Please forgive my intrusion into this thread without my
knowing all the details. Our news server has been down
for several day! I recently compared the lower-end
mill/drill machines from Harbor Freight, Northern Tools
and Wholesale Tools. I ended up purchasing the Wholesale
Tools Geared-Head machine viewable at:
http://wttool.com/p/3006-0075
This is a really heavy duty, quality product. They have
the same machine on sale at $995 with the only difference
being the $995 version has a 120 volt motor and the $1095
machine has a 240 volt motor. These are really in a
class by themselves. The machines from Northern and
Harbor Freight are no where near the quality of those
from WTTOOLS, in my opinion. I was able to visit their
showroom in Charlotte, NC, view the machines, and haul
it home. Everything about the mill/drill was very tight,
no slop in any of the gearing, very accurate (haven't done
a real tight run-out yet). The only problem I had was
that they had to send me an R8 drawbar. It came with
a 4" machinist vise and a 2" face mill. They also gave
me a set of R8 colletts. It really is
far superior to either of the other machines I compared.
Also, don't worry about the "Table graduations are .05mm"
as it also has decimal thousandths graduations as well.
For what it's worth. sdh.

Daniel A. Mitchell wrote:
Peter Grey wrote:

"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
nk.net...

Whatever you buy, ask about the table motion per dial revolution.
Mine is 0.1 inch per turn, but some machines apparently have 0.125
inch/turn (would drive me nuts - I think),



My mill (Gorton) has a table motion of .125 for each turn of a hand
wheel. I thought it would be awkward, but it's not really. I got used
to it pretty quickly.

Peter

Ditto. My KBC A1S knee mill has 8 pitch leadscrews (0.125" per turn)
also. It seems strange at first, but you do get used to it rather
quickly. No big deal, really, though a 0.1" or 0.2" per turn screws are
easier to use at first.

Dan Mitchell
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