ATT: AO Machinists. I Need Your Opinions. (Granite 1324 by Smithy)

**shartley** · 01-12-2003, 10:24 AM

http://www.taigtools.com/cmill.html

http://www.microproto.com/

and then can toss in a mini lathe for $393.80. http://www.taigtools.com/mlathe.html

I have been seriously thinking about these two because they are not only far less weight, but can be transported with ease to any location, or be set up in my shop any way I want. They also seem to offer all the features I think I will need.

The setup you showed is nice, but seems to have less power than the one I just posted, takes up more space, weighs a whole lot more (vs only 85LBS for the mini CnC mill), and may very well not do any better than what I just posted.

I hope some of the machinists read this thread and add their thoughts. I would really like to go with something like this. (Note: and it would be for the same purposes.

)

**confedman75** · 01-12-2003, 10:30 AM

That is a fairly good mill/lathe right there, it isnt my favorite company though

. You could do some very good fabricating(sp?) on that. I would love to see your work after you get it. good luck

.

**FutureMagOwner** · 01-12-2003, 10:33 AM

im also very intrigued by them but have no clue how to use them i got money in the bank for it which obviously can be replaced very quickly if i use it for retail and i can start my own little business ill have to investigate into this more

judging by what your into doing i recommend what shartley suggested due to its size and lower cost and aparently similar performance(manike or some other machinist could tell better than me however)

**FESTUS33** · 01-12-2003, 01:50 PM

One thing you have to remember, is tooling to go
with it. This includes R-8 collets in varying sizes'
Drill chuck's, A plethora of end mills, drill's, tap's,
and turning tools. Then you need to have at least a
set of micrometer's ranging from 0 inches thru 4 inches
Dial caliper's, dial indicator's, and so many other tool's
it's hard to list them all. Look into pricing on all that
stuff before you decide to make this Leap into the machining world.
My personal toolbox at work would cost
about $40,000-$45,000 to replace, when you itemize the
cost of all the above listed stuff it add's up to quite
a bit of $$$. It's taken me close to 25 yr's to amass
what I have, one way you can save money on all of this
is to go to any estate sale where they list machinist's
tool's and related item's. BTW the Bridgeport mill I
have in my basement only cost me $200.00, the company I
was working for at the time was going to sell it for
scrap! With very little work my brother{who is also a
machinist} and myself fixed all the nagging little
problem's and ended up with a very fine running machine.
Rick

**shartley** · 01-12-2003, 05:04 PM

Originally posted by FESTUS33
One thing you have to remember, is tooling to go
with it. This includes R-8 collets in varying sizes'
Drill chuck's, A plethora of end mills, drill's, tap's,
and turning tools. Then you need to have at least a
set of micrometer's ranging from 0 inches thru 4 inches
Dial caliper's, dial indicator's, and so many other tool's
it's hard to list them all. Look into pricing on all that
stuff before you decide to make this Leap into the machining world.
My personal toolbox at work would cost
about $40,000-$45,000 to replace, when you itemize the
cost of all the above listed stuff it add's up to quite
a bit of $$$. It's taken me close to 25 yr's to amass
what I have, one way you can save money on all of this
is to go to any estate sale where they list machinist's
tool's and related item's. BTW the Bridgeport mill I
have in my basement only cost me $200.00, the company I
was working for at the time was going to sell it for
scrap! With very little work my brother{who is also a
machinist} and myself fixed all the nagging little
problem's and ended up with a very fine running machine.
Rick

**luke** · 01-12-2003, 06:06 PM

**luke** · 01-12-2003, 06:15 PM

**shartley** · 01-12-2003, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by luke

**FESTUS33** · 01-13-2003, 12:18 AM

Okay Sam
and everyone else
I'm writing this through the fog of too much
beer ,but what Sam said is correct, if I had $3000.00
right now I would jump on that deal for the tabletop
CNC Since I already have The tooling it's only an
investment in machinery. and then I'd be able to do
some of the thing's that my customer's are asking me
to do , that will take a lot of time on my manual mill.
Or be just plain Impossible on a manual Bridgeport.
Basically what I'm saying is That the prices I've
seen on machinery on this thread are all real good
BUT You Have To Take into Account That it is NOT the
TOTAL price of putting a machine into operation.
Rick

**Timmee** · 01-13-2003, 12:26 AM

As a somewhat related question, what (if any) advantage would there be to using a micrometer vs. calipers? Are micrometers more precise than calipers? I took a metal shop class in HS, but that was in '90, so I've forgotten some stuff.

**FESTUS33** · 01-13-2003, 12:41 AM

Originally posted by Timmee
As a somewhat related question, what (if any) advantage would there be to using a micrometer vs. calipers? Are micrometers more precise than calipers? I took a metal shop class in HS, but that was in '90, so I've forgotten some stuff.

Mic's are much more precise, you can get a caliper
to read anything you want within reason depending
on how much pressure you put on the thumbwheel.
This is part of becoming a true Machinist,
learning what the "FEEL" of you're tool's is
when you're getting a "TRUE" measurement.
Rick

I Love what I do for A Living So Much it's also My Hobby

**steveg** · 01-13-2003, 06:23 AM

Luke, first I'll admit to a bias against combination machines,
but I doubt that you would ever be happy with
that machine. as a lathe the milling head would be forever
in your way, as a mill I don't even see a table!

the mill and lathe shown on the same site are almost the
same cost and would be much more satisfactory.

finally that machine (sold by many other companies as well)
has a reputation for questionable quality.

my own experiences are this: the 7x10 lathes are ok but
almost too small.
As well they (mine at least) are very poor at cutting steel.
I intend to go to at least a 9x20 but probably larger

The mill/drill machines are pretty good, the big down-side
is that the round column makes it impossible to raise or
lower the head and keep the spindle alignment.

As Festus says R-8 spindle is essential, anything else is
much less common and therefore more difficult to find
and more expensive.

Oh and festus at the risk of being the TRADEMARK police
it's(your machine) a bridgeport CLONE or bridgeport COPY
or a universal knee mill, but it aint a Bridgeport!

**shartley** · 01-13-2003, 06:37 AM

Hey.... what about the machines I put up? LOL Comments?

**steveg** · 01-13-2003, 06:53 AM

shartley I have absolutely no first hand experience with
taig however what I have "heard" about them is that the
structure of the machine is good but that the spindlehead
is the weak part .
as for the lathe I'd go with the sherline first, more expensive,
but more complete, it includes the motor and
drive. The taig lathe, as sold around here doesn't have a motor
I do have a sherline mill. it uses the same head (motor spindle and drive)
as the lathe. It works very nice.