what to buy first

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if your looking for your first piece of equipment to start to do some machine workwould it be a mill or a lathe
Reply:What do I want to build? I have a mill and it's very useful for many things. However I can think of dozens of projects that I could make do with a drill press, but would definitely need a lathe. If some one will please send me their lathe, I would be much better equipped to answer this question.
Reply:I bought a 3 in 1 (mill/drill/lathe) for $2000 new just to gather some experience and give me a few more options when building/playing. I figured if I enjoyed it and knew a bit more about it, them I would consider investing in some better equipment and have a better knowledge of what I'm looking for. I would reccommend the lathe also.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:Hey SWells, Thats cheating! I didn't see  ( D ) "All of the above" listed on my test sheet.
Reply:DSW, yep I guess it is. It's not the machine for anyone wanting to do serious work, but it's handy and kinda fun for a hobbyist like me. I learned from it that a decent lathe would be my 1st..I mean...2nd equipment purchase.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:A large lathe.  Big as you can afford and manage.
Reply:If you want eventually to support your fabrication efforts, you will probably be wanting a lathe and either a standard milling machine or a Mill-Drill. Depending upon your budget, the Chinese machines are probably not all that bad. I have an Enco 13 X 40 geared head lathe and a Harbor Freight Mill-Drill and both have been a tremendous support for my hobby welding efforts. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't look at American machines. it's just that new manual ones usually start at around $20K for a lathe. Since the advent of CNC machines, used American manuals can often be had for reasonable prices or sometimes even scrap value and possibly rebuilt with a lot of work. That was beyond my knowledge and capability, however. When I bought the Enco lathe in 1994 I really wanted a new American machine but I couldn't find anything for less than $10K. The Enco was around $2,300 as I recall. I've not had a single bit of trouble with it to date and it gets used at least once a week for something or other.Companies like Harbor Freight, Grizzly, Jet and Enco, in no particular order are all online and all sell nice 12 X 40 and 13 X 40 or bigger geared lathes that will do everything you need, including threading with English and Metric capabilities. I would stay away from used Chinese machines. Some have belt gear changes which is an undesirable feature and at the prices of new ones, there's just no reason to buy a used one. I wouldn't begin to compare the accuracy of the Chinese machines to a fine American lathe like a Monarch but as I say, for Hobby work, I tend to stay within budget. If I were doing precision production work then that's another story. At the prices that new Chinese machines sell for, used ones really shouldn't be a consideration.The Mill Drills and lathes that you will find are apparently all built by related companies. The parts are just too simlar for this to be a coincidence, The place where I would go American and American only is with welders. I have a Lincoln SP 175 MIG and a Miller 200 Syncrowave and they are both terrific and great for my needs. There are other good American brands as well. Good luck!Last edited by gnm109; 05-31-2008 at 02:02 AM.
Reply:My opinion for first choice would be a mill before a lathe.Because... A mill is more versatile than a lathe, and if you do need to hire out some machine work, lathe work is generally more straightforward and less expensive than mill work.Good Luck
Reply:Everybody here is correct. Has that ever been said here before? In the end only you can answer what you need to buy first. It all depends on what type of work you're trying to do.
Reply:Look around, you can probably buy older, (better) Manual equipment for less than you might think.As stated previously, with a lathe... big as you can manage.Check this:  http://www.mermac.com/advicenew.htmlWith a mill... look for less wear and tear. http://www.mermac.com/freemill2.htmlHere is another good page: http://www.mermac.com/klunker2.htmlRemember this... You'll have more $ wrapped up in the tooling that you ever will in the machine.The best things in life all come on a stick!
Reply:In my own case I bought a lathe first. Then a milling- drilling machine. I wasn't looking to make a living with them but wound up doing quite a bit of work with them before I retired. They compliment each other.
Reply:I personally bought the lathes first as well, but I work mostly on equipment, and make alot of bosses, bushings, and pins.  I later bought a mill, but I still use my lathes probably 10 times more than my mill.  As mentioned it depends on just what type of work you will be doing.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:id go for a mill first, i dont know how much machining experience you have, but lathes are not the easiest pieces of equipment to run, if your doing more than just turning down shafts.check craigslist in your area, bridgeport's go for around 4500 around here in good shape with power feeds and digital readouts.
Reply:I bought 4 lathes first, then a 7" shaper. The mill is still on the list to get...BobBob WrightSalem, Ohio  Birthplace of the Silver & Deming Drillhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/southbend10k/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sawking/1999 Miller MM185 w/ Miller 185 Spoolmate spoolgun