I have a chance to get a used JET JMD-15 mill/drill for $450. Anyone had experience with this one? I have never used mill and have no idea what to check for on a used one. Any input would be grately appreciated.

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Thanks.

That looks a lot like the ENCO unit I got used. I use it alot in my knife work. I do not believe a real machinest would like the tolerances but it does what I need. A good vise is over a $100, milling cutters are pricey delpending what you want to cut, you will also need collets of the correct size for the cutters.etc etc etc. Without some tooling you can use it for a drill press.....I know that is not that funny.

This looks like a catalog picture with out tooling.

I have never used one so I can not comment to much.

However what tooling comes with it?
Vice
Collets
Mill cutters
hold down clamps
fly cutter
etc etc

You can pile up a lot of money in tooling maybe even more than the $450 for the mill.

Hoever I would be tempted to look at it.

Look for slop, in the bed, the cross slide, spindle and arbor, the precision down feed system etc, etc,

Ask to take some trial cuts. Be careful, do not climb mill. That is feed the steel in the same direction that the cutter is turning. Feed the steel into the opposite direction of the cutter.

HF sells one everyday for about that money....it would be a fun toy

Thanks for the input.

I would not rank Jet and harbor Frieght in the same level of quality.

Jet is consistantly higher quality than HF IMHO

Also make certain that they are both the same size (travel) and that they have a R-3 taper and similar specs.

Keep in mind that the HF unit has no power feeds. I have a shoptask eldorodo they are more bucks but can even be set up as CNC check it out