WEN 33013 4.5A Variable Speed Single Phase Compact Benchtop Milling Machine with R8 Taper

Had this now 4 months, heres the good and bad from a noviceGood;although not a bridgeport, it is fairly ridgidX and Y backlash not terribleR8 collets inexpensive and plentifulenough swing to do everything i've asked it to.powerful enough to do real millingBad;Z backlash IS terrible. the fine adjust is essentially a tick-box feature, as there is almost a full turn of backlash.Z Stopper needs to be locked up TIGHT or will move when operating the z via the handlesX and Y handles squeek and make noise every turn that i cannot find where to oil my way out of.Drilling head is super tall and uses most of your swing.clear safety panel is always in the wrong place and getting in the way no matter how it is set.lock levers constantly "in the way" - e.g. cant turn because the vise blocks the path of the lever, or z lever interferes with the z stopper lever.no DROno collets included - buy your own set.overall i'm happy with it, you arent going to get a bridgeport for the this type of cost, so having a reasonable expectation of what the machine can do it really does do a lot in a small and inexpensive platform.you are going to want to bolt this thing down, and learn to take your time. lots of good mill bits on amazon.

I bought Mini Mill Belt Drive Conversion Kit by LittleMachineShop.com when I bought the mill but didn't install it right away. I ended up installing it in a rush a mouth later when the gear drive failed. Install it right away and avoid the panic. Great homeowner mill after conversion.

The media could not be loaded. UPDATE: couple months in an loving the mill but have to admit I do wish I would have gotten bigger but that doesn’t mean this machine isn’t capable cause it is but it’s limit is it’s size for a lot of the work I’ve tried to do with the machine a 6 to 8 inch wide table on the y axis would be ideal for me but even with the smaller table size it’s actually bigger than other mini mills like the sieg x2. The wen comes with the upgraded base so it’s larger by a couple inches than the other machines that looked identical. U can tell if the table has a end cap on both ends then it’s more than likely the larger table if it only has the cover on the end with the crank handle then it’s one of the smaller tables so I’m so glade I went with the wen over the sieg and lms machines just for that. Have used half inch 4 flute carbid endmills half inch HSS roughing endmills 1.5 inch facing endmill or shell endmill an a 2.5 inch fly cutter an everything seems to work perfect with the machine. I’ve added the cheap dro an that made it a new machine but my biggest concern was the max capacity of the tools it can use. I have collets that go all the way to a 7/8 so close to an inch but have used anything that large an when reading the facing or shell endmill im using is already bigger than it suggest but it’s worked fine no issue an I was actually planning on going back an getting a 3inch but I learned it’s max is suppose to be 1 1/8 for facing endmills and the flycutter I’ve been using is 2.5 inch an it works too but it doesn’t leave the best finish but I think that due to the tool I have in it an not it’s size but I’ve not been able to find anything related to the it’s max capacity for the flycutter. What is the rest using with them an did I go to big for the flycutter and facing endmill or can I go ahead an get the bigger facing endmill without worry. Since it’s worked so well with the flycutter i feel like the 3 inch facing endmill will work fine but I can’t say for sure til i try one but I’m less likely to spend the money out of fear it would be pointless due to it being to big. Sharing some newer pictures of some stuff it’s cut to give a better idea what the finish looks like cause the first picture I shared was with me clamping the parts to the table with what I could find laying around, now I have vises clamping kits an custom clamps and I have a better idea of what I’m doing, still don’t claim to know what I’m doing just a little better of than I originally was so the parts I’m making look alot better than the first stuff I shared. I’ll share as much as it will let me to try to show all the tools I’ve used but the t slot cutters an v slot cutters it’s not letting me upload images of so it’s as much as it will let me share.had planned on buy from little machine shop but all of there machines wanted to add a extra 200 to 250 on top for shipping so it put them out of my budget while at the same time the price was slowly going up on all of the machines week by week. when i first started looking at them the wen was 899 an the seig x2d was 799 an now they are both over $1000 now, an im seeing the wen priced for $1200 on wen website so i went ahead an got the wen cause it was $948 when i got it an im so glad i did. its been perfect for me so far to learn with so even if there was something wrong i probably wouldnt know what to look for to find it but so far im slowly getting material to use on it an it seems to deal with aluminum an brass with no issues an im going to try steel today but im pretty sure it will do just as good with that, i'll just have to slow down the cutting speed i guess but if you are looking for a machine that works out of the box this is it. i cant say much for the others cause this is my first experience with a machine like this but im absolutely loving it.

I received the mill on May 6th, right on time. Uncrated it and cleaned the cosmoline ( about an hour job) off. I bolted it to my bench, let it spin ( no load) and I could only get about 30 seconds out of it before it shut down.WEN customer service sent me a new PC board ( customer support is great, by the way…) which didn’t fix the previous issue. I only got about a half of a revolution out of the quill. They sent another PC board AND a motor- still no good.I’m sending this thing back. Maybe I got one out a million bad eggs, but I’m tired of working on it instead of working WITH it.

This is a good bench mill for the money. The mill arrived within days of ordering and was well crated and coated with anti-rust preservative.I needed a small mill to do slots in stainless rectangular tubing in preparation for welding. Tubing wall thicknesses range from .060" to .125" and the mill can handle this with ease. I've use sharp, uncoated Cobalt cutters ranging in size from 3/16" to 1/2" with no problem. The mill has a variable speed motor running a two speed gearbox and seems to have load sensing capability since speed remains constant up to the overtorque trip limit. Torque capability could be a little higher to prevent tripping when using larger cutters but going slow with the table feed seems to get the job done. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase.

First chips today 1/2 inch carbide four tip end mill 4140 steel 20 thousandths cut got some chatterBut over all not bad performanceLooking forward to some real workGears are pretty loud

The price is great. The mill is serviceable. This is after I completely disassembled it and cleaned out the packing grease. I the reassembled it, replacing the shipping damaged bracket. I will also be replacing the gibs and gib screws. I expected to have to do this, but it is inconvenient.