(21-02-2021, 09:49 AM)Jacob Fowkes Wrote: The shaper maybe ? But the horizontal mill is still a very handy machine in larger sizes as it can do most of what a HBM can do. That being said I still use a shaper regularly as it’s often faster than setting up a slotting head on a Bridgeport style mill.
I had a shaper and whilst it was very soothing to watch it didn't get used enough to justify the floor space in a domestic environment, and a dedicated horizontal mill may come into the same "justifying space in a domestic set up" category. The HBM comment is fair but when you head down that route I'd say that a "Deckel style" mill ranks strongly for lots of use cases. Whilst I don't use the horizontal overarm much on my Maho, I do use the horizontal spindle to extend the versatility. Nowhere nearly as big and capable as Victoria U2 sized horizontal, but it all depends upon space and frequency of use. You can machine an Austin 7 crankcase casting on a Maho, which suits me!
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