[AT] OT Milling machine ?

[Jim & Lyn Evans]

Do not get a combo machine.  You will be much happier with individual
machines.  Good used American machines are non existent here.  I have a
Grizzly mill-drill that was about $1500.  I have a Harbor Freight 12x36
lathe that sells for $1800-2000.  It is one of the few exceptional machines
that HF sells.
There are several yahoo groups that cater to the Chinese-Taiwanese machine
tools.  You can learn a lot from them.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Stuart Harner
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:04 PM
To: atis
Subject: [AT] OT Milling machine ?

Since it seems a little slow today, I thought I would ask for input
regarding combo lathe, mill, drill machines.

I seem to always be needing something turned or milled or drilled and the
nearest machine shop is 20 miles away.  While they do good work, they are
always behind and it is a several day wait, which means a second trip, plus
you are not there when the work is done to answer questions.

There is no way I can justify the cost of a machine in terms of the prices I
pay for the work, but in terms of time and effort, it gets closer to viable,
especially if I don't have to mortgage the house for a machine.  Besides, in
the hobby of restoring old things, it is more about the fun of doing it
yourself.

I am most interested in the Smithy line of machines, but my budget is at the
lower end of things at best, maybe during a sale.  I have been watching
Ebay, but most are too far away to ship or go fetch.  I actually won a
Granite series 40" one in Mpls.  It looked like new and included the tool
kit and stand.  Bought it for $2100 and figured the trip to pick it up was
well worth it.  When I tried to pay for it, the owner informed me that they
had sold it locally several days before and it was already gone.  I was
PO'ed!!

So, here I am still watching Ebay and hoping for a good deal on one nearby,
but am wondering if I should be looking at other makes.  The only other one
I have seen up close and personal was at a Harbor Freight store and I was
not impressed.  It had a lot of backlash in the gearing.  Now maybe that is
something that could be adjusted, which would be nice as they are closer to
my price range.

Any advice on makes, models, features, and sizes would be greatly
appreciated.

Stuart
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