Never seen this mill before

[ZipSnipe]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WILLIS-BENCH-MO ... 1125904227

Couldn't find anything on the net about it.

[rawMACH]

I was looking at it yesterday, but it has MT taper

[PeteH]

Cute little thing, but seems to be overpriced.
You probably wouldn't want to run any cutters bigger than what an MT2 holder would take, anyway.
If it was closer I might go look at it.

[DM95]

I saw that too and actually thought it looked like a good little mill but it has MT2 taper.If it wasnt for that I might have been interested in it.

[SteveM]

I saw that too and actually thought it looked like a good little mill but it has MT2 taper.If it wasnt for that I might have been interested in it.

Clausing vertical mills and Bridgeport M heads have MT2 tapers, and they're still pretty popular.

The weak point on that mill isn't the spindle - it's the column. It's not substantial enough to do really serious metal removal.

Still a pretty useful machine, as long as you work within its envelope. You're not going to run a 5" face mill on it, but do you need to?

Is $750 too much? My guess is that it will sell because what's the alternative for someone that has to get it down into a basement? That's why Clausings run $1,500-$2,000.

Benchmaster mills go for a bunch too. Here's one that went for $700:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151048097240

Steve

[DM95]

No I dont really think the price is bad.I think for someone like you said maybe wanting a mill in their basement or in a small shop this mill would be fine.Im just looking for machines with an R-8 taper because tooling is so easy to find.For the price it would be a good hobby machine.

[Cary Stewart]

That sure does look like a vertical pilar and head assembly from a EMCO Maximat-Compact 10"x24" lathe. Without reference I think the model series is 6000. I have never seen one mounted to a separate X x Y table for bench mounting. They did sell the vertical assembly for after market add on to the lathes. My brother has the complete setup. Both lathe and vertical have flat/rectangular ways. The spindle is MT2 taper. It has a lead screw to raise and lower the head with a handle on the top. It also has a quil that can be used in drill press mode. Mounted on the lathe bed the vertical is at the far right end of the bed so when using you fremove the tail stock (I think). My brother's machine is from about 1969 and was bought used by my father. Why the company even bought it is a mystery. There is a groove worn in the top of the bed from a great many of the same parts being made that had the carriage moved about 2". That groove and a like one on the underside of the bed at the rear are deep. I sugested to my dad after he got it home and discovered the "holes" that he should just fill them in with steel puttly and re scrape the ways and make it at least usable. He did not and it is that way now. As to quality? They are very well made machines. They pre date the Maximat 10s with inverted V ways. If not too badly worn and not too expensive I would think that rig would make a very nice first mill. The motors were 1/2HP 110/220.
Cary

[SteveM]

Im just looking for machines with an R-8 taper because tooling is so easy to find.

MT2, while not as common, nor as cheap, as R8 is still fairly plentiful and reasonably priced.

My Bridgeport M head is B&S7. I have two sets of collets and several end mill holders, so I can survive. I got the head cheap, so it wasn't a bad deal overall.

Steve

[DM95]

I actually looked up some MT2 tooling just to see how much of it there was and I found some but compared to R-8 its a lot more expensive but it is plentiful

[DM95]

I know somebody said in a previous post here that it might not be a very good machine for removing a lot of metal.So my question is what if it was used mainly for aluminum would it hold up fairly well.I know nothing about this particular brand and If I had a mill Id be working mainly aluminum and possibly very light steel

[stevec]

I've never experienced problems with the MT 2 collets or tooling in my Mill Drill, but then, I've kept their use within the limitations of a mill drill.
I apologize, my mill drill uses MT 3 collets good to 3/4".

[DM95]

I just dont know a whole lot about MT2 or three.