<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The rule of thumb is to buy something bigger than
what you need because it won't be long until you will wish you spent the little
extra because you will then be struggling to do the larger parts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yes, tooling will become your biggest investment,
but this can be obtained on an as need basis.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One thing to take a serious look at is the type of
spindle. The R-8 spindle is far more common than the MT#3 spindle.
Different companies sells the same mill with either the R-8 spindle taper or the
MT#3 spindle taper . One of the reasons to consider this is the
availability of tools (more for the R-8). The other thing to consider is
that the far majority of other mills larger in size use the R-8 spindle
taper. Thus if you upgrade down the road, much of the tooling will be
transferable.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Pete</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=steve@txtulip.com
href="mailto:steve@txtulip.com">steve@txtulip.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=dpa@io.isem.smu.edu
href="mailto:dpa@io.isem.smu.edu">dpa@io.isem.smu.edu</A> ; <A
title=dprglist@dprg.org href="mailto:dprglist@dprg.org">dprglist@dprg.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, December 15, 2007 11:50
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [DPRG] re: micro - mini mill
advice</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi Thanks for the
reply,<BR> These are the two I am considering. I ACTUALLY wanted a
CNC but as was mentioned, the additional tools needed, (dividing head and
such..) will add substantially to the final price of having an actual useful
tool. So CNC will be a pipe dream until I can work through adding the stepper
motors and electronics. <BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><A
href="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47158">http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47158</A><BR>http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44991<BR><BR> Weight
wise, 105 vs 150 lbs could be a challenge but I intend to take the head off
whenever I move it and that should be a rare occurrence once I get it set up.
Your comments about your grizzly are very useful. I'm leaning to the bigger
model now, which, as it happens, is very similar to
grizzly.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: dpa
<dpa@io.isem.smu.edu><BR>To: dprglist@dprg.org<BR>Sent: Sat, 15 Dec 2007
12:36 pm<BR>Subject: [DPRG] re: micro - mini mill advice<BR><BR>
<DIV id=AOLMsgPart_0_e9e13691-4611-422c-93b0-b55fec921c03
style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>steve wrote:<BR>
<BR>
> Hi all,<BR>
> ?? I've been given the go ahead to buy a small milling machine and I'm <BR>
wondering<BR>
> if I should go with a Micro or Mini? version. (This took a LOT of whining by <BR>
the<BR>
> way) I guess the big difference I'm seeing is the power of the motor 1/5 hp VS <BR>
4/5 hp)<BR>
> and slightly bigger dimensions with a Mini. Either will do what I intend for <BR>
the<BR>
> moment. (Gear Cutting mostly) but does anyone have any thoughts one way or the <BR>
other?<BR>
> <BR>
> Thanks<BR>
> <BR>
> Steve<BR>
<BR>
How much do you want to spend? How heavy a machine are you willing to deal with <BR>
(i.e.,<BR>
50lbs, 100lbs, 500lbs, 1500lbs ? )<BR>
<BR>
I have a Grizzly G8689 <<A href="http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G8689&site=grizzly" target=_blank>http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G8689&site=grizzly</A>><BR>
that I'm pretty happy with but I had to do a number of mods. Also for building <BR>
the jBot<BR>
robot it was not quite big enough to mill the 5x20 inch chassis plates and we <BR>
had to use a<BR>
big Bridgeport. But for all the small parts it was fine. Dandy, infact. <BR>
Mostly aluminum<BR>
<<A href="http://www.geology.smu.edu/%7Edpa-www/robo/jbot/aut_2510x.jpg" target=_blank>http://www.geology.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/jbot/aut_2510x.jpg</A>> and some nylon<BR>
<<A href="http://www.geology.smu.edu/%7Edpa-www/robo/jbot/aut_2546x.jpg" target=_blank>http://www.geology.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/jbot/aut_2546x.jpg</A>> and some steel <BR>
fiddley bits.<BR>
<BR>
Generally bigger is better if you have the $$ and the space and can handle the <BR>
weight.<BR>
<BR>
Do you have any particular machines in mind?<BR>
<BR>
my $.02<BR>
<BR>
dpa<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
_______________________________________________<BR>
DPRGlist mailing list<BR>
<A href="mailto:DPRGlist@dprg.org">DPRGlist@dprg.org</A><BR>
<A href="http://list.dprg.org/mailman/listinfo/dprglist" target=_blank>http://list.dprg.org/mailman/listinfo/dprglist</A>
</TT></PRE></DIV><!-- end of AOLMsgPart_0_e9e13691-4611-422c-93b0-b55fec921c03 -->
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>DPRGlist mailing
list<BR>DPRGlist@dprg.org<BR>http://list.dprg.org/mailman/listinfo/dprglist<BR>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>Checked by AVG Free
Edition. <BR>Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.2/1185 - Release Date:
12/15/2007 12:00 PM<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>