Advice/Experience with lathe/mill combo units.

[shinyribs]

I've been messing around borrowing other peoples machines for years. It's gotten old. Plus I dont really like the idea of putting wear and tear on other people's high dollar machines. Anyway,if all goes well,I might be running into a bit of a winfall profit shortly. An investment that would give me the opportunity to invest in a machine. I need a lathe and would like to have a mill,too. Between the two I could use a lathe much more. I'd say my time on the machine would be 90%lathe and 10% mill. I have been looking at some of the combo units. I know they are a bit of a compromise,but the sizing of the machines would allow me to do pull off any job I've ever needed in the past,and then some.At least as far as the lathe is concerned. These mills are quite smallish on the combo units.

I know there are a couple machinists on here. I'd love your advice and input on this before(if-fingers crossed) I spend my money. At first I was looking at a JET 9x20 lathe. They run about $1,300+ shipping. Then I started considering the lathe/mill combo units. I understand that you're not really getting much of a mill area to work with,but for the price,some is better than nothing,right?

Here are a couple machines I have my sights on now.

Shop Fox Lathe/Mill-$1,400 <-link to ad
Lathe
Swing over bed           16 1/2''
dist between centers    19 1/4''

Mill

Swing      12''
Travel    3 1/2''


For an extra $100 over the JET 9x20 it offers alot more swing over bed,adds a mill and you only lose 3/4'' between centers. Seems like a great trade off to me.


AT750 12''x30'' -$2,040 <-link to ad

This machine will be the absolute max of the budget I will have to spend on something like this. Which would not afford me any room to spend on tooling.

Distance between centers on this is obviously much longer,but swing over bed is reduced compared to the other machine. But the location of the mill gives it alot more capability. Tough call.



But the truth of the matter is that I am not savvy enough to really interpret all of the info given on these machines. Any advice or help would be much appreciated!

[Lucky 1]

Make sure the milling machine has reverse. Very important.

[shinyribs]

Oops. I just saw that the links were bad.Fixed now.


I didn't see anything saying they were reversible. Is reversing the mill head used for anything other than tapping?

[easyrider12]

ALL I  can say shiny, is that I think this would be a good business investment(capital expenditure) You have nothing to lose( well nothing ventured, nothing gained) but if i can spread word, i will

[easyrider12]

Just checked a local bike site and they have an old 77 750 for sale but i dont think i'm interested in "farm equipment"  haha.   looks like a clean bike though, but middle of JAN??

[shinyribs]

Easy,cold weather is a good time to buy bikes it seems.

Buy 'em cheap when it's cold then sell 'em high when spring comes!

On the machine stuff. I'm still beating the bushes around here and feeling things out. The basic area I live in sucks when it comes to building things. Nothing going on around here.Cars,bikes...nothing. I'm just not sure if there is any money to be made off these machines or not. If I thought I could actually turn a quick profit around then I'd go for it in a heartbeat. I cant see me selling my homemade junk online for ay amount of real profit. Not enough to warrant the expense. It would give me the chance to make alot of parts for myself and save me machining costs. But I've always been able to work around what I need and what tools I have already.

Just a tough call to make in today's economy.

Profitable business opportunity?  -Maybe
Another toy for me?                 - Most definitely!

[LukeM]

Works for me.  I bought my 84 Shadow in January 2011.  Owner said it wouldn't start on its own, problem here, problem there.  Bought it for $650, put (so far) maybe $300 in parts and my own labor, and it's been a runner ever since. Springtime is the time to sell it, when people get the urge.

Luke M

[Hoko]

I did machine and mill work for about a year so I'm no expert but theres a forum I've been on where there are a some retired machinists who really know their stuff.  You might want to ask them, they are more than willing to help.  http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forum.php

[Lucky 1]

That $2.400,00 is a reversing model.

[shinyribs]

As usual,I ended up going with second ( 3rd...4th...?) hand goods

The deal came out of nowhere and was just too good to pass up at $875! I was gonna try and haggle the price some,but the old guys worked their hind ends off to help me load this beast( wish they'd came home with me!) so there was no way I could have done that with a clear conscience.

It's an old Sheldon 10' with a 44'' bed.Right at 30'' between centers. Reversing motor,quick change gears. It doesn't cut metric threads,only standard,which is somewhat of a bummer. But it came with more tooling than I know what to do with and the stand. Some of the tooling is homemade ,which I really dig,but the majority of it I don't even know what it is.A few of them just look evil! But it did have the tooling I was looking for.The stand has a coolant reservoir and plumbing,but no pump. It would be super easy to hang one on there.

I have a ton of cleaning and greasing to do before it really gets run. But everything is tight and works just like it should. I have a strong urge to strip this machine and repaint it,but I'm gonna do my best to refrain for now.Maybe next winter.

 I'm so happy right now that you guys can't even understand it! Woo Hoo!






Coffe tin full-o-bits!

[Hoko]

COOL! As long as it does the job thats all that counts.  Nice find!

[Piute]

                                       O-RIGHT
 
                             When ya gunna start taking orders
                             Paint  Thought you'd go chromeguy.
   No need to say but I am;
                                      "HAVE A GREAT TIME WITH YO NEW TOY"
                                                   
                             I'll start getting mesurments next week,give ya time to clean & orga-nice
                                                                                                                     

[shinyribs]

 I definitely need to time clean and organize. I was just shopping and didn't expect to pick this up that fast. I'm sure glad I didn't use any of my sock drawer money to finish up my sloooow hackjob project!

When and if I ever get the hang of this thing I'd be more than happy to make anything you need bud.

[Hellbilly429]

My grandfather picked an old heavy one up like that, those things were built to last forever, comes in real handy for wood-working too bud, so let's say if you don't have work for it for machining but you know a guy who needs a new leg for his table or something, bam, you turn one for him and make a few bucks without even hurting a bit.

[shinyribs]

Ha! I like how you think bud! I can't believe I'm taking time off from the bike build to redo this machine. It just looks so pitiful as it is. It needs some lovin'.

[Hellbilly429]

I was just thinking what if you soda-blasted it and tore it down so it will fit in your buddy's powder coating oven?

[shinyribs]

This thing is crazy heavy Boss. The bare bed weighs over 200 pounds. It took all I had just to pick it up and flip it over to scrub and paint the bottom side. Altogether its about 700 lbs. I'll just rock some Rustoleum with a paint brush on this one