Which mill?

[Rick448]

Hi

I am looking to make parts for various motorcycle projects. Eg wheel spacers, caliper brackets etc. I want to use aluminium and these won't be large parts although wheel spacers may need to be up to 25mm drillings. Can you please recommend a suitable mill? I'm wondering if a Sieg X3 would be ok or do I need one that big? I'm new to all this so any ideas are much appreciated. Thanks.

[raynerd]

The C3 is an excellent size IMO. I have the X2 and I often find it a little restrictive, possibly because of my lack of ability  but I think because of its size! It is an excellent machine, but if your budget can stretch to the X3 size, I`d go for it without a doubt. You`ll wish you had if you go for the X2!!

Chris

[Brass_Machine]

Rick,

The X2 cuts aluminum just fine. However, the rule of thumb is get the biggest you can afford and fit into your work space. I make motorcycle parts on my X2 but wish I had a bigger machine.

Eric

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Rick -- The Rule of Thumb is, as always, you will always need a bit more capacity than your current tool.  The more capacity you can place on your floor, the longer it will be before you run out of capacity.  This may sometimes be measured in seconds -- and sometimes in days.  My "big mill" has 22 inches of X-axis travel.  It is in storage (lack of space).  You should hear me scream when my "small mill" (14 inches of X-axis travel) is slightly short -- and yet it is also true that I run into jobs where 42 inches of X-axis travel would be "just fine" when I have my "big mill" operational.

Take your pick.  Sooner or later we all join the Interplanetary You Lose Society...

[jiihoo]

Hi Rick,

On the other post you mentioned you have a budget of £1000 or so. That's not bad but it is still a limited budget. Do keep in mind that the mill is just half of the cost  . After you have bought all of the tooling and accessories like vices (do NOT skimp on those) and parallels and hold downs and maybe a rotary table and some more tooling you will have invested double your original budget...

And that's just the beginning. Once you have the mill, you will soon want a bandsaw. Sooner or later you will start looking for a lathe and a bench grinder and/or belt sander. You might as well think about the placement (and budget) for all of these before you buy the first one. It may not happen right away but you'll end up there. Most people do.

Despite the above, get a correct_for_your_needs sized mill and postpone the purchase of some of the tooling if needed. If the mill is too small for you and you need to upgrade too soon, you will have to re-purchase part of your tooling and accessories. But don't get one so big that you won't have the space and the budget for the other machinery you will acquire later.

Cheers,

Jari

[Rick448]

Great answers everyone. Thanks very much. I'd really ike to see the type of work I'm looking to do and machines it is carried out on. When I get a chance I'll show you pics of the type of things I mean.

[Graz]

Agree with Rick regarding the tooling it soon mounts up   I get most of my tooling for the miller s/h off ebay.
I need a rotary table but will probably buy that new.
Can't really help you with the x2 x3 I was looking at them when a good used Tom Senior came up for sale at a good price.
If your going to make money out of your miller you could buy what you can afford to get working, then up grade and sell the mill should things take off.
Good luck with your project  
 

[Rick448]

Its more of a hobby thing. Ive just converted the brakes on my bike and would have loved to have made the brackets myself. This got me thinking and is why I'm now here asking the questions. This is the sort of brackets I mean.

[Graz]

Those brackets will be made on a CNC can be done on a manual miller, can't remember the grades of ally but those will be made out of a special grade.

[raynerd]

Rick, the problem is, like I mentioned above and then Ken emphasised, although you have identified that this is the type of work you would like to do, it is highly likely your next project will be different.

Owning an X2, I can say that with some thought the size of those piece can be done on an X2 but if you buy one, you WILL want and wish you had got an X3 later down the line! I knew that when I purchased mine BUT that being said the X2 was the price I could afford for a mill. If I hadn`t purchased my X2 second hand off Matt on here at a good price, I`d still be waiting and saving for an X3 now over a year on. My point is, buy an X3 - for the price they are a great size and I`ve seen a lot of excellent work done on them. If you know you can`t afford an X3, then the X2 is a great mill for the money - but you`ll always be wanting a little more!!

Only my opinion of course - give my X2 mill to someone who knows what they are doing and they could do a hell of a lot more than me!!

Chris

[Swarfing]

Rick

I agree with most of what is said here and i would iterate get the biggest you can afford. Don't dismiss second hand either as a 30 year old full size knee mill could knock spots off a new desktop top job in a lot of cases. i paid £600 for bridgeport and Ebay'ed all the INT30 tooling that came with it and replaced it with all R8 (much smoother cuts). It has a nut that needs replacing yet i still knock out acceptable work and with all the tooling to get me going cost me less that £800 in total. Look on the bay, ask some question and make them an offer (most of them dealers will take what they can get????). Don't think that because it can look crap it is crap either. If you can go and have a look and ask them to power it for you the better

[Rick448]

Thanks. I'd definitely buy used but aren't sure what spec I need. Is there a guide as to what the specs mean to a novice and what type of materials / sizes they are capable of?

Cheers.

[Swarfing]

Generally you are in three camps on size, pillar drill size, medium floor standing or larger (bridgeport and up). Think about what the biggest thing you may want play with? a bridgeport can handle an engine block with a 42" table. If that is bigger than you need then look at the medium size machines like a Tom Senior or similar? look at Warco's website as they give you a nice laid set of pictures giving you pretty much all the sizes they come in. the biggest mills are more or less bridgeport clones. As you probably guess i like my bridgeport mine just about fits into my garage head wise......

[No1_sonuk]

I had a Warco mini mill (basically X2-size).  It was just too small for one job I wanted to do (300mm X travel when the job needed minimum 330mm).
I'm now replacing it with a Super X3L from Arc Euro.  That has 510mm X travel, and means I can consider a few other projects in a different light.   Fortunately, it's the same taper as the minimill (MT3), so I don't need any new tooling 

The only problem I have now is that, considering the size difference, I might need to rearrange my workshop... 

[lordedmond]

as think about lifting a Sx3 /l they are heavy, the sx3 have a eye bolt hole in the top of the column ( at least mine has ,a Axminster one )

the column is about the same weight as a complete x2

[MrFluffy]

I have a old arno universal mill which is at the higher end of the above scale weighing in at a shade over a ton without fluids (and not having a extending quill isnt bridgeport copy at all ) , but has powered feed on all the axis of the knee etc, and I use it mostly for bike stuff.
Im happy that I have a big old monster instead of smaller unit, because sooner or later its handy to fixture on the entire frame on the table and bore the swingarm pivots bigger and other bits n bobs. Or opening up crankcase mouths when going really big bore kit and also replacing the liners for this. Right now you only want to make brake adapter plates but you may grow out of a smaller one in shorter time than you think. First its brake plates, then some footrest hangers, then yokes if you bought something with enough travel, then onwards, its a disease you know