Advice wanted on mill drill purchase please

[ptribbey]

Hi All,
I am looking at mill drills and I suppose this topic has been hashed out many times before.
What I have in mind is the Harbor Freight 42827-7VGA. It is about $900. and has the capacity I would like.
What I am asking here though is are there any comparable MD's that may be better, around the same price? This one has R-8 collet, 20"X, 7"Y, 4.5"Z, 20" swing, gear drive and weighs #625. Table size is 27.5" X 8.24". The motor is 110 Volt 15 Amp, 6 speed. I don't think it has reverse, but maybe able to add it on later? The lit says it has 6 speeds 95 to 1500 RPM.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42827
the head tilts 45 degrees left and right, and 45 vertically.
I wonder if the Chinese quality has improved any from years past?
Do any of you own one of these and if so do you think it is acceptable?
Of course I would like to have nice tight tolerences, but on the other hand I will not be milling turbine blades, etc.. LOL. Probably just robot parts etc.

Looking forward to constructive comments from experienced machinists.
Thank You for your time
Paul

[wildwestpat]

Hi Paul

The machine you have in mind has a round column and if CNC is your aim will make control of the Z axis more difficult than a dovetail slide square column machine. See the following link for a brief discussion:-
http://www.fignoggle.com/machines/rf...mill/index.htm

There may also be issues with the ridgidity of the quill and the arrangements for adjusting for wear. Unfortunately the quill tolerances required for smooth plunge action are very tight ad any slop will lead to machining problems as tool ridgidity is an important factor for any mill. The more joints between the tool cutting edge up through the drive bearings and down through the column to the bed of the machine and upto the table the worse the problem. For my money I would be looking for dovetail slides in your price range unless you only intend to cut low density material i.e.MDF - soft wood - foam or wax.

The choice of column is a personal one and is dependent upon budget as well as the type of materials to be machined.

I have purchased a number of Tiwan machines recently and the quality appears to be better than that shown in some of the early posts on this forum. However as with all budget priced machines a bit of TLC is required to get the best out of the tool and I suggest you look at the threads dealing with conversion of these mills. You should also note that there are a number of Far East factories who not only sell machines under their own brand name but also make specials that are available with different specifications. A good way of sorting out the machines when comparing specifications is to look at the weight as well as the XYZ envelope. Hope this helps.

Good luck regrads

Pat

[ptribbey]

Wildwestpat,

Thanks for the tip. at a little over twice what I had in mind I will have to save up a little more... I will begin research on the RF45 mill. Do you suggest any retailers over another?
Thanks again.
Paul

[wildwestpat]

Hi Paul

I suggest you look at this

http://www.bigdogmetalworks.com/prod...&idproduct=780

There may be other sources of similar machines in the US. I believe these machines eminate from a factory known as Redbull in Taiwan. Here in the UK they are imported by several factors into the UK (WARCO - Amadale for example). The RF45 might be a good choice and you might care to wait as Hoss has started a thread on the CNC forum on his experiences with the RF45. See his web site at

http://www.hossmachine.info/RF-45_Clone.html

Good luck and have fun picking a machine on which to make parts as well as lavish some TLC.

Pat