that the conversion is quite painless. The X2 conversions are considerably more work depending on whether you get a kit or roll your own.

As well since your primary goal is to cut aluminum, you will find that the higher rpm spindle on the Taig will be advantageous especially when dealing with smaller cutter sizes.

Either mill can easily be resold on eBay for a pretty good price.

[miniengine]

I have the Harbor Freight 47158 Micro Mill. Used it without CNC for about a year then added CNC. Works fine for steel, aluminum, brass or about anything. Had it now for about 6 years. (also bought the service 2 year warranty) which has come in handy a few times.

[trireme]

It great to hear you are all having success with such small machines... thats great.

minengine- what problems did you have with your minimill?

[miniengine]

Had a couple times one of the plastic gears broke, (bought new ones from Little Machine Shop). With the 2 year policy I bought, one quit running and I took it to the HF store and they gave me a knew one right then. Other than that it has been great. I use Xylotex controller and steppers and Jeff gives great support there....Ray