Grizzly mills - G3616 vs G6760

[brunneng]

You guys helped me with the lathe so here's the two mills I'm looking at.
The G6760 look to be the better choice I'm thinking.

It has 3/8" more quill travel at 5-1/4"

5" Longer table at 35-3/4" --- but 1-5/8" narrower at 7-7/8" (vs 9-1/2")
5" more X travel at 20-1/2 --- 1-5/8" more Y travel at 9-1/2"

Knee travel is almost the same only 3/4" diff
Spindle to table is 1/4" shorter at 13-3/4"
and it has 5 speeds (the other has 9)

They both have powerfeeds but the G3616 also has coolant in the base.

I'm thinking that the longer table with more travel in both axis, more quill travel is very good. I don't know if the speeds are a deal breaker. I'm used to a mini-mill which is variable.

It's also is about $235 more.

Then if you go up a thousand to the G9902 you get a 9"x49" table, power downfeed, another 5" above the table (which I've always heard is a biggy).

For use: at present I'm halfway between a homeshop and a small job shop as I'm just starting up my own business with a new 45watt laser engraver. I'm doing marketing, promotional items and I'm also making laser kits for model railroading. I'll be a small scale manufacturer to start with and I'll be making some CNC machines as well as the next incarnation of my plastic injection molder. (I'm designing my ad for HSM now, so you should see that in Sept/Oct issue)

In your opinions: would I be better off in the long run going with the larger machine at a grand more. Better to spend more than be an inch short later?

Kevin

[pstephens]

Hi Kevin,

Of the two, I prefer the 6760, but both share a serious drawback in having such high minimum speeds -- 255 RPM for the 6760, and 270 RPM for the 3616. And both are only available with single-phase electrics, so you can't easily compensate by adding a VFD. Also, the 3616 strikes me as a very oddball design, with its wide, short table and short cross travel. I also don't like the three-lever, drill press-style downfeed handle on the 3616. I may also be a bit biased toward the Bridgeport styling of the 6760. Though both of these machines are floor-mounted, unless you are well below average height, you will probably find that you need to mount them on risers to get the spindle up to a comfortable working height.

All things considered, I would hold out for the full-size 9901. It's just better in so many ways that the $800 price difference becomes almost insignificant. And you're right about the spindle-to-table clearance being extremely important.

By the way, I have found through experience that "flood coolant" on a machine that isn't really designed for it, is more trouble than it's worth. It seems great in theory, and makes for great ad copy, but it winds up creating a huge mess. It's best suited for production machinery.

Good luck!