Chester 16V Mill

Hi Everyone I've just being given a chester v16 mill with the column unbolted from the table do you torque the hex head bolts up or do you just tighten them up normally. also which type of oil do you use on the ways,

Hi Ian, no harm in torqueing the bolts, but the question would be what the setting for the torque wrench is. I don't know what the setting is, and if there is no info in the user manual, then you would be best to contact Chester for advice.

Regards Nick.

I've taken the column off two Sieg mills and just bolted them back on to what felt reasonable so would not bother torquing them to anything special.

Hi Ian You should use slideway 32 oil on the slideways and just tighten to a resonable tightness not overtightened remember it is screwed into cast iron.

David

Hi Ian,

Congratulations with your milling machine and welcome to the forum. Tighten the bolts as adviced, I use ISO 68 slideway oil on the column and tableways. You can get slideway oil here.

Thor

When you bolt the column back on the mill table it is worth checking the nod on the mill, the only way to correct the nod on this model of mill is to shim between the column and the mill table. The last time I took the column of a similar mill I needed a 24" breaker bar to release the bolts, so I put the back with the same bar

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies I thought it might of being a bit risky using a torque wrench without any idea what the correct setting was there is no info in the manual. I'll also get some slideway instead of using engine oil. Thanks again for the replies. Ian

There are loads of normal torque specs for different diameter, and grade, bolts on the internet. Simple ‘goggle’ search is all that is needed. A 610mm breaker bar might be needed to loosen them, but they will likely be tightened to a lesser torque value. Depends, of course, on how strong you might be!

You may not believe this but it,s true [you can check it with Chester ]

When I asked,many moons ago,what should be the torque setting for the head bearings on my Craftsman lathe,they said they did not know,but would check with the factory in China and get back to me. In time,they did [slow boat from China,and all that ] The answer I got was ,wait for it, "She is to be tight two white knuckles " !!

The mind boggles !!

So,I dont think I,d lose any sleep over a few bolts on a mill,just watch your knuckles !!

Just when you think you,ve seen it all,heard it all,something like this comes along..

I proceeded until my knuckles changed from pink to pinky/white,and left it at that,never caused any bother afterwards.

Hi Larry I can believe that judging by the manual supplied with the mill and the one posted on the Chester forum the text and diagrams leave a lot to be desired, typical Chinese type manual i'll not worry about the torque settings anymore and just tighten it up to what feels right.