I am planning to buy a manual mini mill for my hobby work which will involve lots of aluminium milling and possibly some steel milling. My budget is 2000 USD max, but lower the better. I live in UK and looking at these machines from warco. Warco | Buy Lathe, Milling Machine, Engineering Tools
The lowest priced one start at around £650. When I compare this with a machine that cost £1500, the biggest difference seem to be in the bed movement and motor. Should I spend £900 extra for larger bed movement and a .5KW increase in the motor? Can the bed be upgraded later? I am thinking of converting the machine to CNC anyway.
I also have a 6040 CNC router which helps me in cutting large pieces, but it is not that rigid.. Ideally I want to move all Aluminium work to the new mini mill..
I think a solid rigid machine is the most important factor no matter what the size. Normally the bigger and heavier, the more rigid the machine. Bed size and travel is obviously also pretty important. It has to be big enough for the largest size stock you'll be machining. I'm not familiar with the specific mills you mentioned but unless they offer a larger bed or someone is producing and aftermarket bed, it can be tough to upgrade later. In addition, the machine has to be able to travel the bed lengths or it's not much use. The more powerful motor is something that is much easier to upgrade down the road, and machining with a smaller motor isn't a show stopper, it just means lighter and/or slower cuts. My advice is get the biggest mill you can now. Upgrading major parts like the bed or to a complete new mill later will almost always cost more or be more problematic. If you can find a used mill like you want, you may be able to get something bigger within your budget and additionally used ones may come with some tooling, vice etc. Those extra needed items can quickly exceed the original mill cost. Converting to CNC is great, but it won't change the bed size, axis travels or motor. Also some mill aren't the best candidates for CNC conversions (round post mills for one). Check into conversion options and other folks experiences for the model mill you are interested in when making your choice... it may avoid headaches and costs down the road and steer you toward a different make/model.
I'd echo what coherent had to say. I've owned a few different mills over the years, from an older bridgeport when I had a fab shop, down to the cheapest of chinese mills, and now up to a PM25-MV. Given your budget, buy the best chinese mill you can, or an old used brute you can fix up. All the mills they show are various chinese models branded over here. The WM16B looks to be similar to what I've got (I didn't compare actual measurements, just construction). This evening I was taking off a 0.250 pass with a 1/2" cutter on 6061 admiring how much that extra bit of power on the spindle motor helps.
What matters most in a mini mill
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