Member postings for Bo'sun

Good morning All,

I need to build a stand/bench for my Warco WM16B milling machine. Any thoughts about a good ergonomic height for the milling machine table?

The Warco stand for said machine is 813mm tall. Does that sound about right? It would put the machine table height at about 980mm.

I did consider the Warco stand (& tray), but unless it's bolted to the floor, it looks a little unstable. I intend to build a largish bench for my mill, so stability shouldn't be an issue.

Another vote for the drill clamp. Bought two many years ago, and wouldn't be without them. I like the idea of incorporating a tee nut. Thanks for the suggestion Macolm.

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. Making clamps sounds like a good idea, although as Jason says, rather model making than toolmaking (unless you have no option of course). Part of the dilemma I guess, is the "chicken & egg" lark. I need some clamps to start with before I can start making tooling. Time to ponder.

Yes Zan, I agree. The nuts & studs etc are the easy bit. The stepped packing blocks and associated straps not quite so.

It just struck me, that while it's nice to have a range of options, a 52/58 piece set seems a little overkill at present (for me at least). In the future maybe, but I'll tackle that if need be at the time.

Hi Jon,

I had thought of that, but I'm not sure I'd get may takers for flange nuts, studs and Tee nuts.

I want to buy some M10 (12mm tee slot) clamps for my WM16B milling machine. Looking in all the usual places, they all seem to come in sets. There are either sets of pairs, or sets containing 52/58 pieces. Is there anything out there somewhere in between? I've got plenty of tee nuts, M10 nuts, washers and studding, so I only realy need the step blocks and associated strap clamps.

I'm not trying to save money, but it seems wasteful to buy stuff I don't need.

Thanks ega, that's not a bad idea, but I don't have a welder. If I do need to do anything, some bolted on cross braces should do the trick.

Just bought the HV115 Bandsaw from Chester Hobby Store. For £295 (inc' delivery) it cut straight as a die out of the box. Assembling was a bit of a faff, including the stand, but got there in the end. With the vertical cutting mode as well, it appears so far, to be reasonably good value for money. As gets said many times, a bi-metal blade is a good investment. The stand might be considered a little lightweight, but if it doesn't get moved around too much, it should be fine.

Whenever I've bought "NordLock" washers, whether genuine or not, they've always come as pairs assembled together with some tacky kind of grease.

As long as Loctite (or similar) is strong enough, I like the idea of a separate threaded portion to save material, and for a nice looking piece, I'd use steel studding and a brass knob.

Not sure if I've got the spelling right, but I seem to remember from my days in manufacturing, something called a "Kopp Variator" that did a similar thing. If I recall, it was to synchronize conveyor speeds.

Thank you Peter. Here goes some more money from under the mattress.

Thanks for all the advice and comments,

I've pretty much decided on a Machine DRO 3 axis kit with magnetic encoders. Being magnetic, is there an issue with attracting ferrous chips? I'm guessing it's OK, because there are plenty of them out there.

I don't have a problem with the chuck guard on my WM250 (yet), apart from bumping into it a couple of times with the toolpost. It does also keep the flying coolant and me apart. The chip guard on my new WM16B might be a different kettle of fish though. It looks too small to do a great deal of chip catching.

Hello MichaelR,

Apologies, but I didn't mention it, the up & down arrows each have a button beside them.

Hello All,

Just took delivery of my Warco WM16B milling machine. All looks fine at the moment, especially now I know how to eject the draw bar. The manual would have had me hammering seven bells out of it. Warco explained the actual procedure but could not help me with the digital depth indicator. Nor can their supplier apparently, which seemed a little strange.

There's an up and a down arrow on the panel, anyone know what they're for? The very helpful gent at Warco seemed to think there was a YouTube video explaining what they're for, any one seen it?

Myfordboy traction engine here I come.

I'm in the process of selecting a DRO kit for my Warco WM16B milling machine. How useful is having DRO on the Z axis, when this machine has a digital depth readout for the quill? It's not a question of saving money, I'd just be interested in your thoughts.

Magnetic or optical? I'm erring towards magnetic.

Cromwells used to sell Solent corrosion inhibitor but I can't seem to find it, so now use Ambersil.

Another vote for Beech formers.

Hello Iain,

If they're for an airgun, have you tried T. W. Chambers or John Knibbs?