Experience with MICRO Shaper MT 300?

Hi all,

I am looking for a compact and not too expensive table top mill. The MICRO Shaper MT 300 from Proxxon looks interesting.

Does anyone here use one of those?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

For those suggesting a Dremel with table router stand, I burned the second specimen in 6 months (burnt motor twice). So I'm looking for something more solid.

G

argus said:

For those suggesting a Dremel with table router stand, I burned the second specimen in 6 months (burnt motor twice). So I'm looking for something more solid.

G

Click to expand...

Been there, done that. Airplane grade 3/16 plywood does some damage in short order, doesn't matter what bit you are using either. Sorry don't know what to suggest, though I have looked at some of those "heavy duty" rotary saws that sprang from a rotary sheetrock saw, and thought some of those might be up for a small challenge.

Look at the motor specs -- my 25+ year old Dremel has a 90W motor; the newer ones are about the same. The Proxxon unit has only 100W; I doubt it's any better cooled.

I'd suggest looking for a cheap router table and mounting decent router under it. You don't need plunge, probably don't care about speed control (or you can add it externally, for $20 or less, with a unit from Harbor Freight), but you do want a 1/2" shank capability (but with 1/4" collet as well) and some horsepower and cooling. A $90 router will do the work of five $60 Dremels, and outlast the lot -- and that's a CHEAP router.

The issue I see is what bits do you need to use. If your application requires 1/8" bits you are limited to dremel or proxxon.
But these motors are not suited to long duty cycles. A good quality smooth top router table with a quality router such as a Bosch or Porter Cable, don't buy the Harbor Freight, will provide the duty cycle and more importantly will eliminate spindle flexure which is common in dremel motors. Check with http://www.cadcamcadcam.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=132 to see what brand of router this 1/4" - 1/8" adapter will work in.

This machine is very light duty indeed. Of more importance is the extremely limited Z travel. You cannot buy reamers 1 inch long. I would not recommend this machine to anyone except those drilling the occasional circuit board. The motor is not strong enough to accomplish useful milling tasks. I would recommend as a minimum machine for anyone making their own camera parts a Grizzly, Harbor Freight or Cummins Minimill. This machine can make any of the parts you might need for cameras except perhaps the knobs. For the knobs a mini lathe from the same people would work, but a 9x20 would be very very much better.

Barry Young
cameramaker.com