Omnimill 00

Right, after much thinking time I decided I couldn't do without a quill on a new mill so I went for the Elliot Omnimill 00. The machine arrived this afternoon and has been stripped in to its main parts with most of it in my workshop except for the base. I`m going to power wash it first. Electrics have been removed as they are going to be fully replaced. This looks like a pretty good bit of kit and I`m looking forward to getting it running.

Edited By Ian McVickers on 03/05/2019 21:15:01

I had one of those. Very versatile machine and ideal for home use. Let’s see some more pictures when it’s up and running.

They look like really good home machines, I second that I'd like to see more of it as it progresses, the top left of the casting in the first picture, is that damage, a hole? or are my eyes deceiving me?

Peter, the hole in the casting is meant to be there. Not sure whats its for yet though.

Well that's good then, what are your plans? are you repainting it?

The machine will be repainted. I think I have enough grey left over from the Clarkson tool grinder job so that's the plan for that. Electrics will be replaced. 3 motors in all. The table drive will be done with an inverter probably but the horizontal and vertical will be standard single phase motors. All bearings will be checked and replaced if required.

Sounds good, look forward to seeing its progress.

Think its for the overarm locking widget.

Clive

I was given one of these mills two years ago,I downsized my larger machine tools and then house sale failed so a neighbour gave me his 00 Its capable of earning a few bob on vintage restoration,good point are the move from vertical to horizontal is quick and easy with no lifting of detachable heads,and does not affect the tram of the vertical spindle,lots of capacity under the vertical spindle,reasonable table travel,horizontal spindle with its 2 hp motor has plenty of power. plenty of quill travel ,good solid machine except the vert spindle. Downside,vertical spindle is not very stiff and vibrates and moves under heavier cuts,and under powered with standard 3/4 hp motor. in the higher speed ranges,other owners have made spindle steady brackets look back a couple of years ago on this website,I made a stiffener out of 1 inch plate vast improvement. Lowest spindle speeds are too high for my type of work where I often use large dia cutters and slitting saws on tougher materials eg a 4 inch hss cutter or saw needs to run at 100 ft per min on mild steel or less ie 100 rpm,ok with the horizontal but vert spindle is too fast at two hundred rpm,and cannot at present use 6 inch cutters with horizontal spindle at 100 rpm, I recently replaced the vertical spindle drive with a Newton tesla package 1.5 hp motor plus inverter and controls,I found that a 80mm frame motor was essential to clear the overarm shaft.this is a vast improvement. to power and speed range .Vertical Z axis is a pain to wind up with the small handwheel ,so I made a detachable longer handle and moved the handwheel to the LH end of the table feed screw.I always wind the handle I never bother with table feed on small mills.As I changed from 30 int to 3mt tooling I had to buy some new tooling and settlled on ER 32 and 40 tooling ,I now have common 3mt tooling for mill,pillar drill and Colchester. Another pain is that the two spindles are of different lengths so two sets of drawbars are required , Ian PM me with your email and I can send some photos .

Lots of good information about the Omnimill on the Lathes site.

**LINK**

and

**LINK**

Good examples are quite sought after. I expect they were all three phase but I happily ran the vertical head on mine for several years on single phase by changing the motor wiring from star to delta and using a 300v 40uf capacitor. You only get about 80% of the rated motor power but mine ran fine.

Edited By Vic on 04/05/2019 10:28:24

Clive, thanks the hole is indeed for the locking clamp. I will need to make one of those.

Base for the machine was power washed, done over with a cup wheel in my grinder and cleaned down with degreaser. Base coat of red oxide has been applied.

Nigel sent you a pm earlier but if you could send me a photo of the new motor you fitted to the vertical drive that would be great. It will give me an idea of what size motor I can upgrade to. I was looking at 1.5KW but it might be a bit too big.

Plan for tomorrow is to get the warco off of the concrete block and move the Omnimill base into position and get it bolted down. I had to extend the concrete block so its not level now so Im not sure whether to shim the base or bolt down some 20mm thick steel plates, one front and one back 500mm long by 100mm wide, and then bolt the machine to them although I do have some heavier ali plates that are larger so my go that way. If I go with plates then I can always grout under them.

Looking forward to seeing this built up.

Neil

If it's got the original 3 phase motors, you can get a motor rewinder to pull out the star points and run all the motors off inverters. This is what I ended up doing rather than having to change belts. I actually use the same inverter for both horizontal and vertical, by changing set parameters within the menu of the inverter.

Take a look at http://modeleng.proboards.com/thread/11799/electrical-design-assitance

Check the oil points..virtually all of them are oil points and not grease ..which many users seem to get wrong.

If your going to use coolant I'd recommend fitting an enclosed tank in the base that you can get out..it get bloody messy otherwise .

There is also a yahoo group that has manuals and lots of assistance from previous exploits, albeit is moribund at present ..https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Elliott_Machine_Tool_Owners/info

Also wash and change the oil in the column, whilst it's of the base ..it will make life easier in the long run

Hopefully you have the horizontal arbour and figure of 8 arbour support ?

Is it 30int on the horizontal and 3mt on vertical ? (some are 3mt on both)

Message me if you need anything more ..as I am not a very frequent visitor

Edited By Philip D on 04/05/2019 22:47:59

Philip thanks for the links. I will definitely need to get a parts or breakdown manual and thanks for the tip on the oil points. The tank inside the machine was filthy but has been cleaned out now, going to fit an external tank. Horizontal bits are all there, 30 Int fitting. As for the oil in the column I think most of its on my driveway which the boss isn't too happy about but it will get cleaned up.

Busy day in the workshop today. Warco mill moved off the concrete block. I thought this was going to be difficult but had an idea to use some large linear rail and bearings that's been lying around for ages. One of the things that you never really need but don't want to throw away.

So lifted the mill with my toe jack and set the rails and bearings, lowered the mill and a gentle push moved it along. Repeat 3 times and the mill is in its temporary home till it gets sold.

Aluminium base plate cut to size and resin secured bolts fitted in the block, packers fitted and plate levelled.

Omnimill base in position and painted. Had to make some 40mm diameter 6mm thick washers for securing the base to the plate.

Column fitted to the base.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the column rubbed down and base coated. I don't have enough top coat so will need to order more and also need to wait till Tuesday to order the resin grout for finishing off the base. I would like to get the overarm back in position as well to look at what motor sizes I can get in.

Does anyone have a photo of the tally plate on the omnimill table drive motor, the original one? The plate is missing from mine and I would like to have the info on it if anyone can help.

Managed to get some more cleaning and painting done.

Snapped grub screw in the knee gib adjuster but thankfully it wasn't stripped or jammed so came out easily with a small point punch.

Also managed to clean up the aluminium pulleys but found a crack in one and had to remove a small part of the pulley but I don't think it will cause any issues.

Ive decided not to go with inverter drives for the horizontal or vertical so both motors have been ordered and should arrive mid week. I have a 400 Watt servo and amplifier so Im thinking about using it for the table drive. Still cant find any info on the net about the original drive motor fitted to it.

Philip, the yahoo group seems to be dead now. I tried to join and sent the required emails but haven't received any replies.

Ian, that's coming along nicely, could a I ask you what method you use to clean up non painted cast surfaces like the gibs and the entire front section?

Peter,

I gave them a clean down with grease cleaning wipes. Any remaining stubborn bits got a gentle rub down with wd 40 soaked scotch bright pads.

I to used some fine scotchbrite, but with Jizer, but it's nice to know what methods others use, looks good, looking forward to seeing it progress further.