Maine Ronin
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- Joined
- Apr 14, 2010
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Hello everyone,
I'm a machining student that has completed his first year of school and I'm interested in buying some of my own machines. Namely, the two fundamental to most shops, a lathe and a vertical mill. My classes haven't really covered how to pick out good equipment for the home shop. I see used Series I Bridgeports, even with DROs on E-Bay for a few thousand dollars. Then again there are brand new Shop Fox M1008 mills around for about the same price.
Lathes seem easier to pick out and less expensive. It looks like a good size Shop Fox can be had for around $1600. School has spoiled me with DROs for the Z axis, but I guess I'll just have to deal.
What's the best value for a poor begining machinist on a budget? I kinda like the Shop Fox because I think I can make room for it. I just wonder what kind of tolerance it can hold and if can at least handle mild steel. My instructor did tell me that the table-top/mini mills couldn't really handle steel. What size machines do you need to make model engines and do some light gunsmithing?
Thanks for any advice,
Adam
I'm a machining student that has completed his first year of school and I'm interested in buying some of my own machines. Namely, the two fundamental to most shops, a lathe and a vertical mill. My classes haven't really covered how to pick out good equipment for the home shop. I see used Series I Bridgeports, even with DROs on E-Bay for a few thousand dollars. Then again there are brand new Shop Fox M1008 mills around for about the same price.
Lathes seem easier to pick out and less expensive. It looks like a good size Shop Fox can be had for around $1600. School has spoiled me with DROs for the Z axis, but I guess I'll just have to deal.
What's the best value for a poor begining machinist on a budget? I kinda like the Shop Fox because I think I can make room for it. I just wonder what kind of tolerance it can hold and if can at least handle mild steel. My instructor did tell me that the table-top/mini mills couldn't really handle steel. What size machines do you need to make model engines and do some light gunsmithing?
Thanks for any advice,
Adam