"Ignoramus12820" wrote in message
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On 2010-08-19, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
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"Ignoramus12820" wrote in message
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On 2010-08-19, Bob La Londe wrote:
"Ignoramus12820" wrote in
message
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On 2010-08-19, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:15:57 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/tls/1902372658.html
Run Away! Run Away!
That first picture tells you all you need to know.
First impression: crack or meth head?
(buying a new substandard mill
What other alternatives are there in a small mill?
What alternatives are there that do not cost a lot more?
I have a Taig because I was told it's a decent quality mill for its
size
and
price. To be quite frank I disagree. It requires constant
adjustment,
and
the Z axis is horrible in my opinion. When I talked to Taig about the
clamp
on ways they told me its should be within a hundredth along its
length.
You
have got to be kidding me. That is 0.01" No wonder it binds up
sometimes.
Yeah I know its made right here, and that was another draw, but if I
had
bought a cheap Chinese mill instead of cheap American mill I would
atleast
have expected to spend a lot of time tweaking and adjusting to get
decent
work out of it. The Sieg mills are atleast heavier and more robust,
although I have really only looked at the SX4 which is a little larger
machine than the SX1.
Don't say Grizzly. A lot of their machines are identical to the Sieg
machines and made in the same factory. Just have a different label.
Same
with the HF machines and several other companies. Even Jet and Enco
machines (for a large step up in price) can be found under other
labels
with
different color paint.
Whether you have any respect for that poster is not the question to
me,
but
rather what other alternatives are there in small machines? Sherline?
They
are smaller than the Taig mills.
Not everybody can afford to chunk out 6 to 40 grand for a brand new
big
name
machine, and not everybody has the ability to spend months
retrofitting
a
used clapped out machine or the time. Guys like Gunner do not count.
I
am
sure he could refit a clapped out machine to like new in a day, but
that
is
what he does for a living. The rest of us have to learn every single
thing
one issue at a time and hope guys like him will be kind enough to
guide
us
in the right direction., Nor do most of us have the ability to look
at
a
used machine and know if it can be fixed up for a reasonable amount of
time
or money. It's a lot safer to buy a small new mill to do small
projects.
It may not be great, but it will run.
I asked recently on the ZONE what a good slightly larger step up
machine
would be from my Taig. Something not too much more money and I
specifically
said, not the Sieg machines because their working envelope was not
much
bigger if at all. I did not get one single response. So I'll ask
here.
What is a decent quality small step up from my Taig.
Bob, I am not a big expert on this stuff, but Tormach seems to be the
next step up in quality above that Taig and similar machines.
Yes, it costs a lot more, but that's what you get if you want to buy
new quality goods (as opposed to spending months retrofitting using
parts from ebay).
I saw Mike Henry's Tormach and I was impressed with it.
I'll have to look again. I thought Tormach made gantry router machines.
Ahh! I see the The PCNC770 is a really nice looking machine, and its
"almost" complete. At $6.5K its not in the budget. The Tormach is a
very
nice polished looking machine, but $6.5K will not get you cutting.
The only real problem that I see with the Tormach, at its intended use
(small prototype hobyist) is lack of support for tool holders and use
of R8 taper.
I'm actually a little step up now from that as a user. I would like
to find a better quality small mill and convert it to CNC myself.
That's a very difficult thing to do if you start off with leadscrews
and handles. Expensive too. You also need a working mill to make
adapter plates and such. A lot of expensive doodads. The result will
be of questionable utility too, in my opinion.
Unless you are very underpaid, retired and experienced, shelling out
money for a Tormach would be far better deal than converting some new
manual mill drill.
i
Tormach has their own quick change tool system (TTS) that uses a special R-8
3/4" collet. The system allows for presetting tool length so that tools
don't have to be re-zeroed in Z on each change. They have a power draw bar
out for a while now and seem to be getting close to releasing a
carousel-type ATC. I'm told that quite a few owners use the mills in a
commercial environment, so that may be the driver for an ATC.
Mike