Milling machine upgrade

This topic has 15 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 16 May 2026 at 13:40 by Bo’sun.

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14 May 2026 at 17:10 #848175
jon hill 3
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@jonhill3
Hi looking to upgrade my mill, I have a Proxxon FF400 which to put it bluntly is a bit fischerprice. What could I upgrade to that could handle milling mild steel, preferably with a shell mill or fly cutter.

I have seen a used axminster su1, which I think is a rebadged Sieg sx2.

Having a vertical/horizontal mill in a small lightish body would be the icing on the cake but not essential.

Also something that would take clarkson or similar lockable mills would be great.
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14 May 2026 at 18:21 #848184
Peter Cook 6
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@petercook6
On 14 May 2026 at 17:10 jon hill 3 Said:

Hi looking to upgrade my mill, I have a Proxxon FF400 which to put it bluntly is a bit fischerprice. What could I upgrade to that could handle milling mild steel, preferably with a shell mill or fly cutter.

I have seen a used axminster su1, which I think is a rebadged Sieg sx2.

Having a vertical/horizontal mill in a small lightish body would be the icing on the cake but not essential.

Also something that would take clarkson or similar lockable mills would be great.

Small and light mills tend not to be that rigid, and consequently struggle. Even my Sieg SX1LP which is regarded as a toy by many weighs in at over 50Kg.

One question, do you want a quill for drilling? If you don’t then take a look at either Sherline (Mill Hill Supplies) or Taig (Rotagrip). Both make micro mills which are a significant upgrade on the Proxxon, but on both the Z axis is a leadscrew which I suspect makes volume drilling a bit of a faf. I think the Sherline allows the headstock to be rotated 90 degrees which would enable some limited horizontal milling.

If you do need a quill for drilling (and I did which is why I got the SX1LP from Arc while they were in business), then something like a SX2 is going to be about as “small and light” as you are going to get. My SX1LP will swing a 50mm insert face mill on mild steel, if you take light cuts with sharp inserts (I use the polished ones sold for Aluminium).
14 May 2026 at 19:37 #848192
Clive Brown 1
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@clivebrown1
I owned an Axminster SU1 for a while. I wouldn’t really recommend it. In vertical mode, it makes a fairly sturdy and in some ways a versatile machine but the headroom is very, very limited and the lack of a quill can be a nuisance. In horizontal mode the lowest speed is rather fast and the supplied 16mm dia. arbor is not very rigid and, unless you have good, unobstructed access to the rear of the machine, changing between the 2 modes is awkward.

I wouldn’t see a Clarkson type end-mill chuck as being vitally necessary in a home workshop. I had one, but I find an ER type chuck just as reliable provided that the collet sizes are correctly chosen.
14 May 2026 at 19:43 #848193
Robert Atkinson 2
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@robertatkinson2
I also have a SX1LP (from the much missed Arc Euro trade) and am very happy with it. Fixed dovetail column, high speed so good for small cutters but will still run a insert face mill, a quill feed and a long table I can get most of a 19″ electronics rack panel on. I mostly do “electronic” projects an it’s ideal for that. The only small niggle is a bit more Z travel would be nice when drilling diecast boxes. Using an ER16 collet instead of the rather large jacobs type chuck helps with that.

Robert.
14 May 2026 at 21:23 #848207
Vic
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@vic
Have you looked at the Warco range of Mills?

https://www.warco.co.uk/20-milling-machines
14 May 2026 at 23:11 #848231
howardb
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@howardb
I have a Warco WM16B mill/drill which is a useful machine.

It has belt drive by polyvee belt and is extremely quiet in operation.

A good range of speeds 50 – 2500 but you need to change the belt over to the fast range pulley diameter to get the fast range, I just leave it in the low range which goes 50 rpm to about 1800 rpm.

It runs a 20 mm roughing cutter on m/s with no apparent effort, and a home made flycutter up to about 3″ cut diameter.

The max drilling diameter is quoted at 25 mm which is more than their next largest mill in the range the WM18 which is only 16 mm, a bit strange.

Compared to the cost in 2018 when I bought it and the cost now it seems good value, considering it now comes with a fitted DRO, presumably on X and Y axes, the quill/spindle has a built-in digital readout for the Z axis.

Definitely not in the fisher price category as it weighs 125 kg – about 2 1/2 cwt

But – you will have to pre-order and wait “till the boat cums in” in August !!

The WM 14 is available from stock, but is half the weight of the WM16B and the drilling capacity is only 13 mm.

“You pays your money and you takes your pick” as they say.
15 May 2026 at 06:30 #848257
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
The drill size being greater on the 16B is most likely due to the belts giving a better mechanical advantage over the 18 which is electronic variable speed.

I would not get too hung up on Clarkson type holders. ER collets should not present any problems unless you are not doing them up correctly. If you look at the name manufacturers like Dormer they hardly produce any screwed shank tools these days just the odd profile one like Dovetail cutters.

An idea of the size of work you expect to do would help. The Sherline mentioned earlier is a good small machine but if you are wanting to do larger work then the Warco or Amadeal offerings would be a better bet.
15 May 2026 at 08:21 #848265
Andrew Crow
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@andrewcrow91475
On 14 May 2026 at 17:10 jon hill 3 Said:

Also something that would take clarkson or similar lockable mills would be great.

Just use ER type chucks they are much easier and more flexible to use. I have both Clarkson and ER chucks I can’t remember the last time I used the Clarkson.

Andy
15 May 2026 at 10:43 #848284
Hollowpoint
Participant
@hollowpoint
How much space do you have? What’s your budget?

Generally when it comes to milling machines, bigger is better, but it also depends on what you intend to make of course.

I always recommend the Warco VMC, it’s a time tested design, its a good size, fairly rigid, and very adaptable (power feed, dro etc). But it may be too big?
15 May 2026 at 11:35 #848295
Vic
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@vic
On 15 May 2026 at 10:43 Hollowpoint Said:

How much space do you have? What’s your budget?

Generally when it comes to milling machines, bigger is better, but it also depends on what you intend to make of course.

I always recommend the Warco VMC, it’s a time tested design, its a good size, fairly rigid, and very adaptable (power feed, dro etc). But it may be too big?

Agreed. I’ve been well pleased with my Warco VMC.
15 May 2026 at 17:14 #848335
jon hill 3
Participant
@jonhill3
Hi Vic, yes had a quick look at Warco, at the momemt concidering all options. A showroom visit would be good, not necessarily Warco. Its a pity that Axminster have cut back on their metalwork machines, its not to far to Axminster for me and have a few of their offerings already.
15 May 2026 at 17:31 #848336
jon hill 3
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@jonhill3
Hi Jason,

Re clarkson holders I was lucky enough to find a large assortment of light used and boxed end mills in a skip. Apparently the owner was moving to a retirement home and the son put most of his materials and some tools out for scrap. Yes I could get by with ER collets and perhaps clarkson tool holder is overkill.

As Howard suggested the wm16 sounds goods, I appreciate the quite running of the belts on my proxxon and lack of complicated circuitry to go wrong is a bonus. If I go for 2nd hand is there anything to watch out for?

As for budget around a grand. I think I can re-purpose the custom stand made from angle iron and kitchen worktop and make do with the current machine vice.
15 May 2026 at 19:03 #848366
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
ER collets will have no problem holding onto the unthreaded part of the shank. However an Autolock or similar holder will not hold anything without a thread.

The one exception being if you get a special adaptor that goes into the autolock to allow it to hold Wealden (sidelock cutters) But ER collets will also hold the Wealden shank cutters as well as drills, tapping guides, edge finders, small parallel shank flycutters and a whole lot more.

Careful, Howard suggested the WM16B which has set pulley ratios and belt. The WM16 uses elrctronic variable speed to give infinate speeds over a similar range.
15 May 2026 at 19:22 #848367
Clive Brown 1
Participant
@clivebrown1
On 15 May 2026 at 19:03 JasonB Said:

Careful, Howard suggested the WM16B which has set pulley ratios and belt. The WM16 uses elrctronic variable speed to give infinate speeds over a similar range.

Just to clarify, the WM16B, which I have, has pulleys for two belt speeds, high and low,together with electronic speed control on both to give the full range.

An earlier post mentioned the Warco spec. of 25mm dia. drill capacity. I’ve never used such a size, but I wouldn’t expect the drive system to last very long if I did, especially in steel. Maybe it’s based on the 3MT spindle matching a 25mm MT drill.
16 May 2026 at 08:33 #848390
Dell
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@dell
I have Warco’s smallest mill WM12 I purchased it initially for clock plate bushing because it was half the price of a dedicated bushing tool but can do so much more, I have since made lots of tooling for my & others Pultra lathe IE tool rests, fixed steady’s, T bolts amongst other tooling, I have also made plenty of modifications to the mill fitted 3 axis DRO, powered X axis, powered Z axis, belt drive conversion so mush smoother & quieter & most recently converted to brushless motor due to intermittent fault so now I have forward & reverse so I can & have power tapped.

The reason for some of the mods were due to having gout in both hands so I struggle to hold & turn handles for any length of time, although it is a small mill I find it quite capable for the jobs I do on it but if I had mor room I probably would have gone for the 16 although when I purchased my mill they didn’t do belt drive.

Dell
16 May 2026 at 13:40 #848436
Bo’sun
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@bosun58570
Another vote for the Warco WM16B Milling Machine. And yes it has two speed ranges, changeable by moving the poly vee belt, but what a pain. Not only is access a nightmare, but re-tensioning is equally difficult. I’ve made myself a sort of turnbuckle thingy to fit between the casing and motor mounting to facilitate tensioning and holding the motor in position while tightening the clamp bolt. Maybe if one had the dexterity of a gynaecologist, it wouldn’t be so bad.
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