Should You Buy A Cheap Mini Milling Machine? (Sieg X2.7L In-depth Review)

G'day everyone,

Today I am going to be giving my thoughts on my Mini Mill that I have been using for almost half a year now. I bought it near the end of May 2021 and I have used it almost every day, making many little projects and lathe upgrades, many I have shared here on he channel.

Having used long enough, I now feel comfortable sharing my experience with this mini milling machine. Ill go through its specs, capabilities and quirks, as well as the pros and cons that I have run into. I will also try and give an assessment to the question, is an import mill like this worth it. I will also try and compare this mill to the more popular, but smaller Sieg X2 and SX2 variants, and detail why I chose this mill over those.

They are a large investment and still run the risk of quality issues. I hope you find this video useful.

Cheers.

Mill: Sieg X2.7L
Lathe : Sieg C3 7x14 Mini lathe

#mill #millingmachine #minimill

Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
0:49 - Why I Bought A Mill
1:35 - Dimensions and Work Area
4:33 - Costs
5:53 - What You Get With The Mill
9:04 - Quality And Quality Issues
11:56 - Spindle, Morse Taper And Drawbar
15:10 - Quill And DRO
17:07 - Motor And Spindle Belt Drive
17:53 - Solid And Tilting Column
18:50 - Control Panel
19:34 - Mill Table And T - Slots
21:58 - Dial, Handwheel And Leadscrew
24:32 - Way Cover
25:00 - Table Drainage Port
25:23 - Milling Performance
27:28 - Was It Worth It? - Conclusion

[StuffMadeHere]

Even if you can find a way to clamp an end mill in the drill chuck I've always been told that milling with a drill chuck is a big no-no. The reason being that the drill chuck is only designed to push straight down. The drill chuck is usually only held on by a taper so can go flying off (or develop runout) if you apply side force to it.

[klubbohimself]

This video is the reason why a 124 kg crate was dumped by DHL outside my house yesterday. I live on the floor above ground level. My arms hate you...

Apart from that, thanks for a super nice channel!

[TomCourtney]

This is by far the best review of the Sieg x2.7L mill that is on YouTube. Thank you for putting in the time to make it. Well done!

[artisanmakes]

A bit of a long one today, been in the making for a while. I hope you find this video useful and enjoy it. Cheers

[Dane]

Do consider the used market in your area. I was able to find a used 1980 Bridgeport model 1 for $500 within 10 miles from my home. This price isn't typical here in Florida and it did need some cleaning and adjusting but I'm glad I found it. I've found that many retired machinists are more concerned with finding a good home for the machines they can no longer use than how much money they will get for it.

[DaveGagliardi]

Cheers from a yankee. Please keep us updated on this mill, and if you decide to do the upgrades to make it more rigid as you mentioned, please consider doing as detailed video there as you did here with your excellent review. Can't say how much it is appreciated that you took your time and expertise to share with the world your experiences here.

[rickpalechuk]

Probably one of the best reviews out there!
Thanks for sharing,
Cheers

[toxolite]

One of the very best reviews I have encountered. So much better than any of the manufacturer or affiliated ones I have seen for benchtop mills. Thank you very much.

[georgescarlett]

Wow, mate!! Excellent "Meat and Potatoes" review, thanx so much. I've owned the Little Machine Shop's Sieg Mini Lathe for about 4 years now, and other than the "WIMPY" slop in the Crossslide movement, (the Allen Gib Screws that you point out) it's been a great little helper. God bless!

[catherineharris]

Wow this has to be the most in-depth review I've seen in a long time. Damn great job!👍👍👍👍👍

[motionsick]

I found one at a pawn shop way back and it definitely helped kick start my career making robotic components. Before that it was a drill press and angle grinder. Great learning tool as good as taking any college course. Buy one and start making stuff. I have a Bridgeport now and still have and use all my R8 tooling first bought for the mini.

[howardosborne]

The Sieg mills are pretty good for quality and build. You will find a noticeable improvement in your rigidity if you bed the shimmed column joint on a metalised epoxy compound. Leave the shims in place when you bolt it back down tight after adding epoxy bedding compound.

[onestevo]

I had the x2. found it to small, under powered and not ridged enough. looks like your mill is a huge step up from the x2. great video

[tedbastwock]

This and your 2 year lathe review are really fantastic, subd, thanks for sharing

[robertwalker]

Well done, I have a 30 year old Busy Bee bench top mill, lots of people ridicule these smaller machines but the do great work within their capacity. I use MT3 collets now and it makes a huge difference in rigidity and clearance compared to the Clarke/Posi lock holder that I started with. Ausee tools has a good range. Thanks for posting.

[trashes_to_treasures]

You make my day today! I’m at home super sick, close to a non-Workshop depression. So, your video comes in just right ✌️☺️

[Willy_Milano]

What a wonderful review. Very concise and easy to follow details for any beginner enthusiast, and probably for more experienced users.

[larryschweitzer]

Well done video. I have a Jet knee mill with an R8 collet. Works fine. In addition to the greater travels you get a ram to increase the usable Y, a rotating column that can increase the area covered or allow hanging work off the side of the table and a tilting head that can go full 90° sideways for horizontal boring. There is a key in the spindle that prevents rotation of the collet. Changing collets is simple, just rotate the draw bar one turn and give it a tap, it frees the tool.

The biggest limitation for travels is in the Z. Everything you add to the spindle or table takes away Z travel. A vice & drill chuck just to start. If you add a boring head, rotary table or adjustable angle plate even more is lost. For most drilling I use screw machine drill bits. Their short length makes them much stiffer and less likely to flex. I've got two Taiwan machines and one mainland China. The Taiwan machines are considerably better made.

[jeffreyhill]

I'm lucky enough to have a step father who is in charge of procurement for the tool and die shop at a "large aviation company" building near where we live. I have gotten a Monarch 612 and a 14, 3 Bridgeports (2 clones 1 original) a shaper a CNC lathe and mill and my 2 favorite pieces by far first the Sharp surface grinder (that sells it so far short) it retailed for $85k USD I got it because it was being phased out for $12k USD, because God forbid you take the time to sell a machine through a typical 2nd hand method. This type of stuff has allowed me to teach my two 14 year old daughters how to fabricate you in case their modeling careers fall through and their dance never gets to a professional level or they don't make it as YouTube stars. Also I'm hoping the machine oil smell will keep the boys away and the day it doesn't is the day we have a chat with the boy about his intentions as he is either "good stock" and looks past the smells and grease monkey looks or he is a fellow chip maker and I may need to either kick his ass or invite him back to the shop

[markfryer]

No need to apologise for the length of this video, I don't think that you could do a decent review in a shorter video and this went quickly.
Good and fair review Artisan! Six months of daily work use equates to heck of a lot of machine time over what average hobbyists are ever likely to achieve.
If I were to get one, it would be to add to my skill set and my capabilities in steel, aluminium and plastic. I will have to put it on my wish list!
Keep up the good work!
Mark from Melbourne Australia