MiniMill size

[two4tom]

Hi Guys,

I'm researching some info on the MiniMill and cannot find any info on how low of a door way I can get one through. My garage door is only 79" high. Does anyone know if I could squeeze it in? Also my ceilings is only 100" high is that going to restrict me at all?

Thank you
Tom

[Doug Tyler]

My garage entry is about 7.5 feet tall. I just barley got the mini mill in there, with the plastic conduit on top discontected and laid over. My ceiling height is 9 feet. With the Z at its top position there is only about 3" clearance. Please post pictures if you get it in.

[Donkey Hotey]

This has been asked and answered a dozen times for the bigger machines. In other words, there's no solid reason to limit yourself to a Minimill unless you truly want the smaller footprint.

A VF-0, VF-0E, VF-1, VF-2 or VF-2YT will fit through a normal, 7 foot high garage door. The catch? You have to unbolt the top cable guide and lay it on its side. You also need to remove the Z-axis motor and screw the spindle down to the lowest spot on the travel. It'll go through a single wide door as well (8 feet wide).

The other catch? It has to have an umbrella tool changer, not a side-mount (not the ferris wheel type). The sidemount won't clear the doorway.

As for actual operating clearance, I think the magic number is 104" height. A number of people have cut a hole in their finished drywall to create clearance for the spindle in the highest position. It's just a matter of parking the machine so the spindle is between a pair of roof rafters and cut the clearance hole. One guy actually did this with a second story above the machine. The small amount of space below the upper floor was all he needed to clear the spindle and cable guide.