mini mill / lathe

[gizz]

Seeing as more and more people machine their own parts using mini mills and mini lathes i was wondering which brands you use and whete yo get them from?
Ive heard both good and bad things about the chinese mavhines most people seem to start out with and now im curious what pros and cons you guyss have?
Im interested in buying a mini mill layer on, of vourse i want it to be cheap but not rubbish.
Any help and info is appreciated

[typhoon_driver]

My advice would be to not bother with a lathe / mill combo machine. They end up making concessions to each function which hinders the other.

The milling machines I would recommend are the sieg milling machines. There are a number of sizes available. I owned the SX2 model before upgrading to the X3 model. Jamie can perhaps comment on the You can buy them from Axminster. They do occasionally have them available on ebay as a returned item from a customer or ex display and on the two machines I bought, I had no issues. Delivery is usually included in the price too.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/axminstera...1&_ipg=&_from=

[harry hills]

Warco all the way. Give them a look. Chester also seem decent.

I've got a warco lathe and an axminster mill. The axminster version of the x2 is probs the best x2 as it has a brushless motor and a HTD timing belt drive instead of plastic gears and brushed motor.

[Ellis]

I have an Amadeal mini lathe. I can't say I'd recommend it, although I have done quite a lot with it. Get what you pay for, for sure.

[Eventorizon]

We have an SC4 lathe and SX3 Mill/Drill, both from Axminster. Annoyingly the mill had some alignment issues straight out the very big box and probably needs dismantling, the lathe makes this odd grinding sound, slight gear misalignment I think, somewhere inside the one bit I cant get too ever since we got it.

They work fine but it's not been a simple get up and go I was rather expecting with either machine.

In hind sight, I would look on ebay for one that has been well cared for and cough up the extra money over a bargain machine.

[Ellis]

Let me know if you decide to let your lathe and mill go for oldschool stuff, Alex. I may be interested.

[harry hills]

Hobby machines are always going to be like that. If you buy one its a good idea to strip and clean and tighten and make it nicer. They aren't fantastic out of the box, you need to put some effort in.

[Eventorizon]

Hobby machines are always going to be like that. If you buy one its a good idea to strip and clean and tighten and make it nicer. They aren't fantastic out of the box, you need to put some effort in.

We bought them from Axminster as they are supposed to be the best, you would expect for that kind of money it would be ready to run but apparently not. Doesn't help that the manual that came with it is in Chinese and has appalling diagrams. Oh well, I twill get sorted eventually.

[harry hills]

About 80% of the hobby lathes and mills you get are the same, just painted different colours with very slight changes.

[gizz]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
I was mostly after a mill and from your suggestions anything cheaper than the sx2 isnt recommended.
Wow i was typing really poorly on my first message :P

[harry hills]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster...-sx2-mini-mill

Price is high but IMO, its mostly worth it. I work hardox and toolox with this thing, so it has some balls for a child sized mill. The extra 200 or so other x2 mills is kind of worth paying because its deathly deathly quiet and there are no gears to shred. Its fantastic.

Grab a cheap carbide insert face mill, and a collet chuck set (I got mine for £30, 8 collets) and use random ebay tooling with a few nicer carbide endmills I pick up here and there. Boring head is a fun toy but not entirely necessary for starting out. RDG tools sell some great stuff at a decent price.

Work area is small though, but featherweight parts can be easily machined on it with a bit of ghetto rigging.

[Liftoff]

Reviving an old thread for some advice :

Been a long while mulling over buying a lathe and milling, now will defo need one for the coming build - so the question is - a combi lathe/milling or separate lathe and milling?

I'm looking at Warco as they seem to have the best specced lathes for the price you pay. I'm leaning more towards a combi as its compact and will take less garage space ( got to fit two cars plus workshop space for myself), but on the other hand I dont want to spend money on something which would have limited use.
These are the options:

Lathe WM280V
http://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-...80v-lathe.html

Combi mill WM16
http://www.warco.co.uk/milling-machi...n-machine.html

or Mill WM16
http://www.warco.co.uk/milling-machi...g-machine.html

[maddox10]

I'm less enthousiast about combination machines. I had a combo machine, and not a bad one, but the transition to do the job right and the fact you can't use it as a mill when doing lathe work, and visa versa.

I'm glad I changed to 2 seperate machines.

But as you say, with space at a premium, the advantage is clear.

[shakesc]

From my perspective I have a Amadeal lathe. It was around 500 quid and you have to spend time setting it up. I dont have a mill but will be getting one. I wouldnt go for the combined machines. Reading the engineering forums, mags etc its not the way to go

What I would do different
1. I would spend more money on the lathe but not hugely more (at least if feathers and some heavy was my main focus). Something like a WM 250V would be a big upgrade from where I am
2. Making gearboxes, bulkheads and the like a mill would be hugely useful and thats where I would put my money first. I would love to stretch to the Warco turret milling machine but a WM16 or WM18 standalone machine seems decent

[Liftoff]

Exactly my concerns, if it's a hassle to alternate from lathe to milling might as well go for stand alone - will have to find a corner for it.
Or maybe if it's possible to purchase the table separately I could try with the combi first and convert to stand alone mill at a later stage?