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That’s a really good thorough review Ted & covers everything about the mill very well. Anyone doing their research on what mill to buy - will get a heap of very valuable information on the HM54GV Mill & all of its functions & capabilities. It’s a shame Hafco haven’t put out as thorough video reviews on either there AL356V (14x40) Lathe or this HM54GV mill, as what you have done in your two reviews. As you correctly point out, they are a well matched pair of machines for a home shop, both single phase, and within realms of affordability for the average guy. Congratulations on all your efforts, & take my hat off to you for all the work you have put in to get yourself so well set up in your home machine shop. It’s been quite the journey, when you look right back to the start videos on your channel - extending your shop build etc, to where you are at now. Keep up the good work. 👍
G'day Tom. Always a pleasure hearing from you. The mill is slowly getting there, so I hope I did it justice with the Review. The 4 part series on fitting & modifying for fitment the Z & Y Power Feeds is getting a lot of emails etc as well.
Great review Ted. I have the AL346 lathe, and only occasionally think I should have gone for the AL356 that you have. For my first mill, I went with MH28V, and much more often think I should have gone with a bigger mill. At some point I'll probably upgrade, and the HM54GV seems like a good candidate.
@gafaff Thanks for your Input, All comments are welcome. The HM-54GV is an excellent Mill. Also the 346 is a good Lathe, but I found with the 356 8" chucks, & 51mm Spindle with the D1-5 cam lock & 4MT tailstock, is a lot better. When you get time go through my TH-cam channel, & you will find info on Mods you can do to improve your. Mill etc
Gday Ted nice thorough review, I also have the HM54GV mill which I bought around 8 years ago, the horizontal function is definitely a cool feature to have. I have also fitted a power feed to the Z axis which was not an easy job. And I put a switch on that cooling fan as it only needs to be running while the spindle is going. The only complaint I have is on my DRO the PCD function does not work, sadly I didn't discover this until after the warranty had run out. All in all though I think it's a very good machine and will suit my needs for years to come.
@D40.. G'day D40. Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you have had a good run with your mill, I will look into the Fan Switc, and to be honest, I never thought of that. I will have to think about it when the warranty runs out. Your welcome to check out the rest of the channel 😀 👍🏻 Don't know if you watched the complete series which I have just finished on the Z & Y Power Feeds. Flick over a few pics of your Z mod etc Thanks
I have just purchased one of these myself. Do you have any other modifications in mind. Like folding handles, additional lighting, or work holding fixtures.
@DeanBateman G'day Dean. Thanks for your comments, I decided against folding handles on Y & X, because in some situations like pinpointing a drill spot or something that you have to get close to, the folding handle seem to disappear if know what I mean. If you have a look through my TH-cam channel you will see the modifications I have made, including a detailed fitting the Y & Z Power Feeds. The other modification I'll be doing is fitting a small DRO on the Spindle.
@zoltannagy1813 G'day Zoltan. Thanks for your question. The Spindle adjustment is to adjust Spindle Barings in the virticle movement, if to much slack or virticle movement is present it can give you chatter or other problems when trying to mill a flat surface in the X & Y procedure. Also it can effect Your Virticle Tramming to Perpendicular to the Table. Hope this helps.
I have a very similar mill from Hafco. the biggest problem with them is the lack of a forward/back tilting cutting head. You can only tilt it sideways. This is apparent if you look at the head adjustments in this video. This really is the only downfall of what is otherwise a very handy milling machine.
@andretorben9995 Hello Andre. Thanks for your comments. You are right in the forward & back tilt of the Head. This is why I mentioned the shimming of the Head assembly for tramming. If you have a look through my channel, I go through tramming & other modifications that I have made, to improve an already good machine. I took time tramming my mill, & attained 0 degrees on all alignments.
@@TedRoza Hi, Yes I had to also shim mine as it was slightly off level to the bed. A few shims and its fine. I have had a few jobs to do where I needed the fwd/back tilt which would have worked great with the cross feed power feed. I had to take the jobs to a friends workshop.
Excellent review Ted, many thanks. What a pity there is no 'nod' adjustment on the head and you have had to shim it. It's the same on my HM 46 mill, except you have to shim the whole column, but I suppose it's built to a price.
@kenwheeler-do9ov G'day Ken. Thanks for your comments. At least once you have shimmed it, You know you have it trammed in properly. With the column shimming, long as you the shim the left right first, then forward backward, then you will have a good Zero tram.
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That’s a really good thorough review Ted & covers everything about the mill very well.
Anyone doing their research on what mill to buy - will get a heap of very valuable information on the HM54GV Mill & all of its functions & capabilities.
It’s a shame Hafco haven’t put out as thorough video reviews on either there AL356V (14x40) Lathe or this HM54GV mill, as what you have done in your two reviews.
As you correctly point out, they are a well matched pair of machines for a home shop, both single phase, and within realms of affordability for the average guy.
Congratulations on all your efforts, & take my hat off to you for all the work you have put in to get yourself so well set up in your home machine shop.
It’s been quite the journey, when you look right back to the start videos on your channel - extending your shop build etc, to where you are at now.
Keep up the good work. 👍
G'day Ian. All your comments are greatly appreciated & valued.
Been a long haul, but got there eventually.
Great video mate I’m really hoping to buy one next year 🤞
@blakelieschke14 G'day Blake. Glad you approve. Have a look through my channel, you will see mods, addition etc
Good looking machine. Very versatile too.
G'day Tom. Always a pleasure hearing from you. The mill is slowly getting there, so I hope I did it justice with the Review.
The 4 part series on fitting & modifying for fitment the Z & Y Power Feeds is getting a lot of emails etc as well.
Great review Ted. I have the AL346 lathe, and only occasionally think I should have gone for the AL356 that you have. For my first mill, I went with MH28V, and much more often think I should have gone with a bigger mill. At some point I'll probably upgrade, and the HM54GV seems like a good candidate.
@gafaff Thanks for your Input, All comments are welcome. The HM-54GV is an excellent Mill. Also the 346 is a good Lathe, but I found with the 356 8" chucks, & 51mm Spindle with the D1-5 cam lock & 4MT tailstock, is a lot better.
When you get time go through my TH-cam channel, & you will find info on Mods you can do to improve your. Mill etc
Gday Ted nice thorough review, I also have the HM54GV mill which I bought around 8 years ago, the horizontal function is definitely a cool feature to have. I have also fitted a power feed to the Z axis which was not an easy job. And I put a switch on that cooling fan as it only needs to be running while the spindle is going. The only complaint I have is on my DRO the PCD function does not work, sadly I didn't discover this until after the warranty had run out. All in all though I think it's a very good machine and will suit my needs for years to come.
@D40.. G'day D40. Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you have had a good run with your mill, I will look into the Fan Switc, and to be honest, I never thought of that. I will have to think about it when the warranty runs out. Your welcome to check out the rest of the channel 😀 👍🏻
Don't know if you watched the complete series which I have just finished on the Z & Y Power Feeds.
Flick over a few pics of your Z mod etc
Thanks
You should get in touch with HAFCO about the PCD. They've got a reputation for service and repair assistance after the warranty has run out,.
@@thaiexodus2916 Thanks for your comments. I meant that fitting a switch might affect warranty, & would rather do the mod out of warranty.
@@thaiexodus2916 thanks mate appreciate that I will give it a try
I have just purchased one of these myself. Do you have any other modifications in mind. Like folding handles, additional lighting, or work holding fixtures.
@DeanBateman G'day Dean. Thanks for your comments, I decided against folding handles on Y & X, because in some situations like pinpointing a drill spot or something that you have to get close to, the folding handle seem to disappear if know what I mean. If you have a look through my TH-cam channel you will see the modifications I have made, including a detailed fitting the Y & Z Power Feeds.
The other modification I'll be doing is fitting a small DRO on the Spindle.
I'm envious! Question: What is the "Spindle Adjustment" ?
@zoltannagy1813 G'day Zoltan. Thanks for your question. The Spindle adjustment is to adjust Spindle Barings in the virticle movement, if to much slack or virticle movement is present it can give you chatter or other problems when trying to mill a flat surface in the X & Y procedure. Also it can effect Your Virticle Tramming to Perpendicular to the Table. Hope this helps.
I have a very similar mill from Hafco. the biggest problem with them is the lack of a forward/back tilting cutting head. You can only tilt it sideways. This is apparent if you look at the head adjustments in this video.
This really is the only downfall of what is otherwise a very handy milling machine.
@andretorben9995 Hello Andre. Thanks for your comments. You are right in the forward & back tilt of the Head. This is why I mentioned the shimming of the Head assembly for tramming. If you have a look through my channel, I go through tramming & other modifications that I have made, to improve an already good machine.
I took time tramming my mill, & attained 0 degrees on all alignments.
@@TedRoza Hi, Yes I had to also shim mine as it was slightly off level to the bed. A few shims and its fine. I have had a few jobs to do where I needed the fwd/back tilt which would have worked great with the cross feed power feed. I had to take the jobs to a friends workshop.
@andretorben9995 why couldn't you shim or plate the job on an angle or do it on the X travel
Excellent review Ted, many thanks. What a pity there is no 'nod' adjustment on the head and you have had to shim it. It's the same on my HM 46 mill, except you have to shim the whole column, but I suppose it's built to a price.
@kenwheeler-do9ov G'day Ken. Thanks for your comments. At least once you have shimmed it, You know you have it trammed in properly. With the column shimming, long as you the shim the left right first, then forward backward, then you will have a good Zero tram.