Anyone any experience of a Chester Model T Super Mill

Hi again all,

I am hoping you can help me again with a query I have, re the Chester Model T Super Mill. I was wondering if anyone had any experience of owning/using one. I have been after a mill with vertical and horizontal heads, easyish change between the two, power everything, ISO40 on both spindles, DRO etc. But I'm not wanting a large machine. I have looked at the Warco equivalents, but they don't seem to have power feeds all over.

https://www.chestermachinetools.com/product/model-t-super-chester-universal-milling-machine/

Thanks guys, I know that you will come up with the goods.

Professional tool that one.

I have the Warco HV if that's any help...

Just out of idle curiosity do these types of mill have a seperate motor for the horizontal spindle, or is power transferred from the motor on the vertical head?

Andrew

The Warco spec page lists two seperate motors, 1.5kW vertical and 1.1kW horiz.

**LINK**

Hi Robin, I did look at the HV, but it "only" has 30 tapers, I was after 40 taper as I can get the tooling really cheap and I will be doing some larger jobs on it. I also considered the Warco WM50, but it only has X axis feed and a 2 axis DRO.

Just as a matter of interest how are you finding your HV, at least it is in stock?

Thanks for that, I asked because the Chester spec only mentions a spindle motor and a table feed motor. On the Chester machine it looks like the gearbox is on the head. I find it difficult to imagine that the Chester machine has two motors and two gearboxes. On the other hand although it is possible to feed from the vertical head to the horizontal spindle it would involve several gear pairs and a spline. Which equals money!

Andrew

I am having enormous fun with it. I removed all the wiring, replaced all the lead screws, added the missing Z-axis DRO, fixed a few niggly bits, and went a bit wild fixing the Z-axis handle.

I still have to finish the main circuit board, fit the central lubrication pump, and program in the pendant. I will then run out of fun stuff for a while and start on the more mundane bits.

Interesting to see the model T, wondering if the HV could be based on it. I can see them replacing the gearbox with stepped pulleys and a VFD. Unfortunately, instead of two VFD's they went for one VFD, 5 contactors, and a mile of wire. It did not last. When it arrived it was already pulling the earth leakage circuit breakers and pretty soon after it gave up altogether. I replaced one duff VFD in the cabinet with 2 new VFD's up on the ram and it works beautifully. The only thing left in the cabinet was the suds pump contactor. The only thing left in the big fancy switch box was the suds pump switch.

I ramble

Hi Robin,

I assume with all the work you have done you got the HV in a used condition.

The HV version with the 3 axis DRO also seems to come with a table that can swivel as well, which would be a nice addition. The WM50 misses out on the power feeds but has the swivel table, but is not in stock. The Chester has the power feeds but no swivel table but is also 25% heavier than the Warcos. Pays your money and takes your chance I suppose.

If I can find one used I will go for it, but at the moment there is nothing at all.

Cheers.

Hi Andrew,

Yes I noticed that in the specs, but the vertical and horizontal heads have different numbers of gears, so I assume that there are 2 motors at 2.2kW, I will have to clarify that one with Chester. The Warco I have looked at is also 1.5 and 1.1kW.

Really I suppose I would like a Deckel FP2 with all the accessory tables and dividing heads etc, but those are like Unicorn Horns.

Cheers.

All new, I didn't want to get stuck with a lemon.

I understand that the rotating top slide is what makes it a "universal mill"? It certainly makes the slide very easy to remove

It had heavy iron handles on the X and Y screws, sprung to disengage when not in use. I replaced them with lightweight 3D prints and lost the springs.

I have made 2 mistakes so far... The Y-axis motor gets in the way of one of the slide locks. I used overly powerful springs declattering the splines, makes the quill a bit stiff.

Robin