[Villainstone]

Hello guys I am obviously new and only have one other post. I have been poking around here and see a lot of stuff. I am amazed at the prices that you guys shell out for your equipment. I ask myself where does it come from lol. Any way I have a quick question about starting up a small beginners hobby milling setup.

What I want to do is make my own waterblocks for PC's, and heatsinks, stuff similar to that. I am not looking to make a business or come even close, at least not right now. I am gonna have about 1000.00 to spend initially and that must cover all I would need to get started. I am would like to get a few links to some of the initial tools I would need to make this happen. I already know that 1000.00 is not a lot of cash but like I said this for right now to get started. I get 400.00 quarterly bonus checks from work so I can invest more about every 3 months. I have been looking around and several different mini mills but I really do not know what makes one better than another. That is why I am asking for help.

[littlerob]

My opinion is that what makes one mill superior to another, is rigidity, there are guys who have purchased very cheap machines but been bright enough to modify what needed to be modified to make stuff (and there are guys who haven't), good luck, Robert

[Villainstone]

What exactly do you mean by rigidity? I was looking at one of the mini mills, probably the Grizzly G8689. It will cost me about 600 to have it shipped here, so I have about 400 more to play with. What would be the wisest choices for tools to buy initially. After reading about some of this I see that I will need a vise and tools for measurement. I have a good idea of what vise I will buy, but what are the measurement tools I will need?