Member postings for Crocadillopig

Although It doesn't sound critical and can be easily fixed it could be expensive if she has to dock down and de-store to repair. I remember being deployed on the Invincible when The propeller shaft 'A' bracket bearing needed replacing it took several attempts to fix in dry dock. Nearest place was Singapore (Oh what a Shame)

Russ

Me too! Sent an email yesterday and still awaiting answer. ( Live in Southwest Dorset)

Russ

I recently bought 10 x ER40 collets (17 to 26mm) and matching lathe chuck from ARC to augment my ER25 set (goes down to 0.5mm) and use them in both my mill for cutter and drill holding, and in my lathe for barstock holding. I wouldn't be without them. I use a ball bearing nut for the ER25's and would endorse Ketan's Comments.

Russ

Warco do a headstock oil, I top up with that for the saddle and headstock on my 280V. (The saddle has an occasional small leak that needs investigating).

Russ

Edited By Crocadillopig on 14/08/2015 12:11:46

I see in the latest copy of ME (No 4056) Warco have just brought out a new compact mill with a vertical traverse of 210mm, the WM12 which retails at £650 including delivery. I don't know if that is within your budget restraints or how competent a machine it is but I have owned the larger WM16 and WM18 and found them to be very good value for the money. Having purchased all my machine tools from Warco I can say that the service both before and after sales has been very good and I don't recall having seen any bad reviews regarding them. The mill is that new that I don't think it is on their website yet.

Russ

[Just as a FYI, it is about a 30% premium on the scale price to go from 5um to 1um]

Stuart, that ain't necessarily so. Check out **LINK** I bought a system from this firm at 1um

for my lathe, and one for my miller from M-dro at 5um at virtually the same price!

Hi

I use the same as Neil proposed on my 4" flue (other sizes are available) and find it works a treat. I also fitted a damper plate in the flue just above the combustion chamber of my woodburner to control the draft and keep the temp down so that I can use wood kindling under smokeless fuel brickettes to maintain a longer burn.

Russ

Am I missing something ? Don't these methods rely on the concentricity of the chuck whereas the wobbler automatically works off the centre line of the spindle.

Russ

[ As for those wiggler wobbler things, I can't imagine anything more annoying. Who invented them?

Murray ]

The beauty of the simple wobbler is that it normally comes with three types of sensor rods (cylindrical, round and point.) enabling it to be used on round bar diameters, block edges, and pick up centre dots.

Russ

Michael

I was seduced by the idea of the Laser Edge Finder with Polariser years ago, but after buying it I realised that it still relied on the mark one eyeball for accuracy and is not really suitable for edge finding. If you are working to reasonable tolerances you would be better off with a wobbler pin or fag paper and use the laser for woodworking.

Russ

Edited By Crocadillopig on 26/02/2015 23:31:04

Brian

My backing plate has tapped holes at each end, one at the top and one at the bottom. I needed to jack the bottom away from the casting as well to ensure clearance of the actual encoder when it travels. I don't think a level is accurate enough, I used a DTI. and got it to within 0.001" although it states in my installation guide 0.006"  or less.

Russ

Edited By Crocadillopig on 06/02/2015 12:39:56

Edited By Crocadillopig on 06/02/2015 12:41:21

Hi Brian

Not sure what system you finally decided on but this was my solution to fitting a DRO system to the Y axis on my WM18. I used jacking grub screws to position the mounting rail in the vertical plane. However this leaves a tapered gap that collects fine swarf, therefore I intend to fill it with some type of filler and paint it to match the machine.

Best of luck

Russ

Hi Brian

I too had a similar system (but used SR44 batteries) on my WM16 and although it worked in a basic way it did have its drawbacks i.e cold workshop = batteries drained quickly, even when not being used and in the end the contacts began to show signs of corrosion and needed regular cleaning. I have since moved on to a WM18 and have invested in a M-DRO system like Tony , which I am currently fitting, this has many more functions including ARC contouring, PCD, Oblique line of holes, centre finding etc and I think is well worth the extra money, especially if you use coolant.

Russ

I went on Sunday this time having got caught out by the traffic jams on the M5 return trip on my usual Fridays over the past few years . I must say it was a disappointment, everything spread out to cover the lack of stalls and a distinct lack of atmosphere. I attend this exhibition because it is closest (although still over 200mile round trip) and have always found something of interest, but not this time. I had hoped to look at the new Warco WM280V lathe to confirm my choice that it would be the right lathe for me. But they were noticeable by their absence ! I will probably still buy one but it would have been nice to have had a play first. I wonder if these firms realise that it is not all about making a sale on the day. People think long and hard about buying these major purchases and it may come to fruition a year or so down the line when the funds have become available. It does put the seeds of doubt in ones mind, are they in difficulty ? As to the exhibitions, perhaps I'm just jaded but i don't think I will bother again.

Russ

Well said John. It is no wonder the hobby is dying if all newcomers read is backbiting and bitchy comments from people who should know better It makes us all look bad.

Russ

There is always the easy way if you just want to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the motion, I have attached a 220v 5 rev/min electric motor disguised as a generator/gearbox to the back end of my Stuart Triple that sits in the lounge in pride of place.

Russ

I use a 9" 'T slotted' faceplate from RDG (ref 210989) with a shortened adapter (ref 823AD Chuck) which incorporates a 2 morse taper although other locators are available. This fits my 4" vertex rotary table (ref 324958). This set up works for me on my WM16, although restricted in 'Y' axis, travel is still useable in 'X' and 'Z'. If you find it is not rigid enough for heftier cuts, support the overhang with a screw jack although I have never found the need

Russ

Hi Mark

When I said adjust I was referring to the fact that fine feed shaft had worked loose and become a sloppy fit in the head. To cure this I had to remove the coarse downfeed spider handle and associated flanges to get inside the head to see what was going on. That was when I discovered the damage the loose worm shaft had caused to the brass worm wheel and that there was no support for the end of the shaft. To tighten it up I levered the end of the shaft back towards the front face of the head whilst forcing the fine feed control knob up against the head face and tightening the securing grub screw (three hands required!). Unless I am missing something this is a very poor design and not fit for purpose as the knob/dial is all that holds the shaft in place and there is still a considerable amount of backlash.

Russ

Hi Rik

The draw bar is used to secure and eject you 2 MT tooling. When I first tried the eject function I was a bit wary of the amount of effort that was required, I use an old fashion knuckle jointed brake adjuster on the square atop the draw bar with the spindle held under the head with the spanner provided in the tool kit . The draw bar is held captive by the threaded sleeve that fits over the top of it so that when you attempt to unscrew the draw bar whilst holding the spindle, it releases so far until the shoulder comes up against the underside of the top of the sleeve and then forces the tooling downwards, breaking the Morse Taper joint in the process. I have had my WM 16 since 2005 and have had very few problems apart from a duff potentiometer and and a sticky button on the vertical digital read out. I was rather dismayed though when I tried to adjust the fine feed control and discovered that the worm shaft is only supported at one end and therefore had damaged the brass worm wheel because of excessive play. Still usable but future expense. Hope this is of some use. (P.S. I am assuming that the system has not been modified in the intervening years since I purchased mine.)

Regards

Russ

Hi chaps

I am trying to find a supplier of brass channel 1" x 3/8" leg x 1/16" . I've pottered about on t'internet to no avail, found a couple close but nothing exact. I need a couple of lengths 16" or more for chassis members. any ideas?

Russ

Edited By Crocadillopig on 24/04/2013 16:12:38