Shop Fox m1001 mill

Discussion on all milling machines vertical & horizontal, including but not limited to Bridgeports, Hardinge, South Bend, Clausing, Van Norman, including imports.

Moderators: GlennW, Harold_V

stephenc
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:13 pm
Location: youngstown ohio

Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by stephenc »

I'd like some opinions on a shop Fox m1001 mill if anyone has any .
It is a 6x26 knee mill with power feed .

I have been offered one at a pretty attractive price , it is used But it has been taken care of and is still in great condition .
To be quite frank even with its work envelope limitations it still looks a lot more attractive to me then the grizzly g0704 sized column mills I've been hoping to be able to afford to buy someday .
And I think with a riser block it would fit my needs quite well .

The down side , while the owner hasn't used it a whole lot , what he did use it for wasn't exactly precision work and he never checked or trammed in the machine .
So that's an unknown .

So opinions please ....
earlgo
Posts: 1794
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 11:38 am
Location: NE Ohio

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by earlgo »

I have never seen or heard of the mill in question, but that means that I don't get around much.
Is it better than the one you have?
Will it be used for making money or hobby items?
Do you need it for a project now?
How much are you willing to take apart and clean/repair. (Sorry but this is a sore point for me.)
Are the tool holders readily available?
Will the transportation and setup costs negate the savings?
Do you have the proper power in your shop? i.e. single phase, three phase 110v, 220v, etc.
Is it too much more than the going rate of $0.10/# so if it doesn't work out can it be recycled?
All things to be considered and I'm sure many more.
Good luck.
--earlgo
Before you do anything, you must do something else first. - Washington's principle.
stephenc
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:13 pm
Location: youngstown ohio

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by stephenc »

Those questions are all easy to answer .

I don't own a vertical mill so yes without a doubt it is better then what I have .

Hobby use most definitely, while it's always nice to be able to make a few extra bucks with my machines if the opportunity arises making any actual money would be one of the last things I'd consider.

Do I need it for a project ? Maybe not , but Do I want and have a use for the machine . Yes ! It would very quickly become one of the most used machines in my shop .

Cleaning and any repairs , this isn't much of an issue for me with any machine .
But this mill is fairly new at two years old and with the exception of a few scratches in the paint and a one shot oiler that siphones it's self empty overnight there aren't any obvious repairs needed .
And if I found any thing that did need repaired upon taking it apart for a thorough cleaning , parts are available and the purchase price leaves plenty of room for the unexpected.

Tooling ... the spindle is r8 so that isn't an issue .

Transportation and moving costs will be negligible, it's within 50 miles of home and it weighs less then 1000 lbs . I can handle both loading and unloading easily without any help .

Power isn't an issue , I have plenty available in both single and three phase .

Price ... while not quite at recycling levels , it's reasonable enough that even if the mill needed some obvious major repairs it would still be an attractive buy .
pete
Posts: 2518
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:04 am

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by pete »

There's a lot of those mills sold in the UK where the available shop room is usually less. Most owner comments seem like there pretty satisfied with them. If the previous owner didn't even bother to tram the machine then that raises questions about how much he knows and how well he treated the machine. With that in mind I'd plan on pulling the table, Y axis slide and probably the knee off for a detailed cleaning, feedscrew and gib adjustment. None of this is real hard to do it just takes some time. Almost certain that was never done to begin with so you'll end up with a lot smoother machine when your done as well.

I'm unsure about that machine since I've never owned one. It might require shimming to dial in the tram in the Y axis direction but again it just takes some time. Adding a riser block to the column of any mill even full size Bridgeports will make the machine a bit less rigid. If you need it then you just work around that issue. Tooling quickly adds up to more than the price of any mill so try and get everything you can that he bought for it. Might be a good idea to pull the power feed before moving it as well. There easily damaged while moving the machine and in case you don't know, the footprint on a lot of mills is pretty small. They can tip over if your not real careful. At the minimum I'd put a block of wood between the table surface and the end of the empty spindle nose. Raise the knee until it's just starting to try and lift the head then lock the knee. That helps support the head while transporting it and it's the way any knee mill I know of is shipped when there new. Bag or box up any parts you take off, label what there from AND DON'T LOSE ANYTHING.
dbstoo
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:45 pm

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by dbstoo »

I have a similar model built in 1978. 6x26 with the same head and features. Only real difference is yours has a separate pedestal and mine is one piece with a cast iron pedestal. I don't have a power feed either. Mine was used in a production shop where they were doing LOTS of brass. I found brass chips everywhere, including in the motor.

It performs quite well when working with all materials. It can remove as much metal as quickly as a Bridgeport. It's as accurate as any other mill. :)

I've upgraded mine to use a VFD with 3 ph motor so I could have variable speeds. I've also added a 3 axis DRO.

Downside is that there is no ram, so the distance from the spindle to the pillar is fixed. This occasionally results in the need to move a piece when I clamp it too far forward or back.

Dan
John Evans
Posts: 2366
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:33 pm
Location: Phoenix ,AZ

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by John Evans »

Had its distant relative made in the 70s,one heck of a lot better than any round column drill/mill I've ever used. Lack of a ram and a bit shy on Z along with lowest speed being too high not a bad machine. Don't care what anyone says it ain't a Bridgeport !! And Bridgeport's are not known as metal hogs. {got 2 of 'em}
www.chaski.com
stephenc
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:13 pm
Location: youngstown ohio

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by stephenc »

I went and took a look at the mill , I am feeling a lot more confident about it now with the positive opinions .

Other then being dusty from sitting it looks just as described ... like new :)
When looking at used things I like to look at the surroundings to gauge how a machine or anything else might have been treated .
His shop was neat as a pin with some obvious pride of ownership so I don't have many concerns of any intentional abuse .

Unfortunately no tooling comes with the mill , he was using it to make spacers of some sort for an injection molder and quit using it when he found a small cnc mill that would spit out the parts needed .
His assessment is the mill has less then 100 hours of use .. from its appearance I tend to agree .

I do think that at some point a spacer will definitely be needed , with the table down there is 12 inches between the spindle and table .
Put a vice on the table and a drill Chuck in the spindle and I think you'd run out of room pretty quickly .
But it looks like adding a spacer would be fairly simple when the time comes .

The bad news ... he was packing up his car for vacation while I was there and I won't be able to pick it up for two weeks
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by spro »

I'm happy for you Stephen C. I would be counting the days. I hope you left a deposit or have some signed agreement. Neat machine.
dbstoo
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:45 pm

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by dbstoo »

John Evans wrote:Had its distant relative made in the 70s,one heck of a lot better than any round column drill/mill I've ever used. Lack of a ram and a bit shy on Z along with lowest speed being too high not a bad machine. Don't care what anyone says it ain't a Bridgeport !! And Bridgeport's are not known as metal hogs. {got 2 of 'em}
Yep, it's not a Bridgeport, but what other widely known machine would you choose if you wanted to give an idea of capabilities? I could say that it's about equivalent to a Clausing 8250, but who would know what THAT is capable of? :)
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by spro »

Actually there are folks here which have or had the Clausings. Index, Rockwell and U.S. Burke, Millport also had similar machines. The tilting head makes a big difference over any Mill/Drill. Right there you need a tilting vise for many angles and that eats up space. I do think the Asian ones used the same table for the knee mills and the m/ds at a time. Anyway I wish I had held out to acquire one of these but back in the day, they were quite expensive. Everything had to be disassembled, doors removed, banisters removed to even get my m/d into the basement.
John Evans
Posts: 2366
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:33 pm
Location: Phoenix ,AZ

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by John Evans »

Yep, it's not a Bridgeport, but what other widely known machine would you choose if you wanted to give an idea of capabilities? I could say that it's about equivalent to a Clausing 8250, but who would know what THAT is capable of? :)[/quote]
Very true ! Lets call it about 2/3 of a BP capability and size wise. The one I had was a giant leap forward from the mill/drill it replaced.
www.chaski.com
stephenc
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:13 pm
Location: youngstown ohio

Re: Shop Fox m1001 mill

Post by stephenc »

Thanks :)
I am excited , I've wanted a vertical mill for a long time . But that mythical $600 Bridgeport has never appeared for me . In the past I have went and looked at a few that was in my price range , every one I did look at was just plain worn out .

what I've seen people asking for actual Bridgeports is just crazy money for even rusty junk , one fellow about 10 miles from me is asking $4000 for one that looks like it sat outside for 5-6 years .
I have seen a few clausings for sale , but never one I could afford .
There is what appears to be a decent millright on the local craigslist , but again out of my price range .

My dream mill is a Cincinnati tool master , ... luckily for me I have room for two mills just in case one ever pops up to cheap to pass up .

I offered to leave a deposit on the mill , but he said a handshake was good enough , it hasn't been advertised and I was the first person he offered it to . He is also a member of the sportsman club I shoot at so everything should be good .


Tooling will be an issue for awhile , but that will take care of itself over time . I'm about 10 hours away from finishing my dividing head . That should be real handy with a mill.
for now I can swap the vice on my shaper back and forth as needed .
Other then a set of collets and some endmills there won't be much a beginner like me will need that I can't make myself :)

Till then I'll be staring at that calender
Post Reply