Subject: Vertical milling machine clones (what one is best)

From: [email-masked] (Steve Lindsay)
Date: 28 Nov 1994 00:29:38 -0700

I have been thinking about purchasing a vertical mill.  Enco has them 
for $3400 and I see a couple of other brands in catalogs like Lincoln 
(Production Tool Supply) $4350, ValuMaster (from MSC) $3595 and 
Birmingham (from Penn Tool Co.) $3695.  Do you know any of these 
brands?  I know they must not be as good as the $7000 to $10,000 
ones but like everyone I want one for under $4000 that is.  The 
Birmingham one has a couple different claims they boast about than 
the others:  It says:

"Meehanite casting
Heavy duty harden & ground work table
Harden & ground on X & Y axis slideways.
Turcite B coating on X & Y axis slideways.
Square on Y axis slideways
Chrome ground quill."

What is this Turcite coating?  On one of the more pricey mills it 
says it has Turcite B lining on saddle ways.  Is Turcite B lining 
different than Turcite B coating?  Is it a thin coating that will wear 
away?

The work I have in mind for it will be small prototype parts.  Most 
tolerances are within two or three thousands but there are a 
couple fits that should be within .0005.  Will these mills have 
any problem with these tolerances?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Steve

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From: [email-masked] (Mike Rehmus)
Date: 28 Nov 1994 17:38:30 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Steve Lindsay) 

>Thanks for any suggestions!

The major complaint I have against import mills is the repair parts 
issue.  I'm certain I only hear the bad reports but Enco and some of the 
other suppliers seem unable to come up with repair parts on even new 
products. You can get Bridgeport repair parts from at least three 
different manufacturers (not suppliers, but different manufacturers).

The second complaint is that these products have pretty poor resale 
value whereas if you keep a Bridgeport in decent shape, it will probably 
sell for about the same $ you paid for it as a used machine.  

Third complaint, they sometimes use green castings instead of aged 
castings which means that components can distort over time.
You might take a good look at a used Bridgeport as I did (and bought)  
Along with my 1.5 hp, variable speed mill, I got a top of the line DRO 
with many additional features for $4,200. I purchased my mill from a 
used machinery dealer and also got a 30 day warranty.

I remain a firm believer in the superiority of U.S. made machine tools.

This all of course is only my humble opinion.

Mike Rehmus
[email-masked]