Benchtop Mill choices? Precision Matthews PM-25MV or??

Brian Ayres

Brian Ayres

Joined
Feb 4, 2011
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So,
Tax man was good to me as a clerical error forced me to withhold an extra 8% of my gross income,:eek: so I have the money to buy a mill....:):D

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will be living in a rental and making knives in the garage for the next 3 years. I am limited to a benchtop model. Anything from 150# models like the LittleMachineShop Hi-Torgue Mill up to 600# Benchtop models...

I am leaning towards a Precision Matthews PM-25MV The price difference between the 20MV and 25MV is only $100 and you get a 1Hp vs a 3/4Hp motor.....
http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-MV-BenchMills.html

The other choice I was considering is a LittleMachineShop Hi Torque Mill
http://littlemachineshop.com/3960


The PM-25MV comes with a free stand, and free shipping....It also has digital depth and speed readouts...and for a couple hundred more seems to be the better buy over the Hi Torque Mill...

I have been watching Craigslist for a year and haven't found a mill that was what I need for the space I have....So, I'm leaning towards a new Mill with decent features.

Is there another Benchtop Mill, Like from Grizzly that compares that someone has, and is happy with? :confused:

I would like to use it to make jigs,tools, etc as well as the usual slotting guards, etc...so I would like something heavy, but not full size....

Anyone have experience with Precision Matthews? I've heard their Benchtop Mills are good for the money.

A better mill leaves less for tooling, but I can squeeze new tooling into the budget easier than a whole Mill...:D
 
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I was in a very similar quandry as you regarding a mill earlier this year. I ended up with G0704 from Grizzly which is going to be a twin of the PM25...but cheaper by $200. Add to that my coupon to Grizzly and mine was more like $400 cheaper than the PM version.

It is a very nice machine, but my milling experience is limited to only that machine, so my view could be totally skewed.

In the end, I got the G0704 because:

It's heavier, by a long shot, than the mini mills. Everyone with mill experience said weight matters.

The digital depth readout is very nice.

The table is a lot larger than the mini mills

The G0704 (or it's clones) have had very good reviews across the board.

The included stand, at least with the Grizzly (and it looks identical in the PM website photo's) is nothing special though and I'm seriously considering building a proper stand for it. It's made of sheet metal is rather flimsy....I think some of the vibration in the machine is due to this in fact.

All in all I'm very happy with the purchase.
 
watercrawl said:
I was in a very similar quandry as you regarding a mill earlier this year. I ended up with G0704 from Grizzly which is going to be a twin of the PM25...but cheaper by $200. Add to that my coupon to Grizzly and mine was more like $400 cheaper than the PM version.

It is a very nice machine, but my milling experience is limited to only that machine, so my view could be totally skewed.

In the end, I got the G0704 because:

It's heavier, by a long shot, than the mini mills. Everyone with mill experience said weight matters.

The digital depth readout is very nice.

The table is a lot larger than the mini mills

The G0704 (or it's clones) have had very good reviews across the board.

The included stand, at least with the Grizzly (and it looks identical in the PM website photo's) is nothing special though and I'm seriously considering building a proper stand for it. It's made of sheet metal is rather flimsy....I think some of the vibration in the machine is due to this in fact.

All in all I'm very happy with the purchase.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I can even pick up the Grizzly in Washington the next time I drive up there... :D

Now I'm trying to decide between the couple choices from Grizzly. I am looking at the square column mills, and trying to decide which of the two to get. Does the tapping feature on the G0619 work well?

Almost all the knives I have forged are hidden tangs and I am looking forward to learning how to mill them out instead of filing! :D

Any other choices out there?
 
I have a G8689 Mini Mill from Grizzly, and it has been a great little mill for the price. I do agree with Adam, it does has it limitations as it doesn't have the weight needed to make heavy cuts (vibration) and your limited to the tooling that you can use. The DRO for depth would have been really nice if the mini mill had it. The spindle to table distance is limited so when you add a vice, and mill length, I am limited to drill/ mill depth. Because of this, I picked up a pretty big knee mill (2700lbs)...which I LOVE, but not a bench top like you are looking for. I still use the Griz Mini Mill all the time, and still really like it, but if you had the cash, I would go with the G0619.
 
Thanks Bob,
There's a decent knee mill on Craigslist now.... I have a worktruck with a liftgate and it's on a pallet.....:rolleyes:


My ultimate plan is to get a smaller bench mill and later a Bridgeport or something.... So the Benchtop is a first step but I don't want to limit myself.

From all I've read(meaning I have no real experience with mills) is that I'd be better with a square column mill to start, vs a round column Rong Fu type mill...:confused:
 
I have the G0463 from Grizzly which is based of the Sieg X3. It costs a couple of bucks more than the G0704, but ups the weight from 265lbs (including the G0704 stand?) to 353lbs. I DID end up buying a set of 3-axis DROs for my machine, which if feel are essential for the work I do on the mill.
Erin
 
I've got the pm20 with dro...it's a great machine for what it is. Recommended.
 
I have the WMD30-LV, same as the PM30 - I like it a lot and use it as both a light mill and as my drill press.

It works great as a light mill and a drillpress. It should not be mistaken for a mill for removing lots of metal quickly, and the 25 will be even lighter.

If I had to replace it today, I would replace it with a 45 class machine.

So my vote would be for the 30 over the 25 if you can swing it.

Tait

p.s. The digital readout on the z axis is really nice - helps with figuring depth of cut.
 
Not long ago I bought a GO619 from Grizzly. In the process of teairng it down to clean all the gunk off I found a number of relatively minior but irritating problems and a couple of more major ones. I worked with Grizzly and was able to repair many of the minor issues but not all. Most of them are probably things you can expect on a Chinese machine but the major ones were a problem and could not be readily fixed. Eventually, Grizzly agreed to take it back for a full refund. Frankly, their customer service was great but I ended up getting a different type machine due to the frustration with the first. I know many people have had success with it but my case was not one of them. Just an input.
Randy
 
Erin Burke said:
I have the G0463 from Grizzly which is based of the Sieg X3. It costs a couple of bucks more than the G0704, but ups the weight from 265lbs (including the G0704 stand?) to 353lbs. I DID end up buying a set of 3-axis DROs for my machine, which if feel are essential for the work I do on the mill.
Erin
Click to expand...

The G0704 machine weighs 265 pounds (w/o stand) and the G0463 weighs 353 pounds (w/o a stand).

I "READ" a lot online and the consensus was that the G0704, due to its design, was more solid than the heavier X3 machines. I capitalized "READ" for a reason...my knowledge is based on the use of others reported over the internet. I assume it's correct because of the amount of information out of there of direct comparisons of the two from people who've used and/or own both machines. This is information I based my decision on, so I felt it was solid enough to do so. YMMV.
 
Anyone have any exp with the grizzly g1005Z..I think its a #25, about a 435 pound machine..
 
I was instructed to avoid the round columns machines like that one. I figured I'd never care, but I'm extremely glad I followed the advise. Raising and lowering the head and having it in the same spot is very nice.
 
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