Round column mill?

[bearwen]

I ran across a Enco mill/drill that has a round column for $400 and was wondering the quality of the round columns I understand that the round columns are not as rigid as the square coulmns but honestlly what kind of milling can a round coulmn do? I ask as I am just a hobbiest but would like to be able to do some reall milling work I work on small engines and what not and need a mill that can do real work such as boring and surfacing blocks and heads. I would like to be able to surface car heads as well. I am looking to get into doing lots of machining work of all aspects not just automotive ie tools, prototype stuff as well as fabricating special parts for my own toys So the big question is whats the real low down on the square vs round coulmn mills is the round coulmn just as good but you cant take as deep of a cut because of the round coulmn will let the head move or what. Please really need to know as I am looking to buy very soon.

[jalessi]

Bearwen,

The real issue users complain about is that the round column mill loses it X zero and Y zero reference points when the head is raised or lowered during tool changes. The head is not indexed to the column so it rotates slightly causing misalignment.

There are several work a round's to alleviate the problem.

Jeff...

[M250cnc]

Bearwen,

I use a round column mill RF31

I realise that i have to work within the Z axis 5" limitation or re reference.

The people that diss the round column have square column mills and they complain about plastic gears breaking, heads swivelling, heads swivelling when removing tools having to brace the column etc etc

There are hundreds of threads about these shortfalls.

I can only say i am happy with my mill, after some fettling of course.

The swivelling can be stooped by simply lubricating the column fixing bolt threads nuts and washers.

Phil

[Bubba]

I also have a round column mill and have been quite happy with it. Sure it has limitations, but what machine doesn't? I would think it is a little small if your talking about working automotive heads on it though, but again most of the mills in this class will have the same problem! For $400, it would be a "cheap" way to find out the capabilities for yourself.
Most setups can be done without having to reset the head height IF you plan ahead. And as far as the head rotating during a run, the only time I have had that happen is when the stupid operator (ME) forgot to tighten the bolts before machining!

[Crevice Reamer]

Round column mills are usually fairly large capable mills. The PITA when tool changing is one drawback, Operating from the less rigid quill is another, having to operate within the quill height for Z is another. All of these things can be worked around for manual milling. Still I doubt this will be large enough for you.

The biggest drawback comes when CNC converting such a mill, because you are investing dollars into something that will always have serious limitations.

IMO, you need to find a nice used Bridgeport to have the travels you will need for large work. It might not cost you much more, would be a bear to move, but whatever it cost would allow you to manually do what you need.

BTW, If I saw this round column mill for $400, I would snap it up, remove the base/table and attach my SX3 column to it, throw away the round column, and make a very nice floor drill press out of the head.

CR.