am i crazy for wanting a mini mill??

C

Cushing H.

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Jun 3, 2019
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I still find myself wanting a better way to flatten (and unify thickness) of scales, and to flatten and parallel the surfaces of the components of Wa handles - not to mention just having better stability in drilling, as well as potentially doing better dimensional definition of metal bolsters. I find myself continuing to look at the harbor freight mini mill for all the above.

Am I crazy for continuing to think of getting one .... or am I just opening myself up for disappointment ? (yes ... I am aware of the cost of fixturing, appropriate bits/mills, etc).

Help me decide......
 
been using mine more then 15 years. still use it more then my bridgeport i true up WA parts and flatten scales all the time with it and it does all my drilling work. your going to want the belt drive kit
 
I finally pulled the trigger on one last winter. Got the little machine shop high torque (belt drive) version. I love it. Use it mostly for slotting guards, flattening scales and drilling metal. Comes in handy for other odds and ends.
 

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Picked a used one up a few years ago for $100. I don't regret having it in my shop one bit.

X2 on getting the belt drive kit. You'll be replacing stinking plastic gears all the time otherwise.
 
I use my harbor freight mini mill on every knife. Mainly for drilling holes and squaring up scales. If it broke I would have to get another one immediately.
 
Without question one of the most useful tools in my shop. I have the 3990 from Little Machine Shop. From drilling holes and squaring up scales, to milling guard slots, I use it constantly. In hindsight, I wish I would have bought one earlier.
 
They're pretty handy to have, once a few tooling items are available for use & the learning curve is "adjusted" to fit your needs. This is the PM25 without any bells & whistles, just the basic machine I got earlier this year, pretty handy & uses standard sizes for collets (R8).

LymqWz5.jpg
 
noseoil said:
They're pretty handy to have, once a few tooling items are available for use & the learning curve is "adjusted" to fit your needs. This is the PM25 without any bells & whistles, just the basic machine I got earlier this year, pretty handy & uses standard sizes for collets (R8).

LymqWz5.jpg
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I just picked up the same mill from a buddy a couple weeks ago with a crap ton of extras. I've only used it to drill a few holes so far. Seems like a smooth machine. Got my first milling project I'm going to jump head first into next week. Going to make a "nicer" clamp/jig for doing slip joint knife inlays.
 
I got mine from a military guy transferring overseas. It was a virtually new HF unit and he had about 75 pounds of R8 collets and tooling for it. Paid $200 for the lot.
Very handy for precise holes and slotting guards.
 
I have had one for well over a decade and it has made me thousands of dollars in making parts for other hobbies as well as for knives.
 
I think I got the message :) Thanks folks - including for the recommendation for the belt adapter (I had not heard about this).

Apparently HF now only has this available through on line purchase - so I need to exercise patience waiting for it to arrive :-(

Thanks all.
 
12345678910 said:
Go with an R8 spindle taper, not MT

That way when you get a bigger machine, the tooling will be compatible.
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LOL - maybe - but my wife will likely kill me if I were to buy a larger machine - also have no room. I am looking at the mini mill precisely because I can put it where my drill press is - no way at all there is room in my little space for a larger machine... :-(
 
While that mini mill will do a great job of slotting guards, I use my SGA for flattening and evening up scales. A drop of CA to hold scales to steel slab. With 36 grit AO belt makes short work of getting scales to same thickness and even. I also have used my mill with fly cutter to even scales up.
 
12345678910 said:
But the option is there.

R8 has much much more tooling available and it's cheaper.

There are lots of 3/4 sized knee mills available that will give you more Z height if you go that way.
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But I have been pretty specifically looking at most likely the HF mill, maybe the Little Machine Shop mini .... and it looks like either of those specifically comes with the R8 anyway...???
 
Cushing H. said:
But I have been pretty specifically looking at most likely the HF mill, maybe the Little Machine Shop mini .... and it looks like either of those specifically comes with the R8 anyway...???
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That's good.

There was a time when they were MT3

Also look at the PM machines - supposed to be Taiwanese with a higher level of American QC instead of HF Chinese

https://www.precisionmatthews.com/


Get the DRO already installed. It's handy
 
12345678910 said:
That's good.

There was a time when they were MT3

Also look at the PM machines - supposed to be Taiwanese with a higher level of American QC instead of HF Chinese

https://www.precisionmatthews.com/

Get the DRO already installed. It's handy
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, cost is going to be something of an issue - the PM stuff looks good - but too pricey for me.

Same for the DRO :-( It would be nice to have that direct dimensionality register - but I am afraid I am going to need to go manual - at least until I am so sick of it and find a way to justify the DRO... :)
 
Iguaging makes a relatively inexpensive dro if you decide to upgrade it later. I’d get the air shock upgrade too.
Also, look for 20-25% off coupons before you drop the money on the mini mill
 
Cushing H. said:
Unfortunately, cost is going to be something of an issue - the PM stuff looks good - but too pricey for me.

Same for the DRO :-( It would be nice to have that direct dimensionality register - but I am afraid I am going to need to go manual - at least until I am so sick of it and find a way to justify the DRO... :)
Click to expand...

I have a chinese mill that's supposed to be inch, but it must have been made on metric machines.

The dials are useless. I have confirmed them with dial indicator. The actual travel is not anywhere close to being right in either metric or inch

You should get used to the idea of using dial indicators in all three directions, or maybe that i gauging dro. They are low priced.
 
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