Grizzly Milling Machine

[John Romano]

Sometme in the next few weeks I expect to purchase the Grizzly 1005Z Milling Machine. Does anyone own or have they operated one of these type milling machines.

I would be interested in any information from anyone who would have had any negative or positive comments concerning this machine.

John

[Arthur.Marks]

Google "RF-25" or search the archives. These mill/drills are the Rong Fu model 25 (why after the Grizzly title it says #25). You'll find lots of info. They have their advantages (price, working capacity, size) and their disadvantages (mostly Z axis tramming, various quirks). Various people praise or deride their "precision". I'll stay away from that argument. Also, there is a Yahoo! Group specifically regarding them: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mill_drill/

[sansbury]

Those are what's usually known as a "round column mill drill" and if you search on that phrase you'll find a lot of discussions about them.

The big con to any round-column machine is that the main way to adjust the depth of cut is using the quill. The longer the quill is extended, the less rigid things get. You can move the head up and down, but when you do, it rotates and loses its position in relation to the X-Y table.

With all that said, people have done some great work on these machines. The only reason I'd be really reluctant to get one is if I thought I would want to CNC it.

The G0704 fixes the round-column issue, but I believe that machine is pretty deeply back-ordered. If I could get one of those, it would be my first choice, but mainly because I am a CNC guy.

Anyway, the bigger question, what kind of work (size, types of materials, level of precision) do you want to use it for? That will be much more important in saying whether this could be a good or not so good choice for you.

[Paul Alciatore]

Round column vs dovetail column.

I have a G0484, another dovetail column mill, and am well satisfied with it. I had used a G1007, a round column mill/drill, in the past and found it to be a good machine. But, with a 5" spindle travel, you had to plan your operations very carefully or you wound up "finding" the workpiece again after changing the vertical position of the head.

One word of caution here, although you can move the head up or down on a dovetail column machine, you really can not do this as you cut. When the gibs are loosened to allow the head to move, the head will tilt forward a bit and this also looses the location and can cause inaccuracy. The column really should be locked down before you start cutting. Although I have no recent experience with a knee mill, I strongly suspect the same effect would be present there as well, but it would be the table that moves out of alignment when the locks are loose.

I would strongly recommend the G0484 but it is over twice the cost of what you are looking at.

[toolmaker76]

I have that mill/ drill. I have been a Bridgeport man all my career, but could not pass up the deal I got on this one.

I have to say I have been impressed with the machine- I put a 5" Glacern vise on it; the vise might just be a little big for it, but it was the right size for the stuff I want to do. It is more rigid than what I expected, and I find the dial on the head (not the column) to raise and lower your cutter to be pretty accurate.

I would prefer a good 9 x 42 knee mill, much more versatile, but this one is a good compromise for the money and for what it is. You just have to plan your work a bit more carefully.