3MT or R8

Hi Brian,

You can use a 28mm spanner on the spindle flats to tighten the collet holder. I managed to find an old imperial spanner that was almost the right size and ground the jaws to fit.

Hi chris j

Congratulations on your purchase of a VMC - hope that you enjoy many happy hours using it.

Sorry to dampen your enthusiasm, but I would be concerned about the lack of Z-axis readout and fear that you may come to regret that decision fairly early on. Admittedly the Z-axis is probably the least frequently 'moved', but moved it will be. Also, remember that it's you using the machine over many years and not the salesman.

A good compromise might be to buy the 3-axis console even though you are only fitting scales to X and Y at this stage. Looking at the Warco website the price difference between a 2-axis console and a 3-axis console is only £54, which is very much cheaper than replacing the console to upgrade to 3-axis. Might be worth considering as a 'future-proofing' exercise.

Whatever you decide - good luck and enjoy your machine.

Roger

Hi Chris,

Your salesman was probably thinking of using the quill movement for the Z axis readout, which can be more cheaply achieved using a small digital readout, easily fitted. I would second Roger's suggestion and go for the 3-axis readout so that you can eventually display the knee movement. As I posted above, I prefer to use the knee for accurate Z axis movement as it is more rigid that the quill.

Brian

Edited By Brian O'Connor on 19/10/2012 08:43:43

Thanks Roger.

Even as I drove away I was regretting being persuaded, so I have just called Warco and changed the order to a 3 Axis.

Brian

I did have a look at the "Knee" on this machine and see what you mean about it being more solid.

Are you saying that I should have the Z axis fitted to the knee rather than the quill ?

So in practice how does that work, I'm thinking you would offer up the work near the cutter by moving the knee then use the fine feed on the quill to touch the work and zero the DRO. Then use the knee adjustment to set my depth of cut ? Is the adjustment fine enough ?

It's probably a bit late to say, but personally I don't find the lack of a Z-axis readout on my vertical mill to be a problem. I fitted a 2-axis DRO to my vertical mill about 10 years ago; it's probably the single most useful accessory I've bought for the workshop. However, I have no readout fitted on the quill or knee and I don't miss it. I don't normally need to drill to better than ±1mm on depth, which I can set on the mechanical stop quill. For slot depths I use the dial on the knee and a depth mic, which is more than accurate enough. I'd estimate that the ratio of needing an accurate depth reading versus using X & Y co-ordinates for milling and drilling is rather less than 1%.

Regards,

Andrew

Sorry I cant find any flats on the spindle. Warco told me there is no facility for locking the spindle.

Brian,

My ER collet holders have flats on the collet holder itself. So one spanner on the holder and one on the nut allows the collet to be tightened without needing a spindle lock.

Regards,

Andrew

Hi Chris

Pleased that you've changed the order to 3-axis - don't think that you'll regret it.

The amount of use that the Z-axis gets will very much depend on the class of work that you intend to do with the machine, but personally I use the Z all of the time (possibly because I've got it). You'll have the same degree of accuracy with the Z-axis as you do with the X and Y, and much better than the quill dial and stops. You'll also have all of the benefits of the DRO console such as alternative zeros, 1/2 function, absolute / incremental, etc.

As for fitting the Z-axis scale, there was a thread that I contributed to last year regarding stops to the X-axis. On this thread you will see some photos which include the Z scale which my help you some time in the future **LINK**

Whoops! sorry about that. Of course Andrew is correct, the flats are on the collet holder itself. Should have looked instead of relying on memory.

Brian

Roger

Maybe I'm being thick but I couldn't see any pics of the Z axis ?

Chris

Hi Chris

The bottom 2 pictures show the upper part of the Z-axis scale with the reading head. The scale is attached to the main column casting whilst the reading head is attached to the knee. The detail on your system may be different as my scales are Machine-DRO and yours will be Warco.

If and when you decide to fit the Z-axis scale then create another post on this thread and I'll take a few more pictures. (I've bookmarked the thread so I'll receive notification e-mails).

Thanks Roger

I have decided to get a Z scale but will ask Warco to fit it prior to delivery (cheating I know).

I guess I will adapt a small DRO for the quill. I'm thinking about a magnetic conversion of the one I got with my magazine subscription.

Um, may be best not messing about with people and the risks that brings - can you borrow an engine crane from a friend?

I know what you mean but the difficulty I have to surmount is that the only way to my workshop is down the side alley between my house over slate chips or over some grass. The crane won't go over either so it will need to picked up at some point I guess. The other difficulty is that I have a small step into the shed and most of the cranes have balancing wheels sticking forward too.

Hi Chris

Height of VMC stand is 530mm. Advise that you check the pitch of the holding down bolt holes on machine and stand before trying to move the machine itself. Warco sent the wrong stand with my machine and the pitch of the holes was different - a problem they quickly rectified.

All-up weight of the machine with stand is quoted to be 415 kg (930 lbs) and it's awkward. Yours may be a bit heavier and more awkward because of the DRO (and you will need to take care not to damage that). I used an engine crane and strop to move the machine, but if taking this approach you will need a good surface without any steps, etc. Because of headroom problems in the workshop I had to remove the head and moving the head alone took the efforts of 3 reasonably strong men (and that was after I had removed the motor). You'll also need to route the strop so that when the machine is lifted it remains relatively upright as you're handling it and locating it on the stand.

Would also advise that you put some silicon sealant between the machine and the stand. In all the excitement I forgot to do this and suffer coolant leaks into the cabinet on the odd occasion that I use the coolant pump. Will need to lift the machine and fix this problem before too long.

Roger

.

Now that is one of those comments worth it's weight in gold, thanks.

Edited By chris j on 22/10/2012 17:33:57