Where to buy a bench top mill ?

[JustSomeGuy]

Hiya all.
Anybody have any ideas about where I can purchase an X2/X3 mill in the southern Ontario area ?
I live just east of Toronto. I know I can order something from the US but I would rather give my money to a Canadian company.

Cheers

[cyclestart]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy Hiya all. I know I can order something from the US but I would rather give my money to a Canadian company.

If you're truly wish to buy Chinese in Canada, Princess Auto carries the X2. Download the "Shop and Garage" catalog to have a look. $1000 regular price but goes on sale occasionally. PA has fans on these forums but my opinion of the local outlet is mostly unprintable (expletives). Maybe someone knows another source.

My 2 cents, import from the US. Get an X3 on sale for the price of a PA X2 (or even less). Wish I had.

Edit/ Is the plan to convert to cnc? Syil Canada pricing is pretty close to Syil America pricing for cnc'd Siegs. You'll be hard pressed to do a comparable conversion for the dollar starting out with a $1000 X2. Princess Auto is charging more than double the current Harbor Freight price. Expect Syil Canada will also offer some after sales help. Princess Auto? ....well, they have a generous return policy.

[JustSomeGuy]

Thanks Cyclestart.

I go to Princess Auto at times. I sometimes regard the really cheap hand tools as disposable (Use once and throw away).

I am thinking about going to CNC later. I just want to start out with a small mill and use it in manual mode to learn. I Think I would rather learn to walk before I run.

A friend was trying to move me towards a used full size mill but I doubt I could justify a 5,000 lb monster to my wife.

Anyone have any experience with picking up a small mill in the US and bringing it back? I drive over to see some clients in the Niagara Falls and Windsor area a couple of times a year so a side trip over to the US would not be too hard. I was thinking that If I pick it up and bring it over myself, I might avoid some of the FEDEX/UPS broker horrors.

Cheers

[cyclestart]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy Anyone have any experience with picking up a small mill in the US and bringing it back?

I posted this same question before buying from Princess Auto.
importing a mill to canada ?
More recently I've driven across with several items for the mill, but none of Chinese manufacture. According to another member here, the import tariff on Chinese products can be 17% if customs decides to apply it.

My experience with customs officials;
1) They will ask for country of manufacture
2) They don't like to look up the import code for the product. If you can supply a code number they will be more pleasant to deal with.

My decision to go with Princess came down to driving distance. 70 miles to PA vs 200+ to a Harbor Freight. In hindsight I would have driven the extra miles and will in the future.

If you do go with Harbor Freight, do a search of this sight for their coupon offers.

Good luck whatever route you choose.

[geo_50]

Check out "busybeetools.com".They have a Craftex brand X2 size mill . I've seen the PA X1 and was not impressed .The syill X3 CNC mill I looked at is OK but the Craftex seems to be superior in quality .

[JustSomeGuy]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good info to think about. I would still rather buy something in Canada but $500 difference in price is kinda hard to ignore. It could buy a fair bit of tooling.
I guess the key is to do the homework before hand.

[beegner]

Hey JustSomeGuy
I live in SW Ontario, in the same situation, wanting a small mill.
How did you make out? DId you buy used or a new small one?
Did you go south to get it?
THx

[Patrike]

Hi everyone

I live just north of TO -- looking to get a small mill as well -I to would like to know how Justsomeguy made out.

I got interested in milling recently when reading this article:

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/shumaker/default.htm

I will work up to making it CNC after learning the fundamntal.

Cheers
Patrike

[beegner]

Hey Again.
I was just looking at busybeetools.ca website.
They have some not bad deals
Let me know if you guys find anything else?
Thx

[Patrike]

Originally Posted by beegner Hey Again. I was just looking at busybeetools.ca website. They have some not bad deals Let me know if you guys find anything else? Thx

Hey Beegner

Thanks for the heads up on the Busybee - I have heard of them before but I am not sure if I had every checked them out before. Anyway-I looked at there site and checked out the metal lathes - at this point I don not know what I am looking for -- the article that I listed in my last post said that he has a 5 axis mill. The one he has is a small mill set up for CNC - not sure if say the cheapest 588$ can eventually be set up like his, as is what I am aiming for over the next couple of years as I progress.


Later
Patrike

[beegner]

I just returned from Princess auto. They have a small bench top for $1000.
Not impressed by it. The floor model had parts falling off it, movements did not feel that good.

I guess I will look at the busybee tool one, see if it is better.

Keep me posted if you find anthing.
Later

[Patrike]

Originally Posted by beegner I just returned from Princess auto. They have a small bench top for $1000. Not impressed by it. The floor model had parts falling off it, movements did not feel that good. I guess I will look at the busybee tool one, see if it is better. Keep me posted if you find anthing. Later

I have seen that one -- not impressed as well -- any luck getting to Busybee yet!
patrike