How to Buy a Milling Machine
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Here are my tips for buying a milling machine, including where to look for machines, what to look for when you inspect a machine, some anecdotes about my search for a mill, and some various pieces of advice. I've also added something that my videos have been sorely lacking...hand modeling.
![Bridgebort Milling Machine [Rescue]](/img/1.gif)
Thank you much for your time. Good all around video. Helped me learn more of what to look for.
If there is anyone on youtube right now that deserves a subscription, its Stuart de Haro. His channel give such thorough and thoughtful content. I have also asked him several questions in the comments to which he respond with great detail(and even a video response!), and his advice is helping me tremendously. His channel is very genuine and we need more youtubers like Stuart.
Thanks for the kudos, Lawrence. You're making me blush a little bit.
Super helpful...I learned that there are many additional costs beyond the mill itself...tooling, power conversion, vice, moving, etc. I gotta save more.
I have a Hyster 30 just to move my Bridgeport .... I run a Hitachi VFD and it gets you infinite speed control.. on a old old j head with a 1hp us motors army helmet motor .....
Class of 56 from mare island shipyard in California. Paid $2000 and it’s now part of the family,great vid.
With 50 years in the trade, I have run them all. In my opinion the one I want in my shop that is most comfortable with, works the best, has the less issues, has all parts available, holds closer tolerances because they have the best gibbs , plus the Quill has the best feel for tapping with a tapping head , plus the machine lets you know it has a problem to be addressed is the 42 inch table chrome harden way 2hp Bridgeport Viri speed series 1 with a Bridgeport brand second gen power table feed. For me, I added a Servo power unit for the knee as that big crank gets OLD ! .Also the best DRO on the market right now is the British Newall sealed tube DRO in my opinion. I spend way to much time on a mill not to like what I am running, so price doesn't really matter as I will pay more for what feels good to me. The bigger Index brand sized Mills are very clumsy and to tall for short run or one off custom work plus I don't really have time to screw around with any of the belt & pulley J head type mills either. So in my opinion you either have a 42 inch table hardened chrome way Bridgeport Viri speed series 1 Mill, or your looking for one and most old school machinist will back that oinion up ..
I have both types and can say with confidence the step pulley if much more reliable and quiet. One thing you must have is a swivel and tilt vice. Please don't ever use grease... it can hold on to chips and fine metal "dust" a little backlash is a good thing. Bridgeport copy mills are ALL rubbish don't substitute the best. The only fault is the R8 collets.... the tool can pull down on big cuts... and never try large cuts climb milling. You did a brilliant job on all your info👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍
Thanks for your reply. Funny you should mention the grease. I just finished shooting a video about that last night with an explanation of how to modify a small grease gun to deliver oil instead. I should have that edited and uploaded tonight. Thanks for watching!
I just bought a Sheldon horizontal mill, it was so cheap I figured it had to be junk, so glad I went was in great working condition with alot of cutters and even end mill attachment and lots of end mills,, payed 300 dollars and I couldn't be happier.and only 40 minutes away.
After finally finding the lathe of my life, I am just now getting ready to begin the same long, stressful, heartbreaking search for a mill (also in the Chicago area). As such, I am immersing myself in research much like what you have provided here. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
You're welcome, John, and good luck in your search! Thanks for watching!
Stuart, you are a lucky charm!! Like the next day after your reply I found an old small mill (not a Bridgeport, or even a mini import, and nothing so great, but still WAY better than nothing, and light years ahead of what I was trying to experiment with)... for $100!! (Was really $200, but it came with a little "Surface Grinder" project build, so $100 each, or $200 for the mill with a free grinder build project thrown in.). :) @@StuartdeHaro
Wow! Congratulations!
Thanks. I found it on Craigslist (Chicago) It was out in Barrington. If interested in a look: ruclips.net/video/sz00P3GTcQM/видео.html
John Strange dont forget about Facebook Marketplace. I just bought a near Perfect 1979 BP Series I VS 2hs that still had the factory scrape scale on the table surface and the ways. They had a vice on it that hadn’t been moved since they bought it. I paid $1400. Spent another $200 on some odds and ends that were missing and its like new. If you buy a BP H&W Machine in Indiana has most parts and good prices. They also know their stuff if you have a question.
Great info!!! Thanks for posting. This will help me when finding a mill for my home shop.
Thanks for taking the time. Very thorough
Excelent! I am in a process of moving workshops so that I can have space for a metal working corner :) Thanks Stuart!
Great video. I hope to someday buy a mill, but always wondered how to kick the tires. Any chance you could do another video demonstrating what to look out for on a used lathe?
Thanks alot man. You give us alot of useful informations. With all my respect from Morocco.
I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching! Out of curiosity, how good is the used tool market in Morocco?
Stuart de Haro
it depends on areas, but you can say not that good
@@StuartdeHaro
Morocco doesn't produce anything, so I would say: pretty much non-existent.
"So hopefully who ever bought that supermax mill is rotting in hell - happy with it."
Thanks for the good information
Good advice.
thanks for the info.
regards
You're welcome, Louis. Thanks for watching!
You saw the turd and sounds like it was love at first sight. Beautiful love story
quill and spindle run out is good to check as well..
My new to me Bridgeport arrived at my home last week. Bought it sight unseen from a used machinery dealer. Why? I live in Alaska and there is an absolute dearth of used machine tools available here. You'll occasionally see lathes on Craigslist, but mills are hen's teeth. The same Lagun mill up in Fairbanks has been on CL off and on for the last year or two... Asking price 12 grand. So my choices boiled down to spending a minimum of ~$4K on a new China clone before shipping, or less on a used BP but more on shipping (since importers like Grizzly, etc can get a better rate on shipping than I can as an individual).
Wound up paying $1700 for a 1965 step pulley machine from a dealer in Ohio, which I am now into for about $4K delivered to a loading dock here in Anchorage. The wear it has is the wear it has.... Only considered BP mills due to parts availability since I know it is likely to need some work plus my local machining/gunsmith friend/guru knows them well. Went with the step pulley machine since there is less to go wrong, and using a VFD for 3 phase conversion will give me a measure of variable speed before changing steps.
The advice of renting the deck lowering trailer is excellent. A friend helped me move it from the terminal to my garage on his trailer, and we were barely able to get it unloaded. Had the trailer been an inch higher, or my cherry picker an inch lower, it would probably still be there. As it was, we had to jack up the tongue and let the air out of the rear tires to get it low enough, as well as disassemble the pallet with a sawzall as it moved back and the crane started taking the weight. But we got it done, and it's a good thing I like my house because now I can never move. It came with a nice ball bearing Jacobs chuck installed, and no other tooling, so now I get to have tooling shipped up as well.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I'm checking out a bridgeport tomorrow so this was immensely helpful.
Don’t forget to factor in the buyer premium if buying at auction. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺
I purchased a Bridgeport on an action site, It was across the country but I got a great deal, shipping wasn’t such a good deal it cost more than the machine cost to ship it to me on a semi-trailer, also it cost $400 to hire a rigging company to load it on that semi-trailer, I still made out pretty good however because the auction had over 100 mills up for sale. It came with tooling a vice a pro DRO that costs more than I paid for the machine, I can see how you could get in trouble fast. and it wasn’t me that took your supermax.
Thank you, good information very helpful!
I have a bench mounted mill so have some idea of what to look for, but knowing specifics, e.g. knee squeal, is very helpful as am going to inspect a Bridgeport this weekend. Thanks
Glad to help. Good luck on that mill!
No luck. Ways that have been run with no oil leaving score marks along them. I don't need to buy a project, I've already got enough of those .
Sorry to hear that. Be patient. You'll find one eventually.
I paid $10k +$2k shipping on my 2J Bridgeport. Made in 1969, but very close to new condition.
It took me 2 months to get it into the house. I don't know what will happen to it when the ship me off to the old folk's home.
I could have stayed with my old Rockwell 21-100, and just added DRO and auto feed. My brother bought a Clausing 8520. We took it apart and packed it out of the basement where the owner died.
Don't worry. Someone will be packing yours up out of your house, excited to have it and put it to use 20 or 30 years from now.
Clark Magnuson do you still have the Rockwell?
Great video just please don't use grease on a mill or lathe it holds chips and creates more wear
What should be used?
@@bvcxzgt5451 ways oil
yes I sold my old used BP for 2 x the $ that I spent on my Index with very nice chrome ways
I had to help the guy I bought my mill from, disassemble drywall/framing/doors (a small room within his garage) ... how come that wasn't covered ? ; ) Seriously though, it was hot and took over an hour to get the room disassembled...People are strange.
That is both awesome and horrible at the same time. Did you get a great deal because of that?
after 2:08 didn't hear anything until 3:00 . was too busy LMAO!!!
Always take as much tooling as you can cart off from a seller! Even if you don't know what it is, GRAB IT! lol
Amen brother!
Stuart, what are your thoughts on the new Chinese Mill/Drill,s e.g. Grizzly G0795Z, dovetail column? I’m looking for occasional use in home shop, no high degree of accuracy . Just need something with more functionality than a drill press can provide
My experience with Mill/Drills is pretty limited. The dovetail column versions have the advantage of not losing your X and Y locations if you have to move the head up and down (the round column ones wiggle around as the move). The big thing you will run into is the size of the work envelope in the Z axis. By the time you have the height of the vise and part and the length of the tool holder and tool, you can run out of room very quickly, especially with drill chucks and drills. Screw machine length drills help, as does using a collet chuck instead of drill chuck, but that can be a source of frustration even on a Bridgeport and it is even more so on a Mill/Drill. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
Stuart de Haro Thanks for the reply, appreciate it. Max distance (Z axis G0795Z) from spindle end to table is 18.25”, spindle travel is 3”. Part of my concern is that dimension. May have to take turn table off the 6” milling vise I have . This mill sells for about $2100 with 1/2” chuck, 2 HP SP 110/220 variable speed motor. Somewhat concerned about quality of Chinese machines of any kind but for what I want to do it may be accurate enough. Enjoy your videos, you being a professional teacher is evident
Hey man, what's that black and gold cylinder on the top of the head? Is that a DC motor?
Nope. That's a power drawbar. What can I say...I'm lazy.
Im only 20 and i wish i hand someone to teach me i love old stuff i have a Bridgeport and lathe that basically fell into my hands but have no one to teach me.
Check with your local community college and see if they have any classes. If there are any machine shops located near you, check and see if they have any entry level jobs. There are a ton of great RUclips creators and you can learn a lot about machining by just looking at how they set things up. Good luck and please feel free to drop me a line if you have specific questions.
Thank u so much i should start a channel i got lots of projects and im pretty good on working on small engine repair
Do it! How-to videos help a lot of people. Email me if you want any tips.
Lately it seems that Facebook Marketplace is growing and Craigslist is dying.
Nice video but my advice is to stick with Bridgeport brand. Why? Parts are simply every where and only a few clicks away online for Bridgeport mills. Try that with any other brand, nope. If you buy any old mill you are going to need parts, no doubt about it. leave the other brands for the pros or for after you get a lot of experience and are going to upgrade.
While it is true that Bridgeport parts are readily available, the same can be said for a lot of similar mills, like Index (Wells-Index), Lagun, and Tree. I wouldn't pass on buying a machine just because it ISN'T a Bridgeport. Doing so would be a disservice to yourself and would probably prolong a search that can already be a long and frustrating one.
Sorry but we will have to agree to disagree on that. As a test I just googled tree mill parts. One of the first things that pops up? a post on the practical machinist forum from a guy who has a garden verity tree mill and cant find parts.
I disagree with respect so don't hate me, but if that tree or other type of mill is not DIRT cheap and is not in running condition I'd pass. Remember we are talking about newbs here, not experienced machinist.
People who read this, if you find a mill for sale google its name and the word parts. If you have trouble finding parts listings, you better pay attention to that and use it to make your decision or you could end up with 2000 lbs of non functional scrap iron in your shop.
There is a simple reason Bridgeport mills are still so popular, not because they are better, because you can find parts as easily as for your 2 yr old chevy truck.
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Hello Stuart, hoping I can send you an email about a Bridgeport I'm looking to buy. I thought I had saw your email address on the YT About tab, but it's not there. If you don't mind, how can I reach out to you for a couple of quick questions? Thanks you
It's still there. RUclips has changed it up a bit so you have to click the "View Email" button next to "For business inquiries"
@@StuartdeHaro thank you. Got it.
Anyone know if a Manford Brand mill is any good?
I had never heard of that brand and after checking out their website, they appear to be the same as the other imported Bridgeport clones. The dead giveaway is the big "M" cast into the column just above the dovetails. You see this on all of the imports because they're coming out of the same factory. The lineup of mills also matches up with those offered by Prototrak, which builds their CNCs from those imports. That said, there are a lot of Prototrak mills where I work and the machines are generally pretty beefy compared to Bridgeports. I've never had to order parts for one of those mills, but there are so many companies selling them here in the US that I'd imagine that they are available. For the price, I'd wait and find a used machine if you can. Then spend the money you save on tooling.
@@StuartdeHaro Someone locally selling one used with DRO, power bar, and some tooling for $6k Aus (~$4370US).
@@ianmoone2359 Well, I'd say if it meets your needs and is in your price range, grab it. I don't know what the used machine market is like in your area, but sometimes it's like you're in a desert with only a rare oasis popping up every now and then.
@@StuartdeHaro Only 1/10 th the population of the USA, and only 1/20th of that 1/10th population on this side of Oz. I could die of old age before a used Bridgeport ever becomes available here sadly. In my dreams I buy a Bridgeport. 😂😂👍
my biz partner says that if you buy something at auction, you know you are the fool that paid more than anyone else. decide what you top dollar is, and don't go over that figure. if you get out bid, there will be another one at a different auction. don't get emotionally attached, its just money.
Thanks for making me feel bad about everything I've ever won at an auction! ; ) In all seriousness though, that's great advice. You know what you want and what you're willing to pay for it. If you can find it for less, that's fantastic! If they're asking more than you want to pay, either negotiate or take a pass.
anyone ever heard of ATrump mills? your thoughts?
The Atrump mills I have seen were sold by Centroid. I think they are made in Taiwan. The ones I've seen have been bed mills. I have a Trak bed mill and it looks to be the same. Very good machine.
with money I imagine
Well played, sir.
Buying a milling machine I ‘d buy a new one . If you buy a used one you could spend more money trying to repair it than it would cost to buy a new one .
You're doing it wrong. Bid the max of what it is worth to you and you won't get sniped. If it still goes for more than you bid, then you know you wouldn't have spent that much on it. Place your bid just before the auction closes to keep from running the price up early.
Star Gazer how is what you are saying different from sniping?
@@larsrodbok1285 Snipers will usually put some stupidly high bid in so that they will win, cost be damned.
@@SynMonger bidding isn't good in that at True live auctions will ad a 18% gavil fee and a 2nd was rigging fee, and shipping fee.
The Asian may Look heavier but Make NO mistake Nothin Else is a BRIDEGRPORT I have Ran them ALL.......
Bullshit there is no other Mill besides A Bridgeport but a Bridgeport !!!!!!! I personally own 4 bridgeport's and 1 clausing, those cheap clones will not even last close to what a used Bridgeport would!!!!!!!!!!
So you bought one mill and now you're giving advice on buying a mill?