I spent a very long time trying to decide what to replace the RF40 with. Although I wasn't horribly unhappy with it, I found it pretty much useless for milling steel so I wanted something a bit more rigid. I looked at a few square column mill/drills - the one from Grizzly had horrible fit and finish and it felt like the gibs had the same slop as the RF40. The one from WTTool was very nice with excellent fit and finish and I came very close to buying it.
However, after further deliberation, despite the difficulty of getting it into my basement, I decided that since the cost of CNC conversion was very similar for a mill/drill as for a full-size mill, if I was going to spend the money, time and effort, I might as well start off with as good a platform as I could. I looked at at least a half dozen Bridgeport and Bridgeport clones in the local area without finding any that were priced right for the condition. Finally I found a Comet 10x50 which was in Toronto, Canada. From the pictures I got it was in excellent condition, and the seller worked with me on the shipping...
Also, see: Comet Moving, Assembly and Comet CNC Conversion
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