WARCO WM-250 lathe family and WM16 mill

Today I had a bit of a calamity & may have damaged my WM 250 lathe

I was using the powered drive to reduce some bar stock & had the topslide retracted so that the tool was over the centre of the unit to maintain max rigidity of the tool. As the tool approached the chuck I did not notice that the carriage hit the stop & jammed the leadscrew. I made the mistake of trying to disengage the drive rather than turning off the power so it was forced up hard before the motor stalled

This happened partly because my old Drummond M automatically disengaged at a set point & I was not used to having to make a special act to stop this

Is there a switch that can be fixed onto the bed to disengage the power or has anyone actually fitted such a thing or is there any alternative to avoid a repeat of such stupidity

It should be relatively easy to incorporate a micro switch to prevent such events.

How electrical savvy are you?

Is your machine the dc motor or 3 ph motor version?

If yours has the dc motor, then there are a pair of connectors marked I1 and I2 on the pcb near the front. The switch can be wired to these terminals.

If its the other version, you would need to wire into the fwd/rev sw....

Edited By John Rudd on 23/05/2016 13:53:27

Sam,

I dont know the WM series, my own lathe is from SPG and is probably the bigger brother, it does look similar.

Mine came with a 1.5kw dc motor, so if yours is the similar dc motor driven smaller version, then the pcb is located in the box attached to the rear of the headstock.( as if stood in front of the m/c). I think its mounted on the right side as you look into the box....

Can you post pictures?

I think it is different. It is a 1.1 Kw delta Inverter drive Ac induction motor.- Whatever that is !!!

I removed the chuck guard almost immediately & that has a mounting bar with a switch somewhere along the line that disables power when the guard is raised.. If that has 2 wires to it then I could divert them to another switch on the bed. That would mean i would not have to touch any PCB etc.

I just need someone who has had one of these apart to give me the heads up on how best to go about it & if it is possible

Hi Sam, I've got the same machine, Your machine has a 3 phase AC motor driven by the Delta inverter not a DC motor/pcb setup.

You could re-use the chuck guard interlock connections, if memory serves me correctly, these can be accessed by removing the rear cover of the headstock, this is where the inverter is housed. Whilst you have access to the inverter there are some parameters that can be changed which improve the machine, I found that the speed ramp up and ramp down times were set to long, and also the DC braking settings were sub-optimal. If you are going to rely on a interlock switch to stop the lathe before it crashes, you will need the spindle to stop a bit quicker than it currently does. If you want more detail, send me a PM and I will provide more detail. I'll be back home at the end of the week, happy to give you a call if you include your number in the PM. Where in the country are you?

Thanks --Essex, CM0 7LY

But I am off sailing to Channel Islands & then to Brest for the next couple of months starting in next couple of days

However, if i could find which wires to use I am sure i could work out how to rig a switch. I could just extend them.

Then I need to find a suitable switch. I am assuming 240 V. Is that correct ?

Hi Sam,

All of the interlock circuit is low voltage, 24v dc IIRC. Any medium/heavy duty microswitch with NC contacts should do the job fine.

Enjoy the sailing and if you need any assistance with the lathe when you return please feel free to get in touch.

Graeme

Graeme

Thanks for that

I will PM you on my return when I have confidently opened up the headstock & found I am lost !!!!!!!!

Not sure how you mean "divert them", Sam. If you mean taking removing them from the switch on the guard and using them instead for the carriage switch (thereby losing the safety switch on the guard) it ought to be possible to have both by wiring the second switch in series or parallel (depending how the guard switch operates). That way you'd have both safety switches operational.

(Apologies if this is what you meant in the first place).

What I have done is removed the guard & rotated the bar so the machine thinks the guard is in place.

I was considering just disconnecting the wires from the switch on the bar & re routing them to a new switch on the bed

Now Graeme has told me it is 24 V I assume I need a limit switch from someone like RS Components

I just need to sort out which one because Graeme has pointed out that the motor does not cut out instantaneously so I am not sure if that affects bed travel after it hits the switch so the switch may need to be a type of plunger or snap action & I have to determine which one

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 24/05/2016 07:51:45

Hello

I'm after a favour - Please would someone provide the following measurements:

• Bottom of the chip tray to the centre of the spindle/chuck
• Bottom of the chip tray to the top of the bedway
• Bottom of the chip tray to the handle of the manual feed for the saddle (with the handle in the 6pm position)

I want to work out what height a bench will need to be for the lathe I plan to buy (I will be welding a bench, however need to know the dimensions so that I can cut the metal).

Thanks

Ian

Edited By Ian Westlake on 18/03/2017 23:28:58

Hi Ian,

Tray to spindle centre .. 309mm

Tray to flat of bed .. 182mm

Tray to saddle handle at 6pm ..80mm

A little tip, make it high to prevent backache.

John

I made my bench 895mm O/A. to the top which is made from one layer 18mm ply and kitchen worktop to finish. I am 5' 10"" and the handle on the cross slide is about on a level with my elbow. I thought 'too high and I can stand on a box; too low and I'll need to dig a hole...'. Has worked out just right for me. No back problems.

Thank you to both of you, that's what I was after as I don't want to make it too low. I'm 5' 8", so I reckon 900mm height is about right, and if it isn't, I can knock up a duck board to stand on.

I built mine a tad to high but have now screwed 6" blocks of soft wood to my boots and its fine, apart from smashing my nut on the ceiling.

You're about right there Ian. I'm also 5'8" and I made my stand 830mm from the floor so you can make your duck board to suit.

John

I used to get backache when I was working on my BH 600 because it was bit low for me. When I bought my CNC mill I put both my BH600 manual mill (Superlux) onto moveable trolleys with lockable wheels, they were made from 4" channel and the castors were a further 4 inches tall so I increased their height considerably.

As a result I no longer get backache when working at the lathe or the mill but I do get a lot more hot chips down my shirt from the lathe than ever before and I find it difficult to look over the top of the tool post.

Going back to this general thread of the Warco Family; have looked through this & done a search on 'oilers' & not having any results, could any one with a WM250V who has changed their oilers please let me know what size the ball oilers are on the saddle/ tailstock etc. A couple of mine need changing & rather than have to send back the wrong size or dig one out at the mo', I'd prefer if any member has the size to hand, or ref. link. IIRC somebody did mention the size 3/16 - 5mm, 1/4" - 6mm ?

TIA

George.