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Drill presses, mini mill? Need your advice.

DeltaV

DeltaV

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What do you guys prefer in terms of drill presses...benchtop- or floor-mounted? Also, why not use a benchtop-mounted mini mill instead of a drill press? The mini mill seems to be a lot more versatile than a drill press.

For example, a mini mill like this:
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-x-16-Mini-Milling-Machine/G8689

Here's my situation:
(1) I am not a machinist, but I have operated lathes, mills, EDMs, etc.; a long time ago...under supervision:D.
(2) I have enough room in my garage to comfortably fit an 8 foot long workbench and a floor-mounted drill press. However, I would like to keep the free space (2.5 to 3 ft) open and use a benchtop-mounted drill press or mini mill.
(3) I am not ready to drop thousands of $$$ for a used Bridgeport and I am still 2-3 years away from building a shop with more space.

Thank you for your insight and advice.
 
The mini-mill you linked uses an MT#3 taper so it can't use a collet system... End mills mounted in a drill chuck might as well be a drill bit.... I have a mill-drill that does use collets, the guy I got it from had a drill chuck with an R8 mount & no true collets.. He gave me the machine cause he couldn't make slots in 1/8" material with it, it chattered more than it cut... I bought a set of collets, a used Kurt vise from an auction & some tooling... As long as you keep the cutter close to the bearing support it does Okay, run the quill out & it becomes a drill.... Having the drill chuck added to the leverage on the bearings so it was just a drill press at that point.... Set up with real collets & understand it's limits & it's actually is pretty useful, I'd love to have a real knee mill but I can't justify the space or expense at this time so the Rong Fu will have to do....

The one shown isn't mine, it's picture from the web... I don't have a DRO, might add one but don't really think the machine rates one...
Screen Shot 2020-05-24 at 10.54.03 PM.png
 
Sorry but they do make collets for MT3 I have a couple of different sets for my lathe. Normal collets and ER-32.
https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1948

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2228&category=-421559299

The trouble with that mill drill is that it moves and have to loosen thing up to move the positions. The round vertical has no real way to lock solid. Great for light duty though. A buddy of mine has one like that and doesn't seem to mind it. Do a google search of the mills you looking at and check out some reviews on you tube.
Good luck yes a mini mill if you can swing it with a R-8is better.
 
Your right about versatility, we have a Bridgeport Mill at work and a drill press right beside it, the drill press hasn't been touched for years. My only thing is a lot of those smaller units are garbage, itty bitty belts, motors, etc so do some homework before you buy, a lot of times your way better off buying and old used one than a new one.
 
Justifying the space is the issue. You can find a Bridgeport for 2k...moving it can be a bitch, but worth the effort. Get your job in and done is soo much less time with less headache. The ones called "round rams" are a best buy, as they aren't OSHA approved anymore, but that won't bother you much in your garage.

You can spend 2k on a mini-mill...
 
With drill presses, pay attention to the spindle speeds. The small bench top drill presses won’t run slow enough to do any serious work where you need a slow spindle speed. I had one once and sold it and bought a 16” Craftsman floor model. I replaced the chuck with a good Jacobs Super Chuck, been very happy with it. Got it back about 30 years ago when Sears Sold quality tools. I’d love to have a variable speed press, but this was about a third of the price at the time. One thing though, with a floor model, you’ll probably want to weight it or fasten it to the floor, they can be top heavy.
 
I went through three drill presses before settling on a Craftsman 21" floor model. First was a decent benchtop but speeds were limited. Next was a 15" Craftsman floor model but I needed something more robust. I bought a "Made in China" 21" - It had so much play in the quill every hole you drill ended up 1/8" larger than then bit!! I probably drill over 5000 holes a year in 3/16 steel. The Craftsman is awesome for the money. I once considered a mill/drill but for the odd time I need a mill I let someone else do the job. You can pick up those small mill/drills cheap - from someone who finally came to the realization that they didn't need it in the first place.

Unless you buy a high quality drill press its going to have wobble from too much clearance in the quill. What you want to find is one with adjustment to tighten the quill in the bore. The big Craftsman has that - not sure about the smaller models. One very nice addition to the drill press is a keyless chuck - $40 from the tool vendors at any swap meet - then be sure to buy a pin wrench so when necessary you can give it that little extra tighten or loosen.
 
That one time you need to drill out a broken screw on the end of a cylinder head, you'll wish you had a floor model.

Personally, I'd get the cheap Grizzly, but eventually get a Bridgeport.
 
And I'm thinking the larger machines are pretty cheap right now with the oil markets being so dead right now. Been awhile since looking into them but bought my clone new back in the early 90's because all the used and abused Bridgeports were priced to the moon at the time. Probably would be lucky to get 2500 for it during these times....

IMG_20191225_192746244.jpg IMG_20191225_193542469.jpg
 
My tracking of used Bridgeports over the past year has been spotty at best. I'll be more closely following the used Bridgeports; and including the "round rams" which I did not know about.

The Ebay ads are always a hoot..."free local delivery".
 
I've watched Bridgeports pretty closely in my area, I saw exactly one pretty clean looking machine pop up for $2000, it sold that day before I had a chance to get free... Most seem to be in the $4500-$7000 range and to many are asking all the money but look like they were left sitting on a dock by the ocean after being beaten for thirty years....

Most are three phase so plan on a VFD....

Keep in mind tooling & gauges are gonna be $$$... And if you buy cheap tooling you'll be buying better stuff later...

I bought a off shore "Mill Vise" from a local industrial supplier... Every time I tried to take a cut the work would move slightly & it took me a while to realize it the new vise & not wear in the ways or feed screws...

I now have a Kurt vise & it may be the best addition I've made since adding collets...

Perhaps you see a trend, the more solidly you hold the tool and the work the better your results are gonna be...

I bought the Kurt vise at an auction at the Aerojet facility, they had nine Kurt vises all listed separately but grouped together in the catalog then there was one lone vise three pages later.... All the ones in the group sold for $200-$300 each.... And most looked like someone had crashed the cutting tool into the jaws a few times...
The one that was three pages away I picked up for $100... And it's super clean... Turns out it was on a machine in the inspection & testing department..... Score!!


Oh, Cranky, Lagun is a nice machine.. $2500 for a machine that has been personal use since new? Sign me up....
 
I have a Bridgeport, Rong fu mill/drill and a bench top bench press; I use all 3 frequently. I used the Bridgeport for milling exclusively, while it can absolutely take a drill bit its rare that I drill with it. The Rong Fu is great for drill especially large holes on large items. I have drilled 1" and larger holes in all manner of things. The drill press is use almost daily for pilot holes, small projects, etc.

I will add this, when it comes to the mill especially, it is not the mill itself that is expensive per se, it is the tooling and fixturing that will eat money at a fast pace.
 
The "nice" thing is that you can currently buy a lot of tooling these days from places like Amazon for a fraction of the cost of what places like MSC ask. Yes, I know it is all made in China but it works and it is far cheaper.

I also have a bench mounted 3n1 machine (mill, drill and lathe) from HF I bought years ago. I cannot remember the last time I turned it on especially after I got my Bridgeport and my lathe.
 
70chall440 said:
The "nice" thing is that you can currently buy a lot of tooling these days from places like Amazon for a fraction of the cost of what places like MSC ask. Yes, I know it is all made in China but it works and it is far cheaper.

I also have a bench mounted 3n1 machine (mill, drill and lathe) from HF I bought years ago. I cannot remember the last time I turned it on especially after I got my Bridgeport and my lathe.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those "Do it all" machines don't do anything well....
 
70chall440 said:
I also have a bench mounted 3n1 machine (mill, drill and lathe) from HF I bought years ago. I cannot remember the last time I turned it on especially after I got my Bridgeport and my lathe.
Click to expand...
Those HF 3 in 1's are not very high quality. I looked into one and believe it or not, I was advised against it by a HF rep when I called. I ended up going with a Smithy https://smithy.com/smithy-lathe-mil...MIj_eKudfS6QIV-_7jBx0JkAdUEAAYASAAEgIuyPD_BwE. While it is a far cry from a Bridgeport, it serves my needs well and has saved my bacon a few times. Mine must be 20 years old. The new ones are SO much better. Don't rule it out.
 
Ranger16 said:
Those HF 3 in 1's are not very high quality. I looked into one and believe it or not, I was advised against it by a HF rep when I called. I ended up going with a Smithy https://smithy.com/smithy-lathe-mil...MIj_eKudfS6QIV-_7jBx0JkAdUEAAYASAAEgIuyPD_BwE. While it is a far cry from a Bridgeport, it serves my needs well and has saved my bacon a few times. Mine must be 20 years old. The new ones are SO much better. Don't rule it out.
Click to expand...

I travel around doing service work in industrial facilities, it surprises me how many plants have Smithy lathe/mills.... I've used them enough to know I don't want one....
 
Floor mounted bridgeport (vertical) or similar.

Bridgeport is a well respected name but there are many brands that will work.

Dont go with a table top style. You will be limited too quickly.


Swap the 3 phase motor for a 2hp single phase motor and dont look back.
 
To be honest, I used that HF unit quite a lot, I am not a machinist and most of the stuff I work on do not require .001 accuracy so it has helped me quite a lot. I have made countless spacers, machined all variety of things. Like I said, I am not a machinist so there has been a lot of gorilla machining going on. That said, when I got it, I didn't know what I didn't know; no idea what "morse taper" was or meant let alone that there were various sizes of them. I had to learn all of that. Probably the biggest issue was/is getting the part into the machine because it is small. It came with a combination tool post holder/vise. I didn't even know it had the vise for years until a buddy of mine who is a machinist came over and pointed it out. I ended up buying some tooling off Amazon to include a really nice 4" mill vise which works well.

Of course now, I have I use R8 collets with the BP and have a Kurt mill vise along with a pretty large South Bend lathe (16"), so there hasn't been a time when I needed the little machine over the last few years. I did try and turn something in it probably 4 months ago, it was just being a pain so I put it into the SB, done in about 1 minute..
 
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