Member postings for Gavin Jones 1

Thanks again Jason, that is what I shall do. Best, Gavin

Hi "not done it yet", that makes sense to me but I shall probably just install the switch box that came with the mill. I also don't leave it unattended when operating. Best, Gavin

Hi Brian, I think I need to do exactly that. The two threaded holes which exist (for the vertical finger plate) sit on a vertical centerline, whereas the ones I need for the switch unit, need to sit on a horizontal axis to give enough rigidity to resist the force of the ramps operating the switches. I shall make a stand/bench for the mill first, to get it up off the floor, then tackle the drilling and tapping. Best, Gavin

Thank you Jason. That makes sense to me, and I do have the two little ramped adjustable stops for the slot. I can't see any mounting holes on the front of the table and the previous owner told me he had never used the switch device. I will have another look dreckly.

I have one of your books. Best, Gavin

Hi All, does anyone on here have this machine, or is familiar with it? I have bought one second-hand from a mate. It has a cable from the underside of the powerfeed to a switch box, which has limit switches and a mounting bracket on it. I don't know where it is supposed to mount on the mill. I guess it's job is to stop the power feed at the limits of table travel.

Thank you, Gavin

Thank you Mike and Tim. It seems that the main castings are similar across Chester, Warco, Seig, Amadeal and Optimum. At a tangent - I have been made aware of an Emco FB2 which maybe available...

Dave, thank you. All of what you said makes good sense to me. With the help of the good people of this forum I am learning a lot about the various smaller mills in the marketplace. I tend to take quite a while to purchase thes type of larger ticket items. It took me years to buy my lathe and now I wonder why I didn't do so years before....

Best regards, Gavin

Bill, I just watched Stefan Gotteswinter's video. Very interesting. Did not put me off the Optimum machines at all. Thank you, Gavin

Thank you Stuart, that is good news as some users reported imperial lead screws with metric graduations resulting in confusion when using X and Y handwheels.

Thank you Bill, I will watch the video when I finish work.

Thank you Thor, that is reassuring.

Best regards, Gavin

Stuart, thank you. That is a nice looking machine. It is more than I can afford but if all the Optimum mill family are produced to similar standards that would be good news. Are the lead screws on X and Y metric or imperial? What graduations are marked on the dials of X and Y? Thank you, Gavin

Hi All, does anyone on the forum have experience of these machines? They appear similar to those from Amadeal (Weiss), Warco and Seig but they appear to have scraped (possibly too regular a pattern for hand scraping) surfaces on the Z axis. How do they rate for quality and reliability compared with the other machines mentioned above? Today, I spoke with one of the owners of Excel Machine Tools who sell the Optimum range. He said they used to have to do a lot more to the machines when they arrived in the UK, but now only have to do some minor mechanical and electrical checks (not accuracy/dimensional checks) because quality from the factory has improved a lot.

Thank you and best regards, Gavin

Good points Howard. Currently, I have small machines from Seig, Optimum and Amadeal (Weiss) under review. Thanks, Gavin

Good mod' Howard. I dislike bashing things. Gavin

Thank you Chris, seems there are several like minded people on this forum. I have not yet ventured into pre war bikes but find them fascinating. I do have chance to restore a very old Scott two stroke (not mine).

Gavin

Thank you again Old Mart. I will be sure to go for R8 in whichever mill I end up with. Gavin

Old Mart, interesting point about the capability of a mill with a round column. I had convinced myself to go for a flat/dovetail column with gibs so I could raise/lower the head (to swop tool bits) and not loose my x/y position, but I had not thought of the type of job you mentioned. Two pals of mine have Warco round column mills (FV320-T) and rate them.

Re the slide out rails, I recall mounting a crusher in a process plant on rails so it could be moved out of its tight location for maintenance and repair.

Thanks, Gavin

Thank you Old Mart. My lathe has MT3 in the tailstock and so does my pillar drill, but my heart is set on R8 for the mill as it will maximise the height available from the spindle nose to the table. Gavin

Thank you Old Mart.

I have purchased a few tools from ARC and have been pleased. I understand they sell the Sieg range of milling machines. Their SX2.7 would suit my needs well. I have watched several videos of people setting up, measuring and reviewing their Sieg mills. I agree totally re vendor reputation. Many years ago I used to work in engineering purchasing and we used to say "the measure of a supplier is not so much when things are going well, but how they respond when things go wrong".

Thanks, Gavin

Dave, thank you - good data. I tend to be quite cautious when machining (because of mechanical sympathy). I see quite a few makers now offer brushless DC. I guess switched reluctance motors will be viable soon (very good efficiency, variable speed and high torque at low speeds). Gavin

Ady, it does look like a big beast for a home workshop but as you say bigger is better in this case. Better rigidity, less chatter etc...

Thanks, Gavin