Best Mini Mills - Top Picks, Reviews & Complete Buying Guide
by Scott Miller Updated on
Many people do not consider having mini mills at home, being that they are quite expensive investment,.
A mini mill is an industrial-style machine and having those capabilities at home can be a huge advantage, if you are into that field.
Mini mills are designed to take a piece of raw scrap and turn it into a useable part.
They possess the great power to do such a heavy tasks, but at the same time are quite expensive.
Being that they can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, making the right decision about which one to buy would be of crucial importance.
So, we are offering you a pretty detailed review of the best mini mills available on the market, while making a strong emphasis on what makes a good mini mill.
If you are looking for an excellent mini mill and your budget is not a limitation for you, this is the right solution.
Besides having the largest worktables on the market, which is very positive thing as you will be able to work with larger pieces, it is also the most powerful machine with 2 horsepower.
The fact that it has extra power means that you will be able to make much faster cuts, thus saving you a lot of time.
The extra power can also be used to make bigger bits, reducing the number of operations.
Additional excellent feature is that the speed can be set in 12 increments from 15 to 3,000 RPM.
This means that you will have the control that is not that great with other machines.
The only complaint about this tool is that you will sometimes need to rezero it before making your next cut.
Unlike the JET, this tool has 1 hp, a smaller table and a smaller range of RPM, which goes from 50-2250.
It is true that this model is not as great as the top pick, but it is still above-average for the other models available.
The Grizzly is a really good quality machine which is less expensive than the JET.
Furthermore, it has features which are not found on other models, such as a safety shut off switch and a clear guard on the spindle.
This safety features prevent getting hurt with dangerous chips that get launched across your shop.
The only weakness is that its drilling is not that great as with other machines, and this is attributed to some plastic gears which can be replaced, but people would rather not to deal with it.
If you are looking for a less expensive, but still worth considering mini mill, then the Erie Tools ETD-SM-MILL is the best value.
You cannot expect to have as much power as the first two models on our list being that it is significantly cheaper, but there are some great characteristics of this tool as well,
Its RPM is up to 2000, meaning that the job will be done efficiently, but the time necessary to be finished will be longer.
This machine can do both drilling and milling and includes important safety features, which users find very positive and important.
Those features include a clear spindle guard and a safety shut off switch to protect you from dangerous chips.
One of its drawbacks is that it possesses smaller tables than other models on the list, but it is still considered the best value for money as it comes with a more reasonable price than more powerful mini mills.
Some users call it a “micro mill” which is found to be very accurate.
It is true that the smallest table would make you struggle with some larger pieces, so if you are planning to do the greater size projects, maybe this is not the ideal one for you.
What is very attractive is that it is the cheapest model on our list.
The higher price sometimes means the better quality, and this is the case with this product.
Being that it is cheap, it comes with some serious problems.
The Proxxon 37110 has vibration issues, causing problems with precision.
The wheels used to adjust the table are of poor quality so you would have to be very careful when making your cuts.
This is not the mini mill that you should consider buying, even if your budget is limited.
Besides giving you descriptions of both positive and negative aspects of mini mills, we are also offering you this buyer’s guide to help you make the decision which mini mill to purchase.
We have taken into consideration the reviews of both professionals and amateurs and made a list of important things to deliberate on prior to purchase
How can I choose the best mini mill?
The choosing of a good mini mill can be difficult and quite troublesome.
People want to be sure that they invest in a quality product, as the price of mill is not low, so we offer you a number of factors that would enable you to separate the quality mini mills from the rest less worth ones.
Besides these important factors, what you should deliberate on are stability, power, and ease of use and how great these features should be will be determined based on what projects you plan to do.
A mini mill is a big purchase, as the price tag is quite high, so if you go for cheap one, you have to be ready to face a lot of problems.
What makes this situation even worse is the fact that there are not many mini mill repair shops.
So, people rather decide to get a more quality tool and not deal with these unpleasant situations.
It is not always the case, but in the majority of reviews we noticed that the more expensive mini mills have higher-quality parts, better designs and longer lifetime, without having to repair them.
How heavy should a mini mill be?
If you look at the image of a mini mill, you cannot think that it can weight hundreds of pounds.
The name “mini” does not go with it at all.
The JET model weighs more than 700 pounds, being on the heavy side, while the Proxxon weighs just 18 pounds.
If you have decided to buy a heavier model, you will need to have enough space to place it in your workshop.
You have to have a strong workbench, designed to handle a 700-pound machine.
If the result will be breaking both your bench and your mini mill, it is better to consider less heavy one.
Some manufactures offer a stand for the mini mill, which is rarely included with the tool, but can be bought separately.
These stands are there to support the full weight of the machine, and they have compartments for tool storage which is considered very useful.
The greater the weight is the more difficult or even impossible it will be to move the tool on your own.
What you will need to have is a hefty shop winch and if you do not have it, you should consider buying a lighter unit.
Heavier machines difficult to move can cause you serious injury if you try to move them by yourself and not to mention the damage that would be done to the machine itself in case it falls while you are trying to move it.
What about vibration?
In the above descriptions of various models, vibration was mentioned quite often, as it can cause some serious issues.
Those heavier mini mills vibrate less, thus resulting in better precision, unlike those which vibrate more and reduce the precision of the cuts you make.
When some demanding tasks is in question, even small vibrations can create a huge problem.
The consequences of strong vibrations can be that the edges of your cuts become curved in places, the depth at which you cut is altered, ununiform deepness is made
All in all, the tools with greater vibrations make milling harder.
So, we are advising you to take this feature as something serious when determining which mini mil to buy.
Is the size of a mini mill significant?
This is a characteristic of a mini mill which requires some discussion.
We want to draw you attention to three specifications that you should have in mind.
The first one is height of the mini mill.
When we say height we mean on the height of “spindle clearance”, that is the distance between the table and the spindle.
This height equals the maximum height of the object you will be able to work on plus the size of the cutting tool you use, so the conclusion is that the bigger the height is, the taller the object you plan to work on can be.
Another thing to consider is the size of the table.
It can be easily concluded that bigger tables enable you to work with bigger objects.
Furthermore, they make your clamping of smaller objects more secure as you have more surface area to work with.
The last important size number is the distance that the mini mill can move in the “x,” “y,” and “z” planes.
If this distance is greater, the bigger objects you can work on in a single session.
How powerful should a mini mill be?
How powerful your mini mill should be depends on the tasks you are planning to do.
You would not regret buying a mini mill with more power.
The majority of the above mentioned models are able to work with the same kinds of materials, but you will get better quality and less time consuming work if you choose the more powerful model.
First thing that would be better with the more powerful machine is the heat.
The good thing is that mini mills have built in thermal-emergency stops, meaning that once it gets overheated, it stops working to avoid damage and it would take an hour before a mini mill is cooled down enough to start working again.
So, for people working some heavy-duty tasks, a unit with more power is the only good choice.
The more powerful machines produce less heat, making them more efficient.
Furthermore, the heat causes damage on the mill and can degrade components over time which will make the lifespan of your mini mill quite shorter.
The more powerful mills are under less stress and its durability is prolonged.
Another advantage of a greater power tool is that it also saves you time, meaning that those units can complete the same tasks faster.
That way the life of the machine is longer and it will end up paying for itself for not so long period of time.
When it comes to power, what you have to know prior to purchase is the amount of work and type of work you will do with this machine.
You can regret buying a less powerful one, if you need it for heavy-duty tasks.
However, you will not regret buying a more powerful one, as you can always do a smaller project on a more powerful machine.
I think I got it, what are my options?
Being that purchasing a mini mill is not inexpensive and not easy at all, we have offered you all the details of each machine that we found significant to deliberate on before decision making.
Once you know what you want to do with the machine, it would be much easier to determine the right model for you.
The amount of work and materials that you will be working with would require certain quality and characteristics of mini mills.
For the bigger jobs you will need to have a more powerful mini mill.
If this buyer’s guide did not give you enough data related to mini mills, you can do your own research and take a look at the official websites of popular brands.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, we can just go through the most important facts related to the above mentioned mini mills and state once again that the JET JMD-18 350018 is the best of the best and the product you will not regret buying.
The power and precision of this tool, combined with the ability to work with large objects is what makes this tool number 1.
Another good machine to consider is the Grizzly G0704 with not as great at drilling as other models.
The Erie Tools ETD-SM-MILL is the best buy for money, as you get great features at the lower price.
The last two, the Klutch 2706S009 and the Proxxon 37110, are disappointing units, having problems with vibration and lacking many important features.
Now, that you have all the information, it is up to you which mini mill model you are going to purchase.
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