Hello! I've been wandering around the Mini-Lathe forum for quite a while, and (Finally!) had a fortunate enough turn of finances to get an X2 ordered and on the way. (I feel like I finally have the "other half" of the equasion to make cool stuff.)
So, now I am faced with tooling up. I have some bits of kit that are applicable to the 8x12 Lathe I already have.... spot drills, drill bits, boring bars and such. I also have a nice J33 drill chuck to replace what I have heard is the rather crappy stock one.
So, now I am looking at kind of a minimal "get me started" setup for the Mill, and i have about $200 (+/- 20%) to get some tooling.
For starters, I think I will pretty obviously need a vice. Enco has a screwless, no swivel 3.5" one for $50,
The other options are a 4 inch "Kurt-style" swivel base one for $100. LMS has a similar deal on the 3 inch Kurt clone. As long as the 4" model isn't too big, i'll probably go with Enco.
How usefull is that swivel, and is there no way to add it on to the screwless vice later? I'm pretty much convinced to get the 4 inch Enco Kurt clone, but since I don't have much experience with milling I figured I'd ask if a four inch model is just too big.
Next up... with the rest of the loot....
I can get an Enco R8 Collet set for $38, which seems like an awesome deal. (11 Piece, 1/8-3/4 by 16ths)
Or, i can get a single collet and Tormach quick change fitting for a 3/8ths shank end mills and a JT33 one for my drill chuck for about $60.
If you had it to do over... full R8 collets or a (Really) slow start on the Tormach system? I can see where the short length would help... but my $60 would only get me ONE size and a drill chuck. I guess I'm not stuck forever with either one, but would prefer not to buy stuff just to replace it later.
Whatever is left I will probably grab an Import end mill set to break while learning, LOL.
So, what would be your magic combo with a crap budget like mine? LOL