How did you compare them? Were you able to touch all the machines?

Peter


"Steve Hopper" wrote in message
...
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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