What is the Total Cost of Conversion (Excluding the Mill)

[dazp1976]

I wouldn't spend £2k on a manual machine like the Amadeal or any other Chinese-based machine because it's like building on quicksand.? Like any good structure, the foundation is everything and if this is poor the whole thing is a pointless exercise that quickly becomes a money pit that is difficult to get out of without blowing lots of cash.
If you need a small mill then look for a good second-hand Denford or Boxford that has good quality bases and components.
However, £3.5K isn't enough to do this properly even if you go with the Chinese manual route. My advice is to save your money, add more to it and look for some old iron.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175030848...waAoMFEALw_wcB

3 phase though. Can't use it without ripping elecs out first and replacing spindle motor. Not a fan of that style Bport.
Seemed risky to me in case I didn't have the skills to build the mechanics.
Now, if I could've got a blown out Haas mini mill type thing that may have been a different story!.

TBH I started with getting to grips with cad/cam side of things before touching anything else (inhereted pc).
If you can't get your head round that then there's no point getting a machine to mess with.

I'm doing mine as a hobby just to see if I could.

Other than that, Jazz has a valid point. But it's all about your budget in the end.

And just to add, the Amadeal isn't a bad machine afaic.
My 25 isn't anyway. Quill style spindle lets it down imo. Handy for drilling but I wouldn't push it too hard.
Slower and deeper seems to give less vibration than faster and shallow. Has the torque to do it too.
Castings did need some minor tweeking but the carriage and table were straight.