Member postings for William Ayerst

Thank you for the thought Dave, there is no self eject on the tailstock - it is effected by putting a piece of square bar between the back of the jacobs chuck and the front of the tialstock casting and winding in!

re: the tip on metric vs imperial - I've found a supplier on fleabay (cncpoorboy) who supplies new Clarkson/Europa brand milling cutters with Autolock threads so happy with that...

Drawbar

I have asked the kind gent who has sold me the mill to see if the drawbar or components are with it or not - it may be that I need to fabricate the whole shooting match, presumably I'll be OK to use some BSW studding in the interim? Peak4 if it's OK may I trouble you for some measurements when you have some time?

Collets & Holders

Vertex and Amadeal both do 2MT ER25 collet holders with a 3/8" drawbar, but the former won't have any in stock until around October and I've heard bad things about the latter.

I have done a small inventory of my cutters and only three are not clarkson compatible (a 1/2" slot drill with no thread, a 5/16" cutter and a 1/4" cutter with no thread). I have found a 2MT Clarkson Autolock chuck with imperial collets available within walking distance, so it seems as though fortune is directing me that way for now.

Drilling in the Mill

The ML7 doesn't have anything to engage the tang on my current Jacobs chuck arbor anyway, so replacing with one with a 3/8" drawbar thread is probably a smart choice! Are jacobs chucks considered accurate enough for reamer work if I end up needing a reamer that is non-Clarkson compatible?

I think the crucial point is that if the holder is threaded M10 that it won't fit into the spindle bore of the Centec Quill head - then I need to ensure I get 3/8" or maybe the Clarkson chuck is back on the menu. JasonB - the holder you specified does have an M10 thread on the 2MT version It looks like Vertex do one with a 3/8" drawbar at one end of the spectrum, and Amadeal at the other.

I do have a Jacobs chuck at 2MT but no drawbar and it does have a tang. I use it on the tailstock of my lathe.

Peak4 your setup looks very impressive for the head there - how is the spring/plate arrangement fitted around the drawbar? Is it something you fabricated or bought?

Edited By William Ayerst on 12/07/2021 18:24:36

Clive - presumably a cap which keeps the plate on the drawbar captive? I'll have to investigate...

Thanks Jason - I've heard nothing but good things from Arc so may as well give it a bash. Any opinion on ER32 vs ER25?

I appreciate the comments above that the Myford collets are more accurate - but having ten or twelve of them, I think I would prefer to move them on and use that to pay for setting up the mill. I'm not sure the work I do needs to be that accurate!

Edited By William Ayerst on 12/07/2021 11:29:27

News of my death may have been overstated?

I have realised that if I use Clarkson, I won't be able to drill with my existing drill bits, or ream with my existing reamers (unless they fall into those precise measurements) - so I think (!) I'm going to go with a 2MT ER set despite my reservations. I don't suppose there's a set knocking around which has imperial designations (yes I know it's a metric standard).

ER25 or ER32? Mill is a Centec 2B so probably not up to hogging out huge cuts so...

Edited By William Ayerst on 12/07/2021 11:16:15

Ah, well luckily Warco don't have the 1/4" in stock and I have cancelled that order because that's basically what I think I'd be using - what a roller coaster lol. I'll reconsider Clarkson but if you could recommend me an ER set in the meantime to review that would be wonderful? I'll report back before applying card to internet.

re: import JasonB - you're quite right but this at least gets me in the door. I may pivot to Clarkson tbh but if I can double-up these finger collets on the ML7 then that would free up some capital for that slightly later?

While I'm at it - the mill is (obviously if you've helped in my other thread) a Centec 2B with a quill head. This is the drawing for the draw-bar that I have:

I'll thread 3/8" BSW to match the finger collets - but is this a design that'll work/not mash up the spindle bearings?

Cheers!

I hadn't even considered MT2 finger collets - that's a great shout! I have ordered a set from Warco - time to fabricate up a drawbar I guess!

Good morning gents,

With the imminent arrival of a milling machine, I'm considering my tool holding position - up until now I have been building up my collection of Myford MT2 collets for use in my lathe and I'm only a couple short of a full set of 1/16" - 1/2".

They have been working GREAT for workholding and toolholding in the lathe. However, with no equivalent thread on my MT2 mill spindle they are about as much use there as a chocolate teapot.

While I am all up for vintage machines, tools, processes, etc. it seems that a Clarkson Autolock chuck is about the only collet chuck that's going to fit the bill i.e. imperial measurements and british made - and only comes with 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8" divisions.

For the milling on my ML7 I've never used a more complex fractional cutter - 99% of work has been done with a 1/4" four flute endmill - but it does worry me a little that I wouldn't be able to use a 7/16" ball nosed cutter or 9/32" reamer if I went down the Clarkson route. I understand the Vertex Posilock is a similar design and principle.

On the other hand, I am strongly considering going against my principles and getting an ER32 collet holder and set for use both on the mill and the lathe - the Myford holders would pay for the entire thing just by themselves. If anyone has a recommended British/Euro-made set I would be very happy to hear it.

This looks the business, is it one of the fleabay specials? Is it self contained (i.e. just needs a 5/12/20/24v power supply?)? I'm not looking to get a power feed on anything yet, but knowing is half the battle!

Thanks Dave - I am budgeting 9" between the end of the table at its leftmost position and the nearest obstacle for the hand wheel and my hand. As mentioned, no power traverse on this one so only one side to worry about!

Ah, I had one small question on the 2B that I can't seem to get a clear answer on - just relating to the placement in my workshop - the table X-axis travel is noted as 14" so presumably that's 7" either side of the centre line rather than 14" either side?

No power traverse on the 2B from the member of this parish I'm sorting out - I'm working on the assumption that I will make do without, or fit my own at some future date.

(duplicate)

Edited By William Ayerst on 07/07/2021 13:00:12

Not done it yet, so you're saying that the two surfaces here (the red arrows) are the same, flat surface? Maybe it's a trick of the eye but it looks like the feet might be lower?

If the base is fully flat, then I can arrange it like so:

It is still technically outboard of those joists, so I would assume still needs some thick sheet material underneath at the very least?

All the best,

As smug as I was in my previous post it looks like I miscalculated, and the base width did not include the feet - which are 2" outboard instead of inboard of the footprint. This puts them either side of the joists, quite a few inches onto flimsy 15mm planks with just air underneath - and so the problem in the original premise remains.

I must admit I am really quite nervous about pouring another pad. I have the material and it won't be the first time I've poured concrete. But it feels like a really significant amendment to the workshop. Everyone 'in the real world' I've spoken to thinks it's a bit mad.

The alternative is to chuck a cut down 8" x 3" railway sleeper under each pair of feet. The timber will be supported by three joists, one at each end and one in the middle. The mill would be roughly central on the length of the timber. No structural changes required but clearly not the gold standard.

This is an old mill and I'm not building jet engines, and I would have thought the timbers would be sufficient - but I really don't have the benefit of experience to know what meaningful difference there would be.

Edited By William Ayerst on 06/07/2021 15:57:17

By some freak chance, the mill's perfect position in the workshop puts the feet directly over the joists in the workshop. My plan is to use two layers of 3/4" plywood to spread the weight across more of the floor, and then see how it goes. If there is movement or vibration then I will use the opportunity to strip and refurbish it, and pour some concrete or use some steel slugs.

Cheers,

Hm ok - so chicken wire pushed into the void before shoveling in dry screed - that works. It sounds like a good idea to lay out a bit of damp proof polythene or a cut up builder's sack underneath so it can be separate from the main pad?

Also, a global shortage of cement right now. Great.

Thank you - I think I have decided to bite the bullet and get Landylift/Steve to move it - it's about double the cost of renting a van and paying for petrol, but I don't then need to disassemble the mill and reassemble it at the other end, give myself a hernia, drop it midway, etc.

Hopefully this saga then draws to a close and i thank all of your for your kind help and attention.