Busy bee mini milling machine, $1100, Coaldale, AB

[JustaDB]

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Stopped by & had a look. Tooling is limited to a small vise and 3 collets. Morris taper, I think. Size 2 or 3, maybe? Seems to be in pretty decent shape, hasn't seen a bunch of use. Tiny.

 

[Tom Kitta]

This looks like some kind of a clone of US made Rusnok milling machine.

 

[JustaDB]

This looks like some kind of a clone of US made Rusnok milling machine.

It has Busy Bee labelling on it, but I could find no model number, anywhere. Top speed was fair quick, 2720 RPM, if memory serves. 1 HP motor, 120 VAC.

 

[Tom Kitta]

It has Busy Bee labelling on it, but I could find no model number, anywhere. Top speed was fair quick, 2720 RPM, if memory serves. 1 HP motor, 120 VAC.

If it is Busy Bee then it must be from 1970s maybe 1980s as this is when Rusnok was having some clones of it build. Yes they go fast, Rusnok went like 5000 rpm.

 

[DPittman]

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Stopped by & had a look. Tooling is limited to a small vise and 3 collets. Morris taper, I think. Size 2 or 3, maybe? Seems to be in pretty decent shape, hasn't seen a bunch of use. Tiny.

So how come you didn't buy it?

 

[YYCHM]

 

[JustaDB]

So how come you didn't buy it?

Ah, the pointed question. In my new to this whole thing opinion:
1) I thought it was overpriced for the amount of tooling that accompanied it;
2) I also thought it was pretty small. Realistically, I don't need a BP clone. But I think my wants would be better served w/ a -30 or -45;
3) Before I made an offer, I wanted to see what the spindle taper actually was. I know it's not R8, as he had some there & they were bigger.
4) Fear & common sense? What I paid for this would make a decent down payment on something a bit bigger.

 

[DPittman]

Ah, the pointed question. In my new to this whole thing opinion:
1) I thought it was overpriced for the amount of tooling that accompanied it;
2) I also thought it was pretty small. Realistically, I don't need a BP clone. But I think my wants would be better served w/ a -30 or -45;
3) Before I made an offer, I wanted to see what the spindle taper actually was. I know it's not R8, as he had some there & they were bigger.
4) Fear & common sense? What I paid for this would make a decent down payment on something a bit bigger.

I actually wanted to buy one of these at one time also because the MT 3 matched my lathe and that was a good thing in my mind as I had a couple of MT3 end mill holders. I'm glad I wasn't able to find one in my price range. I ended up spending more than 3 times what the one costs and I'm sure glad I did.
I think if a person knew you were only going to mill aluminum these little Rusnok mills would be ok at the right price. Apparently they were of decent quality but pretty lightweight.

 

[Prairie guy]

Used to own this model years ago. Neat idea. Way to much flex. Wasn’t good for much accept very light work in plastic or aluminum