If you have the measuring tools etc you are off to a good start, I have to start completely from scratch and found it to be an expensive hobby at first, It's only now a couple of years later I find that I have most of the tools I need and the cost is now dropping off

Yeah precision tools are expensive but there is no way around it there needed.

Dont get me wrong I still need to get a fair bit more but as said I do have some basic tools my old job provided a lot of the other items reqiured so never had the need to purchase them my self.

I still aint sure if a basic level will be ok for leveling the machine stands and the slide ways on the lathe etc.

If not I shall have to invest in some thing a bit more fancy?.

For the size of mill you have the ER25 and 2" vice seem a bit small. I would have suggested ER32 and about a 4" vice

That's a bit odd, if you look at the suggested accessories for the WM18 in their paper catalogue they show the 80 and 100mm swivel base vices, I would think the 100 is teh better size of teh two. The ER32 & 25 sets are also shown. The 32 will be more use in teh future if you want to hold work with them on the lathe which a lot of people do.

Just stick with the immediate necessaries that come with the machines if you have all the other measuring tools, you'll soon find that you will be saying 'I need one of this & that' that's what we all did over the years ( I assume )
​& I've ended up with set of parallels, 4" rotab, 6" X 4" angle plate, vee blocks, drills, reamers et al & it still goes on.

I built a power drive for the 'X' axis from a windscreen wiper motor & a 12v PWM from china & it does the job nicely, but that's not the end of it. I'm sure every one has the mind set of 'it would be nice to have one of those'.... Magpie syndrome I call it. you'll soon find out by the time you've bought this ' n ' that you'll have spent more on accessories than what you have paid for both machines, trust me! just take your time & enjoy... we're all nutters on here, they're coming to take me away haha hoho... to the happy farm... Oh & by the way build up a set of brownie points from SWMBO, it does work, sometimes!

George

Jason you've raised an interesting point here that I wasn't aware of. My machine is similar to the one the original poster is buying and when I bought it the advice was to buy ER25 collets (which I did). I just assumed that the MT2 spindle wouldn't take ER32 but having just looked at Arceuro it seems I can use ER32.

I'm looking at buying ER32 to use on my lathe so I wish I'd known from the onset that my mill will take ER32.

ER25 will allow up to 16mm . ER32 will go to 20mm. OK, slightly more with reeeally expensive collets.

I would think ER25 will do for a while, until you buy larger cutters or wish to hold larger sizes of stock materials. The advantage of the larger set is that you would not need to change the holder for all the usual sizes. The advantage of the ER25 is that a smaller holder can come in useful at times (and they are cheaper).

I chose ER32, but it was a personal choice because I might wish to use it in my lathe.

Your eventual choice might be whether to buy a full set of ER32 collets or just the larger ones. Downside there is that of needing to change holders each time you don’t have a complete set....

So, stick with what you have or change your order before delivery is my advice. Probably be wrong, whichever way you go!

How is every one this fine morning?

I was looking at Warco website a little more and they do suggest the ER25 collets for the WM250 and WM18 so I shall stick to that for now but thanks for pointing it out I am sure the machines would run ER32 collets as the motors in these are 1.1KW so not small things but maybe there playing it safe?.

as seen here this lists my lathe

http://www.warco.co.uk/lathe-collet-chucks/256-er-25-lathe-collet-chuck.html

But under the ER32 version it lists the bigger lathes

http://www.warco.co.uk/lathe-collet-chucks/255-er-32-lathe-collet-chuck.html

So shall just leave the order as is for now .

Thank in advacne

The reason for listing 25 for the mill and 32 for the lathe is that you are unlikely to use much over 16mm cutters on the mill but on the lathe they are used for workholding so the larger size is an advantage.

The only real advantage of the smaller size on the mill is that the nut is a bit smaller so you can sometimes get in closer when doing small items though I have not found using 32 on my similar size X3 to be a problem.

they dont list the ER32 for my lathe they recomend the ER25 according to this link

http://www.warco.co.uk/lathe-collet-chucks/256-er-25-lathe-collet-chuck.html

But yep I understand what ya saying though and makes total sense but for now I shall just stick to me order and have a play with it then see how it goes .

I have spent enough as it is LOL the wife will kill me :P

EDIT

about leveling the machines would I get away with a normal bubble for leveling the stands,bedways on lathe etc or do I need some thing a bit more accurate?

Thanks

Edited By STK2008 on 08/04/2018 11:59:37

Edited By STK2008 on 08/04/2018 12:21:02

Mine is just resting on top of the workbench that Dad built over 50 years ago. It isn't bolted down, because I need to be able to move it to get in the cupboard next to it.

You don't need a level at all. When you bolt the lathe to the bench, make sure there are no gaps between lathe and bench so bed is not pulled out of shape when you tighten the bolts. Put metal shim in any gaps before tightening the bolts. Then turn a test piece of metal about 1" diameter and four inches long with no tailstock support. If it turns tapered under a light cut, adjust shimming under the tailstock end bed mounting bolts to suit.

In fact, if you are using coolant, its a good idea to set the benchtop and lathe at a slight angle toward whichever corner of the tray the coolant drain is at. Bubble level is plenty good enough for that. Or you can just do it by watching where the suds go as you shim the bench feet on the floor.

Some machines are surprisingly bendy and levelling is the best place to start to eliminate twist in the bed. Agree there's no need to level this particular kit. Not critical as long as it's reasonably upright.

What caused me grief was discovering my garage floor isn't flat. It has some shallow hills and dales. I plonked the stand down such that it rocked slightly on an imperfection. It wasn't obvious that there was a problem until I noticed patterns in the finish at certain speeds. Bouncing a torch beam off the bed while the lathe was running showed that it was vibrating quite badly at various RPM, but not all. The cause was the stand not sitting properly flat on the floor. I bodged a fix by putting a pad made of roofing felt under the stand. It's squishy enough to take up most of the difference. Not perfect, I ought to put a skim down, but it's not been worth the extra effort.

Dave

Yeah the floor on my garage is not flat as well.

It has a rough texture and some high and low spots hmmmm might see what I can do about that before items turn up.

I put mine on a sheet of rubber matting bought at a local DIY shop. Doesn't rock, good enough far as I want to tell for now. If I need to turn something parallel within tenths over more than 6 inches I might look at it again.