WARCO WM-250 lathe family and WM16 mill

Unfortunately my milling vice broke today so I need to replace it. I think I will probably get a vertex K4, but before I do does anyone know if that’s a bad idea for a WM16 mill?

Thanks

David

I have the WM 16 mill & have one of these vices, the 100mm size, so far it has sufficed for my needs, I did a bit of tweaking to eliminate some jaw lift but there are better ones available that will do this 'automatically' ...on my wish list... but it all depends on your budget.

**LINK**

George.

Could somebody please post a picture of the sticker on the splashback that lists the threading dial positions?

Like a fool I forgot to note what they were before I binned the splashback(I don't have room for it on the bench), and although I have the change gears set for the 1.5mm pitch thread I need, I have already ruined two workpieces.

Mine's a metric lathe if that helps.

Thanks,

Nick

Here is the from my WM250V-F Metric lathe. Just in case you need to calculate your own change wheel combinations the lead screw pitch is 2.0 mm and the gear on the headstock is 40T. Hope the picture attaches okay (just check my album if not).

Cheers,

James

Edited By Jimmeh on 10/02/2016 21:52:12

Edited By Jimmeh on 10/02/2016 21:53:20

Sorry... Just realised which chart you really wanted and put it in my album. For a 1.5 mm thread pitch you can pick up on 3 or 9.

James

Thanks very much Jim, you're a star.

That would explain why using 1 didn't work.

I can finish my adapter tomorrow.

Hi, I am new to this site and would appreciate some technical advice please.

I am considering buying a WM 250 lathe but have a specific job in mind which requires me to cut an external 4mm thread onto a nylon bar (M39 x 4). From the spec of the m/c it can only cut pitches up to 3.5mm.

I have spoken to one of the technical guys at Warco but to say the least he was unhelpful - he said "if the specification says 3.5 then 3.5 it is! Can't help you".

Not having a m/c to examine and having never used a small machine of this type before I am a bit in the dark. Is there anyone who could advise me whether change parts could be acquired that would allow this to be done.

Thank you in anticipation.

Steve

Not directly associated with this thread, but my Chester 9x20 will cut a 4mm pitch thread, its a case of looking at the ratios for the 2mm setup and changing one of the wheels to half or double( I forget which way round...) the number of teeth....

The one proviso is make sure you can actually fit the gears needed on the Banjo but in theory as John says altering the gear train should do the trick. You may have enough gears supplied or may have to source others.

The coarser pitches can also put more strain on teh leadscrew but in your case as its nylon there should not be a problem. You may also want to turn the spindle by hand as the tool moves a bit fast at M4 pitch!

Edited By JasonB on 11/02/2016 17:13:32

Looking at James's other chart

Things should be quite simple, as john says take the setup for 2mm pitch and half the gear on the end of the leadscrew.

You have a 40T on the spindle so with a 40T on the leadscrew you will get 1 turn of the screw per 1 turn of the spindle. You have a 2mm pitch leadscrew (I think) but by having the gearbox in position B this has a 2:1 increase so 2 x 2mm = 4mm. The gears between the spindle and 40T leadscrew can be anything as they are just idlers in which case you should have something to fit

Edited By JasonB on 11/02/2016 17:21:53

Thanks for this - so the general consensus is that 4mm pitch is possible.

Just have to buy the lathe now then!!

Cheers

Steve

With tech support like that, I think I'd be spending my hard earned elsewhere.....

.

+1

Well my WM250 V ( I changed from 250 to 250 V mid order) & my M 16 mill arrived at 11-00 today. I bought the stands for both machines & am a little disappointed by the height of both machines . I will have backache within minutes when I try to use them. Especially the mill. I should add that I am 6ft 6 ins tall

So I need to raise them both up 6 inches before bolting down. I am considering 3 short lengths of 6 * 4 steel channel for the lathe & 2 for the mill.

Has anyone had the same problem & how did they deal with it.

Should I go with a concrete slab with all the hassle & inability to relocate to another part of the workshop if I wish

An annoying thing is that i will have to spend another £ 30-00 to hire a hoist again to lift them on to it

I don't know about the mill, but 2 people will lift the lathe onto its stand in the same time you'll spend unfolding the legs of a hoist. Carrying mine across the road and down the cellar steps wasn't fun, but I don't expect to have to do it again.

Same with the Mill. I have a mill similar and two people lifted it easily onto the stand. WFWiW I didn't bother bolting the stand down. It is stood on a patch of old conveyer belt.

The lathe weights 180Kg which in old money is 3.53 hundredweight. Not really the sort of thing one can easily lift on ones own or even with 2, especially with no decent lifting points.

But I have now found a length of Catnic lintel which I can cut up to make a decent base plus I have now found that my next door neighbour has an engine lift in his garage. The Catnic has flanges that will make the base wider & hence more stable without tripping me up

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 13/02/2016 06:13:22

Warco list it at 120kg? Which seems about right to me.That's hardly unmanageable, nor is it a difficult thing to hold

Mine was delivered to work, and unloaded with the forklift. I broke the pallet down, and removed all the stuff that unbolts easily; chuck, compound slide, tailstock and splash guard. Two of us then lifted it into the boot of my car.

On getting it home, a different friend and I carried it across the road, down the cellar steps, through the door and onto the bench. It isn't fun, but is doable. 15years ago, when I worked in a warehouse we would have called it easy! I have an engine crane, but using it to do most of that would have been making the job harder, not easier, quicker or even safer.

That is odd because in my instruction manual it says 180 Kg. Once it was on the supports it was all I could do to slide the tailstock end across into final position & I had to bar the headstock end across the concrete floor. However, it is certainly lighter than my Drummond M type which sits on a nice rigid cast iron stand

As i have the HD catnic lintol I have cut it up & the lathe & mill now stand on 4 pieces 9 inches higher than before. I expected some flexing but am a bit surprised that the flexing comes between the lathe & the cabinet. There is quite a lot so I an considering putting metal plates on the underside of the top of the cabinet with bolts through the 4 corners of each cabinet half. to make the top more rigid. Seems a poor cabinet design

Once I am satisfied that the lathe & mill are in the right place in the workshop i will cast the catnic lintols in concrete with the top flanges of the lintols half an inch out of the concrete so I can always adjust the fixing bolts between cabinet & lathe