Member postings for mechman48

As mentioned; the WM 16 comes with a 10mm & a 3/8" draw bar, also the chuck supplied is a 3/8" fitting, mine has. I personally wouldn't like to fit tang extension sleeves as the longer you have the drill/cutter protruding out the less rigidity you have & the more chance of something nasty happening. I use a ER 25 collet set (M10 tapped) for all my cutters & keep the quill extension as short as possible, with the head lowered / raised just far enough to allow me a clear view to see what's happening.

The ejection / retaining bush is just that, although I have found that to release the collet takes some leverage on the 'SMALL' square on the end of the draw bar which will eventualy 'round off ' & find that I have had to give a gentle persuasive tap with a plastic / brass hammer once I have backed up the draw bar to the underside of the bush (shows me that the matching tapers have a good grip..on mine !). I'm thinking.. make new draw bars with a hex' head (hex' bar machined with appropriate thread) to allow a socket or ring key fitting.. or weld a hex' nut on & modify the bushing to suit, I'm sure there are many other alternatives which you guys will come up with.

Cheers

George

Maybe not in the right forum but I reckon comes under 'materials' as angle plates are mentioned;

Bought a vee angle plate from RDG at the Harrowgate exhib' last week, new style with 'T ' slots, 5"x3"x3" (RDG cat. ref.2212, usual disclaimer) for less than the advertised catalogue price, I had checked out other dealers versions of the' normal type' & the quality was a lot to be desired to say the least, most slots out of alignment or milled off square to the drilled entry holes to mention a couple & only the smaller versions available. I reckon I got the best of the bunch & the 'T' slots will provide better fastening capability than the other types... you pays your money..etc. one reason I like to go.. you can 'see before you buy'.

George

ps Mea culpa, the correct Grizzly link is

**LINK**

Hi all

Mark P; - I have never found the need to consider bracing the column, I have put on a d.o.c. of 1mm (CI, MS, Ally' & Brass) without it complaining, from your post it seems that you are putting quite hefty cuts on it, I would be wary of stripping the intermediate plastic gear if too much is put on, unless you've already remedied that?

Rik,- as with Thors machine the height from my stand top to the underside of the table is 106mm (wouldn't guarantee that all casting batches measure the same), that is to the bottom of the dovetail slides.

Thor - from your album it looks like yours is the Amadeal version of the WM18 if it has the MT3 (no connection) as do the WM 18, BF20L, PC45, Grizzly G0704 & Optimum BF20, the only differences I can note is the layout of the electrics, switching & colour scheme, looking at the WM16 & Grizzly G0704 parts lists, they are identical, If anyone wants a comprehensive manual & parts list look up .. grizzlyG0704.com. .. the manual for my WM16 looks as though its pages are a Chinglish version extracted from Grizzly's manual.

As far as mods to my machines goes,- so far I have fitted DRO's to the X & Y axes on the mill ,altered the chip/splash guard & fitted a couple of stops to the head to maintain 'zero tramming', any angle work needed (very little so far) I have used my angle vice.

On my 250 V-F.. - I have modified the topslide to take a Dickson type toolpost '00' size, (simply as I had it plus 10 holders from previous), although I'm sure it will take the '0' version plus Warcos version (item 9009.250), from their blurb it seems that you have to ask them to machine these to fit the 250V-F (extra cost ?) I actually machined the boss off my topslide to accomodate the QCTP, if I need to use the original t/post then it would be to simply machine up a boss/collar to fit over the QCTP stud. I have modified the compound slide friction collar by adding a machined knurled collar for easier grip as the original set up was small difficult to get my (fat) thumb & finger in to grip..much improved. The chuck guard has been modified to allow me to see better, the original configuration had the frame edge blocking my view down onto the chuck (nitpicking)

I have a couple of ' to do it' items to get on with..

1. Replace the compound gib strip to brass, proper size, as the orig' is just an ms strip fitted & leaves a lot to be desired

2. Make up a saddle lock for more solid saddle locking when facing / parting off, the original is a allen screw locking system on the bottom right corner(I'm sure all of you are well aware of this).

3. Fit a coolant system to lathe / mill. I have a temp system I use for both at the mo'

All mods can be be seen in my album pics; if anyone has already done similar 'to do it' mods would appreciate pics /drawings. Am in the process of updating my album so if you can't see any pics mentioned let me know.

Cheers for now

George

Edited By mechman48 on 16/05/2013 14:50:03

Witches Tits.. can't connect the analogy ??? Maybe my old grey matter is worse than I thought, enlightenment would be nice! or am I missing something?

Bob/editor

As an aside; your page write up has appeared to stretch right over to the right hand side with a column of ads cutting through about 1/3 width of page on right side, it only appears on your write up as I have read other pages with photos & all are ok, within borders & ads in the normal page border on right side,could your pic size be affecting format, or compatability issue?

George

Rik

I can go with that suggestion..

George

Rik

Those are the same model machines I bought at last years show, would appreciate you keeping us updated,& if I can help with any advice, or vice versa drop me a pm. So far I have fitted X & Y DRO's to the mill, substituted the supplied lathe toolpost with a Dickson type '00' QCTP as I already had it from previous combo machine (had to modify the compund slide & made new post ), a '0' size would fit as well, you can see the DRO set up in my photos. Like yourself I would have gone for the 280 & the WM18 mill but budgetry & space constraints said otherwise.

George

Rik,

Just out of curiosity which lathe & mill did you get?

George

I went on Friday & was disappointed that ArcEuro & Chronos were not there as I was particularly looking to get some items from both traders that I had earmarked in my little notebook, always nice to 'see before you buy', did manage to get stuff from RDG (also earmarked) but still missed both of the above. Apart from Warco, Chester, & RDG (usual disclaimer) there were the usual gamut of smaller dealers for those wanting to 'browse through' stuff so there was enough to satisfy the most picky.

The finance director (SWMBO) accompanied me & again commented on the amount of backpacking,corderoy/jean, fleece garbed 'oldies' wandering around with glazed looks on their faces, myself included I might add, much akin to anoracked train spotters, commenting with 'ooohs & ahhhs' on this & that, albeit said with a grin on her face & then promptly hotfooted it back into Harrogate..for a little bit 'shopping' .

The exhibition on the whole was as expected, a lot of superb models, my favourites being the scale model 1923 Bentley front end.. along with the superb paddlewheel yacht 'Samantha' ..exceptional work guys! puts my meager attempts to shame, still have to make my '1st project' yet.

All in all a good day out & will be there next year.

Cheers

George

Edited By mechman48 on 12/05/2013 22:07:18

I went on Friday & was disappointed that ArcEuro & Chronos were not there as I was particularly looking to get some items from both traders that I had earmarked in my little notebook, always nice to 'see before you buy', did manage to get stuff from RDG (also earmarked) but still missed both of the above. Apart from Warco, Chester, & RDG (usual disclaimer) there were the usual gamut of smaller dealers for those wanting to 'browse through' stuff so there was enough to satisfy the most picky.

The finance director (SWMBO) accompanied me & again commented on the amount of backpacking,corderoy/jean, fleece garbed 'oldies' wandering around with glazed looks on their faces, myself included I might add, much akin to anoracked train spotters, commenting with 'ooohs & ahhhs' on this & that, albeit said with a grin on her face & then promptly hotfooted it back into Harrogate..for a little bit 'shopping' .

The exhibition on the whole was as expected, a lot of superb models, my favourites being the scale model 1923 Bentley front end.. along with the superb paddlewheel yacht 'Samantha' ..exceptional work guys! puts my meager attempts to shame, still have to make my '1st project' yet.

All in all a good day out.

Cheers

George

Edited By mechman48 on 12/05/2013 22:07:18

As with Chris;

File a round hole square ...basic apprentice hand tool excercise; same as making a 1" cube out of 2" round bar.. to tolerance, using only a hacksaw, set of files, Engineers square & feeler gauges, part of my first 6 mo. as apprentice, then onto scraping bedways / bearings (min 25points per sq inch or else you got your ears slapped..not pc now). no mechanical assistance back then, followed by using a lathe/mill/drill,.blah, blah! , all long gone expertise, for some!... its all CNC now!

enjoy.

Living in smoggieland I listen to radio Tees; my favourite programme is vintage vinyl on a Sunday afternoon, all the good old stuff from the forties right through to the sixties sometimes into the seventies, Ahhhhh bring back Mario Lanza, Dean Martin,Doris Day, the Searchers,Hollies, Shadows, Hermans Hermits,The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers,Buddy Holly, Richie Valance ,The Big Bopper, Roy Orbison, Helen Shapiro,Kathy Kirby et al... Yep, the whole gamut, & I am not distracted when using machinery, just nice background music.

ps. I do listen to the 'Boro matches on a Sat' too...more's the pity, always have had a sinking feeling when the match starts, must have a masochistic streak in me .

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 07/05/2013 23:03:03

Hi Bazyle

#5. - Nice one! never thought 'bout about that .

Made up a quick truing attachment on lieu of setting up a DTI all the time; used the reclaimed bandsaw bearing that I put away couple of weeks ago..knew it would come in handy for something! tried it out on a piece of thin toolpost spacer ..worked a treat.. spot on. Seen different versions on this & other forums so thanks & credit to the originators for the idea.

The bearing was press fitted to an old 8mm bolt from the odds 'n' sods box with the head machined to get nearer to the chuck for smaller items, just reverse it in the QCTP for face on truing

George.

I did the same as OuBallie; & am getting much the same summer / winter set temperatures, when we had the cold snap earlier on this year the outside was -4 to -6* & the garage thermometer read + 5* an hours warm up with the two oil filled rads soon got it settled up to +12 - 16* nice & cosy! the other addition I put in was to plasterboard the roofing rafters & line the above space with 'space blanket' which when unrolled expanded to 6" thickness which helps a great deal.

As for the floor' I painted it garage 'grey' floorpaint & bought some of the foam floor tiles from Machine Mart (usual disclaimer) which are comfy underfoot & also help retain heat but do tend to have swarf stick to them (access to conveyor belting would be a boon) but I have made an acetate chip shield the full length of the mill table & ea. end so it has cut down on the amount of chips flying about. The roll up door has 'space blanket fixed to the panels which does the job fine but cosmetically ugly, I'm thinking of replacing this with the same type Celotex insulation as the walls & considering I don't have any windows (side/back walls back onto neighbours gardens) no security issues there.

Electrics are via a new ring mains fed from the house DB via RCD MCB's for the power & lighting, through a DB in the garage & then also protected by plugin RCD's for ea.machine.I started out with 5 double sockets(10 sockets) off the ring but have now added extension leads which give me access to a total of 20 sockets..only a single garage I know but have still turned around looking for the nearest socket! so the message is.. sockets,sockets & more sockets & when you have finished with cupbords /shelving, if you have space ..stick another socket in it. . As with Geoff I have not noticed any discernable rust anywhere in the garage apart from some on old MS stock that has been lying around prior to converting the garage, & which I have now cleaned up & have lightly oiled /greased prior to storing down at the storage end (roller door).

I always take one of my wireless phones in with me as these have a intercom facility built in, along with my mobile, so contact with SWMBO, or anyone else is not an issue, plus if you have your priorities set you should have your radio, kettle, teabags/coffee already in there & these are the first items to be switched on so you should be looking at..

1. lights on.

2. kettle on.

3. radio on.

4. Sit on your collapsable bar stool & ask your self ..what was I going to do? 

Have fun buildng your man cave, & some pics posted as you go along would be nice.

George

Edited By mechman48 on 03/05/2013 16:49:24

Hi Mick Cutting a long story short I fabricated two blocks & attached them to my WM column, & head,one either side, after tramming & locking everything in place, any angled work I have had to to (minimal ) I have used my tilting vice, see pics

Cheers

George

You've just reminded me why I kept a reclaimed bearing from my bandsaw repairs,

Cheers

George

Hi Rik

I have a Warco 250V-F on stands that I bought at the Harrogate exhib' last year & I bought the stand with it as part of a package deal, I'm sure these stands were made to suit the average height of the far eastern male(female ?) as I am a short a***se at 5' 7" & have found that I have a need to stoop to see what I am doing ,( unless it's my eyes that need to be sorted?) which tend to give me backache so if I were you I would set you height so that you can operate your saddle & X slide handwheels without having to stoop over. IIRC my saddle handwheel centre is approx' 895 mm from the floor & the X slide handwheel centre is approx' 990 mm..so I would suggest that you raise the machine by another 100 - 150 mm or possibly even 200mm to suit your height, as suggested if it's too high you can always make a duckboard. As it is the stand supplied is too low for the average 'European' height.

As for the 'lectrics' I can honestly say I have had no bother with them (touch wood!) mind you I have had no reason to run it at low speed, I generally run it at over 300rpm to suit MS & the type of tool I use( in the 400 t0 560 range) & more for brass & ally' ..ooops I've just remembered I did run it at approx' 150 - 210 rpm on some large CI casting & it handled it quite well. The only time I blew a fuse was when I first tried it out ..tried to be too greedy & stuck a hefty DOC on.. it didn't like it!..just treat it with consideration & it will do what you want it to....Hmmm where have I heard that before..ah yes! something to do with the female species..

cheers

George

Edited By mechman48 on 26/04/2013 01:32:22

Edited By mechman48 on 26/04/2013 01:50:30

For future ref; local scrappies tend to have CI in the form of sash window weights,I think these are roughly 25mm x 300 long, as for being true Meehenite...?? but would hazard a guess that they quite close in composition, last time I was at my local scrappie I saw a bundle layed over in one corner but was more interested in getting some brass & ally so didn't pick a piece up, maybe should have on the offchance, probably won't be any there next time I go over

George