My New Warco VMC Turret Mill

It does seem, Chris, that your worries about getting it inside before it rained were unfounded. It looks very well protected to me and could have survived a bit of wet. Anyway job done successfully and now you can get on with the interesting bit - any mill specific projects planned?

Cheers

Norman

Hi Chris,

Congratulations with your new mill. Hope your helper didn't suffer any permanent injury. Might have been wiser to wait for the cavalry instead of lifting it manually?

I got my new mill a couple of months ago, not as heavy as yours so it was easy to get it off the pallet. I moved the crate over my lawn by rolling it on a couple of broomstick pieces. With the help of a friend it was moved into the workshop (no injuries).

Regards Thor

Edited By Thor on 01/11/2012 10:45:58

Not sure when you ordered your VMC, Chris - I ordered mine back at the Warco open day in August and it arrived on Friday (early Nov). I was told that they were waiting for a delivery and then had to wait for a workshop slot to fit the DRO and power feed. I was also told that I would get 24hrs notice from the courier firm - does a call saying "I'm just getting to the end of your lane - where are you exactly?" count? However, the delivery driver was very used to Devon lanes and difficult access, and seemed to regard it as a personal challenge to deliver! So 50 yards on his pallet truck with my wife and I assisting was just par for the course - including half that being up a 1 in 7 drive...

So, with pallet in garage, it was up to me to unpack and install. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but I did the whole thing single-handed except for one small area where a second pair of hands was useful. I was also limited by headroom - ceiling height is only about 2m, and slightly less where an RSJ crosses. With the aid of levers and rollers (posh word for broomsticks) I was able to move the pallet to where the machine was going. I then removed the motor, then head, then turret, in that order. The head assembly was heavy but just possible by myself, while the machine was still off its stand. Note that you do have to disconnect the motor wires (labelled wires going to labelled connections, which was good, but a picture on the mobile phone was useful as a cross-check) and belt guard microswitch (fiddly). The Warco manual says that you should not use the hoisting point for lifting as it the machine is top-heavy. However, I found that with the top end removed this point works fine. I slipped a bar through the hoist point holes, and the winch hook then went through the top of the column. When lifted the machine tilted forwards a little, so that the front of the base was about 2" lower than the back. To lift, I built a rough-and-ready gantry with a couple of 4x2 verticals well-clamped to the legs of two stout benches which were already in place either side of the planned location. I used another 4x2 across the top, located with 4" nails hammered into the end-grain of the verticals. The winch was a cheap ratchet thing, picked up for £15 from a local market stall and generally used for pulling out tree roots. Nominal rating 2T, which should have been fine for the approx 350Kg or so of the VMC without base or top end. So, lifted the mill a little, dragged out the pallet, lifted a bit more when I was happy that nothing was bending too much and slipped the base underneath. This was the bit that needed a second pair of hands - my wife was able to nudge the mill around slightly as I lowered so that the bolts lined up. So far so good. Then turret back on, motor fitted, and the only really tricky bit - getting the spindle assembly in position. This was now much too heavy for me to lift and position with the mill on its stand, so I improvised with ropes from the gantry until I could get the spindle nose resting on a wooden block on the bed. With rope slings taking most of the weight I could use the bed to position the spindle mating face and its bolts fairly easily. Rewire, and ready to go. It would have been easier with a couple more pairs of strong hands but I am new enough to this house not to feel comfortable in inviting neighbours to a hernia party.

Initial comments on the VMC. I mentioned the mill-to-stand bolts above. Unfortunately the holes do not all line up (are these drilled freehand in the factory?) and I can only get two diagonal bolts into the tapped holes in the base. I plan to drill out the other holes and if necessary will use nuts on the bolts to hold it all in place. Annoying, but I'm not going through that again to replace the stand...

When I put the feed handles on, the power feed did not work. The motor was going round but nothing else did. I suspect that the bevel gear on the leadscrew had slipped out of engagement in transit and I did not check when I put the handwheel on. I removed the handwheel, had a fiddle with the other components, and when I put it back together it worked fine. Problem here was lack of instructions in either of the manuals so it's something to watch out for.

DRO had not been tested, judging from the packing on all the bits, and needed setting up as per its manual to get all the slides working the right way (numbers on dial going up while numbers on DRO going down would have rapidly driven me crazy!)

If I had been a complete numpty, any or all of these things would have stumped me. For example, then manual says that you can strip off motor and head to help installation, but doesn't say how. But none of this should stop a competent model engineer - there's no rocket science needed here, just a steady and methodical approach - and nothing to put off any other prospective VMC buyer. I'm now looking forward to cutting metal - once I have fixed those hold-down bolts...

Edited By Nealeb on 12/11/2012 12:00:39

Edited By Nealeb on 12/11/2012 12:03:50

Hi Nealeb

I had problems with the holding down bolt positions with my VMC - Warco had sent me the wrong stand where the bolt positions were different - obviously a case of different machines, different stands. They changed the stand within a couple of days and I had no further problems. Might be worth talking to Warco before you drill the new holes.

Thanks for the comments, Roger. I'm pretty sure that it is the right stand, but the clearance holes in the machine base are fairly tight for the bolts, and the two "wrong" tapped holes in the stand are only out by about 2mm. I can't believe that there are two machines with that close a spacing. If it were 10mm or more then "wrong stand" would probably be the right diagnosis. And I just want to get on with using it

The holes in my stand / VMC base were much further out than 2mm, so I guess that you've got the correct stand badly made.

Chris,

If you haven't discovered it already, Grizzly in the States produce an excellent downloadable manual for the G3102/G3103 Mill, which is their version of the VMC. It's far better than the thing that Warco produce. The only part of it which is not applicable is the section dealing with the electrics.

**LINK**

Brian

Now that is a good tip, thanks

...and I'm not sure that the Warco manual circuit diagram ties up with the current switchgear. However, there is a circuit diagram behind the panel on the back of the column which I presume is correct.

I drilled out those other two holes this afternoon - just put a 10mm drill through them - and fitted bolts with nuts beneath. All now firmly secured.

Neal

Did you get the suds pump ?

I did but I'm not having the easiest time of things.

No, I didn't - I did get the extra big drip tray because I intend to get a suds pump one day but didn't actually spring for it. My previous vertical mill was the Dore-Westbury, and that is hardly big enough to warrant coolant so I wasn't sure how useful/necessary it would be.

What's your problem with it? I would have expected it to be straightforward on a single-phase supply - or is it 110V like the power feed? Is it wired off the mill circuitry, or does it have its own power? Or is it the plumbing rather than the wiggly amps that's giving problems?

I did notice that the drain in the base sticks up quite a way, and the left-hand end of the table does not have a drain at all. And there's a nice lip around the base of the mill that will hold a reasonable amount of fluid... Does the suds also drain down through the raised edges front and back of the machine base into the cabinet?

When I was in the US some years back a number of model engineering friends had mist lubrication/cooling systems - they used compressed air to atomise water and spray it on to the cutter. It evaporated almost immediately, so no rust, no drainage, no mess, but did seem to keep the cutter cool. Of course, they assumed that everyone would have a compressor and an airline around the "shop"!

Check the other threads about cutting fluid for various views.

I did wonder if you were going to seal the edge of the base to stop it leaking down the bolt holes as there was no mention of a gasket in the install reports.

Oh yes I did read a post where it was recomended and so I did it.

I forgot to mention that

Do you think there is mention of a vms's particular cutting fluid problems ?

Chris

HI Chris,

Glad it's ahappy ending!

Bazyle: "Take precautions for a tip-over though which is one reason I wouldn't recommend assistants under fifty. Old guys aren't in such a hurry."

Does that mean I have four days left to live fast and die young?

Neil