[hotbarrel]

I am now looking to buy a mill - lathe combo. I have seen what northern has in their big catalog and I am not too hapy. they have a pretty nice MINI lathe for $400 I would buy it if it was a combo. however the only combo machine they have is not anyware as good. it cost like $900. If you look at the combo even the end of the large screw is only supported on one end, it just looks poorly built. if it was like the mini lathe I would go for it.
Anyone have a combo machine that they would recomend??
I realy want a combo ,, oh yes I would like to stay under 1300 but I will look at anything if it is nice enough.

thanks THE hotbarrel

 

[hotbarrel]

man oh man I think I found something , check the specs on this one and it looks better made than the first one.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?ItemNumber=G0516

 

[Rhino_66]

Here ya go! I'm going to tack another $300 onto your purchase...

http://www.shumatech.com/products/dro-350/index.htm

Ain't I a nice guy!

Since the machine in your link is a lathe/mill combo, you can use the mill version of the Shumatech and cover everything.

A digital readout for the compound travel is a different story. It would be tough to mount a scale because of the adjustable angle. There wouldn't be an easy way to mount the readout portion of the scale and have it pivot and maintain zero. It could be done, just not easily with the scales used for the Shumatech DRO.

So when are you going to order the lathe/mill?? nudge nudge wink wink

 

[sks_hunter]

who's your buddy, hotbarrel?

 

[hotbarrel]

Rhino I like it but I think it will come later.
honestly I have no definate date I am going to buy one but it is going to happen.
the welder kind of is it for now.

 

[sks_hunter]

did you order the welder?

 

[Toten Kopf]

I haven't seen any lathe/mill combo from Northern or HF that I would buy. At least go and see one before you buy. I wasn't impressed by what I saw. The Smithy/Grizzly/ENCO are the only "LOW" priced pieces I would think of and it's only because of the warranty/support, not the actual piece of equipment. Also you are very limited on buying accessories for these machines.

I know that people have done wonders with some of these tools but after reading at some of the machinist's forums I will stay away from them.

HOWEVER....if it's all you can afford, then by all means get one. I'm forcing myself to wait till I can affort a separate lathe and mill and of course I will have to have DRO. I just got spoiled by using ready good equipment.

 

[7.62x39]

I've been looking into some different mini machines myself.
Check out some of these sites. They are all mini lathe/mill sites.

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Main/mini-mill.htm

http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/

http://www.grizzly.com/

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRHM

 

[tarawa]

man oh man I think I found something , check the specs on this one and it looks better made than the first one.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?ItemNumber=G0516

I have seen and worked with a lot of mini lathes and mills. Thsi one from Grizzly looks to be the best designed combo. Price is right too. I wish they had a close-up picture.
george

 

[Grendeljaeger]

Hotbarrel, please listen to the folks (like myself) that have made the mistake of buying a combo machine and purchase seperate lathe and mills!! They are limited compared to what seperate machines can do. Nowadays you can pick up pretty reasonable seperate machines for just about the price of a combo.

 

[hotbarrel]

ok guys I hear what you are saying. I see a small lathe an northern that looks prety good. how about a small mill that is half decant.
7.62x39 I am looking at your links now maby I will answer my own ??

 

[hotbarrel]

1500 is more than I have but that looks beter than the one I saw their I could go for that one. thanks.
I need to save this thread so I can find all this when I am ready.

 

[Grendeljaeger]

That is the machine I have although I bought mine several years ago when they were sold by Smithy under the name of Midas 1720 CNC (it was CNC "ready"). They no longer handle that machine although Grizzly and Harbour Freight do. I still think if you ask the guys here they will tell you a combo is not as versatile as seperate machines.

 

[hotbarrel]

I was one click away from buying a mini lathe it was 7" over and 12" between center, with a bunch of extras price $369. oh well no hurry.

 

[baodai]

www.shoptask.com

 

[hcpookie]

I was one click away from buying a mini lathe it was 7" over and 12" between center, with a bunch of extras price $369. oh well no hurry.

That's the bare minimum I'd go. IMO, better to go with an 8x14 or whatever that one is.

Don't go w/ the 7x10, it is actually a 7x8". Now that I know, I'm going to buy a 12" or 14" bed and swap it over.

 

[Oldgunner]

Hotbarrel, one thing you need to remember about a Lathe is that to chuck a barrel to do threading or other work, you need a spindle bore size large enough for the barrel to pass through. Look for something at least 1-1/8?or even better 1-1/4? ID. I?m looking at buying too, and have talked to some guys that have used the combo machines and too a man they said not to buy them, get separate machines.
I?m still thinking of the Grizzly Model G9729 Lathe/Mill at $1,395 as a possibility. It?ll turn 31? between centers and has a spindle bore of 1-1/8?.
Check it out here, http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=g9729&
I had a friend take me to a dealer up in Rockford, IL. This guy had a full size Bridgeport Knee Mill (No DRO) with some tooling for $1,000; it was in great shape and showed little use. I wish I?d had the money right then because it sold fast and I missed it.

 

[tarawa]

I have noticed on some of the cheaper versions, there isn't a good compound cross slide on it. Also, the carriage is traversed using a crank at the end of the acme screw. This is pretty inconvienent. The height of the lathe tool holder seems pretty high to me also (almost like a pedestal). This would lead to some inaccuracy to me.
I would go for a benchtop lathe and mini-mill seperately. I would only buy a lathe with a quick change gear box. But that is only my opinion.

 

[tarawa]

www.shoptask.com

Interesting machine.