Almost all of the 'imports' will have dials calibrated in inchs but..
Be aware that some have 8 TPI screws not 10 TPI screws that means the dial
goes from 0-.125... YIKES!!!
On a lathe crossslide this isn't too much of a pain but on a mill it's a
real bitch.

You are correct on these 'step pully' machines you have to stop and reset
the belts... you'll get good at knowing what speed to use really quickly....

Quality is such a subjective thing, but most of these import machines will
work to .001 if you take your time.

The problem with the smaller 8x24 (or so) lathes from griz,enco,jet is that
the compound on them is really junk, they have WAY to much flex in them...
after screwing up way too many things I finely removed the one from my
import lathe and just mounted a bigassed 4way directly to the crossslide..
for %90 of the work you do you don't need a compound. I've even done
threading with out it, you just take shalower cuts and 'dive' in...

The biggest downside to the mill/drills is the fact that they have no
'knee'..this means that (for all intents) you are limited to the depth that
the quill will go down to maintain calibration, once you loosen the bolts to
move the head up or down you loose registration... This can also be a
problem when drilling and reaming, again the big issue is that if you use a
short center drill you are limited in drill bit / reamer length to the throw
of the quill. If you do get one of these mill/drills the thing to do is
stick a dial indicator on it so you can measure the quill depth VERY
accuratly, you'll be amazed at the work you can do this way...

IMHO if you are going to spend the money on a larger milling machine get a
knee mill, (what ever brand, import or old American)...
As for motor power there are lots of alternatives from swapping the motor to
voltage/frequency converters...

FWIW I've owned both an import mill/drill and an import lathe (probably the
ones you are looking at)
and over the years I finely sold them both and bought some 'serious'
machines..

I now own a BridgePort 9x42 Jhead and a Clausing #5914, best things I ever
did :-)

--.- Dave


"Usenet" wrote in message
ink.net...
2 or 3 years ago with the helpful advice of folks on this forum I bought a
mini lathe and mini mill from Micro-Mark, and learned machining from
scratch. Since then I've made some neat little projects and learned a lot.
My very first Sterling engine worked! (until I tried to "improve" it) Now
I have an urge to move up to slightly larger machines, hopefully of a bit
better quality (more precise, better "feel", etc). I'm not sure if my
minis are getting sloppier, or I'm just noticing it more.

I have to stick to single-phase 110V.

So I'm browisng the Grizzly, Harbor Freight, and Enco sites, and there's a
lot to choose from.

I have a few questions:

- Will these larger machines have dials marked in inches (mils) like my
machines? I never see that in the specs.

- I'm going to have to get better at figuring out the correct speed to
use, because the larger machines don't have a variable potentiometer speed
control like I have on my little machines, right? If I find my speed is
not correct now, I just reach over and twist the dial a bit. Looks like
on the bigger machines I must shut down before picking a different speed.

- Will these generic China-made machines actually be any better quality
(hard to define) than my minis, or just a larger version of the same
thing? I expect they'll at least be stiffer overall, able to take a little
bigger bite out of the metal.

- If these sorts of machines aren't better quality, where else should I be
looking?

Thanks a lot