who's got the Harbor Freight Mini-Mill???

**sneeringer8372** · February 27th, 2014, 12:39 PM

We have one at work sitting beside our cnc mill dedicated for deburring and it can hardly handle that. Granted thats in a production environment which it definitely was not designed for. Motor gets overloaded really easy. When you are used to a big machine its easy to hammer a little one to hell though. I have an older mill rite mill that i took out of a basement which if you could find one would be great. its about 1/2 -2/3 the size of a full size bridgeport knee mill. As other said, i think you will regret not going bigger.

**LisaA** · February 27th, 2014, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by God's Country

You're going to hit it's limitations real fast.
A Bridgeport series one can rattle and bounce around without trying too hard.
It's one thing to buy a small mill if it's going to be dedicated to specific known tasks in a shop with larger capabilities. To own one without knowing what you are getting into down the road (maybe you do..I don't l know) I think is going to lead to disappointment pretty quick, JMO.

Originally Posted by sneeringer8372

We have one at work sitting beside our cnc mill dedicated for deburring and it can hardly handle that. Granted thats in a production environment which it definitely was not designed for. Motor gets overloaded really easy. When you are used to a big machine its easy to hammer a little one to hell though. I have an older mill rite mill that i took out of a basement which if you could find one would be great. its about 1/2 -2/3 the size of a full size bridgeport knee mill. As other said, i think you will regret not going bigger.

Unfortunately, I have been spoiled by using professional milling machines, and the posters above state the truth. You will outgrow the HF very quickly. I use a C3 (Cheap Chinese Crap) milling machine at work sometimes, and I cannot get good tolerances out of it. One thing about cheap milling machines is how there is not enough clearance for the thumb screws to clear the table.

**Interceptor** · February 28th, 2014, 08:24 PM

I bought my Bridgeport out of a basement, along with a 14x60 South Bend lathe. The guy had the floor joist notched above the mill to clear the motor. The only way in/out was a narrow wooden stairway that turns 90 degrees in the middle. We stripped both machines down to manageable size parts and used an engine hoist and refrigerator dolly to get them out. If the price is right it's worth the effort, I got those two machines plus a small Atlas lathe, a jigsaw, hydraulic press, arbor press, floor standing drill press, a bunch of micrometers, and a truckload of tooling for the cost of one of those mini mills.

**sneeringer8372** · February 28th, 2014, 08:35 PM

wow, I didnt get quite the deal interceptor did but my millrite and two roller cabs filled with tooling, mics, and a boatload of other machinist tools was 400 bux. Then again I probably waited 2 yrs to find a deal and lucked out. Depends on your pockets and if you want to wait it out.

**jim-analog** · March 15th, 2014, 03:24 PM

Greetings,

I'd considered a "bench top" mill a few years back and looked into most of the options. IIRC (and sorry I don't recall the brand name), there was a British built unit that was somewhat more expensive, but kicked butt in terms of accuracy, repeat-ability and all the other pertinent criteria. IF I was still looking for one, I'd likely go with the Brit unit if still available; heard too many issues with the less expensive chinette stuff some of which required a rebuild and modifications before being put into use. I've never skimped on tools, machinery or test equipment before and believe that has served me well over the years.

Now, a bit prior to that I had the opportunity to buy anywhere between 1 and 6 full sized Bridgeports that were being removed due to the shop being shut down. The cost would have been less than $1K (less if buying more of them), plus the rigging expenses to get them out, transported and dropped off. The three factors (beyond those weight/size issues) that made me decide against it were:

1. Though they had been at an RCA R&D/prototype facility that likely well maintained them, they were also in quite heavy, near round the clock use for many years. In my research into it, getting a "pro" tech to go over them and do any required repairs, adjustments, etc. could have opened up a can of worms that may have negated any "deal" on the front end. If you have the opportunity to have a qualified person check it out first before buying, that could be $ well spent. It could keep you away from a potential money pit or at least get you some maneuvering room on price. In my situation, the machines had already been pulled from service and were stored in a warehouse without power hookup where that wouldn't have really been possible.

2. Most all full size units will require 3 phase AC power, which is typically not available in most residential areas. It may be possible to pay 100% of the transformer and wiring costs to the utility Co, (if it's even available where you are). There are two other options for the power issue; a mechanical "rotary converter" or a transformer/solid state electronic converter. Each has ups and downs, but more expense either way and something else that can fail. The rotary converters are less $, but many of the have start up current limits that would need to be compared against the mill specs.

3. Most of the full size mills where great deals can be had tend to NOT come with any tooling or much at all. You can easily spend a few $K getting set up enough just to do common jobs with the correct vices, jigs, (darn, I forget the name of the "chuck" type device) special tools, bits, and so on.

So, my suggestion would be to define precisely what you need a machine to do, then see what is capable of that criteria and within your budget. Figure on any additional tooling, power issues, mods, etc. when you work it out. A 3 axis mill and lathe would be great items to have in my shop.

In reality, for me it just made more sense to just farm out that type of work than to buy the equipment (though it sure would be handy to have it available whenever the need arose). It all depends on your specifics and maybe also if you can use the stuff to make some side $ with it. Good luck if you're able to pull it off!

Regards, Jim

**All_Thumbs** · March 16th, 2014, 11:37 AM

The newer mini-mills, like the ones sold by Little Machine Shop, are an improved version of the Harbor Freight model.

They have brushless motors (with electronic speed control), belt drive, an optional solid column (rather than the tilting column which seems to have a lot of flex), a bigger table with more travel, and an R8 spindle.

If space and weight are limiting factors, I think the LMS mill is a reasonable choice.