I’m in the market for a small milling machine. A tabletop model, capable of milling small aluminum projects. I’ve been looking at this Sherline 5400A model. ( Scroll down, it’s past the lathes. )
Thoughts? Who is using a tabletop mill? What do I look out for? Is roughly $ 1k reasonable for the kit it comes with? Size-wise it will accept stock larger than what I need to work, so that is not a concern. What are the pitfalls? Best brand name to go after? ( Besides Bridgeport 
).
Cartooniverse
I use a ZAY7032G for production second ops, it’s the biggest benchtop mill I could find.
It’s got some drawbacks (round column, 1500 rpm max spindle speed), but will throw chips almost as well as a bridgeport. I paid $1300 about 3 months ago for it new.
The harbor freight mini-mill is a fair bit bigger than the sherline and takes R8 tooling, and it’s made of iron vs aluminum. For $500 new I’d go with that if I wanted a small mill.
Regarding Harbor Freight’s own branded tools, IME as a contractor, they are next to worthless.
I have seen sanders burn up in 15 minutes, pneumatic nailers fall apart before one clip is used up, and paint guns die before one pot is used up. Their saw blades are crap, etc.
I do buy “throwaway” tools there (screwdrivers, files, etc) but would NOT reccomend buying a precision tool like a minimill with the HF brand
Of course YMMV.
I mean, would you trust your life to a “Two Ton Hoist for $59.95” :dubious:
Check with the folks here. I’ve not used Sherline, so I can’t comment on their quality (Harbor Frieght tools are hit and miss, sometimes they’re fine if you rework parts of them before use). The Sherline should be able to handle aluminum (it’s fairly buttery soft as metals go), but if you want to get into harder stuff, that might be a little more difficult. You could always build your own.
The OP is really looking for opinions, so let’s off to IMHO.
samclem
The Generic Chinese/Tiawanise mill/drills may do what you want. They are far less rigid than a “real” mill, so light cuts are the order of the day. The R-8 tooling is good, in it’s way, but causes a problem:
Because the mill/drills have no knee, Z travel is limited to the quill travel. of about 4-5 inches. R-8 collets, mill holders, etc need about 2.5 inches of headroom to change a tool. This becomes a problem if you are, say, trying to bore a 3" deep hole and need to change out a drill for a boring head. Also, to keep it from being a problem in other cases often requires extra planning. Sure, you can raise the head, but then you lose your X and Y zeros.
As for the drill function, the mill/drill is wonderful. Much better than any “normal” drill press. Rigid, and having an X-Y table is very handy when drilling multiple holes in a pattern. This is the reason you seldom see them for sale used. Even when an owner upgrades to a bridgport or similar, the MD is kept as a drill press.
The Sherline mill would be handier if you only do small stuff. Within it’s capacity, it is probably a little more accurate than a china M/D.
I think the best answer is “it depends”. What do you want to do with it? I have a Sherline. I bought it mainly for making parts to detail display models. I’ve read from people who have used other machines that Sherline doesn’t hold tolerances as tight as say a Bridgeport or other “professional grade” machine. For display models (no moving parts), it’s just fine. I have run into problems when stacking accessories, such as a rotary table on a tilting angle table. It’s easy to run out of space while doing that.
While I haven’t made anything on my Sherline with moving parts, plenty of other people have. You can see projects at www.sherline.com Scroll down to the bottom of the page. They have a couple of galleries, a page of tips from Sherline owners, plus a forum and a link to a Yahoo group. One benefit to Sherline is the wide variety of accessories.
It all comes down what you want to do with it. I did a lot of research before I bought my tools. The Harbor Freight stuff is a little bit bigger, but pretty much everyone said the quality is just not there. Too much slop. Go to the Yahoo group and ask if it would be suitable for your needs.
Well. Two different projects, both inventions in the pre-Patent phase. One involves bars of 6061 of 1x4x8-12 inches long. Grooves, through-slots, etc.
The other involces hollow aluminum extrusion. That’s about 6 inches wide, 3 inches high with a 1/8 wall. I need to cut angled cuts through it.
Nothing bigger. I’m mildly versed in milling machine use- but have access to tons of good grade scrap. I can learn by using the scrap, till I am able to turn out what I need. In costing out both projects, I see that the hourly for a machinist to do what I need done would bring me close to a grand, if not a bit more. Hence my questions.
I am not looking at ever working steel, or anything hard like that. This is for small bits and parts, and nothing moving metal to metal. In fact, nothing is a moving part. Tolerances? I suspect for what I am doing, the toleraces will be just fine.