Mill and lathe

[tnc]

Hello to all, I am new to the forum and also kind of new to mill and lathe work. I have done a little work with these 2 machines, but not enough to feel comfortable in buying them. I wanted to get a mill and lathe combo from like smitty, but I have been reading some of these threads and finding out that that may be a bad choice. I would like to be able to make gears, sprockets for like motorcycles, cut frames, axels and small gears for nitro powered rc trucks and cars. Also possibly make hydraulic rams, mill out the center of aluminum blocks to make like a rectangular container etc. I also have 2 items that I am trying to get a patten on, but without a working prototype it is hard. So if someone could point me in the right direction on what size equipment and from who I should buy from would be great. Will a combo mill and lathe work for what I want to do? A smitty 1220ltd? Thanks for any replys!

[ViperTX]

I would shy away from the Smitty....you need to determine the max size of each component and the operations you want to perform......my preference for entry level would be a Lathemaster Lathe (8x14 or 8x30), a Sieg X3 (or Lathemaster Mill).

For the mill....I would probably even go with a larger one...because once you start milling....well you find that you need more table movement...my Jet 18MD has 22" (x) x7" (y) movement....and I could use another 5 inch on the Y.

[tnc]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is there something or somewhere that I could look at what bits one should use for cutting or milling different materials? Like when to use a end mill or when to use a ball mill. Thanks!