Mill / Drill ?

joe sangster

joe sangster

Well-Known Member
Hey , Guys , I need some help ! I'm planning on getting a mill /drill , mainly for folder work. I'm considering a Grizzly G0619 . I have no mill /drill experience but am unsatisfied with my drill for drilling holes accurately. Anyone with experience with the Griz 619 ? Anyone with better idea. I always hear Bridgeport but too big & too much $ !

Thanks
Joe
 
I just bought this on craigslist , I love it mill/drill/lathe mine was$300 it was 463lbs it was hell getting on the table its on did it by myself:eek:
 

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joe sangster said:
Hey , Guys , I need some help ! I'm planning on getting a mill /drill , mainly for folder work. I'm considering a Grizzly G0619 . I have no mill /drill experience but am unsatisfied with my drill for drilling holes accurately. Anyone with experience with the Griz 619 ? Anyone with better idea. I always hear Bridgeport but too big & too much $ !

Thanks
Joe
Click to expand...

Joe, I certainly don't have the answer for you since I'm asking the same type question - meaning - I'm racking my pea brain trying to figure out which mill would be the best for the money spent. I certainly don't have the room nor the cash for a Bridgeport but on the other hand I don't want to get something that I'll end up replacing in short order.

Like you, I want one that will allow me to expand into the folder arena while handling all of the other tasks required making fixed blades. This is the Griz that I've been looking at
g1006.jpg

G1006 2 HP Mill/Drill

I sure would appreciate it if the guys that have these smaller mills would chime in with comments either pro or con. In addition to comments on the mills, I'd appreciate it if they would share info on additional equipment that would be absolutely necessary to start using the mills. I know it would be easy to drop additional money on other attachments and tools and possibly end up with pieces that would see very little use. Okay, nuff said on my part. I hope this isn't hijacking Joe's thread - but since we're both looking for similar information, maybe I'm not. :)
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The trouble with the round column mill/drills is that they loose positioning when you raise and lower them on the column. They can certainly make dandy heavy duty drills with some milling ability though and can take heavier cuts that what I have.

I have the Cummings equivalent of this: http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mini-Milling-Machine/G8689

While I'm generally quite happy with it (and have a long list of upgrades I'd like to work in from Mini mill kits, what seems to be a better, though more expensive, choice appeared about a year after I got mine: http://www.grizzly.com/products/g0463

It has a similar design but is just enough bigger and heavier to look very attractive. Of course you can make it better too: Small mill accessories.

BTW: When I bought my mill I sort of ignored the advice that you'll spend as much on tooling as you did on the mill. That came true very quickly. Be warned :)
 
Get the Rong Fu from Enco. I've got the Jet but I believe its the same thing. There is a huge difference in the Taiwan and China made machines. I bought one of the small lathes from Grizzly and it's not half the machine a friend of mines Jet machine is even though they appear to be built on the same blueprints. Another friend of mine has the Grizzly mill/drill like in the picture above which looks like my Jet but it's not near the machine my Jet is. There is just no comparison to the machining on the China and Taiwan machines. Taiwan seems to have come a long way and China is where they were 25 years ago.
 
I have the round column Grizzly mill and am a happy camper. I do wish it had a dovetail column, but, I don't have to move it that often. I did get the powerfeed and have added some digital scales. It does everything I have have wanted so far.
 
I had a hard time deciding until the one I got poped up on craigs list I did a lot of research I allmost bought this one
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mill-Drill/G0463 I like it a lot mine will do for now but would really like a better one and yes the Tiawan stuff is a lot better quality than the China stuff even though in pics they look the same
 
A.W.Stovall said:
I just bought this on craigslist , I love it mill/drill/lathe mine was$300 it was 463lbs it was hell getting on the table its on did it by myself:eek:
Click to expand...

I have that machine. I bought it new from Harbor Freight. It's an OK mill/drill/lathe but not great at of them. If I had it to do over I would buy a dedicated milling machine.

One thing I immediately ran into was that I didn't like the drill chcuk for milling. I replaced it with collects but then the milling head would not travel far enough to meet the vise. I had to make a riser to raise the vise.

The milling motor burned out after about 2 years of moderate use. I got a replacement motor from Harbor Freight for $73 which wasn't too bad but I thought the original should have lasted longer.
 
I have a rong fu mill/drill that I found on Craigs list. I am very happy with the way it preforms. I use it to cut slots in guards, mill bolsters, cut nail nicks, mill all kinds of steel, micarta, and woods for handles. I have also done some fixture work with it.
I have a full size mill vice on it that works very well.
 
My G0619 arrived yesterday. It is still sitting on the pallet but will be mounted on the bench this weekend.

It looks fantastic.

24825_360231564426_750514426_3580703_7974790_n.jpg


Please let me know if I can answer any questions.
 
That looks like a great mill cant wait to hear how good it is ,I'm probably going to use the one I have for a yr or so then get a dedicated mill like that.
Thanks Anthony
 
What are you milling?..I have a Harbor Frieght Micro mill I use just for slotting guards..Works great...It's tiny ,sits on my benchtop, wife says it's cute!!
 
I'm milling guard slots . nail nicks & drilling lots of small holes in making linerlocks. I have a Taig but it is too slow to be drilling lots of little holes . The go619 is one of the top ones that I am considering.

Joe
 
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