In article , Harold & Susan Vordos says...

Bottom line here is when you get more experience, one of the things you'll
regret is buying a machine without a knee,

Or without a quill, if he buys a horizontal.... :^)

... By the way, using a DRO isn't how I go about my work. I trust my
dials, but then I've done that since the mid 50's and it's something I'm
comfortable with. It's all a matter of training and learned habits.

But Harold, facts are that in many cases a DRO with glass slides
is simply more accurate than the lead screws. Unless the
guy happens to purchase a Moore jig borer or something. When
was the last time you really *checked* your lead screws for
errors?

... I noticed you weren't talking about a guitar
from Sears, and that's the equivalent of a mill drill.

Hmm. Not Sears. More like Wal-Mart. That's about the
right level.

Based on your description, you may be locked in to buying something less
than a Bridgeport TYPE of mill (drop spindle), I agree. Still, you have
options that would be a better choice, but those are decisions you must
make, not me. That's why I said what I did, giving you a view of an opinion
from someone that may see mill drills slightly differently from a guy that
has one but has never owned anything else. Ask a guy that has an
underpowered car if he's happy with it and he's likely to tell you he is,
until he's driven one with more power, anyway. And so it is with machining
features, whereby running a machine becomes less of a hassle by adding
particular features, one of which is a knee.

I think another analogy which might be appropriate here, is
comparing, say, a milling attachment for a lathe, with a
mill-drill. The guy with only a milling attachment will
be quite envious of the man with the wal-mart mill drill.

Understand, though, that learning to run a mill drill will not be the same
as learning to run other machines, just as running bench top machines does
not equate to running larger machines. You will go through a learning
curve with each upgrade, but at least you'll have been making chips in the
interim, I agree.

Quite true. Each machine teaches new techniques, and has has
its own particular quirks. Some of the stuff is broadly applicable,
like measuring and indicating and edge-finding.

I think that for me at least that machinery is really a target
of opportunity. I would have bought a mill-drill if I had found
one in pieces and could buy it cheap and fix it up, or if it
were othewise 'a deal' in some way. That's how a lot of my
stuff wound up in my shop!

Jim

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