[Douglas Mumphrey]

We’ve all heard: You get what you pay for. This is not always the case as it relates to the dollars you spend.

Case in Point: When solid surface fabricators go from simply installing stone to actually fabricating it, a milling machine(router for stone) is a must. While high dollar name brand milling machines are available in the $2.500.00 to $4,500.00 price range, they are not a necessity when you start out. Furthermore, the most important part of purchasing one of these machines is service and warranty after the sale. You’re obviously not going to buy 2 or 3 of these like you would a 3 1/4hp router for wood or solid surface. Cost usually prevents that for most fabricators. So if the machine goes down, you’d better have a place that can get it up and running quickly to get the job done.

Variables:

The machine above is nothing more than a grinder mounted on a roller plate with an after market attached center water feed. It’s pushing it to do 2cm stone and 3cm and 4 cm is out of the question. You’d be better off using dry diamond bits on a variable spd. grinder. Grinder cost: $156.00-$196.00 The machine above? $2,098.80.

The machine shown below, while also a grinder mounted on a plate is powerful enough for 2 or 3cm stone and priced at $799.00. The Flex, Made in Germany vs a generic Made in China for almost a 3rd of the price.

For a machine to do up to 1 3/4″ stone that is a full boat milling machine, you can see the differance in the Flex machine shown below. At $1,499.00, it’s a no brainer vs a Chinese grinder on a mount that is $500.00 more.

[Del12345]

A GHINES Sector and Sector 93…around $3,600.00.

Great machines however, for starting out, a good chunk of change.

[Mark Mihalik]

For anyone starting out, I caution you on keeping your stone surface clean. I use the larger routers that hydroplane on the surface. If you use the grinders or routers with the rollers or flat plate, try putting speaker carpet (like on speaker boxes) on the base of the tool and keep your surface wet. You don’t want any particulate getting between the router and the stone surface or you’ll get surface scratches. The carpet seems to slide over particulate and does not give enough pessure to scratch the stone. The small grinders are great even for large shops for polishing/ routing around sink cutouts. The wider the base on the grinders, the more control you’ll have.

[Author]

Posts