Re: ATM small mill advice

["Bob May" <bobmay@nethere.com>]

I'd go with a combination mill/lathe for anything in the medium sized work.
After that, things get expensive and getting a used machine from some used
machinery dealer would be the best thing.  These machines won't hold to the
tolerances required by the industry but for hobby work are quite good.  Same
thing with lathes.
You can do an amazing amount of work with the Harbor Freight mill/lathe (get
the one that has the power feed as you will want to be able to turn threads)
or other one of that size but you will find that you may have to do some
turning work with the mill setup and a rotary table (make a low one yourself
with some homemade bearings inside and a large worm).  Also note that such a
machine generally does need to be torn down and strange pieces of swarf
(metal shavings) that may be inside in various places get properly removed.
Those machines are considered to be kits by the more machinist type
individuals.
If you'd rather not get the big machines then you might want to pop up on
the REC.CRAFTS.METALWORKING newsgroup and ask about people in your area that
would love to do some of the large work.  Many there have well equipped
shops at home and would be interested in doing something different.  You
probably won't find anybody that is capable of hobbing good worms but
otherwise they are a good bunch of guys that do have the good large machines
sitting there, oftimes looking for something neat to make.
Having access to a large machine is often almost as good as owning the
machine yourself.
Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay@nethere.com