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bpjack
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What milling machine?
Oct 2nd, 2013 at 12:21pm
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I had been thinking of a mini mill for my shop like little machine shop sells but wonder if it would work for the occasional barrel dovetail. How about the Grizzly mill/drill G1005Z as a larger alternative?

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Jack
  
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don1885
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Re: What milling machine?
Reply #1 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 2:34pm
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Hi Jack, I have a G1006 Griz that is several years old and it is probably a better choice for the hobbyist gun work. The longer table allows more space for setup not requiring a vice. Removing and re-indicating the vice is a pain (literally in the back). If you have the space and the funds I say "go for a good used Bridgeport".

Don
  
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nuclearcricket
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Re: What milling machine?
Reply #2 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 3:18pm
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I would think that the Grizzly G0619 ( (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)) would be a good choice. You have a nice size table and much better depth control. It also looks like a much more rigid machine. FWIW, as a machinist it would be my choice.
Sam
  
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bpjack
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Re: What milling machine?
Reply #3 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 3:18pm
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Thanks Don

If I had more funds I would probably spend it on more rifles.  If I had more space I could hoard more junk!

Jack
  
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JLouis
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Re: What milling machine?
Reply #4 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 8:01pm
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Don't cut your self short and think it through. Do I ever want to drill and tape scope blocks, is there enough travel, will it take standard collets, what is the drilling capacity, does it have enough mass to stay ridged etc. What you don't want is a simple glorified drill press as you will still want to be able to do precision work. It is not a simple decision as for a few dollars more will drive one crazy. I am still going through that as I would like to pick something up as well. I don't really care to buy used either as all you get is the other fellows problems most of the time and a worn out machine or he wouldn't be selling it. Once in while if you or a real close acquaintance knows the fellow you can get a deal of a lifetime with a boat load of good accessories.

JLouis

  
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desert-dude
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Re: What milling machine?
Reply #5 - Oct 2nd, 2013 at 10:17pm
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The idea of a BP or equivalent is really good. I had a Griz and you keep doing mods to it to make a decent machine .... forever. 
I bought a Cinci contourmaster ( originally a tracermill for Boeing) but a CC had picked it up and hired a Russian engineer to CNC it. Definitely low budget. I got it at auction maybe 10  years ago. It had two decent servo motors and nothing on the Z. Not really knowing what I was doing I added glass scales to it. Expensive and overkill for a machine with 0.0025 backlash. 
To shorten a long story .... it was like night and day compared to the Griz. I now use it everyday. I have encoders on all three axes along with servo motors ( SEM MT-30 H44's coupled to Servo Dynamics servo drives and linuxcnc as a controller. Not as nice as my Mazak which is down now for belleville washers but very usable if you don't need to hog. For jobs like dovetails any reasonable tight manual machine should do. A few years ago they were giving this stuff away. BP's could be had for as little as hauling them off. All that is gone now.  Careful gentle work can accomplish a lot. Smiley
Good luck.
  
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