milling machine for firearm work? under $1000?

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jason41987

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hey everyone.. im looking for a milling machine capable of machining steel to suitable accuracy.. the time frame in which it takes to actually mill such parts isnt important to me...

seems the consensus on the grizzly, and other such machines is theyre cheap chinese crap...(it seems those last 3 words often go together)...

so anyway.. i dont think id need more than about a 14 or so inch travel.. but obviously the machine needs to be strong enough for carbon steel, stainless, etc....... so really, what am i looking at as a possibility?.. ive found some old used bridgeports for about $1500 but id prefer something new, something new, something i know will work, or is covered by a warranty if it doesnt...

so... any ideas?
 
For something of suitable quality (for low quantity hobby use) that is new, I would have a look at Tormach. The price point for getting into machining is kind of high, even for home use. $7-10k could be expected unless you're open to used equipment.
 
I don't think you are going to get a new milling machine capable of working with metal for under $1000. If you are very lucky, you might find a used American made one that has been, or can be, rebuilt for something over twice that.

FWIW, and I hate to say this, some of the equipment being made in China today is of excellent quality. Since American manufacturers have been systematically driven out of business by the government so that China can get its loans back through "trade", there are few (if any) American sources of new equipment.

Jim
 
I've heard the Grizzly stuff is pretty good, but unless its used, anything cpable of maching gun sized parts is going to be a tad more expensive than $1000
 
Alot of the smaller sub-1K machines are meant for small amounts of aluminum, brass, and plastic, like for model making etc. They have trouble with steel, and have acme threads instead of ball screws on the table, which means more backlash so you have to be careful of climb / regular cutting moving things around. You'll also need to be careful about squaring the spindle to the table - they use body filler with green paint over roughly finished castings so when you have to shim parts (and you will) it's a consideration. That much said, you can do some reasonable machining on soft metals once the machine is squared up. It requires more care and patience as you can't remove much metal at one time and you need to keep track of which direction your cut is going. These machines are NOT Bridgeport J2's or Hardinge lathes.
 
I would definitley bite the bullet and go for the Bridgeport.
In my over 50 years in the toolroom I've never seen one so bad that it was junk.
Parts are available and the machines are easy to work on.
 
I bought a used Bridgeport at an estate sale 6 years ago for my dad for his retirement gift as he wanted to do metalwork as a retirement job.

I paid 800 for the machine with a bunch of tooling and 2 vises. Ive seen Bridgeports since for similar pricing but none in the last 2 years.
 
Unless you are severely space limited, forget the small machines. If you are space limited, make room for a good use knee mill. As noted above, good used machines can be found for reasonable prices and are far more versatile and rigid than the small machines. Bridgeport, Lagun, Millrite are all good brands to look for.
 
I ask my father about the machines all the time. He was a machinist for over 40 years. His answer is always the same. If you want to buy the cheapest that will still do the job, get a JET. Otherwise be prepared to pay at least 5k. The all-in-ones are garbage. And if you have to choose between a mill and a lathe, remember, you can build a mill using a lathe, but you can't build a lathe using a mill.
 
Chris-bob said:
I ask my father about the machines all the time. He was a machinist for over 40 years. His answer is always the same. If you want to buy the cheapest that will still do the job, get a JET. Otherwise be prepared to pay at least 5k. The all-in-ones are garbage. And if you have to choose between a mill and a lathe, remember, you can build a mill using a lathe, but you can't build a lathe using a mill.
Click to expand...

The Lathe at one time was called the Queen of the Machine Shop as it has the ability to reproduce itself.
 
check craigslist in your area,lotta small shops going belly up and selling used bridgeports at reasonable prices.ebay also for tools etc and machines.try to find a j head bridgeport single phase.they are indestructible,parts are still available,hold good tolerances,and are made in usa.
 
Be sure to account for vice and jig stack up when evaluating milling machines.

The equipment on the table to hold the work takes up significant room.
 
in that price range the grizzly G0704 is not to bad.
it has a decent size table and power feed is available. when it first came out they were having motor problems but that seems to have been worked out.

to me the main two things that limit most bench size mills is table travel and power feed.
table length & travel might not be a problem depending on what type of work you want to do but if you want to cut ocatagons or put something between a super spacer and a center you might not have enough room.
power feed is also a very good option since you cant take a large cut like you can with a full size mill you'll be cranking the table back and fourth a lot if you don't upgrade to power feed.


as others have said also watch craigs list
 
ok... reading these posts im left with 2 questions...

first.. censensus from a lot of people ive talked to is that grizzly, and other chinese made mills move way too much for any real amount of accuracy... is there something people do to these to improve them, to get rid of the table wobble, and make them work for small projects?

second.. consensus also says a used bridgeport such as the one i just mentioned would be a good choice.. could be cleaned up and rebuilt... some of these machines are 30-40 or more years old, after all this time, and all this use do they lose accuracy, or would a rebuild with new rods, rails, etc bring them back to life?...

i actually have a few nema motors and a 5-axis CNC controller with power supply i was thinking of hooking up to it to make the bridgeport into a CNC should i go that route
 
The problem with the cheap mills and lathes is not the machine stands, but the actual parts of the machine. Cheap, soft metals with too much play to give the accuracy needed for most jobs. Sure, they can work, and many people do use them and get them to turn out good, quality work, but it requires much more effort and precision on the part of the operator to do so. If you have the know-how and the time, then they very well may work for you. If not, look around for a used one, just not an abused one. If you don't know how to tell, find an old machinist to go look at the machine with you, or to tell you how to test the machine and what tools you need to test for wear.
 
well... i guess if i could find a frame cheap enough i could rebuild it with new screws, rails, etc... or buy an inexpensive one and improve it... ive built CNC routers before, so i know what work needs to be done... if thats all its a matter of then id easily be able to improve an inexpensive mill, or rebuild a used one...

what about the taig mill?
 
lets say i was willing to buy an older american made mill.. ive seen some for under $1k needing to be rebuilt... what would be the smallest mill worth buying?... obviously im not going to need anything very long... maybe 18" travel max... would i be able to find a smaller, old mill worth rebuilding thatll fit the bill of what i need?...

i really dont have the space for those full size bridgeports just yet... but im definitely going to go the route of building one of them when i have the space.. but for now i need something smaller
 
I found a nice Bridgeport at an estate sale for $1200. The problem was that I had no way of moving something that heavy and someone else ended up with the mill.

If you're going to have to move it up a steep driveway, through a back yard, or up or down stairs, there may be additional moving/equipment rental cost.
 
pcf said:
I found a nice Bridgeport at an estate sale for $1200. The problem was that I had no way of moving something that heavy and someone else ended up with the mill.

If you're going to have to move it up a steep driveway, through a back yard, or up or down stairs, there may be additional moving/equipment rental cost.
Click to expand...

You are right about the driveway/stairs thing.
In my working days at a large company, a Bridgeport became available from another building which was about 200 yards from my building.
To make a long story short, an outside contractor bid $2000.00 to do the transfer.
A fellow worker and I completed to task in just over ONE hour.
Of course everything was flat and level and my co-worker was an expert on the Tow Motor.
We had the machine leveled,bolted down and in operation the next morning.
Go Bridgeports! You cannot go wrong.
 
I have a bench mill. Specifically the Grizzly G0619. You will see this one also referred to as the Sieg SX3. If you want to see a lot of info on the small lathes and mills go to; http://www.mini-lathe.com/.

I am learning and mostly doing pistol work, so I have not felt myself limited by the bench top mill. It has 17 inches travel in X, 6 inches in Y, 15 inches in Z and while sometimes you have to get creative with setups it has worked for everything I want to do. It will turn a 1 inch bit through steel.

My most significant limitation was it had to go inside. I have a 16 X 16 shop with the Mill, a Sieg C4 lathe (8 X 16 inch), a small bandsaw, two safes, my reloading setup and two benches to work on. Yes it is crowded, but it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer and secure.

I looked at some used equipment in the northern Virginia area and there are too many people looking so what is available is very worn and high price.

I added DRO to the mill and that has been outstanding. I replaced my Chinese vice with a Kurt and that again was a major improvement.

The SX3/G0619 has an R8 collet for tooling. You will soon have as much in tooling as the cost of the mill, but if you decide to move up to a knee mill, none of the tooling investment is lost.

Since I put a Kurt vice on instead of the chinese one I can regulary tram to less that 0.001 across a 5-inch jaw and repeat it. The DRO holds 0.0002 on a 4-inch standard. I can shut the DRO off, move the table, turn in back on and touch off in both X and Y and be right on. I can put a gage pin in an E-20 collet and it will indicate between 0.001 and 0.002 on a DTI. I don't know what more that that anyone needs for most gunsmithing.

If I had to do it now I would look seriously at the Grizzly 0722. This is the Sieg SX4. Table is about the same but a little more power and a lot more weight (for stability)

Great machine for what I want, but not under $1,000. BTW, the DRO, power feed and a Kurt vice cost more than the machine (about $1,500 new when I bought it) and I have about twice that in tooling, so I have about $5 to $6k in my milling setup.


Tom-C
 
I looked at some used equipment in the northern Virginia area and there are too many people looking so what is available is very worn and high price.
Click to expand...

There has never been much actual industry in northern Virginia.

Baltimore is the closest place that had real industry, and most of it is long gone.
 
i talked to the people from the taig company... they told me it would have .001" accuracy through steel as long as it wasnt more than a quarter inch depth at a time... which is quite ok for me... and i already have the motors and drivers needed to make it CNC... so as long as the CNC did short, slow passes, i could easily get that .001" out of it
 
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