Mill/lathe combo or two seperate machines?

[ripslider]

Hello all

While not yet at the stage of buying a mill, my eyes are starting to cast around looking at lathes.

I see that a lot of lathes have, or can have, a mill as part of the package - one machine doing both tasks.

I haven't yet worked out a need for these, but they seem very popular.

So I guess I have two questions:

1) What are the benefits of having the mill built into the lathe? What sort of things can I produce on this that I can't on two seperate machines? What CAN'T I produce on these that two seperate machines would allow?

2) Remembering that I am at newbie status, would a combo or two separates make for a better purchase? Which would you reccomend?

This will sway my choice of lathe, as I am currently looking at a few, but none have the capacity for milling attachments, so I'm not sure if I'm looking at the wrong things.


Many thanks

Steve

[davediy]

hello ripsider
buying your first lathe or mill is often fraught with difficulty for newbies, each person you ask has their own favorites and hates.
My personal belief is not to go for a combined mill/lathe but to purchase separately as often combining two machines together results in serious compromise's from the machine manufacture.
At the end though its down to your funds and workshop space available.
Try using this site it has buying advise for most lathes and a section on its page Linc for the combined lathes and mills your looking at. under the heading
Combined lathes and milling/drilling machines:
www.lathes.co.uk/page2.html
unfortunately i have no experience of using these duel machines so somebody else Will probably be able to give you a more reliable answer
I myself own a small myford and a cheap chester mill but I'm lucky as workshop has the room for both
good look on your shopping ;D
dave

[keithcat]

Hi ripsiderb
Unless you are really pushed for space allways go for the serperate lahe and mill. I had a Chester Comet Lathe (Seig C6) with the X2 mini mill mounted on the back. Two main problems, setting up time as you can't have a job on the mill and lathe at the same time . Lack of space on the milling table supplied and thirdly you got a better finish lockning the longitudeal and using the cross slide but then you only had a few inches of movement.Hope this helps. Only just found this site and this is my first post. Simplex builder.

Mike

[SteveW]

Steve, Guys,

My man around the corner started with a combine mill/lathe and very quickly traded up to separates.

He had problems with too much spring on the mill bit and could never stop the thing swinging off centre and a general lack of rigidity . He also complained of limited travel.

These combined units do solve the limited space problem but like any compromise there are costs.

This subject has been aired here before and more than once so maybe worth a search. A lot of folk did report no problems and I guess they are generally a successful design, certainly if you have limited space.

I've got an old Myford S7 and generic mill/drill. I have to admit the mill/drill thing isn't the most ideal solution to milling as it suffers from a little too much spring in the column. I have to careful not to lean on it during the final cut but the travels are very good.

Among other decisions you'll need to make is quill taper R8 or Morse and tool holder: Clarkson/ER-type. Don't expect a drill chuck to be any good for other than drills bits.

[alanstepney]

I too would advise against the combined machines, unless lack of space makes it essential.

In fact, you can manage without ANY mill, and do any milling on (most) lathes.
(That applies to, say, Myfords, althugh some lathes are less suitable in this respect.)

Start by getting a decent lathe, either one of the imports, or a good secondhand one, and then see what mill suits your needs.

In both cases, select the size of machine to suit what you plan to make, but allow for the fact that it is almost inevitable that as time passes, you will want to go up in size.

[Alan]

Hi Ripsiderb
All the above postings are correct, In my naivety I purchased a combi machine when I stared out and it soon became apparent that it has severe limitations, I sold it and bought a second hand Myford and a Mini Mill from Warco. This arrangement has brought back the pleasure to the hobby.
Alan

[engineernut]

I agree with the other posters.
Many years ago when I first started out in this hobby I bought a new lathe combi mill. (I do actually still have it set up in the corner for that maybe needed occasion).
I soon realised that the capabilities of it were not what were required. Insufficient room between bed & head and also loss of traverse when using the mill.
I soon moved on and purchased a super7 and a separate mill. The mill I think could still be larger but space comes into it then.
So I would suggest seperate machines and as large, within reason, that you can comfortably fit in the workshop.

[sapper]

Hi Steve
Plenty of good advice above, a combined machine is never a good idea. You will spend more time changing from one mode to another than cutting metal. A friend of mine bought one some time ago and has all the problems listed above. The head twists round under heavy cuts and the chuck is very dificult to remove as the allen screws holding it are almost inaccessable.
Sapper

[miner]

I'll agree to a certain point, It all depends on your maximum part size, depth of cut, material, ect. Amazing items have been acomplished with simple fixtures/milling attachments and jigs. It's far more simple to do milling jobs on a mill than a lathe. Don't rush into buying a piece of equipment because that is exactly what you can afford at this time.Think about what you want to do, or might do in the future.

Mills are not like lathes, I have never heard of someone saying there mill is too large to make a part. You can machine a part 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. on the worlds largest mill, But try and machine a 1/2 in. dia. part on a lathe that will swing 10 ft. in diameter.

All the cutting tools and acscesories you buy for a mill are for the most part transferable to a larger mill in the future, The most important thing is to start machining, Get some ideas of what you would like to build in the future, You can then judge your requirments far better than you can now.

Pete