Need some help on buying a new Mill!

[tup48]

Hi All;

At this time I have an X2 Mini-Mill that has served me well for the past few years after having made some mods to it. Now it is time that I move up to a larger mill and need some advice as to witch one to get. I’m looking at two that are sold by Grizzly, the SX3= G0619 and the G0705.

Thy both have their good points and bad points. The SX3 has Variable speed with Digital display, tilting Head and Digital display for the Z travel. As the G0705 dose not have these but it dose have 17-5/16” distance between the spindle and the table where as the SX3 has only 14-3/4” (my X2 after a mod has 13” and that is less then what I need at times) I don’t believe that 14-3/4” will make much of a difference over what I have now.

I have never used a mill with a round column before but I have heard some say that thy are not a stiff as the square column (it has to be better then the X2 column). This mill will be used in my home shop and 99% of the work will be for my self and my hobby.

If any one has the G0705 mill or has used one I would appreciate your opinion on it.

Thank You,

Richard

 

[xo18thfa]

I have a Grizzly Mill/Drill (similar to the G1005) with a round column like the G0705. I would not get a round column machine. The biggest reason is that there is not enough spindle travel if you have to change tooling in the middle of an operation, without distributing the set-up. For example, I can't go from a drill to a reamer in most cases. Just not enough room to change them out. The dovetail column on the G0619 lets you get the head stock way up and out of the way.

The G0619 is variable speed, I hate messing with belts.

My next major machine purchase will be the G0619

 

[tup48]

Bob,

When you say moving he column up and down it disturbs the setup, do you mean it changes the X-Y position or what?
Richard

 

[xo18thfa]

Yes. The headstock of the mill travels up and down the column. When you loosen the lock to move the headstock up or down, it can move side to side as well. I should say, at least it does on mine. Mine can move side to side about an inch. So once the work piece is set up, I can only move the spindle, not the headstock.

If the G0705 has a key on the column to prevent that side to side, then you may be OK. The headstock on the G0619 slides in dovetails, so there is no side to side.

My G1005 is a reasonable stout machine for milling. The round column seems strong and rigid enough. I almost always bolt the work directly to the table for milling and keep the gibs somewhat tight. At the slowest speed it mills thru cast iron like butter and leaves a nice finish.

 

[tup48]

Hi Bob;

Just a quick note to say thank you for the information on the mill. After down loading and looking at the manual for the G0705 mill I see what you mean about the head moving off the X,Y setting when you raze and lower it (not good).

Went ahead and ordered the G0619, a stand and the table power feed today. Should be here three or four days. Now I have to go and tell the wife what I did (this may be the last time anyone hears from me).

Thanks again,

Richard

 

[gunboatbay]

Richard,
If you plan on tearing-down your 0619 mill to clean it and touch-up the rough spots left behind by Sieg's poor quality contol, I suggest you go to Arc-Eurotrade's web site. They're the UK dealer for the X3 and SX3(Grizzly 0619) mills. They have an excellent downloadable pictorial on tearing down and checking most every aspect of the mill. It's developed for the X3, but the SX3 is so similiar that you'll find it invaluable. The only (major) problem I found on my 0619 was the unacceptably poor condition of the tapered Z axis gib.

Art

 

[Blogwitch]

Richard,

I see you are worried over the 'throat' depth of your new mill.

Even large mills suffer from lack of clearance sometimes. Mine, an 836, which is like a small Bridgy clone only has about 14".

What is the betting you are using some sort of collet holder for your tooling. You will lose up to about 3" throat depth by using one.

For those really tight squeeze moments, a set of quill collets will free up your 'lost' depth, and they are usually very reasonably priced.

Maybe worth pursuing.


Bogs

 

[xo18thfa]

Richard: I think the G0619 is a good machine. Please pass along your experiences with it. I want to get one when the $$$ are available.

This is kind of late to add, but Grizzly just added the G0704 to their 2010 printed catalog. It now appears online too. It is based on the G0619 architecture, but is slightly lighter in weigh with a longer table.

 

[tup48]

The new mill finally arrived.

On July 1 the locale freight company delivered my new G0619 Mill, only five days later then thy said thy would but it finally got here. So far I’m imprested with what I see.

Got 99% of the Red grease off of it (thy must get a real good deal on Red grease) thy sure use a lot of it on this mill. There was a clear bag full of grease and I though why would thy send a bag of grease, it turn out to be the feet for the mill but you could not tell by looking at it, there was so much grease in the bag.

Put the mill on the new stand I got for it, got it leveled and trimmed, it was out of trim buy less then 0.005”, every thing else seemed to be just fine.

One thing I like is all of the tooling that I have for the min-mill will work on the new mill. I’m not sure how big of a learning curve there will be going for the min-mill to this mill but we will find out.

I have included some Pix. Of it before I get it all dirtied up.

Richard