mini-mill.com  

Welcome to Mini-mill.com, your information resource for the small,  low-cost millng machines for home workshop use. The site is intended primarily to help new and prospective owners to evaluate, set up, maintain and operate these tools.  This is a companion site to www.mini-lathe.com which provides similar information for the mini-lathes.

While these machines are small in size, with proper adjustment and techniques they can make a wide range of very useful and reasonably precise components that would be difficult or impossible to make by any other means. The mill is an excellent compliment to a lathe, for making things that cannot be made on a lathe. Because lathes are capable mainly of making shapes based on cylinders, a mill is needed for making other parts that are based on cubical shapes rather than cylindrical shapes. With a lathe and a mill together, you can make just about anything you might need in the way of small precision parts. Neither machine though, is very good at making free-form asymmetrical shapes.

If you are a model maker, experimenter or someone who needs to fabricate parts to supplement another hobby such as astronomy or RC car racing, you will find the mini-mill to be a welcome addition to your shop.

Variations of these machines are currently sold by Harbor Freight, Grizzly and Micro-Mark. Homier, has indicated that they may offer them in the future. They are priced at around $500-$600 in most cases, but shipping costs and accessories included vary by vendor. You can compare the various models on the Versions page.

If you are not famililar with milling machines and operations, check out the Introduction page. On the Features page you will find a detailed description of the Grizzly mini-mill, most of which also pertains to the models sold by the other vendors. On the Setup page you will find information on setting up the mill for initial operation.  Be sure the read the Safety page for important safety tips.

These mini-mills have a lot of potential but also have some shortcomings that you should be aware of before you decide to buy one - see the Features page for more information.  The 7x10 interest group, began as a discussion forum for the mini-lathe, but there is also much discussion, support and project information related to the mini-mill. This group is made up of a very knowledgable and experienced group of guys (and one outstanding craftswoman) who are always ready to welcome and help newcomers. Check the Home Shops and Mini-Mill links on my Links page and you will find lots of great tips from other mini mill owners.