Any Micro/Mill Drill Owners?

[fireball08]

I was just wondering if anyone here owns a micro mill/drill from Harbor Freight and if so how do you like it for the money? I'm looking to get a cheap mill for making molds for my hobby, which is making fishing lures. I will be machining mostly 6061 aluminum and I probably will have to build a cnc machine to get consistant results and molds that are the same. Any help on what I will need to do these types of molds would be helpful. You can see some molds I have purchased in the past here to give you guys an idea of what I'm talking about. http://www.del-mart.com


Nathan Firebaugh

[motomitch1]

I like mine there is 2 things I dont like are Y travel is only 4.2 in and only 2500 RPM'S

[ccm]

It's not a bad unit for the money, but... getting one from Harbor Freight to your house in one piece can be a bit of a challenge to say the least, my first one showed up in several pieces.
The only problem I've had with mine is the headstock bearings were pressed in at the factory too tight, so it was heating up excessively and popping the internal overload protection constantly until we broke the entire unit down for inspection.
Other than that......It's worked really well for me.
I'm about to covert it over to CNC, I've got my steppers......now I'm just waiting for the other parts to come together.

** Any tips / pointers Mitch ??

-arthur

[ccm]

Oh, yeah I almost forgot .....check out :
www.backyardmetalcasting.com
It's a great website for getting into home metal melting furnaces.

-art

[fireball08]

Well sounds like you guys like them, but would I be able to make what I need with it? Aluminum molds as mentioned above?

I'm sure I would have to convert it to cnc of course.

Nathan

[motomitch1]

I would thank so

[lancedulak]

I have a HF micro(not mini) mill. And it is ten times the machine you'll need for making molds etc for lures or CNC'ing wooden or metal lures.
I got mine to do small stuff and to do gunsmithing stuff and was worried that i wouldnt have the working area i needed from what everyone says. It has twice what i need and the way its constructed will be easy to use it to upgrade itself.

You could probably do what you want on an even smaller mills to be honest but the micromill will give you plenty of room for expansion. I almost bought a minimill for twice the price but now im happy i didnt. I can mount my mill on my desk and use it and yet still have plenty of room.
My only possible complaint is the small motor but i plan on replaceing it with a 1hp motor anyway eventually.