Posted: 1/21/2026 4:18:41 PM EDT
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Hey all, I'm looking for recommendations on a new production hobby mill. I'd love to rescue an old machine one day, but they are so few and far between, that I'm just looking at primarily a precision matthews machine. I've looked at mills off and on for years, but every time I do, i start to "creep" a bit in size and cost and just kind of lose interest. Primarily, i want to build form 1 suppressors, and hobby gun projects. Maybe mill glocks for red dots? I watched clough 42 get a pm mill, convert it to cnc, and get a bigger knee mill. I wouldn't hate it if that happedned to me. I have plenty of shop space, but who knows what will happen. How big should I get without getting too carried away? ~$6k with some beginner tooling/vice/etc would be ideal, but I know thats is pretty limited for new. Thats where creeping up in size always gets me. |
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Originally Posted By User55645: I made silencers for years with just a lathe. This is gonna be my 9th year owning a PM25V from new and it's doing great. Can you use a VFD, instead of needing a phase convertor? Good to hear. The 25 seems very popular, and I typically like to go for the machine with good parts availability. The lathe is a big old turret lathe, with a 10hp motor, so I'd need a 15hp vfd which is not looking cheap or common. I might still opt for a PM lathe. The turret lathe does not have threading capability anyway, so kind of a horse a piece. |
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Originally Posted By SteveJobs: Good to hear. The 25 seems very popular, and I typically like to go for the machine with good parts availability. The lathe is a big old turret lathe, with a 10hp motor, so I'd need a 15hp vfd which is not looking cheap or common. I might still opt for a PM lathe. The turret lathe does not have threading capability anyway, so kind of a horse a piece. You want a 20HP rotary phase converter. A static phase converter isn't a phase converter. It just discharges a capacitor for long enough to start the motor then the 3rd phase drops out and you only get 2/3 power. You want 2x the HP in the idler motor than the largest motor you want to start. For $6k you can get a used Bridgeport Series 1 in good condition. I paid $3400 for my Series 1 HD. I had originally considered a PM machine. Had room for a Series 1 and went for it. |
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I have the PM-728VT mill and the 1340GT lathe. No ragrets. Obviously, bigger is always better when it comes to machine tools. Just get the biggest one you can afford and/or have room for. I went with the "ultra precision" versions from PM. They have upgrades like hardened gears. That lets PM offer a 5 year instead of 3 year warranty on them, as well as the upgraded bearings and shit. |
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You can't go wrong with PM and like you said you can always convert it to CNC later. There are a few conversion kits out there. If you think you might want to do something like this later then look now at what kits are out there and chose a mill from that. Just don't let it lead you to getting too small of a mill. The 728 and 940 series are the most popular. Get at least a V model for continuous variable speed. T models are ultra precision $$. PDF is power down feed and is nice but optional feature. |
Tennessee Squire
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I was where you are(?) a while back. Well, I worked my way up to where you are from those cheap hobby routers on Craigslist, but i digress... My target was a PM30, but I stumbled on a PM25 before I got enough money together for it. The 25 is working well for 80% lowers and a few random little things. I'd like the extra power of the 30, or size of a newer PM model, but this is doing what I need so far. I'm not exactly sure how you'd do an F1 can outside of cutting the voids into a monocore. Can you share your plan/thoughts on a mill-friendly design? |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman