Thread: Mill/Drill under $1k, waste of money?

Yup, waste of money. That is a glorified drill press. not a mill.

Look for 2nd hand mills. You want something weighing at least 2 to 3 times that, with a beefy motor and as rigid as possible.

Round column mills are not optimal (I have one ). If you can, try to get one with a dovetail column.

Whatever you get, expect to spend at least as much on tooling, and the same again on measuring equipment.

Parallels, clamps, v-blocks, drills, end mills, center drills, counter bores, the list goes on...

If you can find a 2nd hand machine that includes some basic tooling and measuring equipment, you are off to the races.