Member postings for Paul Mallen

Just an update to say I bit the bullet & ordered a new SX2 from ARC earlier along with a starter kit to get me playing, I have to say if the efficiency of ARC is anything to go by it should be a good experience!

Roll on Tuesday!!!

Thanks Ron, I like the trick with the angle too, I have a bit of it that I brought for a job that ended up as surplus to requirements and has been resting in the workshop for a while, now I’m glad I didn’t smelt down!

Thanks George, I like the way you’ve attached that & will have to see what I end up with (I’ve just had a couple of days work come in so my budget may well be increasing a little bit, but it all helps), I’m still aiming to buy new but am keeping my eye on the usual websites just in case a bargain arises

Thanks George, another +1 for those DRO’s , certainly less off a faff than my original plan with the digital verniers so it looks like I’ll be investing in those!

Not done it yet - to be honest it all goes above my head as I’m not very au fait when it comes to electrics, I can wire a guitar & a plug & that’s about the scope of my knowledge in that department, luckily I know a spark or two & can usually bribe them with tea & timber (one is a wood turner & I do a few big gardens & I have a big chainsaw) to sort out any jobs I may need doing . That’s the biggest attraction for me buying new to be honest, if it goes pop or doesn’t live up to expectations then I have someone I can call & talk to, which stands for a lot when I’m finding my feet in all this

Thanks Dave thats sort of confirmed what i was thinking about motor size, the one on my ML4 is 3/4hp and i have pushed that quite hard at times & all i've managed to do is make the belt slip, i don't think the work i intend to do will push it hard enough to burn it out - well i certainly hope not anyway!!

Thanks Colin but i'm strictly an apple fanboy but i will have a look in the app store to see if they have anything similar.

Thanks Dave & Oldiron, i was going to mount a couple of digital verniers onto T bolts & use those but they look like a decent price - probably what the verniers would cost so i'll be all over those!

Not done it yet, i'll have a look for that & its a bit naughty if correct...

Thanks Nigel, I will have to see if i can view them when i get on my computer, snd i tend to buy Rennie taps and have always found them to be good so i will be having a look when i get mine. I'm hoping to get a swivel tilting vice as i think this would be of use to me when drilling the saddles for the bridge.

Hi Dennis, yes i've been looking at them and intend on getting one, i have just built my own coil winder for pickup making and used a hall effect sensor on it to count the number of winds, and i know this can be adapted for RPM as well so i intend to knock something up until i can afford a good DRO

Edited By Paul Mallen on 19/09/2020 22:50:47

Stuart, Nigel - yes i did clock it after i posted that last comment, It still gives a good impression of the Sieg mills and i'm switching between your link Nigel and This from off the Arc website, so its all good.

Thanks for that Stuart and when it comes to engineering i am also a beginner, and to be perfectly honest if a micro mill came up for a couple of hundred quid close by i think i would grab it - its better than what i have at the moment...

Not done it yet - i know exactly what your wife means and i've never been one to shy away from splashing out on what i want, i usually get distracted & develop an itchy 'buy it now' finger, but i'm trying to be good & get my research done before committing.

Thanks Ron, you've basically echoed what i'm thinking with the upgrades and its good to have another +1 for the SX2.

I know i've posted this before but this is what i'm after with a mill - i'm a luthier (i make guitars - well, basses mainly as i am a bassist of over 35 years playing experience) and the mill (i hope) will be the difference between a professional finish & hand finish - mainly on the bridges i make, and heres one i made earlier;

I want to be able to mill the edges after cutting them with a hacksaw so they're straight, its all hand files at the mo which is taking a stupid amount of time & i'm never satisfied with the finish. Also i want to be able to skim a few thou off the surfaces so i can either leave the machined finish or whack it in the sand blaster then polish to a mirror or brushed finish. The round bits which are called the saddles need the holes drilled to a greater degree of accuracy that i cannot get with my Clarke bench drill & compound cross-slide vice, I drilled these by printing a plastic sleeve with my 3d printer that had the holes placed where i needed them to be, then inserted the stainless bar & drilled following the template, even this had mixed results and wasn't very consistent.

Plus the fact i want to make my own tuners so need the accuracy and ability to machine a block of aluminium to take the worm gear & drive - all small stuff really.

I do charge a bit of cash for a build - anything from £600 to £1600 so a professional finish is paramount, which is why i need the mill, don't get me wrong, if it allows me to obtain the finish i'm after then upgrading will be next on the list (hence why i'll grab a micro mill for the right money), and judging by what i've seen going on the auction sites i'll only need the proceeds of a couple of basses to upgrade to a real serious piece of kit, plus i have the luxury of being single so the only voice i need to heed is the one coming from my wallet.

Heres a couple of previous builds if anyone may be interested, it will give you some idea of what i'm trying to achieve - basically i don't want to buy any hardware such as bridges, tuners, pickups, i want it all made in house.

Thanks for all that information Nigel, i think thats swayed it in the SX2's favour for what i need, if i come across a Warco for a good price second hand then i may be persuaded but i'm aiming for a new Sieg i think.

Thanks for that Zan, I don't plan on making any big cuts, it will be quite light work that i will be doing on it and i'm hoping that if anything it will be a bit overkill for what i want, it'll make a change from me breaking something...

Ahh thanks for that Stuart you’ve cleared up those couple of points for me, and it’s good to hear from an SX2 owner as well Nigel - question for both of you if you don’t mind; what kind of work do you put through them and do either of you machine stainless?

My reason for asking is that I’ve recently started making things from stainless instead of & as well as brass, I only want to skim the surface to get rid of pits in the metal, and to cut a 4mm slot in the end of a 10mm round stainless bar, and I’m just wondering how well both machines cope with this kind of work.

Nigel - what don’t you like about the fine feed & how is the head raised & lowered as I can’t find any info on the website about it, it may well be on there & staring me in the face but I’ve looked at it that many times I think I’ve developed selective vision...

Edited By Paul Mallen on 18/09/2020 09:06:10

Thanks for the replies folks, much appreciated & some good points raised by all, after reading them I'm still edging towards the SX2 for a few reasons - valid or not i'm not sure, hence why i'm asking you guys but here goes;

R8 - yes i can see how it may be a bit overkill but i have morse tapers on my ML4 & Tyme Avon, and i hate having to keep a 'ramming stick' closeby, and i've had chucks fly across the workshop when i've hit it too hard to get it out....

Not having to change a belt for the speed - does my head in at the best of times on my lathes & bandsaw and the thought of having to do it again on a mill just makes me groan..(not particularly lazy, just disorganised enough to misplace things & i do have 7 dimensions in my workshop where i put something down only to loose it & rediscover it months later in a different location..)

Fixed position head - I've read enough on here to realise its not going to be tilted at all, and i have to say i'm impressed that Arc actually listened to customers feedback & just made it fixed & beefed it up.

This is my reasoning anyway, wether it makes any sense at all i will let you decide & correct me if i'm wrong on any points.

Bazyle - Just to pick up on a couple of things you mentioned - The devaluation is what worries me, if i'm buying second hand when the RRP is under & around the grand mark, it really has to be around half price to even grab my interest, otherwise i would much rather save the few hundred quid to get a new one with a warranty, it's only because its from Warco with a 6 month warranty that i'm even considering it, and this is a second hand model and it does look used....

And I honestly can't see me using the bigger table, its only a few cm difference & the biggest thing i will have on there is about 120mm x 50mm, and according to the review in this very magazine on the SX2 it goes right down to zero RPM.

I hate having choices.....

I sort of have my heart set on an SX2 if nothing decent second hand comes up, and now Warco have a 2nd hand WM16 at £750 (£810 with delivery & still a bit pricey for my liking but it is almost in my price range).

I realise the Warco is the next model up from the Sieg but I’m honestly not that bothered about size, going on what I’ve researched, a micro mill will cope with the stuff I will be doing and I think an SX2 would be able to cope admirably, if not being a bit overkill. So with that in mind is the 500w brushless motor & the R8 spindle worth it over the Warco or is it a case of 6 of one & half a dozen of the other?

Give me choices & it all goes bottom up.........

Edited By Paul Mallen on 17/09/2020 13:50:43

Thank you all for your comments & help on this, if he would have been any closer to me I would have been & brought it before he had chance to increase the price & now I would have been left with something that I would be struggling to run without a 3 phase supply & looking at getting another £200 to £400 for an inverter which as mentioned before - probably wouldn’t work!

I consider myself to have had an extremely lucky escape there thanks to everyone who replied & I thank you all - on further investigation & re-reading the messages he sent I’m convinced things are not all they seem with it... he first listed it as a “heavy duty wood & metal drill”, it’s now listed as a “heavy duty milling machine”, he knew absolutely nothing about it & it’s history & seemed adamant that there were no other markings or ID plates on it, and he has 2 Facebook friends (it’s on FB marketplace). Lucky escape there methinks!

Thanks again folks, the combined knowledge on this forum is outstanding & i consider myself very lucky to have access to it

Thank you Nigel your a star! That is precisely what i've been afraid of with buying an old mill like that one and another reason why i've held off buying a few that i've seen lately. I seem to be faced with paying £100 off the RRP for some second hand models i see on the internet (regardless of how many extras it comes with i would much rather pay the extra just for a new one with a warranty), or one like this one above - which could suffer from any of the problems you list...

It would appear to be a sellers market these days, no idea why but when you see micro mills selling second hand for what they are new then something must be going on...

Thanks Paul, I’ve been reliably informed that it’s probably worth between £500 - £600 depending on extras that may come with it so if he can get £1400 then fair play to him but it won’t be from me...

Saying that, he probably will get it, I’ve seen Clarke CL500’s with mill drills going for over £1550 on eBay in the last few weeks, they’re only £1374 brand new! I don’t know what’s happening lately with lathes & Mills but it seems people have more money than sense these days...

Thank you for all the replies & information folks, much appreciated - I’ve just had another look & he has raised the price from £500 to £1400 so it’s a big no from me.....

Thanks for that Zan, so it wouldn’t just be a case of buying an inverter & plugging it in then? I try not to mess with electrical stuff if I can help it so my knowledge is limited...

Hi Michael, thank you, I’m glad it make sense to someone & I’m glad your able to interpret it - I do have a single phase motor that’s 3/4HP that runs at 1425 rpm - think that might be any good if I can shoe horn it in?

But yes I’m waiting for the guy to get back to me with more details hopefully so I can make more of an informed decision

Howard thank you for that, I don’t plan on taking it apart & if it’s around the 130 - 150k mark then we should be ok, I’m an 18.5 stone bodybuilder who carries gravel boards & concrete posts around by myself, it’s my mate that will struggle but it will be worth it just to see his legs buckle & hear him moaning, if anything I’ll try to video it so we can all have a laugh

Thanks Craig, yes that’s what made me think 3 phase, here’s the plate with the numbers but it makes no sense to me - hopefully I have some more information coming later today so hopefully will be able to shed some light on it

Hi Thor, thanks for that & i was expecting around the 200k mark so thats a bonus! And that link is brilliant, thanks for that!

My GP has already told me that if i go in there with a knackered back once more he's going to batter me while he has the chance to do so, so i have to be a bit careful lol, trouble is i'm a bit of an oaf with no patience who's favourite saying is "gerrout me god rode" when people are faffing around, and then i end up not being able to cough, fart, move or sit still for a week or so......

Looks like its going to be an interesting time.......

Lathejack that’s brilliant thank you, so I take it that it’s ok for a first mill? It’s either this or a new X2 or WM12 as there are no others coming up for sale lately - bit of an off the wall question but does anyone have any idea of a rough weight? I have a mate with a van who will help me fetch it but there are only 2 of us, I’m a big lad but he is quite vertically challenged & by his own admission ’cor lift much’, am I due a hernia or not?

Edited By Paul Mallen on 14/09/2020 09:51:11