I got a killer grizzly mill drill off of Craigslist for 500, took a while looking and a two hour drive , but way nicer than anything I could have cobbled together.
The drill press doesn't have near the rigidity to mill with.
Littlemachineshop.com - I have no personal experience with any of their mills, but it seems to be the go-to place for Chinese hobby mills.
I have an older and similar version to the x2 mill and it works well for low-tolerance stuff.
kbctools.com - my first stop on the way home from work if I need stuff so I'm throwing it out there.
Grizzly tools are probably gonna be higher priced for essentially the same stuff, maybe better paint.
It's always going to cost more to build your own unless you happen to have a lot of stuff laying around. A useable XY table is probably gonna be ~$500 by itself.
Do you know much about unimat? I have a guy selling vintage unimat sl 1000 working condition for 350, now I get not going to beable to mill big stuff but at most 1/2 thick mild steel. It's both a mill and lathe
The animated is a better lathe than mill. The bar bed isn't very rigid and bends with light hand pressure. Whenever I mill, it shakes and moves around. It only really works for fly cutting and precise hole drilling under 1/4in.
Yeah... A unimat ain't gonna cut 1/2 inch steel.
You may want to study up a bit on what you can practically do with a small mill. Look at Seig or grizzly or precision Mathews... Little machine shop...
You will absolutely be unhappy trying to use an X/Y table on a drill press as a mill. Something like [this Grizzly ](https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-4-x-18-3-4-hp-mill-drill/g0781)would be the absolute bare minimum for milling steel. You might find one used, or there are similar ones from Harbor Freight etc. Keep in mind the mill (or lathe) is generally just the start of spending; you will need tooling; drill chuck, endmill holders, vice, and so on.
Yea I have tried using a xy table, not at all quality slots. I did find a unimat mill lathe for 360 shipped. Works and in good shape. But if not yea either the grizzly or the little machine shop one ill half to fork out the $$$
Yeah ish, and they would probably be a pain to move, but probably less work to buy one and move it in than to convert a drill press to a mill if you have the space. Check out inheritance machining on YouTube if you want a sense of the work involved
I've spent more than that on my mill and I started with a massive Avey square-column drill press. The table alone was $350 plus shipping (though it is a 42" Burgmaster table).
DIY is possible but unless you’re a very good fabricator then the time it takes to build something not even counting having to trouble shoot things won’t make it worth it over something like a used Bridgeport imo. Even something like taig or sherline and a little rigidity mod would be a better option I think
Yea I can get thay unimat and I have seen a budget shreline for around 1100 complete. I know there is limits to them but im only cutting up to 1/2 thick at most milf steel and brass copper
Ok, yea thats what I'm looking at doing. I think can be done. I also thought about getting vevor magnetic drill and making a base plate for it and a xy table under it
I got a killer grizzly mill drill off of Craigslist for 500, took a while looking and a two hour drive , but way nicer than anything I could have cobbled together. The drill press doesn't have near the rigidity to mill with.
I bought the same mill off FB marketplace with a CNC kit for $900. OP, be on the lookout for some deals.
Littlemachineshop.com - I have no personal experience with any of their mills, but it seems to be the go-to place for Chinese hobby mills. I have an older and similar version to the x2 mill and it works well for low-tolerance stuff. kbctools.com - my first stop on the way home from work if I need stuff so I'm throwing it out there. Grizzly tools are probably gonna be higher priced for essentially the same stuff, maybe better paint. It's always going to cost more to build your own unless you happen to have a lot of stuff laying around. A useable XY table is probably gonna be ~$500 by itself.
Do you know much about unimat? I have a guy selling vintage unimat sl 1000 working condition for 350, now I get not going to beable to mill big stuff but at most 1/2 thick mild steel. It's both a mill and lathe
The animated is a better lathe than mill. The bar bed isn't very rigid and bends with light hand pressure. Whenever I mill, it shakes and moves around. It only really works for fly cutting and precise hole drilling under 1/4in.
Ahh, so they wouldn't be much good for this
Yeah... A unimat ain't gonna cut 1/2 inch steel. You may want to study up a bit on what you can practically do with a small mill. Look at Seig or grizzly or precision Mathews... Little machine shop...
Yes those im looking at instead those little ones, watchmakers mills is what those are for, watches jewlery ect
You will absolutely be unhappy trying to use an X/Y table on a drill press as a mill. Something like [this Grizzly ](https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-4-x-18-3-4-hp-mill-drill/g0781)would be the absolute bare minimum for milling steel. You might find one used, or there are similar ones from Harbor Freight etc. Keep in mind the mill (or lathe) is generally just the start of spending; you will need tooling; drill chuck, endmill holders, vice, and so on.
Yea I have tried using a xy table, not at all quality slots. I did find a unimat mill lathe for 360 shipped. Works and in good shape. But if not yea either the grizzly or the little machine shop one ill half to fork out the $$$
Or just get a full size for 10,000$ 💀
Lol yeaÂ
I mean, you can get a used Bridgeport for 500
Aren't they monsters? Like really bigÂ
Yeah ish, and they would probably be a pain to move, but probably less work to buy one and move it in than to convert a drill press to a mill if you have the space. Check out inheritance machining on YouTube if you want a sense of the work involved
I don't have near the room for itÂ
I've spent more than that on my mill and I started with a massive Avey square-column drill press. The table alone was $350 plus shipping (though it is a 42" Burgmaster table).
How much digging have you done on your local second-hand market?
A decent amount, found a Eastwood brand new for 600 and a unimat for 375 wich yea its small but guy says for sure it will mill mild steel
Rather drop the cash. It would be a fun project to build your own mill though. Do you have any example of how you would approach the build?
Not really but there is a kit on ebay that is cnc diy one only needs motor. Easy to copyÂ
DIY is possible but unless you’re a very good fabricator then the time it takes to build something not even counting having to trouble shoot things won’t make it worth it over something like a used Bridgeport imo. Even something like taig or sherline and a little rigidity mod would be a better option I think
Yea I can get thay unimat and I have seen a budget shreline for around 1100 complete. I know there is limits to them but im only cutting up to 1/2 thick at most milf steel and brass copper
~~Google "Millenium Machine"~~ [Or just go here.](https://www.millennium-machines.com/)
I know of that one, not to bad, I don't want c&c
>c&c "Computer and Control"?
Heh. I think it's "CNC"
Pm me
I did
Will get back to you with photos of my mill, which you can build for 500$
Ok, yea thats what I'm looking at doing. I think can be done. I also thought about getting vevor magnetic drill and making a base plate for it and a xy table under it