Harbor Freight Mill/Lathe/Drill-mabobber

[airsmith282]

Regardless of the comparative quality or stated precision levels of the various builders of the 3 in 1 combination machines, I don't care for anything that uses an MT taper for its tools. While I understand that some people don't have space for anything larger than a 3 in 1, the inconvenience of the MT's alone would make me stay away. Also, tooling in MT is generally harder to find than R8.

That doesn't mean that good work can't be done on one and many people do use them to great advantage. This is only my lowly, amateur opinion.
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might want to move to Canada then i can get all kinds of tooling for my MT2 mill,, and i have the ability and know how to adapt end mills meant for larger units and i can also buy end mills already turned down to my 1/2 Collete capacity , plus there are now MM collates available for my mill, as well as many other gizmo's as well.. R* is nice to have and i do have a limitation on my shop for a bigger mill at this time but the MT2 i have can upgrade to an MT3 or i can simply just buy and mod stuff to work or buy most items already made for my needs..

also what you do with your equipment will also dictate as well what you buy ,, and bigger is not always better some times bigger becomes a large problem as well.. so smaller machines are extremely handy to have around..

[ahidley]

Huh?? My 3 in 1 takes R8 for the spindle, MT2 tailstock and MT4 head

[Liger Zero]

I went over to look at it again, and I think I'm going to pop down the cash for it. It'll keep me running for the time being I can replace it later.

The Sherline is great but like I said I need two lathes and this one is half-price for the win.

[Liger Zero]

I have one but its the bigger model. It works fine.. But as for your question why dont you download the manual and it'll answer your questions?

Because I am blind and stupid and never even noticed the link.

Upon review, I might be able to rig a crude power-feed on this thing given the way it is set up...

I'll keep ya'll posted I'm still thinking.

[camdigger]

the inconvenience of the MT's alone would make me stay away. Also, tooling in MT is generally harder to find than R8.
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I have NO R8 in my shop. I wouldn't choose R8 over MT3 because I have only one machine that would use R8 and I have two others that use MT3 or MT2.

As far as readily available, I have 6 or more suppliers within 100 miles, and I live in a metal hobbyist desert compared to the American midwest or central Canada.

[ahidley]

If you can afford the biggest 3 in 1 get it.... HF model # 44142

As for R8 or MT2 or MT3.. just get a set of collets and get tooling to fit the collets.. whats so hard about that? (I'm assuming that the MT has a draw bar like the R8 does... My MT4 collets do but I dont know about 2 and 3) Ya need a draw bar or they will fall out when milling.

[Liger Zero]

LEts not turn this into a discussion on the merits of R-8 vs MT. I have MT stuff already that's why I was asking about this machine (HOOORAY for instruction manual link).

It's a question of will it do what I want it to do and that's what I'm looking at now.

Mostly want it for it's lathe mode, the milling ability would be great for the occasional oddball that I run.

[Quetico Bob]

My first machine was from Busy Bee just outside of Toronto and it was their lathe/ mill combination. Took it back the second day I had (6 hour drive) it and exchanged it for a 10 x 24 bench.
Their 3 in one was way outa wack tolerance wise. Hopefully they have change in the past 10 or so years. It was an obvious problem at the time cause all I had had to do was raise my voice sightly on the showroom floor and the situation changed from we can’t take that back, to certainly we can. Take a dial indicator with you to check it out and ask if you can try under power. Good luck.

Cheers, Bob

[Liger Zero]

It's not the Harbor Freight one it's a Grizzly one. G4015Z I think. Haven't de-crated it all the way, I'll know if I locate the manuals/paperwork.

There were no markings on the crate other than a shipping address and freight paperwork, and the barn it was stored in very dark.

Lady who sold it to me said it was Harbor Freight and was glad to "get rid of it." Honestly I couldn't tell in the barn with it being so dark, all I saw was Mill-Lathe In Crate Full Of Packing Stuff.

I'm paying her $75 a week for five weeks for it, threw in a few extra bucks 'cause she helped move it. God save us from 70 year olds who can lift 400#

Does this count as a tool-gloat?

Now excuse me I've got a new toy to unpack.

[oldtiffie]

Bump

Oldtiffie, how does the mill head attach to the lathe on your 3 in 1? If I could figure out how to do that on my Smithy it would help with the limited X and Y travel when milling. Probably more trouble than it is worth but that 3 in 1 looks like it is a lot more usable than the typical layout.

Originally posted by oldtiffie
Thanks dockterj.

Short answer is that it is bolted to the back of the lathe and the bench.

I will post pics tomorrow (its almost mid-night here in OZ) and it should be pretty well self-explanatory as it will do a better job than me trying to explain what is a pretty simple arrangement.

Thanks dockterj.

This is a "bump" (to the front - where I can see it).

I have taken the pics today and will post them this evening. They are pretty well self-explanatory.

Sorry about the delay.

[oldtiffie]

pics - connections

Oldtiffie, how does the mill head attach to the lathe on your 3 in 1? If I could figure out how to do that on my Smithy it would help with the limited X and Y travel when milling. Probably more trouble than it is worth but that 3 in 1 looks like it is a lot more usable than the typical layout.

At long last dockterj - here are the pics.

As said, the lower bracket is bolted (1/2") to the bench (steel) and the rear of the lathe bed. The mill-head round column is bolted (3/8" hex head socket screws) to the lower bracket.

I set the column vertical to the lathe milling bed by shimming between the base of the column adaptor and the top face of the lower bracket.

I trammed the mill-head in from there.