AL wrote:
The SEIG minimills like the G8689 are decent machines in my opinion.

The Harbor Freight and Homier versions have R-8 spindles (ie. the same taper
found on a Bridgeport). The Grizzly and Micromark versions have morse
tapers. R-8 collets are cheap and easily available.

Whichever model you get, be sure to turn the X handwheel and watch the dial.
The Micromark version has a true inch leadscrew with a dial that makes
sense. The rest have a really strange thread pitch and a equally strange
dial.

The thread pitch is not strange and it's not metric as some would have
you believe, it's 16 tpi. The Grizzly dial is messed up, no doubt. The
Homier dial is normal (just read thousandths off of the dial). The only
weirdness is that the one turn is 1/16" or .0625, so there is a half
division at the end of the turn that you need to keep track, if it
matters to you. I didn't find it that hard.

I put a kit DRO on mine. I think that's a better upgrade than going to
the 20 tpi leadscrews that Micromark sells.

The Seig lathes, however, do actually have metric screws (with the
exception of Micromark).

Anybody considering one of these (mill or lathe) should study
www.mini-lathe.com first. Everything that you need to know is there.

-Greg