Mill for Gunsmithing ect

H

huntinco

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I will be making a choice soon on the Lathe and now I'm looking at Mills. What do you guys think about this Grizz mill? I was trying to get a Mill, Lathe and most of the tooling for $10,000 but I don't think that is going to happen.

Thanks again for all the help.
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2008/Main/581
 
The Grizzly mill you picture looks like it would be OK for gun work. Certainly a lot better than the usual mill/drill that a lot of smiths get started on. I don' think that the horizontal mill set-up will be used very often unless you get into small time production, or unless you have a bunch of horizontal mill cutters already on hand (expensive). table is a little small, but that isn't too much handicap in most work, and may actually make better use of your shop space.

Actually, you can get started for $10K if you shop carefuly. I just went to an auction in my rust belt area and picked up 2 sets of gage blocks (Brown and Sharp lab standard), 400 deltronic gage pins, a high end toolmakers vise, 2 large precision "V" blocks, cabinets, etc. for $300.

Good shopping,

Scott
 
The mill looks ok to me but have you looked at any local surplus dealers? I have bought machines for very little that they have taken in on trade and haven't picked up. they give me a break on price and they don't have to move them, I get to see them run and find out the little tweaks they need to do accurate work, I have also gotten tooling for the machines from the shops for little or nothing.
 
It's a good start, but if it were me I'd look for a used B'port w/ tooling for about the same price. There are times when I wish I had a horizontal mill but I'm a little leery of those combo machines. I have done a considerable amount of machining on a Grizzly mill and have no complaints. I just prefer used American iron when it comes to buying machines and tools.

-- Brian
 
You're probably going to get the same tenor of discussion you got on your question on lathes. There are tons of relatively inexpensive used industrial quality mills available capable of doing anything you're capable of thinking up if you're willing to spend some time learning and looking. If you want something no one has ever turned on before and need to watch your dollars, you're going to end up with a decent hobbyist quality mill. I bought a 2 horse variable speed Bridgeport with chromed ways with most of the swirly marks intact, 2 axis Prototrac CNC and, of course, power feeds for about $5,000 in excellent condition. I got it from a small machine shop owner in Illinois who was downsizing from loss of contract work. He had two other manual mills in use when I went to pick it up but didn't need the CNC any longer.

I'm a relative newbie as well, but a comment that struck me early on was that all new equipment is made using used equipment. Check out machine shop auctions in your area for killer deals, see Interplantsales.com (they're high but good for reference) and their ilk, and, sigh, eBay.

Best of luck - and let me share this with you, it's a hoot once you start making chips.

Zub
 
Watch your local Craigslist adds, I got a nice Bridgeport with a DRO, shaping attachment, in excellent condition for 2800.00.
 
I got my mill for $2.5k 6 years ago on Ebay.

It is a Delta Rockwell 21-100 vertical 1.5 hp R8 knee mill.

It got busted up in shipping to me, and I had to weld it back together.

Shipping is a big part of the cost and a big risk.

But I have used it once a week for the last 6 years, so I should have got a much better one.

I have a shaper that cost the same, about the same time, that I have never used. I should have never got the shaper.
 
I have several products from Grizzly. They have all been good but their support and quality has been getting progressively better. I have owned other mainstream manufacturers but none proved to be worth the extra expense. I don't include the high dollar lathes and mills though because I haven't had the opportunity to use them, the Grizzly units I've used put out very, very satisfactory results as far as I am concerned.... I'd buy the top of the line Grizzly mills and lathes without a second thought. Whoever Grizzly is using to scout out precision machinery is doing a fantastic job (in my opinion).....:D
 
That mill could be a bit short for gunwork...if you are making them.
I've got the Grizz 9x49. Its has thus far been an exellent machine.

I dont think you would use the horizontal feature much, unless you are susing gear cutters or something like that.

Several times I have used every bit of the available table space when using a dividing head with a barrel chucked in it and a tailstock. Both eat up alot of space on the table.

Here is a picture of one setup, fluting a barrel for a .50 BMG.

10Shot.50BMG021.jpg


As you can see in this picture, its better to have too much length on the table, rather than not enough.
 
One other thing to think about is a DRO. There nice on a lathe, but a necessity on a mill in my book.
 
Bob, are you using a ball end mill to cut those flutes, can you fill me on on your technique.

thx
 
Not really much to tell. I was using a 3/8 ball end mill and I cut the flutes .250deep. I used 6 flutes and cut a flute and then spun the barrel to the opposite side so that the barrel didn't relieve itself by having too much material removed from one side. I shaved off a little more than a pound of weight by fluting it.

I do have a 3 axis DRO. Its a Meister, from Singapore,and I really like it. I use Newalls at work everyday, and the Meister actually has more and better functions than the Newall.

10Shot.50BMG023.jpg


Thats a carbide end mill BTW. I took a roughing cut of .200 and a finish cut of .050. That barrel was tough, I'm sure its 4140. I'm not sure that a HS steel ball end mill would have made it all the way. Anyhow, it came out great.
 
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