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I've used a dedicated old drill press cranked up to 5,000 revs for milling wood for over 30 years. I'm finally thinking about buying a small milling machine or combo lathe/mill. John Hall has recommended a Smithy, if I go the combo route. I also make a fair number of wood knobs, for which the lathe would be useful. A combo machine could replace my wood lathe and the old drill press. I do a lot of things with my current setup, but one of the most often performed tasks is making enclosed end saddle slots of various sizes. Most of the mills I see run at 2,000-2,500 rpms max, which might be a little slow for clean cuts in wood. The Little Machine Shop does sell a micro mill that runs up to 5,000 rpm's, but it's size limits it's usefulness. I'm usually using 3/32" or 1/8" carbide spiral end mills for the slots. Any pertinent experience with milling wood on a milling machine or combo lathe/mill would be appreciated. Thanks, Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

First off, forget about the combo machine. I have an old shoptask that my dad bought me and while the lathe portion works really well, the mill leaves a lot to be desired. It's really hard to hold the work properly because of the limited Z travel of the head. You'll be way better off getting a dedicated mill.

For speeds, I'd go as fast as you can get, especially with small mills like that. I have a CNC router and my spindle goes up to 18k. I've toyed with the idea of upgrading it to a 24k spindle or possible make a piggy back mount for a 60k air spindle because I could increase my feed rates.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

faster is always better. While I agree that a mill or mill drill would be a better machine , I know what Bob is doing, and he is talking small work and not production. The smittie is one of the better machines but I would say look for the speed.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I want to add to the post , I just did a fast search on ebay , I think in the long run you may be happier with a mini mill and a mini lathe , you will have better capability and higher rpm in the mill and won't take up that much room. You would also not spend a lot more.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7x14-Precision- ... 5af99de83d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shop-Fox-M1036- ... 58a8c9a71d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/precision-micro ... 35c645662e

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I cut slots with an 1/8 end mill in my Clausing mill at 3250 rpm and don't have any complaints. For some of this stuff the higher speed is technically better but in practice it just doesn't matter.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Interesting you use a Smithy John. I've been wanting to look in to their tools for some time, partly because they are based just up the road from us (I stop in to another business in their building at least once a month). Just haven't been able to look seriously at them until we get further down the list of other upgrades and improvements with our shop and tooling - and this wish list seems to be getting longer by the day.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks for the various feedback on my question. I don't think John does use a Smithy. I believe he is more of a machinist than that. These combo machines seem to be more like beginners toys. My only actual feedback on Smithy so far is that they are miserable communicators. I don't know how they sell anything. They don't answer e-mail questions, 3 unanswered so far, and have only answered the phone once out of 3 tries during business hours. The person I got that time did not seem to know much and I have no faith that the info he gave me was correct. Even Grizzly does way better than that. The search continues and leans towards a dedicated small mill rather than a combo tool.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I have a mill drill and a 9 by 20 lathe , next is a surface grinder. My friend has a smitty and it did ok but he is also a tool maker so he had fixturing devices.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have a smithy, and the throat depth of the mill head is an issue. It works wonderfully for necks, and neck work, but it isn't anywhere near deep enough to reach the saddle slot on a bridge already mounted on a guitar... Ask me how I know. All that said, I love the little machine for what it can be used for. I use it almost exclusively as a mill--never run the lathe feature yet.

I've got a Min Mill similar to the link below and I just cut 2 saddle slots (one in Braz one in Bloodwood) using a Stew Mac 1/8 down spiral router bit and using a VERY slow speed because I don't know any better. Three passes @.060 each.

No problems, no hesitation no big deal. There may be a need for higher speeds in some specific CNC applications but for saddle slots and the like? Slow speeds work just fine. I also use the mill to drill the bridge pin holes as the mill allows very precise placement.

http://www.micromark.com/microlux-high- ... ,9616.html

Also use the mill for my slotted headstocks - works a treat for the tuner holes.

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