New to modelling

Hello, I have been a silent member for a few weeks now since I first registered.

Due to house move I now have a garage which is part of the house structure with power.

I am not entirely new to machining but new to modelling stuff.

I am mechanical design engineer/draftsman by trade so producing/reading drawings isn't an issue.

Over the next few weeks I intend to get tooled up. At the moment I have a small pillar drill and bench grider, vice etc. and am looking at potentially buying a Warco WM250. Not the best I know, but a good all rounder for the price - which is currently £995 + stand.

Later in the year I intend to buy a small mill, again by Warco and maybe a DRO

Is there anything else I may need that I have forgotten about?

Mike

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the forum, I assume you have also planned to buy some tooling for the lathe and milling machine. Like cutting tools, milling chuck, clamping kit and so on. If you haven't already visited Harold Hall's website I can recommend it.

Thor

Subscription to ME.

Sounds like you still have space in your garage. Costco do some heavy duty shelves which may keep some of the future toys off the floor.

Some HSS for making tools. Avoid the pretty carbide set of a dozen most of which you don't use.

Dehumidifier. LED lights, comfy rubber mat to stand on.

Hi Michael,

The WM250 is actually a decent lathe for the money, just one thing though, the model you are looking at is their older model with the DC motor/controller.

If you can afford the extra, it is worth considering the WM250V, this is the current model with a 3 phase motor and inverter which, IMHO is far superior to the DC motor version, it also has power cross feed which is not on the older version. I suspect they are on sale because they are being dropped from the product line.

I've owned a 250V for about 7 months now and am very happy with it.

Warco also have one of their sale days coming up at the end of the month, there are usually some bargains to be had in the used machinery sale. If you can make the trip to them it's well worth a visit.

Mr Watchman, I have send you a personal message, so suggest you check your 'Inbox'

Regards, Phil

Hi Mike

Welcome. whereabouts are you in the world and what are you interested in building?

Bob

Welcome Mike

I have had my WM250V-F ( DC motor version ) for just on 3 yrs now & in that time I have found it to be reliable & more than enough to do what I give it although I don't 'flog' it, it can still handle decent d.o.c ( handles 1mm doc easily although I generally use roughly 0.5mm d.o.c. ). I also have the WM 16 mill which, again, does what I want it too so I can't complain about Warco equipment, their after sales service is pretty good too.

As with Graeme's comment, if you can afford it got for the latest version, as for tooling I use the Eccentric Eng. tangential diamond tool ( usual disc' ) for most of my cutting (90% ) & it handles all types of material that we M/Eng's use very efficiently, initially expensive but well worth it, or, as you get more experience ... make one. Build up your tooling as you need it, I have built up my present stock over the last 3 years but some of it has come from even further back when I served my apprenticeship, plus stuff that I've 'acquired' over the years since. I still have the first micrometer I bought 50 yrs ago, & it's still spot on!... don't stress out on getting everything at once, ask around, some of your colleagues may have stuff they don't need, hunt around car boot sales there's some good stuff out there...if there is a local model club near you join that, as quite often they hold 'in club ' sales for members. Drop me a pm if I can help with other stuff.

For further info have a look at...

**LINK**

Happy hunting.

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 07/07/2015 20:09:44

Hi Mike, welcome to model engineering.

I come from a similar background to yourself as an engineer.draftsman and spent most of my working life telling the machinist what to do. I would suggest that you only purchase the basic kit of tools to start with and buy others as you need them. Tooling can cost as much as the cost of the mill or lathe. I model everything that I plan to machine in 3D CAD before I attempt to machine it. Much easier and cheaper to fix it in the computer. Lots of help and advise on this forum and on the internet.

Paul.

Thanks for the advice guys. In answer to your questions, I am based in East Manchester and am interested in making model engines to start with. Once I'm up and running there's no limit.

I do operate as a LImited Company for my regular day job. I will be purchasing the machine tools through my Company as capital cost, but will not be masquerading as a trader on here.

I do intend to make parts to sell in future, to recoup the investment.

This year I finally restored my Dad's 1964 Velocette Viper, after spending 42 years in boxes. I will post some picss once I've figured out how to do it. I need new projects for my man cave, hence lathe/mill etc.

Finally, I want to get my 9 year old son to take up an interest in moddeling/machining in an attempt to prize him away from his PS3 console, if you know what I mean.

Mike

"I am mechanical design engineer/draftsman by trade so producing/reading drawings isn't an issue." It will be when you start reading drawings in the magazines. Model engineers draughting skills sometimes leave a lot to be desired.

> I will post some picss once I've figured out how to do it.

Hello Michael, take a peep here:

www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=103028

Neil