I have/had three different presses in my shops. The first was a table top drill press. It did the job but was very limited. If you don't have a need to oval a ball on the press and don't mind doing all of the finish work by hand this it will work. I saved up enough money to by an Innovative Vacu Jig. I fell in love with this press. So easy to use. There isn't anything in the way. Super fast and accurate. The only thing that got me was that I needed to replace the rubber rings that help suck the ball down. My second shop I purchased the equipment from the previous owner. He has an Ebonite press with a 3-point jig. This press was sold by Ebonite but manufacturered by another company(I don't remember by who). The Mill is the same only the jig is different. The 3-point jig was nice but when you tightened it up it would move the ball slightly. Other than that this one is a solid press.

Now the press I wouldn't recommend to anyone:
The third shop I opened I wanted to buy the exact same press. So I called Ebonite and ordered the same one since it was cheaper than the Innovative (so I thought). Really didn't care for this press. First the 3-point jig, what a piece of crap. Instead of the third arm being a swivel type, it was a clamp with a rubber stopper. Complained about that and they sent me a replacement for the rubber stopper. I would still have to adjust the clamp for every ball due to the balls being different sizes. The lamp is a magnetic lamp that won't stay in place, it just flops all over the place. The bit holder and digital read-out holder had to be welded by an amateur. The slightest pressure on either of them and they snapped off. Then the kicker was that their price didn't include the bits. This might have been my fault or maybe Innovatives since their prices include the bits. After several complaints about this press I was later told that this was the first year that Ebonite was making their own presses. All in all I would recommend their new presses unless they have made some serious improvements. Especially for over $6000.

These are just my experiences. I could rant on more about the last press but I won't waste your time. But definitely go with a Milling Machine if you plan on doing any kind of volume.

One last thing, why don't the manufacturers of these fine and expensive machines include a maintenance guide.

Jeff, thanks for sending the info on how to maintain and lubricate my presses. It was very helpful and I'm sure saved me lots of money in the future.

Edited on 12/14/2006 0:40 AM

Edited on 12/14/2006 0:40 AM