Ok here we go I am looking at buying a mill and I have the option of a limited budget.
Really I have seen a few round column larger mills but I heard the round mills are not that good.
I am looking for a good all around mill that can be used on single phase.
I would like to cnc it in the near future as I have all the electronics from my cnc router.
I am wanting to make one off parts, some gunsmithing and possibly engine head work on single cylinders upto v8's.
I can pick up a rong fu 30 for $600 with stand right now.
I can possibly get a bridgeport type mill with a 9"X42" bed with some tooling and a phase converter working on price still a little to high.
I know that the bridgeport type mill is the way to go but its huge and heavy and well I would have to leave it in the garage (concrete floor) instead out in my work shop not that big of a deal but it is a hassle to go back and forth from the other tools to the mill.
I have looked at getting a X2 or and X3 which would do most of the stuff I want to do but I feel they are limited as I would like to buy one mill and be able to do just about anything I ever want or need.
So the big question is how good are the round column mills I know the rong fu 30 is alittle small to do any head work but it should be able to do just about everything else I ever need (I really dont do any head work at the moment but would like to be able to in the future as the kids get bigger and get into cars more).
Not sure. What does cylinder head work consist of? If it is just boring perhaps the Bridgeport with a DRO. If it is anything more than that... I would make sure to talk to someone that does it consistently on the class of machines you are considering.
You sound a bit unsure of the size of the mill you may want.
V8 heads are rather large, none of the smaller mills will do the whole head.
I have had a RF-31 and now have a Weiss 30 (PM-30) and a Industrial Hobbies mill and can say that the 30 is more ridged that the RF-31. With the long table it also has a larger cutting area than the smaller RF-45 mills like the Grizzly RF-45.
I would skip the X2 and look at the 4 main machines. From small to big you have the Grizzly G0704 the PM-30 with the long table the PM-45 or the Industrial Hobbies Mill.
I still think the PM-30 with the large table is the best home mill if you don't need the power of the larger RF-45 type machines. For smaller work the G0704 is such a great price and vary ridged for its size. It sounds like you may want to do some larger parts so the 30 may be a better fit.
My buddy has a bridgeport in his home shop and it is a great mill and the fit and workmanship is really at a different level than the China mills but CNC'ing them is a lot more money. The IH mill does not really take up that much less space except it can go closer to the wall.
Thanks for the replies.
Yah I am not sure what size mill as I want to be able to do small stuff ie brackets gunsmithing but would also like to do big stuff such as decking heads on cars and valve seat jobs etc. I need a good all around mill.
The big question is the quality of cuts and setup problems with the round column mills vs. the square coulmn with dove tails?
With the RF-31 you have to CNC the quill and all the China ones I have seen have had a fair amount of slop like 10 thow. The 31 I had was from Taiwan and even though it was over 10 years old the quill was still better than the new IH mill. Still you have a flexing round column and some slop from the quill.
The Weiss 30/PM-30 does not have the big motor but the fit and finish is good and in some ways better than the 31. The table is bigger and ground to a vary nice finish, mine was flat to about .002. The quill is short at 3" but it is still better than 2" for the PM-25 mills.
You do have to spend some money to get a better mill but you should be happy with either the PM-25 or PM-30.
Like I said I have had both the 31 and the Weiss 30 and I don't really miss the 31 at all but I do have a larger mill if I want to drill large holes in steel, even then if you get either of the PM type of machines and CNC them it will make a pocket in any normal material.
I did a few videos of my IH mill just for fun if you have not seen what they can do.
What Mill?
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