Came across two neat little mills in the last week that I wanted to share.  It’s intriguing that they’re so similar in size.  I’ll also put my likes and dislikes down.

This Mill is Nomadic and Likes to Be Moved

Prototrak has this neat little 2nd op mill that is so easy to move it actually comes with a pallet jack to encourage dragging it around the shop:

I’m really curious what this little guy costs.

Likes:

–  Easy to move with included Pallet Jack

–  Table comes with pre-installed Jergens ball locks so you can move fixture plates on and off quickly and easily.

–  8-station Toolchanger

–  3 HP BT30 spindle

–  Decent work envelope relative to footprint on shop floor:  14” x 12” x 17”

–  Nice conversational control and “real” handwheels that Prototrak does so well.

–  2400 lbs: it’s solid for a machine this size.

Dislikes:

–  Only 5000 rpm on spindle.  Darn.  Needs 8K.

–  Bet it’s not cheap.

This is Dave De Caussin’s Mill:  A Baby Fadal

Dave was one of the Founders of Fadal and he is back with a new little milling machine and a new company:  Fadec Engineering.  Here is his UMC-10:

It’s fascinating to compare these two mills.  The ‘Trak packs more work envelope into a much smaller footprint.

Likes:

– Dave designed it.

–  At $22K, I bet it’s a lot cheaper than the Prototrak.  Online boards put the Trak 2Op in the low 30’s price range.

– 3 HP 6500 rpm spindle.  Faster than the ‘Trak, same HP.

–  8 station toolchanger, just like the Trak.  Interesting how the Trak’s works in the video.  That accounts for some of the Footprint efficiency, I expect.

Dislikes:

–  Work envelope smaller than Trak at 14″ x 8″ x 8.5″–quite a bit more Y and Z on the Trak.

–  Proprietary taper and toolholders based on a radical modification of the R8.  The BT30 holders used by the Trak are beefier and easily obtained from many sources.