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Advice needed on Dore-westbury mill please!

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nic31/01/2011 13:24:01
42 forum posts
1 photos
hi there, i have been trawling the ads for a mill and came across this, its a good size for me and looks like i might be able to afford it, but know nothing about them,
any advice would be much appreciated,
many thanks in advance
nic
nic31/01/2011 13:26:17
42 forum posts
1 photos
sorry forgot to add link
 

Edited By nicholas hannigan on 31/01/2011 13:27:06

Edited By nicholas hannigan on 31/01/2011 13:27:21

Keith Long31/01/2011 14:15:04
883 forum posts
11 photos

Hi Nic

As well as asking here I suggest you have a look at the yahoo group on Dore-Westburys

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dwmill/

You'll need to join but that's a formality. It's a reasonably active group of enthusiasts who should be able to tell you all about it.

Also have a look at the following

http://www.lathes.co.uk/dore%20westbury/index.html

for even more information

Keith

ps don't be surprised if the machine on E-Bay fetches at least double what it's at now

Edited By Keith Long on 31/01/2011 14:44:20

MichaelR31/01/2011 16:04:42
avatar
528 forum posts
79 photos
Hi Nic.
 
Take into consideration that the Dore Westbury mill was a kit of castings and had to be machined and built up, if the standard of work and build is good then it could be a good buy although the design is a bit dated now, I would be looking at similar size geared head mill of more modern design.
Tony Pratt 131/01/2011 17:39:54
2319 forum posts
13 photos
Hi, I made a Dore Westbury mill quite a few years ago but sold it on as I found it a bit of a toy. Not being negative but it did seem a bit flimsy although saying that many people have made this mill and have got many years excellent service out of them.
I don't know what your budget is but against my difficult to do "buy British policy" you would be well advised to look around at the far eastern imports as you get a lot of metal for your money.
Tony
Bryan Rozier31/01/2011 18:20:15
13 forum posts
This is a Dore-westbury MK1 which has a fairly small table and probably straight gears in the reduction box.
 
So it will be noisy in the slower speeds and not a great work envelope.
 
I like my DW mark 2 for its large work envelope but do any serious milling on my Raglan Vertical as the DW is not very rigid.
 
It's okay for light Milling so okay for model engineering but will struggle with milling larger pieces....
 
I'd suggest looking for something with a larger diameter column or preferably a square column.
 
The one nice thing about these is the Myford nose on the quill so if you have a Myford your tooling can be shared.
 
 
best regards
Bryan
 

 
 

David Clark 131/01/2011 18:53:15
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3357 forum posts
112 photos
10 articles
Hi There
I had the Westbury mill for a while. It was quite rigid and took a good size cut.
I only sold it because of the round column.
Too much agro when raising and lowering the head.
Very easy to put one of the cheap readous on it, the sliding scale ones although it needed a perspex or similar cover fitted as the swarf kept covering the slide.
 
If I had to buy a cheap mill, I would buy something with a square slide and a solid base, not the swivelling one.
This Clarke Minimill is a bit to small but if you look at it, it has a solid base with a bolted on non swivel column.
If you could find a larger version of this it could be quite rigid.
 
Bernard North31/01/2011 23:30:36
1 forum posts
Hello Nic,
 
I have a Dore Westbury Mill that I built from the kit about 20 years ago. I still use it a lot, in fact I use it more than the lathe. There are far more flat surfaces and holes to be drilled than straight forward turning in most projects.
 
I build 5in gauge steam loco's and it has played a big part in my latest project.
 
The mill copes quite well with most milling tasks encountered in model engineering, but if you are into 7.1/4 gauge locos or 4in scale traction engines then perhaps it is a bit small and it lacks some rigidity.
 
The biggest draw back, as refered to by others, is the round column. When ever you need to elevate the head, you loose setting which is a real pain. There are ways around it, but does make life difficult on occasions.
 
It will cope with up to 3/4in end mills, but is best with1/2in and below.
 
I would say it is a good buy for a basic machine with no frills as long as you don't want to take big a cut. The speed range is adequate even without using the reduction gears, which are noisy.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Bernard North

Edited By Bernard North on 31/01/2011 23:31:53

mgj01/02/2011 06:39:04
1017 forum posts
14 photos
But the reduction gears do give a feature whihc most mills of that size don't have - the ability to swing a great big flycutter, which is dead handy if you don't have a lot of horsepower.
 
The head setting bit on any round column lathe always was a pain. But then Chronos started to sell their little laser edge finder. This projects a very small light dot. So it has become very easy to reset round column machines. See also a very good article in the SMEE journal which addresses this issue very satisfactorily
 
As for no frills - well power feed on a tiddly mill, if fitted is pretty handy, and the range of speeds is awesome. The height capbility on a long column machine is outstanding, and a well made version is very very accurate.
 
If it has a disadvantage, it is noise and slack in the quill drive, which only uses 2 dogs, formed by filing. Its a good idea to whip out the quill drive extension rod, after one has machined up a new one with 4 drive slots, and made a litte top had to take 4 drive dogs. Best not to remove it before machining up the mods of course. It does quieten hte machine and improve surface finish considerably.
 
The original belt is no longer available, but a 7mm plastic effort from Hemmingway does as well, even if it doesn't fit the grooves perfectly.
nic01/02/2011 08:02:24
42 forum posts
1 photos
hi there, thanks for all your advice, lots to think about,
 
while i'm here as anyone ever heard of this mill, he says it's made by "Leo"
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Milling-Machine-/320647967922?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aa81bb4b2#ht_833wt_1141
 
many many thanks again,
 
sorry to use you all as my personal shopping assistant

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