Harbor Freight Mini Milling Machine

Harbor Freight Mini Mill. Overview and milling slotting demonstration

[Oscar-gxyf]

I love how you immediately went straight for the heaviest cut you could take with material and endmill you had. Thumbs up!

[josephcrowshaw]

This video popped up in my feed at a good time, thank you for making and posting it. I have a South Bend Lathe and an old Taiwan made mini lathe, and have been looking at getting a milling machine. I was a machinist years ago, and ran Bridgeports, engine lates, turret lathes, CNC lathes and whatever paid the bills. Your video showed what the machine can do, and what to expect. It will fit in my garage or basement easily, and I'm up to the task of upgrading it as needed. The comments section is brutal, I guess some people just can't let you be. Thanks again, Joe.

[eStrangeSun]

Thanks for the video. I get so sick and tired of people commenting on these types of videos how a Bridgeport would be better, or you need a much higher grade model for this and that. That is a given! But not everyone can afford a higher end model. Sure, if you buy it for me I will take it! I would rather spend $400 and learn to do some things than to spend $2000 and do more. Purists, give us a break!! Hobbyist means exactly that...hobbyist!

[shawnlund]

Loosen the drawbar only a turn or two and then use your hammer to tap the collet loose, then you won't be damaging the ends of your threads plus there is no chance the collet or endmill holder will drop out and hit the table.

[inuyashacoolieo]

If you leave the drawbar threaded into the collet and just loosen it a bit, you can tap the drawbar to break the taper free, then you just finish unthreading the drawbar and the chuck/collet will drop free. This will prevent the threads from peening over.

[jtjjbannie]

When removing the chuck/collet, I found it good practice to unscrew the drawbar just a couple turns and then tap it. This keeps a large amount of the threads (surface area) in the chuck/collet and then unscrew the rest of the way. This way you'll never strip/bend the tip of the drawbar.

[RickRose]

This might already have been said below, but just in case, here goes: End mill holders are sized just like collets. So if you get a variety of sizes of end mills (the shaft size, not the cutting diameter), you will have to have a variety of sizes of either collets or end mill holders. The advantage of the end mill holders over the collets, from what I've heard, is that IF your end mill has a flat (not all do) then the holder is less susceptible to slippage than a collet. So far, I've only collected collets, so I can't speak from experience on the comparison. Great demo of this little machine. Right now, I have a Bridgeport, but if I need to downsize someday I'll be looking at these guys with great interest.

[Shakes]

They do make a belt/pulley conversion that replaces all the plastic gears. Much quieter and no worry of breaking gears.
Ive been doing my homework on this been thinking of one for myself. Thanks for the vid it looks like it will serve me well for what I will be doing.
Take Care.

[davidpencyldyke]

About removing the tapered chuck/collet. Why don't you merely loosen the securing bolt a turn or two then tap it loose. Then you will never screw up the threads.

[evilcowboy]

Great to see it in action. I was considering buying one of these to build small gun parts or pistol frames. Seems it would work well for that purpose being a pistol frame would be the most complex thing. Was making them for personal use and not on a wide scale. I also have certain times I need a small engine part that may be difficult to find but this would allow me to mill a custom one from scratch.

Thanks for the video it helped a lot.

I will be converting mine to CNC.

Oh and use a cutting oil next time it will save you tons in milling ends.

[MrBriggs]

I watched both, your lathe video and this one on the milling. Just wanted to say Thanks, , I'm really thinking about both of these for my hobby shop.
With all of the things i've purchased in the past from HF these two looks to fit the bill.
Once again thanks for the video.

[AnthonyMassey]

Wow Perfect to finish 80% Lowers!! Great video. thanks

[thevacuumtubejunky]

Great demonstration. Not a bad little mIll for tinkering with small parts. I like it, going to look into one.
Kind regards, Eric Dee

[turboz]

Perfectly made video. Informative, to the point and, explains each part/tool/prices. Thank you.

[Name-psfx]

Wow, pretty freakin’ awesome! Plenty of horsepower and accuracy for my needs, and for $400-$500?! SOLD!

[RX-LST-N-SPC]

Thx for gettin back to me i am goin with the bridgeport, I know i can get a cnc put on that and it will take the load i give it. Thx again my friend Michael

[danmoreton]

Good video. I purchased this machine last year as an entry model. It was well below the price of other machines. $400. VS 7 or $800. is a big difference for a hobby machinist. Accessories for this machine are easy to obtain on ebay and elsewhere. In addition, companies such as Little Machine Shop have products like the air shock to stop the head from dropping unexpectedly ($80.) or the pulley drive, ($150.) to make the machine run more quietly and save you from broken gears which will happen sooner or later. With the notion of purchasing a machine that is initially less expensive and upgrading if I want to in the future when I can afford to spend more on an incremental basis later this machine is a good way to get into milling. In the end, you have to ask yourself can I live with some quirks from a machine that costs way less than the competition? Probably. One feature you can not readily do with other machines is the return policy. If you get it home and it is not working properly just bring it back within 90 days for a new machine no questions asked and get a new machine. Not an easy exchange with many other companies.

[Wetside_sharkin]

Thanks I’ve never used one before but I want to start modifying old fishing reels with slots and was looking at this machine and found your video👍🏻

[billfleming]

An excellent little machine is capable of a lot of jobs. One downside is the plastic sacrificial gears. They do make a steel replacement and I would suggest a set is kept handy.

[thegoodearth]

If I had a dime for every time someone in the comments here repeated the same exact thing about just loosening the screw and bumping the collet; well, I could probably go out and buy a new Bridgeport tomorrow, lol.

Do people not read before they write?