Myford Vm-f

Just to be clear Waggonerman, when you say the Base (as per "Base & Column are a one piece casting" do you mean the stand (the chunk in contact with the floor) or the bottom of the column forming the horizontal of the L shape. If the latter then the column can be demounted from the stand as we have said.

The lathes website says the stand is cast steel as per the VME. I will duck out of the discussion at this point as you actually have one of these it makes more sense for Nigel to talk to you.

regards Martin

Please see pics below showing Column to Base area (Swarf Tray removed for clarity), as you can see there is no bolted joint, it all being one casting, beware if moving that it is quite top heavy & has a smallish footprint, would strap Base to the Pallet just to be safe if transporting in this way.

It might be worth taking a closer look at the joint between the column and the cast iron stand of the VMF mill, this uses the same column and cast iron stand as the VME.

Although there is no visible external joint I suspect that the column is bolted to the cast iron stand using bolts on the iside of the stand that pass up into threaded lugs on the iside of the column. The castings have filler on the outside before being painted and the joint line is covered and blended in with filler and paint, so it does appear as a one piece casting. The column may have a steel cover on the back face that hides a large access hole, through which the bolts can be seen.

The vertical dovetails machined on the front face of the column terminate very close to the top of the iron stand. I can't see how the dovetails could be machined or ground that close unless they were separate items. I have a VMC mill, and although it has a fabricated sheet steel stand it does have a large cast iron base that is bolted to the base of the column using bolts that pass up through the inside of the base casting and into the column. This also has vertical dovetails on the front face of the column that are very close to the iron base casting. The joint is invisible due to the filler and paint applied at the factory.

If the column is bolted I would still try to avoid separating it for transportation if possible. Removing it would also make a bit of a mess of the filler and paint around the joint. The VMF is a really nice machine, they have a quality fit and feel, as do the VME and VMC.

Finally got to look up inside the Base Casting with my spy camera, yes you are right Lathejack there are 9 Screw Heads visible fixing the Base to the Column, there is as you suggest Filler disguseing the joint, should have twigged about the machined Vertical Slideway being so close to the top of the Base!

Nigel,

I will send you an email with some manuals for the machine the main castings for the VME and VMF are the same, the VMC is a much smaller machine. The VMF is about 450kg give or take. I recently had one of these shipped from manchester to brighton for about £130 using shiply shich may be a better option. but you need to make sure it is propperly prepped if you are going to do that as they have a habbit of falling over in transit. contact me if you need more info regarding this.

As for taking it apart, it depends how stong you are. Im 35 years old and a 21 stone powerlifter... I managed to take it down and move it about on my own without the use of any lifting equipment (just using metal bars to roll it), but it was a struggle. The main casting is still about 250Kg once you have removed the Head/Ram/Table etc. and i would say that removing them is a two man job really, even if you had an engine hoist.

If you do go down that route, most of the bolts etc are imperial, so take the correct tools. LOL

PS i dont think the ram can slide out all the way as there is a key holding it in, you have to remove the whole thing clamp and all ( which is only two bolts)

Mine is currently in bits so if you have any questions let me know.

If anyone has a spare hand crank for a VMF, i am after one!

Email sent Nigel, its quite large so let me know if it doesnt come through

Nigel

Apologies for the delay - I will scan the leaflet and forward to your email a.s.a.p.

Regards

Chris Sangster

Hi Waggoner - no problem - once I've scanned the leaflet, I'll add you to the mailing list....

Chris Sangster (Clockmaker)