On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:56:31 -0500, "Snag"
wrote:

Having had an improvement in my financial outlook , I'm looking at mills
again . Lathemaster.com has a square column machine , weighs around 750 lbs
. Two horse spindle motor , table is 32X9 or so ... and can be had for less
than 2k delivered . Nothing fancy , it is intended for "tabletop" use . I'm
torn between buying a used larger machine and buying something like this one
new .
This has a more powerful motor than some Bridgeports ... and looking at
the design should be close to as rigid . It has the advantage (and drawback
, to be honest) of a slightly shorter table .
Opinions solicited ... anyone have experience with this type machine ?
I've heard good reports about this supplier from several internet forums ...
anyone here dealt with them ?

Can't help you with any experience, but I've been looking
too. Wholesale Tools and Enco both have pretty much the same
offerings. I can't believe there is a whole lot of
difference between any of these machines. I will probably
end up with one of the 2hp 4.5 inch round column table top
machines eventually. I just can't quite justify the higher
price for the square column (or dovetail) machines. See:

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/...Drill_Machines

Maybe this is like the one you are drooling on? Only has a
1.5hp motor though.

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...ovetail_Column

I've only ordered from Wholesale Tool once. Order came next
day via UPS. I don't know how well they deal with freight
shipments. They should be able to give you a quote though if
you call them. During normal business hours they have some
sort of javascript chat mechanism that can be used via their
website. I've seen it popup, but haven't felt the urge to
try it yet. They have more than one location, maybe one of
them is within driving distance. Seems like I remember you
being on the west coast though, probably not an option.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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