Morgan,
I’ve owned a Taig mill for a couple of years (a close cousin to the Sherline), and recently decided to up-size. I studied the field and eventually decided that either the Micro-Mark Microlux Heavy Duty R8 or the Little Machine Shop HiTorque were the best choices. There are, in fact, virtually identical machines, with the LMS having a slightly larger table and with specifications that give it a very slight edge in Z-Axis range. For that reason I went with the LMS mill, although I upgraded from my Taig lathe at the same time and chose the Micro-Mark MicroLux 7x16 over the LMS HiTorque 7x12.
One of the things that really appealed to me about the Micro-Mark mill was their “true inch” feed screws, so I purchased the LMS kit that added that feature to their mill at the time I bought the mill itself. At this point I would guess you could say I own a Microlux work-alike (with maybe a little additional range), and can confidently compare it to my experience with my Taig.
The Pros
The Microlux/LMS mill has MUCH more power. I can now take more agressive cuts than I was able to do in the past.
The continuously variable speed is far superior to having to change the drive belt on pulleys to accomplish a speed change. While it certainly falls in the “luxury, not necessary” category, I did put the LCD tachometer on mine and really like it.
The R8 spindle system is much more rugged, and it seems to me that I’m faster changing tools out.
Being able to raise and lower the head quickly using the “drill press” arms is very nice (but read about the head drop problem in the cons section!)
The added table size and axis range (particularly the Z-Axis height) gives me far more capacity that I had in the past. For example, I’m able to use a spring tap guide in the mill, which I never had room for in the Taig.
The Cons
There is a well known issue with the head dropping several thousandths as you try and do something like lower an end mill into a cut. There has been a lot of discussion about that on this board. That was never an issue for me with the Taig, in large part because it used a lead screw for the Z-Axis rather than a rack and pinion like the Microlux/LMS. That caused me a lot of grief until I learned that when I engaged the fine feed I needed to keep a slight upward pressure on the “drill press” arms while using the fine feed knob to lower the head. I’m going to ultimately install one of the more traditional solutions to this problem, a counter balance system, but for now the “slight pressure up while coming down” fix is working for me.
This isn’t really a something you can blame on the mill, but because the head assembly is larger than what I had on the Taig, I found that my old eyes were having a lot more trouble seeing the work because of the shadows. So one of the first modifications I made was to install dual, concentric LED light rings around the spindle, which helped a lot.
Overall, I’m very happy with the Microlux/LMS mill and am glad I purchased it. I’d do it again in a minute.
Rob Potter
Portland, Oregon
From: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com [mailto:GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of morgan_maxson
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 2:46 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [GrizHFMinimill] microlux micro milling machine
for a beginer i thought i would try a smaller mill first. i was
wondering if anyone has any expereance with microlux micro milling
machine,the that is kinda supposed to be like sherline. just looking
to hear if you like it,pros and cons so to speak.
thanks in advance morgan_maxson@yahoo.com
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