pipemakersforum.com

Now that I have a couple metal lathes. The first a 6x18 lightweight, all be it, old, Craftsman that is well tooled for what it is. The second the newly aquired Jet 9x20 with some tooling, and more on the way. I'd like to make a few upgrades for the lathes, as well as make parts for some other tools and machines I have in mind.

That all said, I'm looking at aquiring a small mill to assist in this. I don't need anything big or fancy, just something I can do a bit of lightweight milling with.

Does anyone here have a small benchtop lathe they would recommend? I've been looking at the ones that HF and Grizzly have for around $500 and wondered if anyone here might know anything about them. I'll mostly be doing aluminum milling, with a bit of steel mixed in.

Maybe someone knows where I might be able to pick up a good used one.

I have a friend that uses a Taig Micro Mill for all his milling needs, and loves it. He says it's incredibly accurate.

I have Harbor Freight mini-lathe that was inexpensive, and the saying "you get what you pay for" applies. I advise avoiding this brand for precision work.