Mel Long wrote:

Harbour frieght has a long bed 3 in 1 (lathe, milling, drilling) machine for
$1300. Anyone have opinions on this? I'm a knifemaker and just want a small
lathe and milling machine to do things like butt caps and pocket knives,
etc. I was thinking that this would be about right without buying the 2 big
machines. Thanks.




If it has a head that can be elevated, it might not be too bad. But, we
got one from
Enco that did not have any methid to change the distance between the
head and
the table, except quill movement, which is pretty short. It is almost
useless
as a mill. It makes a passable lathe, but just passable.

I'd get a small lathe and a mini-mill over the 3-in-1 if we had this to
do over
again. At $1300, you may save money, too. The lathe is small enough to put
in a drawer or on a shelf when not being used. The minimill can be broken
down quite easily, but is a bit heavy to pick up in one piece.

Jon