Mill/Lathe options and advice

[cmac]

I have been considering buying a combination lathe/mill for metal work mainly. Any advice on these would be great

[Acer Saccharum]

My only experience was thru a friend of mine. They bought a lathe mill, and the worst problem was that the mill head was so high up, it wasn't practical to mill anything small, unless you put 4" riser blocks on the cross slide to mount a vise on. It was Fair as a lathe, but it sucked as a mill. The changeover from one mode to another can be discouraging.
I've been a machinist of sorts for 35+ yrs, and I would not buy one of these things. I'd recommend a lathe first. You can do simple milling on a lathe with a milling attachment. This is nothing more than an angle plate that bolts to the cross slide, which gives you vertical travel.

The spindle thru hole size is critical for gun barrel work. I consider 1 3/8 diam to be minimum thru hole.


12 x 24" grizzly with a spindle 1 7/16 thru hole:  http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-x-24-Gear-Head-Cam-Lock-Spindle-Gap-Bed-Lathe/G4002


This combo is better than the others because the whole mill head can be brought down closer to the table. But it's a pretty flimsy milling unit. Very light cuts only can be taken. AND the big problem with the spindle is it has a 1" thru hole. You'll never get a B weight or bigger barrel thru that to bore it out or tap it.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Lathe-w-Milling-Attachment/G0516


My advice is to get a good sturdy quality lathe first, and  spring for a table top mill later on.

[westbj2]

I think Tom's advise is sound, especially if you can foresee still making chips and shavings 10 years or more from now.
Watch for a used lathe with capabilities to do barrel work and close tolerance small parts.  A spindle hole of 1 3/8" or larger will work for 95% of work encountered.  A 36" or 48" inch bed would be great.  With some time, effort and a bit of luck you should be able to find a suitable machine in the $1K to $2K range.
Regarding a mill.  35 years ago, I bought a Jet knee mill with a 5" riser and was told by a machinist friend to "at least put a good vise on it''.  I bought a 6" Kurt vise.  I still have the machine.  Respecting its size and mass (it only weighs about 600 lbs) with sharp tools, attention to speed and light cuts (.030" or less in most cases) it is fairly accurate.
With this said about the Jet machine, on occasion, I have used real Bridgeport machines.  The difference is amazing.
The Jet works just good enough to have not forced me into a Bridgeport.  In hind sight, a Bridgeport would have been a better starting option.
Jim Westberg

[Tim Hamblen]

I ponied up for a small Grizzly lathe several years ago. Mostly for jags, screws etc.. I agree with the above on the combo stuff. Sorry to say but there are small tool and die shops going under every day in this country due to work going out of country. If you keep an eye open mills are out there. I have a friend that just bought a good Bridgeport of $300.

[Bob Roller]

I bought a new Clausing tool room V mill 45 years ago and still use it every day in lock and trigger making.
It still has unmatched sensitivity (feel) after all these years which says a lot about the quality control that
went into it and also why it was discontinued in 1974. A friend had some sort of imported bench mill in
his transmission shop several years ago but I was underwhelmed by it. I made some job specific tooling for it
so a semi skilled operator could use it to recondition aluminum stator supports on some sort of Japanese automatic
transmissions.
I have seen these odd lathes with a vertical mill as an add on and while never having used one,I do wonder how
they get the rigidity needed for milling jobs with such a small base of support as offered by cross slide of the
host machine (lathe). To me,mills are mills,lathes are lathes,drill presses are drill presses and so on across the entire
spectrum of machine tools. I had one small Chinese made drill press that I made a wad cutter out of by fastening a block
of Teflon to the table and using a cutting die,it made wads or discs for black powder cartridge rifles. The very presence of
that machine was a bug to me and I recently gave it to a carpenter as a partial bonus for doing a repair on my shop floor.
NOW,the only foreign tool I have is a pre WW2 Mauser combination Vernier caliper and height gauge that I took in trade
for a $5 repair job on a pistol.

Bob Roller

[Acer Saccharum]

Unfortunately, US made tools are getting scarcer every day. I agree that a good old US machine tool is tops for a home shop. But they are not always around when you need one.

We're stuck sometimes with what we can find. So get the best import you can, and make sure you can get spare parts if you need them. See if the company has a good support network, and parts availability. Get the best tool you can with the money you have.

[Steve-In]

I agree on the combo mill/lathe.  Two compromises don't make it right.  An X-Y table on a drill press would be as good.  
Re used Bridgeports or other knee mills.  Stay away from the variable speed models and get the step pulley type.  Less maintenance and since you are buying used you have a much better chance of getting a good one.  I have used Bridgeport, Index, Super-Max and Clausings.  All were good machines.  You can get by with the dials but a DRO (Digital Read Out) makes more complex milling jobs much easier.  Watch out buying at auctions as some require a regular rigger to move/load your purchase.  Try it under power or have it demoed under power.
FYI just because it is a Bridgeport does not mean it was made in the USA

[44-henry]

I would steer well clear of the combination machines for the reasons mentioned above. I run a university machine shop and we have a combination of new and used equipment in the lab. Well I love the old US iron such as Southbend and Clausing, the newer offerings from Jet and Grizzly are quite acceptable and the price is right. We just purchased a Jet 14x40 lathe and it is a fine machine. We also have three Grizzly 9x42 Bridgeport clones and they work as well as the original 1960's vintage Bridgeport that we also have in the lab.

If it were me and you could only have one machine to start I would buy a decent size lathe and than get a milling attachment for it. This will suffice for a lot of basic milling and later, when the need or opportunity arrises, you can move up to a dedicated mill with the necessary knowledge to make the right decision.

If money is tight you might also want to consider one of the small Asian produced 7" lathes on the market. These actually are quite usable and can be made to be quite good. There capacity is enough to handle most jobs done on a lathe and the headstock hole is big enought (with a slight modification) to run a 13/16" barrel through. I have used these for many years and have been surprised at the work that can be turned out on them. You can also pick up small milling attachments and numerous other accessories from Little Machine Shop making them a great baragin for a lathe under $500. If you check out Craigslist and Ebay you can sometimes find them for under $300.

[Dennis Glazener]

NOW,the only foreign tool I have is a pre WW2 Mauser combination Vernier caliper and height gauge that I took in trade
for a $5 repair job on a pistol.

Bob,
You if you really want to be free of those foriegn tools you can send that WW2 Caliper to me
Dennis
 

[Rootsy]

I ponied up for a small Grizzly lathe several years ago. Mostly for jags, screws etc.. I agree with the above on the combo stuff. Sorry to say but there are small tool and die shops going under every day in this country due to work going out of country. If you keep an eye open mills are out there. I have a friend that just bought a good Bridgeport of $300.

I picked up a 9x42 Enco for $300 earlier this year.  Has x and y DRO and power feed on the x.  Only issue was a 3 phase motor but a VFD cured that and also allows for nearly infinite speed control.  Best thing i have brought home in quite a while.  Now all i need is a decent metal lathe and a surface grinder.  One of these days i am just going to take the time and find a used Prototrac knee mill for a half reasonable price.