Lathe/mill/drill combo

GT1 · Feb 19, 2008

Ive always loved machining. I now looking for recomendations on one for my shop. I cant' by a mill and a lathe so a combo is in order. A 220 motor single phase and about 30 inches between centers (this can be waived for the right machine) and a stand. My work will be mostly on firearms. I'm looking for something that will last and a company with a good name. No junk please. Any and all help is needed.

I've seen only Smithy so far.

Thanks

GT

JunkyardJ · Feb 19, 2008

Hello Masterlock!

This will get locked before it gets off the ground, sorry, wrong forum! You'll want to hit the home shop machinsit forum, or something else. Milacron (aka Master Lock) will lock this before you get a lot of responses. look at the rules/guidelines concerning home shop machinist stuff. Not my rules, but rules none the less.

PeteM · Feb 19, 2008

You'll find lots of opinions and answers by searching past posts on all three of the major machining boards. Just three thoughts to begin -

- If the reason you "can't" have both a lathe and a mill is cost, you will eventually find that having both is both better and cheaper; especially if you are thinking of buying something like or better than a Smith new. Don't take my word for it, check around.

- If the reason you can't have both is space, then there are satusfactory options available but a significantly higher cost. Search the archives, perhaps starting with EMCO.

- I'm not a gunsmith but would guess that a good lathe (1.5" min. spindle bore), set up with a cross slide for milling, could get you by for a while until a mill was in the picture.

dsergison · Feb 19, 2008

who really cant come up with 10' x 10' of space?

this is 10' x 10'

southbend_stimp · Feb 19, 2008

LOVE the drafting table in the other room dsergison!!!

I agree though, you don
t need too much room if you think it out.

GT1 · Feb 19, 2008

Thanks for all your replies. I will follow up.

GT

77ironhead · Feb 19, 2008

dsergison...

did you have floor tiles origionally and remove them, or did you place your machines on top of them? I see the pattern where oil, etc, stained the floor....

Racer Al · Feb 19, 2008

The general consensus on the mill/drill/lathe combo machines is that they're pretty non-rigid, which is a problem with lathe work and disastrous with mill work. Even the biggest units don't have a very large work envelope.

Add to this that they are generally of Chinese origin, and you can infer pretty accurately about quality. A friend has a Smithy, and he needed to replace the headstock bearings very soon after buying it because there was still sand inside the castings.

sch · Feb 20, 2008

Smithy, Shoptask and Grizzly are the machines to look at with
Chinese origins. Smithy is a medium size operation that generally
has machines in stock. Shoptask is a small operation that gets
a container of machines about once/mo and sells against the next
container arrival. You sometimes wait a month or two or he may
have a few unsold machines. Grizz buys
by the ship load, unusual to not have a machine in stock.

Emco-Maier makes a 3n1 of sorts but don't
think they are large enough for gunsmithing.
A google on John Stranahan+Shoptask will bring up John's
blog on gunsmithing. He has a lot of problem solving and tuning
up tips on his site. Blog goes over several yrs so some time will
be needed to peruse it. John also wrote a book that has been
well reviewed. As alluded by the second poster, the PM site is
not one for asking these sorts of questions.
Try Yahoo groups: 3 N 1 lathe mill drill for a good site. His files
and sites list is a superb resource.
More generic HSM www.homeshopmachinist.net
less active: www.chaski.com

robinr · Feb 20, 2008

I don't see that this has sold and it doesn't look like it would be to much of a compromise. http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=149156

tnmgcarbide · Feb 20, 2008

an emco maximat 11 with the milling attachment might work ok. i've seen them sell for 3 to
6 thousand on the used market. about the size of a sbl heavy 10 or logan 11" , and
the milling head is far superior to any enco style junk with a crappy drill press head tacked on top.

doubt they still make that machine , but if they did, it would be outrageously expensive.

dsergison · Feb 20, 2008

the tile is instituttional style vinil 1/8" thick squares glues down. it was there. it's pretty durable. it handles rolling machines around on pipes etc.... and it saves dropped parts from hitting concrete.

77ironhead · Feb 20, 2008

dsergison said:
the tile is instituttional style vinil 1/8" thick squares glues down. it was there. it's pretty durable. it handles rolling machines around on pipes etc.... and it saves dropped parts from hitting concrete.

any problems with lathe settling or alignment? I'm debating putting down some kind of tiles in my shop.....

dsergison · Feb 20, 2008

problems because of the tile ? no

my lathe has adjustable rubber cusion feet anyway. and it's a heavy bastard. that tile is like the stuff they put in schools. it's hard. not like linoleum. more like hard plastic. it never moves, squishes, etc.... prolonged oilyness does seem to swell it and pop it off the glue. it was just there with the house. it's 50 years old I bet. i have a box of spares i found.

i have an oil leak in my lathe hence the wet floor.

for standing in front of the machines i like those rubber mats with holes.

tnmgcarbide · Feb 20, 2008

http://cgi.ebay.com/EMCO-Maximat-Su...ryZ97230QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

there's one that sold for $4k . without the mill attachment . i've seen them go for around
$500-$1000 . not that easy to find , but not really rare , either.

Troup · Feb 21, 2008

A Maximat with Milling head, metric and imperial screwcutting box, in very good condition sold recently on TradeMe in New Zealand for about $1000 US. Should have sold for twice or three times that.

I was working at a client's site where a guy had been asking about 3-in-1 machines. I was really looking forward to telling him about this amazing deal, but he turned out to be a dilettante (tire kicker) (Oh, I'm not quite ready to make a purchase yet)

I agree with other posters: they're pretty much the only quality machine available in mill-drill-lathe layout short of the really rare (and usually $$$$) versatile machine tools made for ships and such.

JunkyardJ · Feb 21, 2008

I have a friend with a nice machine.

IF i were going to do the 3-in-1 route, he has a lathe, mill combo machine by shop fox (brand name, dunno actual manufacturer). It was a prototype machine, so it's UNIQUE! You WILL NOT find another, it's a 13"x30" lathe, with a mill head on the back of the bed. It's 3 phase, I think the lathe is 3hp, and mill is 2hp (separate motors). The mill spindle is probably MT3, wish it was R8. Dunno if it's round column, or anything else but I do know it's NOT seen much use. If I were going to get a 3-in-1, that would be it. Not that I'd really consider that type of machine NOW that I know better. I'd LIKE to advise against buying something like that. Get a good old smallish lathe, and a mill, MAKE SPACE! It's just not worth the problems involved. He would like to sell his 3-in-1 machine, IF the price is right. I think last I checked he wanted $1500, not 100% sure though.

GT1 · Feb 24, 2008

Well my decision can (and probably will) change in time. I have a very nice shop that now needs to be cleaned out. Room is really not a problem 4" concreate floor, heated, no humidity. I don't need (nor will have) a huge set up. The two machine concept is possible but I will not buy a lathe lager than what I need for my shooting irons. The distance between centers will be controlled by the length of the largest barrel needing to be turned. The mill for flutes on these barrels. Or a milling attachment on the lathe. Lot of possibilities for sure. Keep the comments coming. Pics are great.

Many thanks guys..............

GT

mixdenny · Feb 24, 2008

JunkyardJ said:
IF i were going to do the 3-in-1 route, he has a lathe, mill combo machine by shop fox (brand name, dunno actual manufacturer). It was a prototype machine, so it's UNIQUE! You WILL NOT find another, it's a 13"x30" lathe, with a mill head on the back of the bed.

Is it like this one?

http://toolsandmore.us/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1545

They had one in an open crate on the showroom floor at Production Tool for a long time. It looked nicely finished. If your friend's figures are correct, his is more powerful with a slightly larger lathe. Those horsepower figures would be huge for a machine this size. Most 3-in-1's are now R8 taper in the mill spindle. But the 2 big problems with any of the 3-in-1 machines in this general configuration are:

1. The really small Y axis travel (only 6 1/4" on this one), as there is no easy way to move the mill head back and still have enough stifness since the bed casting are not purpose built, the millhead is bolted to the lathe casting. And you can't just utilize the much longer X axis travel since:

2. The milling table itself is small and square, not long in one axis. On a more typical 3-in-1 like my Shoptask, the Y axis is the long axis of the table and it is a quite usable length.

Dennis

ben80 · Feb 24, 2008

BP

GT1 said:
Ive always loved machining. I now looking for recomendations on one for my shop. I cant' by a mill and a lathe so a combo is in order. A 220 motor single phase and about 30 inches between centers (this can be waived for the right machine) and a stand. My work will be mostly on firearms. I'm looking for something that will last and a company with a good name. No junk please. Any and all help is needed.

I've seen only Smithy so far.

Thanks

GT

Don't feel alone here, I came asking about a Mill/Drill here some time ago and found out the truth about them. If you are looking for a good machine that will do close work and run for many years you don't want a cheap Mill/drill, or even one of the cheap combo's with the mill on the lathe.

If you are doing small work for guns, you might ask around about using a good Bridge Port for Lathe work, I have done some turning on our Bridge Port at work by mounting the small part in the spinle and putting the tool on the table. The items I turned did not have any real tolarence so I cound just do it. You could also mill on a good lathe, not the best but better than a Mill/drill to get started.

I am not the expert on using a BP for really good lathe work, ask around I'd like to know myself if this is practical.

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