Hi Peter,

Having used a G1006 (RF31) for 6+ years, I'll weigh in that they are
good machines for the money. A dovetailed column machine will be more
rigid, a big plus. You don't lose center raising the head, another big
plus. Losing center usually isn't that big a deal, you just pick it
back up with spuds, indicators, or use screw machine length drills and
avoid having to move the head too often on a single part.

The big minus of round columns is not being able to use the dials / DRO
without rezeroing after a head move, at least if the work is at all
picky. If you intend to work to layout lines this may not be a big
deal, you just pick up one scribe line and zero the axis, shift and pick
up the other scribe line, zero that axis, then come to 0,0 which should
be the intersection of the lines within a few thou. Just learn to cross
over your backlash or you'll be poking holes somewhere other than planned!

Cheers,
Stan

Peter Grey wrote:

Given that I'll be scribing and machining to a line, is there an advantage
to going with a dovetail unit as opposed to a mill with a round column?

Peter
trimmed