Looking to retrofit a Mill

[the_0utsid]

Ive been looking @ 2 milling machines and have some questions.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...egoryName=null

and


http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...egoryName=null

Here is my dillemma. Is the Y travel supposed to be skimpy? Do i have to buy a full size bridgeport to get anywhere close to 12" travel???

With the second one, with the vertical shaft being round, does this result in much chatter when the mill is running?
This one gives me a bigger table, but the smaller one does not have the round "neck".....

Any advice on these machines would be great.
TIA

[championp]

In my opinion, if you want big travel, you have to go full size. The smaller mill looks nice in the photo but shipping weight is only 150 lbs. This tells me it is not going to be very rigid and it is going to chatter way more than the second larger mill(735lbs) most of this weight is in the beefier frame, so it is definitely going to work better. There are usually two pinchbolts in the back that hold on to that upright tube pretty good when properly torqued down. That small one might even vibrate off your bench if you took a heavy cut. If your just cutting plastic and wood then the smaller mill would probably work ok.

How serious are you into getting a mill? many times a good used vertical knee mill can be purchased for $1000-2000. The larger benchtop mills are usually around $1000 new. Usually even a worn out knee mill is going to perform better than a new benchtop mill. If you have the space for it and the power supply available I would go with a full size mill.(2000-5000lbs)