RC Truck and Construction  

Go Back   RC Truck and Construction > RC Tech section. > Metal forming & tools

Metal forming & tools If it bends,twists,welds,cuts & turns metal.Post it here


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-08-2010, 05:26 PM
W900snowman W900snowman is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Central WI
Posts: 39
W900snowman is on a distinguished road
Default Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I was considering getting a milling machine this winter or maybe this spring. After looking at what you guys are able to do with your models I can't help but want to try one on my own. I was considering a coule of Grizzly machines a G0484 or a G0519. I now that there not a Bridgeport but figure that they would be a nice size for at home and the occasional project on the farm. My dad has a lathe that I can use anytime and at work I have limited access to a nice Bridgeport. Any advice, suggestions or alternatives would be greatly appreciated

Thank you
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-08-2010, 05:39 PM
kerst's Avatar
kerst kerst is offline
Apprentice
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: NY
Posts: 471
kerst is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I would never buy a new machine , but go for an old one. the old ones are much better quality. A bridgeport is a good machine and there are many available on eBay.
I have a 9" South Bend lathe, which is more than 60 years old, but it is such a nice machine. I just love it. it is such a pleasure to work with it.
Recently I bought 3 Rockwell drill presses on eBay for the workshop I manage. I spent hardly any money and I got 3 fantastic machines, far better than the "new" drill press i bought a few years ago.
Motto: Machine has to be at least 30 years old!

Hope this helps,

kerst
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-08-2010, 06:10 PM
pugs pugs is offline
Wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 368
pugs is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Not sure what your price range is but give these guys a call. Usually has a couple of mills on hand in various price ranges. Not sure where your located but shouldn't be too far.

http://www.howmachinery.com/
__________________
Jeff
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-08-2010, 06:22 PM
W900snowman W900snowman is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Central WI
Posts: 39
W900snowman is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Thanks for the advice.

Pugs, their only about 75 miles from and that would be perfect.

Thanks again guy.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-08-2010, 06:24 PM
pugs pugs is offline
Wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 368
pugs is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Also these guys up by Wausau, they do more new sales, but get used stuff in all the time as well.
http://www.machinetoolandequip.com/

With the economy down a bit many of the used dealers are desperate to get rid of stuff and are more willing to deal than they have been in the past. I got a used full auto bandsaw for my CNC shop from a dealer over in Detroit for cheap (even with shipping) a couple months ago.
__________________
Jeff

Last edited by pugs; 10-08-2010 at 06:27 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-08-2010, 10:57 PM
9W Monighan's Avatar
9W Monighan 9W Monighan is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Pittsburgh,PA.
Posts: 1,283
9W Monighan will become famous soon enough9W Monighan will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Here's my favorite place to shop. I just bought a nice Cushman 3 jaw chuck for my Monarch 10EE for $59 + ups this past week. If you're patient you can find just about anything.
http://www.hgrinc.com/
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-09-2010, 09:59 AM
pugs pugs is offline
Wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 368
pugs is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I've heard that place does has some nice deals now and then, but you have to be careful and personally inspect machinery throughly before buying.
__________________
Jeff
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-09-2010, 12:18 PM
W900snowman W900snowman is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Central WI
Posts: 39
W900snowman is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Thanks for all the input guys, I'll definetly go with a nice used one, they're alot more resonablely priced than I thought. Talking with my brother last night, he has a freind who does some machine shop work on the side and said that he would be able to help me out also.

Thanks again you have all been a big help
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-13-2010, 09:03 AM
9W Monighan's Avatar
9W Monighan 9W Monighan is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Pittsburgh,PA.
Posts: 1,283
9W Monighan will become famous soon enough9W Monighan will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I came across this mill. Looks like a fair price but shipping?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bridgeport-Verti...item415339f2cf
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-13-2010, 10:39 AM
pugs pugs is offline
Wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 368
pugs is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Saw this one on the local craigslist the other day as well
http://wausau.craigslist.org/for/1943517095.html
While more designed for accurate hole placement and boring head work, it will do light milling which I would think for models is all your going to do.
__________________
Jeff
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 10-13-2010, 12:13 PM
Espeefan's Avatar
Espeefan Espeefan is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 2,888
Espeefan has a spectacular aura aboutEspeefan has a spectacular aura aboutEspeefan has a spectacular aura about
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Back a few months ago, I too was looking at mills. I found this company and thought they had some pretty capable mid-sized mills for a decent price. http://www.ihcnc.com/ They also do full cnc machines. Even a manual mill with DRO would be great for me, but cnc would nice too. Just a little out of my price range.

The big thing to remember about the large Bridgeport mills and others, is that they are 480 3 phase machines. You can buy phase converters, but that is added cost. I was also looking at Taig mills too. Many of the smaller mills are all made by the same company, but carry different stickers and paint.

Anyway, thought I'd share the IH Mill link and say hello to another Wisconsin member. Boy, if we get another WI guy, we could practically start a club.
__________________
Nathan
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 10-13-2010, 01:09 PM
pugs pugs is offline
Wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 368
pugs is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Most of the manual mills (bridgeport type) will be 230 or 240 VAC 3 phase. Not a big deal but it will cost a few more dollars if you only have 1 phase power available. Some are 480 but can change a few wires in the motor and make them run on 240, some are straight 480 only which then would require a step up transformer

There are several ways to make it work.
1. A static phase converter. Typically have low HP ratings only, but are cheap. The ones I have used seemed to not give the full HP of the motor though.
2. A rotary phase converter. Just a 3 phase motor with some start circutry to start on 1 phase and then it acts as a generator for the 3rd phase. Can build the whole thing yourself with some plans available on the net, or as I did buy the start box prewired and source your own motor.
3. A Variable Frequency Drive. This is what I have on my manual mill. Need a slightly larger VFD then the mill motors HP rating and the VFD will create the 3rd phase. Also gives the added benefit of variable speed (I bought a cheaper belt head mill that made up for the price of the VFD and still have variable speed) Mine is capped at a min of 16hz and a max of 75hz, some simple math will give you the actual RPMS

4. Digital Phase converters from phase perfect. These are what I have for my CNC machinery. They work great but are costly (cheaper then running 3 phase power in from 2 miles away though)

Options 2 and 4 can be wired into a 3 phase load center to run multiple machines as long as the most you use at one time doesn't overload the capacity of the converters. Handy if you want to get any other 3 phase stuff in your shop as well.
__________________
Jeff

Last edited by pugs; 10-13-2010 at 01:14 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 10-13-2010, 01:48 PM
9W Monighan's Avatar
9W Monighan 9W Monighan is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Pittsburgh,PA.
Posts: 1,283
9W Monighan will become famous soon enough9W Monighan will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I made a converter using a static and added a 5hp motor and magnetic starter so if there's a voltage outage it will shut down till restarted. It runs everything in my home shop. I think the biggest motor is on the Powermatic band saw 3hp. It's probably not working to it's ability because it does get a little hot when using for a longer time. The others are just 1.5hp on the Delta Unisaw and shaper. But like PUGS said; You're only running one machine at a time and that won't overload say, a 5hp like mine. One time I bought a hyd punch and it seemed a bit lacking of power. It was hard to see but when I cracked the motor cover open I saw the problem-440V Changed the wires around to 208v and it works beautifully.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 10-14-2010, 06:01 AM
W900snowman W900snowman is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Central WI
Posts: 39
W900snowman is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

I'm definetly planning on going with a little larger machine, like a used Bridgeport, It would be good for on the farm too. Pugs, I know what you meen about having the 3 phase close but not quite there, I keep wishing we had 3 phase on the farm but its about 1 mile away. If we ever did switch over I would be rewireing for years I think, no thanks. I have alittle VFD in the basement that I bought last winter when I got on a PLC fix, kinda handy 120v 1ph in and 230v 3ph out. Looking forward to getting a mill and starting on my Manitowoc dragline. One of the mechanics caught me drooling over some of the tools in the machine shop the other night at work. He told me to back my truckin and load it up, I wish

Thanks guys

Last edited by W900snowman; 10-16-2010 at 09:53 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 10-14-2010, 09:23 AM
9W Monighan's Avatar
9W Monighan 9W Monighan is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Pittsburgh,PA.
Posts: 1,283
9W Monighan will become famous soon enough9W Monighan will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by W900snowman View Post
I'm definetly planning on going with a little larger machine, like a used Bridgeport, It would be good for on the farm too. Pugs, I know what you meen about having the 3 phase close but not quite there, I keep wishing we had 3 phase on the farm but its about 1 mile away. If we ever did switch over I would be rewireing for years I think, no thanks. I have alittle VFD in the basement that I bought last winter when I got on a PLC fix, kinda handy 120v 1ph in and 230v 3ph out. Looking forward to getting a mill and starting on my Manitowoc dragline. One of the mechanics caught me drooling over some of the tools in the machine shop the other night. He told me to back my truckin and load it up, I wish

Thanks guys
What machine are you going to build? I have some drawings of a 4600 that I was going to build before my 9W idea came about.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 10-14-2010, 09:53 AM
W900snowman W900snowman is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: South Central WI
Posts: 39
W900snowman is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Right now I'm planning on a 4100W in 1/10 scale. I have a TWH model at home that I have been using for measurements and ideas. I'm still torn how to power it: 24v with on board batteries or use an umbilical cord with off board controllers running off of 120v. Hopefully this spring I'll be able to get started. For now I'm doing a lot of thinking and dreaming.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 01-17-2011, 07:11 PM
tinkertrucker tinkertrucker is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 52
tinkertrucker is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Looking for advice on a milling machine.

Hi,
I have had a Grizzly - while good I now have a ShopMaster Machine Mill / Drill / Lathe
So far so good -- I like it a lot
Good Luck in choosing
Tinkertrucker
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:46 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.