I Bought A Minimill to see if they are Worth It 

Tool collectors are vital in maintaining the time honoured tradition of irritating the beneficiaries of one's will.

Got a mini lathe for by 18th birthday. About 5 years later having "basic machining" experience on my resume helped me land my current job where being able to fabricate an occational part on a mill or lathe is an asset.

Running larger equipment can give someone unreasonable expectations of what a small lathe or mill should do. Tiny horsepower and tiny machine means tiny cuts. I have found that having even small machines at home is super useful for DIY project. There are so many things that pop up that could use a spacer or a bushing, a custom over-sized key or just cleaned up on the lathe with a file. And once you have the machines you can use them make parts to make them better. Rock on tiny machine owners.

2:25 Use aluminum foil for finetuning. It's about .001", so folding it over a few times can give a good range of thicknesses.

You probably did far more initial setup than 99.9 % of the complainers.

Great video mate - funny and informative. The first mill I ever used (1975 as a 15 year old) was a Deckle FP1 and I had no idea what a milling machine even was until I used that. I went to trade school a few weeks after starting that job (an apprenticeship in Instrument Making) and was asked to make some parts as part of an exercise. They only had old well abused and worn out Bridgeports and I couldn't get a decent finish. I told my instructor "I never have this problem on the mill where I work." so he asked what type it was. When I told him it was a near new Deckle FP1 he looked shocked and replied "They let YOU use a Deckle?!" I felt privileged and insulted all at once.

I bought a mini lathe and found a new hobby: hotrodding my mini lathe! I learned how to lap and scrape ways, made and installed stops, saddle locks, quick release tail stock… the list goes on. Meanwhile, it was capable of really good work. Lest scoffers say I don’t know how well a good machine works, I worked on Hardinge lathes for decades. Clearly, these mini lathes are no match for a hardinge, but they are satisfying in their own right. It’s all about knowing your tools.

I started out with a harbor freight mini mill and mini lathe when I first got into machining and metal working. I slowly graduated to slightly larger benchtop machines and ended up with a full sized gunsmithing lathe and a CNC mill. When I retired, I sold most of my metal working machines thinking I'd no longer have much use for them; boy was I wrong. I sold off my mini lathe many years ago, but I kept the mini mill all this time. I still own it and I still use it and, I just recently bought another mini lathe. It's true that they require alot of tuning up to get them to run accurately; or, accurately enough for hobby stuff but, with a little experience under your belt that really isn't that hard to do.

Minimills are absolutely fine for hobby machining. The main issue you're going to find is that many of the issues brought up are probably with using it for business purposes in mind. As in when someone says it can't be used on steel I have always read that as them saying you can use it but the amount of time is not cost effective. I'd also like to point out that you had it go out of tram on the video and your final test was checking after a clean up pass? Not saying roughing will definately make it go off tram but you basically gave it the easiest tast short of using a 1/8" endmill. Tolerance wise you'll basically be okay as long as you're taking slow small passes and creeping up on it but again this is unnaceptable for job shop type work as it takes far too long. I wan't to stress that I have no issues with mini mills but just remember their scope is very limited.

I have a CX-605 as well, had it for a few years now. I fixed the "noise" issue by changing the gear sets from plastic to cast gears* (*little machine shop) and using a good high pressure grease cut the racket down with good results. I don't have a tramming issue, I think because I literally stripped the machine down scrubbed the packing grease off of every mating surface. I also have a CX-708 Lathe which has been working without issue, it too was noisy but changing the oil and adding Lucas Oil treatment to the gear box make an amazing difference. Great video thanks for the share!

Column won't hold tram ? Remove big nut, remove column, Measure holes and bolt diameter sizes, Get on lathe and turn down a sleeve to fit bolt. Make outside diam large enough when in position INSIDE the column in line with the bolt to be in contact with the two inner faces of the column. You will now be tightening the nut up to a solid column instead of tightening up to a hollow structure which can flex, loosening the nut.

I have machining experience (and a much larger lathe and mill in my garage) and 15 years ago or so bought a Chinese mini-lathe and mini-mill similarly "just to see what they were all about." There are a wide range of opinions from "works fine for me" to "these can be viewed as a kit and you have to fix and improve almost everything." I think this variance is due to a variability in the quality machine to machine, and a variability in expectations. This is the first such machine for many and they don't know what a good quality machine is like. Others DO have experience and can spot the limitations and instantly realize why there is chatter when maybe there shouldn't be and so forth.

When buying these machines, it is IMPORTANT to understand that all the castings are finish cut in one go. Consequently, they are ALL warped. When one side is cut, the stresses are released, and the metal changes shape. After initial cutting, the casting should be left to warp, and then be final machined. Therefore, the first task, is to determine the best datum surfaces to make flat, and then get everything square. Ideally you need another milling machine, but I re-engineered mine with a surface plate, 4mm float glass, and a large variety of abrasives. ... It was a huge task. Don't forget to 'grind in' the circular pivot bearing surface to the pillar. This enables the pillar to be clamped solid. Prior to assembly, you will need to add rigidity. Add two bolts to the base, just past the '3 screw fulcrum point' on the pivot block, so that the base has four bolts around the fulcrum point. The three screws, are almost inline, providing limited rigidity (considering the pillar and head, are flexing around the 3 screw fulcrum point). On the pivot block, there is only space for two additional 6mm screws (so use hardened screws). I added concrete to the pillar, to add mass. Finally; cast a concrete base. I embedded a pre-cast flat cement garden slab for the mounting surface, and rub ground the base to the slab. This is a lot of work, but you end up with a proper milling machine for a cost of just £750 Obviously, having another mill, and a surface grinder, would make this work a simple task :)

great humor, solid insight and great attitude! which all made for a great video, subscribed!

What a great video. I have a hefty lathe and an equally hefty miling machine in my workshop. Recently I helped a customer of mine set up a mini mill very similar to yours. We had exactly the same issue with tramming in both the X&Y axes. Once bolted down we had a go at milling some small blocks of alloy and steel, and I was surprised at how good it was. My machines are capable of taking 3-5mm cuts in hard steel if need be, but on a mini mill or lathe that's impossible. Light cuts should be the order of the day. I found that on the mini mill 20 thou was about the maximum on steel, and about 40 thou on alloy I think that a lot of people who slag off such machines are simply taking cuts that are too heavy, and all machines have a limit as to how much they can handle. A bad workman blames his tools etc.

This is awesome, I'm glad I've found your channel. Thanks for the content!

You're an entertaining presenter with a good mix of humour and seriousness, first vid of yours I've watched and will definitely watch a few more. I feel you're deserving of many more subscribers.

glad to see im not the only one with the idea that tools are what you make of them not what they are out of a box.

this video popped up in my recommendations. very cool video and I like your humor! you got yourself another sub.

Fantastic! Thanks for making.

Haha, I was practially halfway through my comment about the jacobs chuck. Good stuff dude!

I've had one of these machines for about 20 years now. After using it for a while with the gear drive supplied I changed to belt drive (bought as a kit) and I think it was really worth the conversion, much smoother running. I find that it max's out at about a 10 mm (3/8") end mill or slot drill for normal cutting work (but usually stick to 6 mm /1/4") and 12 mm (1/2") for light surfacing.

you won me over with the maker-v-tool collector bit hahah

I just love the ti-83plus in the intro

the best addition will be a stiffening plate at the back of the column, and then a 3 axis DRO - this will cost you about $ 250 in LED or about $300 in LCD, both with scales to fit your mill. I have made a polyVee drive myself and do not regret it - there are instructions on youtube and the internet as how to do it. Another tip I can give is to 'cap' the drawbar and give it a square end - a spanner is way more easy on the spindle bearings than a hammer to loosen the MT3 tapers, and a spring loaded spindle stop will be a nice addition too.

The haters simply don't know how to adjust and tune their machines

Love the video, I am a forever lurker but I had to instant subscribe after your maker vs tool collector scene. Can’t wait to watch you learn and cut your teeth as a trail blazer for the rest of us!

"shop calculator" I lost it. Guess I need to pull out the TI-89 from all those years ago and start writing programs again! Good video! Thanks for the humor! I've been loving cutting steel on my minimill.

When I try to run my mini mill like I run my bridgeport I get crummy results. When I run my mini mill with responsible feeds, speeds, cutter size, and DOC for the machine, I get fantastic results in even very hard materials. Turns out basic machining fundamentals don't care how big the machine is. Keep up the great work!

just discovered your channel and im invested bud. Good shit dude

I loved the "legal disclaimer." 🤣

These machines are made by more than one company and the quality can vary. Don't buy from the cheapest supplier and try to get a look at the machines before you buy. Both the lathes and the mills are quite capable machines within their size limitations. The main thing I don't like on some of the lathes is where they only have a limited range of belt changes and rely on an electronic speed control. One idea to increase the friction on the tilting column would be to fit a paper gasket. This is also a useful trick to help a job have a good grip on the table or vice face.

After my mini mill inevitably broke the gears, I had a great project for the lathe - making aluminum pullies to convert the mill to v-belt drive. Best thing I ever did for the mill. Now it's quiet, runs with less vibration and when I do something stupid, the belt slips instead of it blowing up the gearbox. SO much more pleasant to use. 100% worth doing.

Great video man. I'm happy with my combination bench top lathe/mill. i use it mostly for repairing metal and plastic. I really pushed the mill to the limit by making a anvil out of a rail road track. Only negative was i needed to repair the motor control board as the vibration shook some parts free. No problem im an electronic engineer. Everything works great again. Only thing i plan to do is reinforce the mill column so it doesn't move under load. That does cause problems on precision work with steel.

Nice test, thank you. Your mill and your cutters would really enjoy some cutting oil though. 😊

Thanks for the tricks. I bought a mini-mill years ago, and had been using it for some rough machining, but one day I will have to use your techniques to fine calibrate the column.

I had an Enco mini mill in my garage in the 80’s, used it for all kinds of hobby projects. Definitely sturdy enough for milling steel, but only after fine tuning/tightening up from factory assembly and not trying to hog all the material off in one pass. Wouldn’t mind having one again.

Learned some things here. Thank you for that.

This is a great demonstration of the capabilities of these cheap mini mills. If you're careful and patient, you can absolutely machine useful parts. Wait until you see what heavier machines can do!

Had my mini mill now for many years. Mods- gas strut alongside the column to prevent spindle dropping, changed the gears for drive belt, both make it much nicer to use. Yes I use the jacobs chuck a lot for most things, accurate enough for what I use it for on daily basis.

Good video! I have the same mill and installed the Little Machine Shop air assist for the mill head. It included a new longer rack that increased the Z axis movement by about 3”, with about 1.3” of that in the upper direction if you remove the factory stop. When I removed the old spring mechanism it provided perfect mounting holes for a dro bracket. The Y axis dial has no thrust bearing but a hard steel washer made it every bit as smooth as the X axis. Finally, I used the nylock nuts from the bolts that held it in the crate to replace the double jam nuts holding the X and Y dials, making it much easier to adjust them.

I had one of these heavy-duty wood lathes and it was absolutely fine. I know not as precise but was a very capable machine.

Just remember to explain to people, making they own Tee-Nuts, never finish the thread, all the way through. The studs, should stop more than a full thread, from the bottom of the nut. Simply because the amount of force, getting multiplied by threads, is enough to snap off a chunk of the brittle iron table.

I have both a mini lathe and mini Mill. Both have worked great. Recently I am creating an open view case for a Ford Escort Transaxle for illustrative purposes at car shows. Have had to cut perfect holes in plate steel for five bearing races. The mini Mill along with a rotary table mounted to it has done the job beautifully. The races fit snug with no play. When holding the race in the hole I can barley see any light coming through the circumference. All done without a DRO ( Digital Read Out). There's a technique to it, but once you get that down the holes are perfect. Nice thing also is when I cut a hole I also get a perfect circle of steel to make gears out of for a later project. It's not necessary to cut a center hole in the circle Plug but I do anyway. That way if I do use the plug for a gear it already has a perfectly centered hole for a drive shaft with no run-out. ALL DONE ON A MINI MILLING MACHINE! I will say this though...when I received my Harbor Freight mini Mill there was a broken wire in the switch box I had to repair to get it to turn on.

I follow the BerylCNC mantra of "light cuts" on any of this Chinese mini machinery. It's simple physics - the smaller the area of a given pressure, the higher the force on the material. So if you use sharp carbide and take a light cut, you'll push your cutting force up into the range of the "production machines". If you're making prototypes or one-offs, these machines can work great. Also helps to not trash up your good machines on sketchy jobs, so they are good for that too.

I've had a mini mill for 16 plus years, don't do a lot with it but when I do, it gets me by. It's for small hobby type of work. If I needed anything larger or super precise, I'd go to a machine shop and have it done on a Bridgeport or similar. Don't expect the world from it!

I have one. As benchdrill, its really good (compared to drill). As mill, it has several weakness 1) not stiff enough 2) power (electronic speed contol is weak in low RPM, not much torque) 3) size, its impossible to put parts under cutter because there is not enough room. But if you do small parts, its OK.

You're going to end up with a million subs. You've got what it takes: Great video and audio quality, top notch script writing, narration, pace, editing, humor. The whole nine yards. Thumbs and subs.

Fresh review. Smashed the Subscribe button. TY for sharing. 🤗

Ok. You've got me off my butt. I have a 6" lathe I've had since 1975, but while the lathe is an old friend and has given fabulous service, the MILLING attachment is horrible. You just convinced me to snag a minimill. THANKS!

Great video......I have the Craftex CX 612 mill and it does all that I want .

The great thing about these machines is that you can improve them by making new components with these machines.

Very nice video! It got my sub! Looking forward to more impressive information.

Toolamker for over 50 years (Well, I didn't START as a Toolmaker!). It warms my heart to see a newcomer such as yourself with such a positive attitude and the ability to address the small deficiencies in an inexpensive machine. One suggestion is to find a REAL Milling Vise rather trhna a Toolmakers vice.. (although for the work that you're doing, should suffice). In five years you'll be amazed at your skil sets. Keep on. There are millions of tools and parts that are well within your capabilities. Those Capabilities will only increase with time. Very nice.Best to you!

Would love to hear more about how you use that that ti-83 calculator in the shop! Always looking for ways to make the math easier.

This is a great video, thanks!

Nice! Great video. I have always wondered if I should purchase an affordeable mill for my use. Now I Know.

Definitely interested in seeing a homebrew belt-drive upgrade. 👍

I found that the main drawback of the small machine is column rigidity, not only side to side but fore-aft (from the perspective of operator). To fix mine, I bolted 1/2" aluminum plate to the machine column secured with 4ea 1/2" bolts to the column as well as with the column swivel nut/washer arrangement. Bottom of the plate has a stout aluminum 2x2" angle which ties the vertical plate to an additional 1/2" base plate to which the machine base is bolted. Space between the back of the column and the machine base is filled with a fitted aluminum plate appr. 1/2". Vertical plate holes are a bit oversize to allow tramming left-right. Tramming fore-aft adjusted with a shim. Decent finish when cutting steel with either fly cutter or 1/2" endmill at 0.025 depth of cut. Still stable and in tram after 5 years of use. There are additional updates and tweaks - left-right-axis motor drive, air spring to balance the milling head, larger vertical motion wheel and more accurate single-piece milling head drive. Mechanical indicators on all 3 axes. Much better than original but not a Bridgeport. Alas, no space.

These are quite capable little machines that have enabled a lot of home hobby machinists to have the facility of a mill and lathe at very affordable prices. There would be a lot less people able to afford to enjoy the modelling/machining hobby if it weren't for these cheap import machines being available. Also worthy of mention is the point that great improvement in function and accuracy can be had with a bit of fettling and fine tuning of these cheap,basic machines.

I have a mini mill from Seig and have had no issues with it . Along with my 7" x 12" mini lathe I have made a Sine bar (With in 1/10,000 of an inch accurate) I've made two fly cutters and yesterday I made an Arbor for a diamond wheel to sharpen my gravers with. I've made other parts that I could have bought but it was more fun to make things and cheaper too.

In my opinion, a 'small' branded mill or lathe can be a valued asset to a garage/hobbyist's shop. At 65 I had more time to play with projects. Was intimidated by the thoughts of adding larger/heavier/costlier machines to my small shop. For a bit over $3,000 both machines were added to my workspace, positioned and secured by myself. Now instead of +/- 1/32 I can easily work to +/- .001. Tooling costs continue but it has all been worth it.

I got my mini mill from little machine shop and quite honestly use it mostly on hardwoods, aluminum, plastic and brass. fits my needs perfectly. Also make the occasional R/C part as needed (when i break stuff)

Those koru toga pencils are so nice. Good choice. Had mine for many moons, even use it for D&D and Pathfinder character creation.

Nice video👍. I have a Myford ML 7, which I love. It's much too good for my skills but who cares. I've been thinking of a mini mill for those odd times I need it. I figured that as long as I set it up properly, it would be ok for my ability and need level. Having seen your review and set up, I'm now convinced. 👍

Great video. I have been thinking about getting a minimill.

You need to drill and ream a tapered hole to the base of that vertical column. Tram it level, then just drill and ream the tapered hole. Fit a tapered pin, tap it in, head square and physically prevented from drifting. French Huron Mills had this, great method....🤔😳😏🇬🇧

Heck yeah, i wanna see the belt drive upgrade!!

I clicked on the video, just for the channel name. Love it!

You’re cracking me up. Good on you.

I don't know much about machining, but I have a pretty serious background in electronic and physical/dimensional calibration. I knew right off the bat that you were going to get better results just from a thorough setup. It is also worth mentioning that over time parts will wear, and temp/humidity will change and cause variations, meaning you'll have to occasionally go back through the setup.

I've been doing machining for around 5 years professionally, I've worked with vintage Cincinnatis, Bridgeports, VTLs, Gap lathes ,average lathes and mini lathes and many more i can't think of. I just recently picked up the harbor freight mini mill recently for the house, was disappointed at first but i realized the chuck was .017 thou out. After watching this and getting a new chuck it's not so bad.

My brushless mill is super smooth and quiet, maybe I lucked out, I’m in Canada and got it at Busy Bee Tools, was able to tram mine super close too, almost dead on, as close as I need it for sure. I’m thinking same rebranded mill as other sellers have, anyway more than happy with it for a hobby mill. My lathe needed more cleanup on some rough edges, replaced a few crappy cap screws with good ones, spent some time with motor alignment and now happy with it too, w other the price to me for sure.

I have a Grizzly that is very similar to the Central you're showing. I've cut steel, aluminum, plastic and wood with no issue. All that's needed is recognizing what you're working with and adjusting speeds accordingly. Granted, it has a little more backlash than full sized machines but I like mine.

Having a piece of steel plate under the mill to give you a place for mag base indicators helps a lot. Ditto the LMS belt drive kit.

I bolted mine to an old cast iron surface plate “14 x 14”, and replaced the motor & gears with an ebay digital sewing machine motor with speed control and reversing, transforming the mill, I have used it hard for 6 years and counting. Invaluable tool now.

I am use to a 3 hp Tree mill, and a 7.5 hp lathe. R & D, is fine with the smaller versions. But taking a half inch cut, on the lathe, and hearing the motor begging for mercy, is SOP. But you will never expect that, out of them. And the bigger and heavier the machine, less vibration, and deflection.

I made T slot nuts from big bolt heads. Cut the head to fit the slots, drilled and tapped the centers.

I have deployed to the middle east with a smithy all in one. Used it for 5 months as my only machine and cut everything with it. Stainless had to be light cuts but it was doable. My father is a retired machinist with 35 years in the industry and I am also a retired machinist with 25 years experience. Any real machinist will be able to make any machine work if they need to. I am planning on getting one of these small machines for at home.

Having experience with full size, modern production machines will absolutely crush any hopes and dreams for these toy mills. Gotta start somewhere though, and these are good for learning and tinkering if you've got a boat load of free time.

A hint on plunge or side milling on mini machines... Avoid adjusting for your next cutting pass while the machine is running. One can cut too deep jamming the machine. What I do is to turn the machine off and then pull on my Quill handle until the end mill contacts the surface. Then while I have a little pressure on the Quill handle I lock the Quill and turn on the machine. The end mill will cut in maybe 2 to 4 thousands and I then finish that pass. This eliminates doubts regarding backlash and I never have jammed the machine doing this. I use the same method side milling. Once the end mill contacts the surface and you feel a little pressure you know all backlash is gone. Just learn the appropriate amount of pressure. When first learning this method start with very light pressure and work your way up to where it works best for you and then lock that into muscle memory.

love my mini lathe and mini mill just buy the right tooling for what you wish to cut yes they need tweaking but that's part of the learning process

I have the ridgid column version of the Mini Mill. It has been used for years and served me well. A few electrical gremlins sorted out over time, Sieg have a good spares supply in the UK. I put a dro on the Z axis. But never bothered with the x & y axis. I should do, it will be super useful but the space for the encoders is very limited. Any ideas are welcome.

*For small shops they are a MUST HAVE item!!*

I wanna see ALLLLL the upgrade and tweaks and fun stuff for mini mill! Ill never afford one. So I can at least live through you doing it! lol

Chuck moment, loool. I could feel myself getting angry for a split sec 🤣

If you ever break the nylon gear, just 3D print a replacement. PLA works just fine. I havent broken the gear again. But it is a mechanical fuse. So im not worried if it does.

Useful video, thanks. Sixty-two and a half thou seems really weird until you realise that means a lead screw of 16 threads per inch. (Served a machine shop apprenticeship in the UK in the '70s where we had to deal with metric, imperial and imperial fractions in equal measures.)

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with that benchtop mill. My 1962 Bridgeport cost me rather less than a decent mini-mill, BUT... I have a large brick-built workshop separate from the house. The noise and cutting fluids, 3 phase power and just the SIZE of the thing makes a big old cast-iron beast like a BP a *terrible* choice for someone based in a spare room or garage. It's all about picking the right tools, and understanding chiploads and feeds and speeds, always considering the effects of backlash and fixing the simple inherent manufacturing defects. I just bought a new CNC mill that weighs 2.5 times as much as the Bridgeport and makes the old BP look tiny, but it's only buying me speed, repeatability and the ability to cut complex compound curves. Most of the parts I make could be machined on a mini-mill and lathe with enough preparation and care and correct tool choices. Maybe not the Titanium parts, and getting a mirror finish on 4140 makes even my 3HP lathe break into a sweat, but hey....

We never tighten the cutter in the collet while it is in the spindle. Best to load cutter before loading holder into spindle.

I’ve got a Proxxon machine that’s literally as big as my forearm and I machine steel and stainless steel on it no problem. It’s very accurate but you do have to put up with taking small cuts only 3MM wide on its largest End Mill. It is a toolers milling machine though so I didn’t have high expectations. I got it to machine wood scales for knives so they are nice and flat when I bolt and glue them to a knife handle. It’s still very handy and I’ve made all sorts with it.

You got me with the end mill in the chuck gag. Nice boring bar though!

OMG! I wish all RU-vidrs were as self-aware as you are. 😄

I added a little machine shop upgraded fixed Z column to my now quite old mini mill which gave it more Y travel. I also did the belt drive. The main thing that annoys me about my mill is the controller goes into overcurrent protection very easily. Like drilling aluminum and it will often shut off. I'd replace the motor & controller if there was an inexpensive alternative.

Good video, thank you. The spacers you used under the piece to hold the piece in the vice looked like a couple of brackets; did you have someone else mill those to size before you were able to use them on your mill or did you painstakingly file them by hand? I only ask because my expectation was that you'd otherwise struggle to cut parallel sides to a piece. Often it's those first references that are the hardest to make without a mill.

I love mine.. I put a treadmill motor on it with a belt drive kit.. takes cuts like butter now ! mine stays in tram well .. I bought a grizzly mill

Princess Auto had a Boxing Week door crasher sale on this mill and its lathe brother in 2010 for $400 each. I couldn't pass them up. Yes, they're tiny and you get what you pay for. I haven't bothered refining them, but they've been really handy over the years.

I've got a Clarke Mini Mill, it's great. It cuts steel with no problems, just don't expect large cuts. My main tool is a 50mm 4 insert surface cutter, getting the right inserts for the material matters. 6mm and 8mm coated end mills will cut slots in steel in up to 3mm deep passes. My x and y calibration is 1.5mm per handle turn and 1.2 in the z axis, the only problem is the excessive backlash on the z axis slow adjustment. I've fitted a belt drive after breaking 2 sets of nylon gears. It does all the model engineering tasks I want from it.

I have something very similar, a Little Machine Shop 4190 I bought as factory refurb with the DRO removed. Essentially your machine with belt drive, bigger table, 20 tpi leadscrews, and solid column. It'll pretty much eat aluminum with 3/8 endmills as fast as I can crank, and mild steel at maybe .050" DOC passes. Alloy steels like 4140 though, the mill pretty much has to nibble at. Where the stiffness issues will get you is high DOC cuts, even at super low tool engagement and low feed rates, like knocking down the sides of a part. Listen to your mill and feel what the vibration in the handwheels is telling you, and it should do fine. LMS does sell conversion kits such as a belt drive kit or 20 TPI leadscrews, if you don't care to make them yourself.

I would argue that the only limitation is the size of parts you can mill, especially as we well know it's the type of cutter that you use which allows you to cut steel.