Hey guys,

I've been operating a fabrication shop without a drill press for 2 years. Don't ask, let's just say I have been putting it off until the right time. I've thrown 3 hand drills across the room and figure that is my cue to finally bite the bullet and get something.

Now, I got to thinking, would a smaller milling machine be a good idea? I'm not looking to become a machinist, but I would like the ability to surface warped flanges, and other basic machining.

This local store to me sells General and King. One of the machines that seemed reasonably priced was the PDM 30.

What are your opinions on this?

http://www.kingcanada.com/Products.htm?CD=36&ID=121



Would this be a good machine for a small fab shop looking for a nice drill press?

Any other ideas?

I appreciate your time!

 

i wouldnt expect it to be much more than a glorified drill press. if you need a drill press, get a drill press. if you need a mill, use a machine shop, or save up some cash and purchase a used mill...im sure there are alot of shops looking to rid themselves of unused equipment at the moment. i actually picked up an old mill for free because of this.

 

don't bother markku. if you need a drill press, get a drill press. if you need a mill, get a mill. i wouldn't pay more than $100 for one of those. they are useless at both.

you won't be able to deck flanges on that. it will chatter like a sob and probably vibrate the piece out of the vise if it is something like a manifold. that vise is a piece of crap too. these things are for hobby nerds building model train sets in their basements.

i have two drill presses in the shop. one is a princess auto special bench top that i use for chamfering holes, that is about all it is good for. the other is a heavy floor model that i use for holesawing wg holes, and just about any other misc hole that is needed in something quick and easy.

if the hole has to be accurate or a pattern of holes is being made, or if the workpiece has to be secured well during drilling or milling i use one of my mills.

as for vises, i have a girardi modular vise on one mill, and a forza modular vise on the other. i love these vises, so quick and easy to use, but they are spendy if you buy them new. i got them both used for a very reasonable $300 each (upwards of $2k new).

i bought one mill at an auction for $3k (plus $800 delivery) and the other for $1k ($600 delivery (although i probably could have gotten that one myself, just couldn't convince my business partner). both mills have digital readouts that work ****. the larger mill has a power drawbar and a power feed in one axis, but i don't use it a whole lot.

you can do a lot more stuff with a mill and still use it to drill holes. with the way the economy is going, you shouldn't have trouble finding one for cheap at a used machinery dealer, or at a local auction since there are so many big big manufacturing facilities going out of business.

 

That's all I needed to hear. Going back to plan A. Drill press!

Thanks alot for your insight. I feel much better knowing these machines are crap. I'm not ready for a real milling machine at this time.

 

 

I bought a little drill press I found on craigslist for like 30 bucks or something last winter, it's a tabletop model but the guy had made a stand for it. Surprisingly, it's still holding up just fine and I use it for everything I can fit in it.

 

Jackson, I'll come pick up that manual mill from you.

 

thats not a milling machine.

 

ill take the city

 

I had one of thoes drill mills, they are pretty limited. They make a wicked drill press but not great as a mill. They loose xy cordination when the head is raised and lowered.

As stated above you will not be able to resurface flanges after welding on that machine, you need much more rigidity then that can provide. (and more working envelope)

I bought a used turret knee mill (powermatic millrite) and had it shipped here from the states, total cost was about $2300. Its about 3/4 Bridgeport size.

 

If you do step it up get a digital readout also.

 

That would make a nice drill press, but little else.

 

got this bridgeport for 1800 with the dro and powerfeed, best money ever spent.


got these too.....never get used after the bridgeport was bought. if i need to use a drill press i have a shitty tabletop drillpress with a keyless chuck that i used for small plate and sheet metal, any thinkg bigger goes on the mill


used to have a mill/drill like your looking at..... total waste of time, taking any sort of cut causes the table to chatter and the z axis always creaped down into whatever you were machining...sold it on craigslist for 100.00.

 

I had that same machine for sa long time. I found it very useful. You do have to adjust it properly before you expect it to do anything properly and do this fairly often but it does everything as advertised and does it just fine.

 

They don't mill worth ****, but they are not bad for drill presses, if you find one used for a couple hundred bucks it would be a worthwhile drillpress, if you want a mill, but a real mill.

 

i had the same one for about a day... like everyone else, Stay away....