Dave seems to have made up his mind on the type and size of mill, and the decision must be his. We can only give him guidance as to our personal pro's and con's.
When I looked at this range of mills when doing a recommending exercise, the Chester one actually came out on top.
For 3 reasons mainly.
Included delivery, included head support ram mod already done and it came with a half decent milling vice. All that is worth 100 squid+ of anyone's cash.
With regards to the longer table offered by other suppliers. I summised that for a mill of this size, a longer table would not be that beneficial, in fact it could be detrimental. It would most probably cause more wear on the bed slideways because of excessive overhang and also make the machine slightly unstable and less rigid at extended lengths either side. Because of the size of the machine, I wouldn't like to try machining any lengths longer than the standard table, and if ever it was really needed, a solution could easily be found.
I too have used both Chester and Axminster for large tool purchases. I have also had problems with machines from both of them. People only ever tell you about the bad things, they never say when they get a good service or machine.
But my impression is that Chester wins hands down on after sales service, and they listen very carefully to complaints rather than just saying it is the manufacturers fault and leaving it at that.
They replaced my new lathe with a brand new one, plus they modified the replacement to my specifications at no charge, they even threw in some sweeteners, and were very apologetic for the inconvenience caused.
I had the 'manufacturers' answer from Axminster, and had to 'fix' the machine myself.
Which one would you recommend?
John
