Michael,

I think you will get more helpful responses if you can also tell us roughly what size of machine you are looking for.

MichaelG.

.

Edit: corrected typo.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 26/12/2015 15:21:49

I'd hazard a guess and say the op is in England from the currency being offered…..

Horizontal or vertical mill or a combination of both?

Single or three phase machine?

The budget doesnt include tooling……plenty of questions to answer.

Edited By John Rudd on 26/12/2015 15:31:18

Look in the ' More for sale' ads on the right hand side of the forum… there's a couple of mills within your price bracket.

I have the WM16 & it's fine for what I do; but outside your price bracket, nowt wrong with the WM 14 that I can pick on.

George.

Michael; as an owner of a Centec 2B with vertical head, and an equivalent type of mill to one of the Warco mills, I'd say that the Centec is hands and feet above the Asian mills.

I just got a belt drive kit for my Asian mill, as I did not like wearing hearing protectors when running the mill – I found the gears noisy. The belt drive kit makes it quieter. (much). But then – maybe I got a bad sample.

My Centec does not have a powerful motor in it, so when cold, it will not run at top speed until it is warmed up. Not a problem, but something I have to keep in mind as the capacitor start motor makes a bit of a complaint. I have NEVER stalled the Centec, even with this lesser strength motor.

Saying that, the Asian mills are incredible value for the money; you can certainly do very good work on them.

You'll be fine which ever way you go – just get to it, and make things. (smile)

Hi Michael,
A carefully selected used machine will give you much more bang for your buck. It will usually come with tooling which would be very expensive to buy separately, and you won't be limited to the Asian imports which would otherwise be your only affordable option.
One milling machine that rarely gets a mention when people talk about a small footprint machine is the Downham Mini Jig Borer (AKA Elliott or Gate or Linley). Perhaps that's because many people regard jig borers as just a machine for drilling accurate holes, and I guess in some cases that's true. But the Downham is a true milling machine and is a great miller for the home workshop. They come up on ebay occasionally and sell for around £650. Full details are on the Lathes website here: Link

Steve

Where I the UK are you Michael. There are dealers about worth visiting rather than waiting for the eBay lottery to come up. I have just bought a version of the Linley jig borer mentioned a few posts ago and it is a beautiful machine. Excellent for drilling but capable enough for light milling. Mick

The Downham looks to be an excellent small machine BUT it would pay to remember that it uses collets and it would be best to find one with them, both metric and imperial. It might take a while to find one let alone the collets. It's the sort of machine that might crop up on the lathes co uk for sale section.

I have a Dore Westbury. A few other people on here have them. They are compact and can machine a fairly large area for their size. They have a 2 morse spindle which is a limitation but it's in a Myford lathe type spindle nose so things can also be attached via that. 2 Morse collets can be used and I also use an 2 Morse ER16 collet holder. Other sizes of ER collet holder are available. The only unhappy owner I have come across is the one I bought mine off. Usual things, inadequate vice and slides way too loose. They were built from kits and crop up now and again. There are details on Lathes co uk.

You can visit and buy used machines off dealers but prices are generally rather high compared with private sales and usually any extras will have been split of from the machine and will be sold separately. If people are prepared to take their time machines crop up that are sold with all sorts of things. Often sadly because some one has died or had to give up for one reason or another. My general advice on buying any machine is to wait until something crops up with plenty of kit.

Over budget but this far eastern milling machine deserves far more attention than it gets

**LINK**

Similar machines will be available from other sources.

People are inclined to say I want to change speed with a knob but there is no getting round the extra power available when speed is changed mechanically. This style of machine has been made in various sizes for as long as I can remember. You'll notice it weighs in at 300Kg which gives some idea of the rigidity it has. In real terms they are pretty serious machines for people who need that. It's what I would have if I had a little more space. Dore Westbury machines are also rather heavy for their size. Decent machines generally are.

Emco and Wabeco millers turn up used at times. Probably the best of the lighter weight machines. These do crop up used at times.

Don't rush what ever you buy especially if it's a used machine.

John

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Edited By John W1 on 27/12/2015 11:23:37

Here's a link for it:

**LINK**

That's the dearer lll model Vic, I've got the ll **LINK**