[JMoto]

In short, my question is what are people's opinions about mills and lathe units, versus combo mill/lathe machines? Are there any advantages to having units separate from one another?

I would like to get into machining, but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars and have something that could be more capable if I had purchased a different unit. I know that this is subjective, and depends on what I am looking to manufacture and how much production I would like to achieve, but I would still like people's advice (in general). Is a combo mill/lathe just better all around, or are there advantages to having separate machines?

Thanks,
J

[Jim Dawson]

The answer is: It depends.

In general the combo machines don't do anything well. The exception to this is a modern $300K horizontal machining center with live tooling.

For very light work the combo machines will work, but would not be my first choice. It really depends on what your end goals are. I started out with a 12 inch Craftsman lathe and an Atlas benchtop mill. If you are planning on doing actual manufacturing and production work then buying a mill and a lathe would be the best.

[rodw]

The best thing I did with my combo 3 in 1 was sell it on eBay and buy a seperate lathe and mill. If you can't afford both, buy a lathe with a 13" swing lathe minimum and get a vertical slide attachment until you can afford a mill.

[coherent]

Setup of the machine for milling vs lathe work is different. Often a project involves both machining tasks and having to change the setup from one to the other and back would definitely be a pain. They make milling attachments for lathes and you can perform some lathe processes on a mill . They work...kinda, but no where near as well as a dedicated machine will IMO unless it's a commercial (i.e high cost) machine.

[awerby]

If you have very limited space and only need to do a machining operation once in a while, those things are better than nothing. But they don't work as well as single-purpose machines, and are a hassle to convert back and forth.

[handlewanker]

.......Separate mill and lathe everytime.........no argument on the advantages of the dedicated attributes of each.

[JMoto]

Thank you everyone for your advice. It sounds like most people prefer separate units, and space is not really my biggest concern. Would anyone have any recommendations for 120V mills and/or lath units that are "faster" or more rigidly built than not? Would anyone suggest any brands over others? I was looking at Grizzly for both of these units, but that is mainly because I don't know too many brands. Would this be a good brand to start with, or do you suggest something different?

[awerby]

It really depends on what you think you'll be using them for. Most of the larger mills and lathes you'll find are set up for 3-phase, but if you need to make large parts, then powering them with an inverter or rotary phase converter isn't that hard to do. But if you're just making small parts for RC cars or something like that, then there are miniature tools that will do everything you need at a lower cost than big ones. Are you looking for something that's easy to convert to CNC, or are you going to be satisfied with manual operation? Do you want DROs, or are you happy squinting at calibrated dials? Are you okay with used American tools, or do you want new ones from Asia?

[JMoto]

I don't need CNC to start, and don't care where they come from as long as they work correctly. i am not making anything large (e.g. 6" cube roughly) but I am really curious what other people think about different brands. If you were to buy any mill and lathe to make small parts like this, what brand would you choose?

[handlewanker]

Hi, your budget will determine how far you want to go.........if you have approx 4 grand then a decent lathe and mill brand new are possible.

Just for an opener I'd suggest an SX3 mill and whatever 7 X 30 lathe is around in the dealers for a grand and a half.......most are about the same construction and you only get what you pay for is true.

If you want more bang for your buck and don't mind waiting for a bargain then go for used and you'll get double the value for the same price either way

I would say without reservations that it's hard to beat the Chinese machinery on offer on EBAY

I would avoid well used old machinery as they tend to need lots of TLC to make them workable..

Used machinery, if in good nick, tends to go for around half the new price so you can get double the machine value for your money or save half your outlay.......I would spend the lot on a better quality or higher spec used machine than a new one.

You would of course have to know what a good machine is and, if used, what condition it's in etc.
Ian.

[Zenji]

Get the biggest you can.

[KH0UJ]

If it`s just for personal use then I guess it`s OK, but if you`re planning to mass produce a product I think the two separate units works best because you can simultaneously let them work at the same time, time is money in a mass production scenario