Best Lathe Mill Combos Reviewed
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Slow and steady wins the race are so true when it comes to woodturning or metal grinding.
You need to work with the utmost patience and care to give any workpiece the shape you desire.
The frustration comes when your hard work gets ruined because of the machinery not delivering accurate performance.
Buying a quality wood lathe can already be hard enough. But when it mixes with a milling machine, there are just too many options to check. So, check out the products below consisting best lathe mill combos in 2022 that will save you the time-
Best Lathe Mill Combos 2022 Reviews
1. WEN 33013 Benchtop Milling Machine
Coming with a smart design, the WEN 33013 Benchtop Milling Machine has many features and amenities to give you an all-around woodturning and metalworking experience. It has a compact design with parts that are easy to use.
Since you need to have different speeds for different applications, this lathe mill combo has two-speed settings. The low setting has a speed range of 100 to 1,100 RPM, while the high setting has 100 to 2,500 RPM. The machine's whole body is stable and made with cast iron to decrease the vibration as much as possible.
The size of this machine is 22 × 23.25 × 29.5 inches. It also has a footprint of 8.5 inches. The table is 18- 1/8 inches by 4- ¾ inches in size. It can move towards the x-axis up to 11- 13/16 inches and the y-axis up to 5- 1/8 inches. You can cut and workpiece at any angle you want by angling the head and column at 45 degrees.
You get an additional R8 taper and a handwheel. It has an emergency stop button for safety reasons.
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Cons
2. Proxxon 37110 Micro Mill MF 70
When you think all the wood lathe combos on the market are a bit bigger for your needs, the Proxxon 37110 Micro Mill MF 70 comes in front of you with a tiny size. However, the mill still offers as many features as a regular-sized mill to meet all your needs.
With some high-quality machine parts, the lathe mill combo has a unique feature: it works without noise and much vibration. It can prevent getting lathe chatters. Because of its compact yet smart design, you can work with your workpieces easily and make precise work out of them. It is suitable to be used both in your household and in the labs or mills.
You should mount it on a benchtop before working, but it is pretty lightweight, so that's an easy task. The parts of the machine are portable and can be adjusted based on what you want to do.
You get two additional wrenches in the package. It has six triple slits. To place your workpiece easily, there's a ruler. It provides you with a speed limit between 5,000 to 20,000 RPM. The table is 7-7/8 by 2-3/4 inches.
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3. Proxxon 34104 Lathe Mill Combo
This wood lathe combo, known as the Proxxon 34104 Mill, does not just look smart, but it works smart as well. It has a drill head of the accurate size that can offer a precise hole in your workpiece. Its knobs and buttons are easy to access.
You can work with many speed choices, including 280, 550, 870, 1200, 1500, and 2200 RPM. This mill features a column that is 1- 3/8 inches by 15 ¾ inches. It is easy to attach the mill to a lathe with the additional bolts and brackets. Once you attach them, the table of the mill replaces the upper slide of the lathe.
With a table of 4- 5/16 by 2- ¾ inches, you can have both x and y-axis traveling functions. Its table contains 3 T-slots of 12 by six by 6 millimeters. The mill can provide you with a quiet and accurate working time.
You get additional three collets that are 6, 8, and 10 millimeters in size. The item weighs only 17.75 pounds, so it is easy to carry on the benchtop. It was extremely loved by many consumers, who rated it so high.
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4. Roeam Versatile Mtetal Lathe & Miller for Wood Plastics
Do you want a product that delivers you a lot of amenities and utilities in just one machine? Then the Roeam Versatile Mtetal Lathe is just the item for you. It is not just a lathe or mill, but it is 6 machines, contained in one.
This epic styled lathe mill can provide your workplace with a wood lathe, grinder, metal lathe, miller, driller, and jigsaw. Running on a voltage of between 100 – 240 V, it requires electricity of 48 Watt. The powerful motor can provide you with a speed of up to 20,000 RPM, allowing you to work with all types and sizes of workpieces.
Suitable to be used in labs, schools, or homes, this excellent machinery was built with aluminum allow with ABS to prevent rust. Adjusting the parts of this machine is fun. It needs a US plug. Using this machinery combo, you can work with wood, soft metal, plastic, acrylic, or PCB.
The grinder and driller have operating space of 120 by 100 mm while the jigsaw has 90 by 90 mm. The wood and metal lathe have a process length of 135 mm. It has 1-6 mm miller collets and 0-35 mm vice clamps.
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5. Erie Tools Precision Bench Top Mini Metal Milling Lathe
While working with a low-end milling machine, you can't get the proper ratings and speeds required for your tasks. The Erie Precision Bench Top Mini Metal Milling Lathe offers some pretty good stats ideal for all wood or metal workers.
To let you place your workpiece easily, regardless of its size, the precision bench is 7 inches by 14 inches. This benchtop milling lathe offers you a high-speed of 2500 RPM, which is variable, granting you the ability to set the required speed that you want.
The knob is both rotational for left-handed threads. Since it is necessary to know the machine's stats, there is a digital readout that is so easy to view. The machine comes with five pieces of cutter kits. Erie Tools added both interior and outer chuck jaws to the milling lathe. It is possible to cut, drill, or turn your wooden or metallic workpieces with this product.
Offering an accurate result, the milling lathe has a thread indicator, which lets you set the thread between 12 to 52 TPI. It features both imperial and metric stats.
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6. Baileigh MLD-1030 Mill Drill Lathe
Coming up with a tiny size to easily fit your space, the Baileigh MLD-1030 Mill Drill Lathe has a good speed limit with less vibration and noise. Your work will be much smoother when you are using this machine in your workplace.
As you may want to have the best outcome from your wood or griding metal projects, it has a variable speed that ranges from 50 to 2000. Lower speeds are for woods, and higher speeds are for soft metals. You need to provide the machinery with a voltage of 120 V. It contains a thread of 8 – 56 TPI. With a distance of 29.5 inches between its centers, you can work on pretty long workpieces too.
Baileigh added 2 inches sized spindle stroke to the machine to make it hold the spindles firmly. This lathe milling combo comes with a readout that shows the readings digitally. As a result, you can make your workpieces much sharper and smoother.
It is a metal and wooden lathe, drill, and mill together, so you won't need to buy extra machinery for your tasks. This product is a great item to add to your workplace.
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7. CJC Multi-function Mini Lathe Drilling Milling Machine
Now we have a classically designed machine that not only is a lathe, but it excels at drilling and milling as well. We are talking about the CJC Multi-function Mini Lathe Drilling Milling Machine. This one has so many necessary parts, while its stats are pretty impressive.
Tiny in size, this lathe mill combo can do many tasks that include drilling, turning, milling, grinding, cutting, etc. With the required electricity of 150 Watt, you should deliver a voltage of 220 V with 50 Hz. Since it has a variable speed that ranges between 560 to 2500 RPM, you get several options. Meanwhile, the imperial thread that comes along has a range of 0.0028 to 0.0055 1/n inches. Its motor does not have any brush.
The tough stainless-steel body ensures long-lasting usage. It takes less energy to run while producing less vibration, noise, and no sparks. You can attach the spindle in both rotations to have quick work. The tailstock of the spindle can travel up to 18 mm.
The package includes tailstock taper, MT1 spindle nose, and MT1 tailstock spindle. It can drill up to 6 mm in diameter.
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How to Pick Lathe Mill Combo
Machinery used for woodturning and metal grinding comes with so many options that sometimes it becomes hard to go through them all. When it is like a combo of two or three machines, such as wood lathe and milling, it becomes even more hassle.
To get rid of them, you can make a list of some of the items that feel promising at first and check whether they have the required stats and qualities in them. You can use the list of products reviewed above as well. Have a look at the qualities that must be included in the perfect lathe mill combo:
Size
Depending on your space and workpieces, you can select the size of the lathe mill combo. A tiny one can fit in most places. But they normally cannot produce enough strength for heavy-duty works like working with anything harder than aluminum. Most of them are for soft metals like gold or copper.
Meanwhile, the big and bulky ones are much sturdier. Their bodies are tough. They can tackle a large energy limit without damaging themselves. But they are heavy and takes much space in your workplace. Decide your mind.
DRO
The DRO or digital readout is an amazing addition to your lathe mill combo. Many of the products come with them being installed, while you need to buy them separately for some. It should also have a proper manual to install the DRO. There should be required conditions to install a DRO.
DRO-XYZ PCD
Your lathe milling combo should have proper features to let you install the DRO to all of the axes, that includes X, Y, and Z. By doing this, the DRO will allow its user to turn a motor on that moves the table itself. Since you are not doing it yourself, your hand will be free while the work will be much more precise. Having a DRO set up can turn your work so quickly too.
Power
The power of the lathe mill motor is measured by HP. Much hp costs you more. But with that being said, you may need a proper power rating for certain hard metals like steel.
However, the experts sometimes don't care about the HP as long as it is over 1 HP. It is because you can still get enough speed and torque using the machine's built-in methods for literally any metals. So it comes to your preference.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Install DRO on Smithy Granite Combo Lathe Mill Drill?
X-axis installation-Start by mounting the gooseneck using the hole in the machine provided for the reason. If there aren't any, make the two holes. Be sure that the gooseneck is pointing towards the machine. Mount the plate near the base and anchor the encoder on the motor mount.
Are Smithy Lathes Any Good?
Well, the lathes from Smithy were seen to deliver some pretty amazing outcomes. Many expert woodturners were seen using their products. However, some minor complaints about not having proper instructions or the holes for installation and mounting are not drilled enough.
Final Note
One thing you may have noticed that some of the products reviewed above aren't just a combo between lathe and mill, but they come with many different features. There are drilling, grinding, jigsaw, and other types too.
Now, you may or may not need all of them. When it comes to buying combo machinery, you should keep in mind the types of combos that you want in them. Because you will be surprised by a lot of different combo varieties.
As you find one that has all your desired machine combined into one, check that one out. You still will need to check its qualities and facilities, though.
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Last Updated on 1 year by Richard Boyer