Full Sized Knee Vertical Milling Machine Recommendations?

Leu Custom

Leu Custom

Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Messages
1,354
Hi guys,

getting ready to buy a full size vertical milling machine. can you guys throw me some brand suggestions and options that are essential to making knives and other stuff later on the road?

Bridgeport?
JET ?
Okuma ?

Why one brand vs. another? Is American made better than Taiwanese made mills....

what options to buy that have better/stronger tolerances as far as traveling along the different axises.

How essential really is a Digital Read Out ? (How much will I save without one in $$)

Power feed for the X and Z axis ?

anything would be helpful. Got somewhere in the neighborhood of 10k to play with. Thanks in Advance,

Pohan
 
Not to speak for Ken Onion, but while I was at his shop, his big Bridgeport mill saw a lot of use, and he swore by it... That's what I'll be going with when I can afford it. It seems that older Bridgeports can be had at auction in fair to good condition for very reasonable prices...
 
I have owned a 60's vintage 9 x 42 Bridgeport and cant say enough about it.I wish I still had it. It was well used when I purchased it, and had its quirks, but I was still able to do what I considered precision work with it. Something to keep in mind, tons of parts available for a Bridgeport. DRO is nice, not a necessity in imho. And with 10K to spend, you should be able to end up with a lightly used Bridgeport, with DRO and a ton of tooling!

Good luck in your quest and enjoy whatever you end up with!

Ken
 
I use a JET all the time. The head can point in pretty much any direction you need it to. It is a very accurate machine. Has high and low speed, forward and reverse( in low speed reverse is actually forwards), it also has good range of speed, goes from 80 rpm to 3400rpm. They do make them that turn over 5000 rpm. It is an R8 taper machine so tooling is readily available.

I have not used any of the others mentioned so I cannot speak for them.
 
Of that list, the Okuma would probably be the best brand. I didn't even know they made small stuff.

The Bridgeport has also always been an excellent machine.

There is nothing wrong with a JET, Enco, Delta, Turn Pro, Vetrax etc either. The brands have meant different things at different times. Any one of them would be fine for knife making. I knew a shop in GA that was full of ENCO machines. Biggest shop in town.

There is nothing wrong with foreign iron. A lot of it is junk, but a lot of it is some of the best in the world. Mori Seiki and Makino are some of the best mills ever built anywhere ever.

10K will buy a lot of machine and tooling if you go used. There are a lot of killer deals out there right now. DRO is very nice.
 
A lot of people recommend that one buy a "good used bridgeport."

The key word here is GOOD. We have a used Bridgeport at my work that is totally worn out - ways and leadscrews. It has 0.050" backlash, and vibrates so much that is is useless for any milling. We just use it for drilling, counter-sinking, and tapping.

We've been to auctions in search of a used Bridgeport that is in better condition, but they all seem to be worn out as well.
 
Get the digital readout, its worth every penny you spend on it. As far as mills dont buy any mill that you have had a chance put your hands on. Some used mill have very little run time on them and some are wore out.
 
I am a newbie at this but from the little milling I've done, with the budget you have. get the DRO. No question.
Also don't forget that a good portion of your budget will be spent on tooling.

Patrice
 
Pohan- If youre in Southern CA- I would suggest you call some of the Boeing liquidators from OR and WA or CA- I have several contacts on your side of the map that have been able to lay hands-on and play with turrets, horizonatal, and vertical mills from several of the aircraft plants before buying. I will try to get contact info and send it.
-OK-try Bidadoo.com for Boeing surplus- they have a couple of mills right now according to their site. I do not know about their policy of demo/test-drive but its a start.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies guys and gals ? I'm looking to buy a new unit. Never know wtf is with something used especially as something as complicated as a Mill.
 
You may also want to look at some CNC machines, I just bought a CNC SuperMax YCM-40 knee mill that see hardly any use and is very tight tolerance for $2500. It is a much heavier built machine than the Bridgeport. I can use it as a standard mill for 1 off pieces or program it for things I will make lots of parts of. Just a thought.
 
I have been looking myself. If you can find a good used Bridgeport that's probably your best bet. I thought about getting a table top mill , but that will just make me want a bigger one. I use Bridgeport, Sharp and Lagun conventional mills everyday at work. I also program and run Hurco, Okuma and Milltronix cnc mills. All are good solid work horses. I agree with Nathan the Okuma is solid and badass, I don't know if they make knee mills but if they do it would be worth looking into. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top