My Harbor Freight Vertical Knee Mill (40939) Review

[AMCer]

I went to Harbor Freight's website and left a review but apparently they didn't like it because it hasn't been posted so, I figured that I would post it here for anyone considering buying this machine-



The mill got delivered to my house and the 1/8 plywood shipping crate had disintegrated, I was upset. I got it 'unpacked' (translation: broke away what was left of the crate) and the machine looked to be in good shape. I wired up the plug and turned it on and it ran fine and was QUIET (for a machine it's size).

Here's what you really want to know-

PROS:
It works, it's heavy and pretty stiff.
I measured ZERO backlash on the spindle up/down movement and ZERO on the table in/out.
It's got a monster motor.
Spindle up/down is 10tpi.
It feels pretty solid.
Standard R8 spindle.

SO-SOs:
.003" backlash on the table left/right movement.
It comes with casting sand all over it.
The index rings around the movement knobs are a little hard to use but, they work.

CONS:
Table left/right and in/out are 8tpi threads (WTH?)
It is COVERED in bondo so it looks great until you tear some off and go "WTH!?!"
The chuck spindle accessory came full of rusty sand that had to be cleaned out.
The draw-bar was missing/lost.
The belt cover (on the top of the machine) is a little chincy, bent the hinges lifting it off the pallet.

THE DRAW-BAR: I called HF and they said that they would have another one shipped (FROM CHINA!) and that it wouldn't arrive until AFTER the machine was out of warranty. They said that the only other thing they could do was return this machine and ship another (which I didn't want to do because it's 800lbs). I had them send me a new draw-bar (which hasn't arrived yet)and for $5 on eBay, I bought a 7/16-20 threaded rod and a nut and made my own draw bar (which works fine).
Oh, the HF support guy also kept insisting that I go to my local HF and see if they had any in stock (and could give me the draw-bar) and totally ignored me when I told him ten times that HF STORES DON'T STOCK THIS ITEM...

BOTTOM LINE: This is a great machine (for the price) and I am very happy with it. None of the problems that I have encountered are a deal breaker.



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[z05]

Thanks for sharing this. Very little info online. I am waiting for mine and it got shipped to me in 2 days, way sooner than I was preparing for Super excited!

As a side question, I will absolutely be doing a CNC conversion for it right away, and I cant find any drawings for it onine. DO you know the dimensions of XY leadscrews for it? Would love to get that info in advance so I could purchase replacement ballscrews for it in advance.

[rajhlinux]

Good review on the tolerances. I might get this. How much you think a CNC conversion kit would cost?