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Where to buy milling machine in Saskatchewan

M

Megar arc 5040dd

Super User
I am looking to buy a new mill and am struggling to find where I can get one from in Canada. More specifically I am in Saskatoon and looking for something similar in size or slightly larger than the craftex CX601 sold buy busy bee tools. I am looking for any other options out there other than busy bee tools if that is possible. I do travel to Calgary a couple times a year. So if there is nowhere in Saskatchewan that sells these types of machine then Calgary or Edmonton are options if someone knows of somewhere there that sells them. Grizzly and Precision Mathews are not options as I don't want to order from the US to avoid a shipping and duties. Every Dollar I can save on duties and shipping is more I can spend on the actual milling machine.

Thank you for any suggestion.
 
Have you been to Modern Tool in Saskatoon? Plenty of folks on forum have bought machines from Modern. They deliver 'in town' for free, at least that's how it's done in Calgary. They have a Chinese RF-45 style of mill.

Modern Tool Ltd.

Find CNC Lathes, Manual Lathes, Ironworkers, Saws, CNC Milling Machining Centers and other equipment for sale at Modern Tool Ltd.
www.moderntool.com
 
Great Western Saw has a limited amount of mills and lathes and a location is Saskatoon
I was at a demo in Regina last month and one of the partners admitted he knows diddly squat about woodworking but is a Red Seal machinist and was starting to bring more of the metalworking side to the business.
 
Doggggboy said:
Great Western Saw has a limited amount of mills and lathes and a location is Saskatoon
I was at a demo in Regina last month and one of the partners admitted he knows diddly squat about woodworking but is a Red Seal machinist and was starting to bring more of the metalworking side to the business.
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I saw that they have some. The only problem is They have a size smaller that what I would like and then I jumps up to a very expensive gear head machine that is out of my price range. From what I can tell King Canada doesn't have a size in between other than possibly a round column. I emailed Modern tools to see if they sell any that are smaller that the one on their website. Sadly I think a 508kg mill might be a bit of a pain to disassemble and move into my shop not to mention I am sure that something that heavily built is out of my hobby budget.
 
John Conroy said:
I bought a new mill from Precision Matthew's in Pittsburgh last year. Price including shipping was less than anyone in Canada for a comparable machine. They are very customer oriented.
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And I bought John's old Ferro mill.
He also was very customer oriented. 5 stars. Would recommend:D
What I am getting at is the members of the forum are a great resource for used equipment that you can be pretty sure are not trying to get a leg over on you.
 
I will contact Precision Mathews though. From what I have read they sell a bit more of a premium product and may be out of my price range but I will check them out just to make sure I have covered all my options.

Thank you all for you prompt replies. This forum seems very welcoming.
 
I emailed Precision Mathews about a few of their machines. Fingers crossed that shipping and duty won't be an insanely ridiculously high amount.
 
Don't know your requirements or budget but this is the new version of the mill I have.

Results Page 1 :: KBC Tools & Machinery

www.kbctools.ca www.kbctools.ca

So far it's done everything I need and the belts aren't that big a deal. If they become an issue I'll buy a VFD and 3ph motor for it. In 3 years mine is the only one of these I've seen come up for sale so our market is about the same as yours.

All the best in your search and decision.
 
YotaBota said:
Don't know your requirements or budget but this is the new version of the mill I have.

Results Page 1 :: KBC Tools & Machinery

www.kbctools.ca www.kbctools.ca

So far it's done everything I need and the belts aren't that big a deal. If they become an issue I'll buy a VFD and 3ph motor for it. In 3 years mine is the only one of these I've seen come up for sale so our market is about the same as yours.

All the best in your search and decision.
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Busy bee has a similar one I looked at. I would love something like that but the weight and price are an issue. My shop is a 16x24 shed behind my house. Its a wood floor and sadly the machining end of the shop is 18" above the ground. When I designed the shop I didn't realize the yard sloped that much. It also only has french doors and no bay door with about 50 feet of lawn between the shop doors and the back gate to the alley. So all my machines have had to be taken apart and manhadled into the shop piece by piece and put back together. Maybe one day I will post some pictures of the shop and how the one end is supported. It's super strong but it's no cement slab so there is some flex.
 
Precision Mathews got back to me first thing this morning. I was very impressed with how fast they replied. I asked about shipping and duty and fees for 4 models. PM-30MV, PM-727V, PM-932M, and PM-932V, They said for lift gate delivery to my house would be $600 and if I want them to clear customs they will add 5% gst and $95 brokerage fee. Those prices are I assume USD. Seeing as I was originally looking at busy bee tools prices I didn't think the PM prices were to bad given that they seem to be a better finished machine.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these models PM-30MV, PM-727V, PM-932M, and PM-932V? Is there one that is better or one I should avoid?
 
Megar arc 5040dd said:
Seeing as I was originally looking at busy bee tools prices I didn't think the PM prices were to bad given that they seem to be a better finished machine.
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I don't have first hand experience with PM machines but do with various Craftex machines and I believe the finish and quality of the two brands are very similar. It appears sometimes there might be some differences in electrical components but not always. Customer service and after sale service appears to be dramatically different between the two, with PM being the winner.
 
My first mill was a PM932PDF
Same as the M but with power down feed. It was a very good machine
No problems in the 3 years I had. PM offers 3 yr warranty ( 5 on Taiwanese machines) as well. Everyone else is 1 year.
 
John Conroy said:
PM offers 3 yr warranty ( 5 on Taiwanese machines) as well. Everyone else is 1 year
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Busybee is or at least was 3 year warranty as well however that warrantee meant they would order the defective part in on a slow boat from China and you do the repair yourself.
 
I had put a deposit on the CX601 from busy bee in Calgary about 3 weeks ago or so. They were on sale for $400 off plus a free stand they sell for $375. I figured is was worth it at almost $800 off. They didn't have any stands in stock but were supposed to get some in by the time I would be out there. I stopped in before heading back to Saskatoon this past Monday to see it in person and make sure it was what I wanted since I had never actually laid hands on it before. Well as my luck goes the stand was not yet in. They had told me when I put the deposit down that they could ship the stand to me for $245. I asked what they could do for me since the stand wasn't in and now wasn't going to be in for at least another week. The manager said she would call head office and see how much the stand actually weighs because the inflate the weights on things they don't want to ship and that it might actually be light enough for free shipping. She then comes back and says its light enough for free shipping but was recommended not to ship it because it is only wrapped in cardboard and wouldn't survive shipping. While I was blown away that she both admitted they lie to their customers and was a little suspicious why they would have no problem shipping it if I paid $245. It wasn't seeming like nearly as good of a deal as before but $400 off is still better that regular price so me and the wife decided if they were willing to knock anything off since I wouldn't be getting the free stand. The manager called head office again to see and they said no. I would have even been happy if they knocked off $100 given I was supposed to be getting a free $375 stand. So with that I told them I was no longer interested in the mill and got my deposit back. I did however by a 12"x18" surface plate while I was there so not a total loss.

I was a little shocked at how the manager had no authority to decide anything and had to contact head office for everything. I can't imagine they would be much fun to deal with for something like warranty. They have a nice selection of smaller mills but once you get up to the CX601 the only larger one is a knee mill that is considerably larger and more expensive. It look like PM has a decednt selection of mills the same size and lager.

Not saying I won't end up with the CX601 eventually but the PM-932 is looking pretty nice.

The PM-932M only has a max speed of 1970 rpm do most people find that to be fast enough or is it worth about $700 cdn to get the PM-932V with a max speed of 3200 rpm?
 
I didnt know BB offered 3 years when I bought my last mill from PM I compared it to offerings from Modern Tools and KBC. Both of them offered 1 year.
 
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