Warco Mills/Lathes - or alternatives.

I'm setting up a small workshop from scratch.

Variety of planned uses & may cover steel, stainless, brass, aluminium & plastics.

Im considering a package of machines from Warco (on which Od expect to negotiate a discount! )

Likely the VM290V-F lathe.

Trying to decide between VMC, GH and Super Major mills; would add XYZ DROs & at least one axis power feed if the first two.

Adding the power feed & cabinet closes the price gap to the Super Major (standard on that) quite a bit.

Comments on which mill to choose, & who else I might consider for similar class machines, welcome. Reasonably compenent on a lathe (if rusty!) but *very* inexperienced on a mill.

Hi Harvey,

I have recently taken delivery of a 290 F lathe, seems good so far. I don't know what size of work you plan to do, but in my experience a bigger, heavier mill is better.

Thor

There is Chester Machine tools and Axminster and a couple more I can't remember the names of who do a similar range of machines. Then Amadeal and ArcEurotrade each do slightly differnet machines.

Many almost identical apart from the paint colour but sometimes have names designed to look like the higher specification of a competitor. Also check the details of delivery charges and affers. If two identical machines appear to be the same apart from extras it might be a misprint. The standard accessories seem to be 3 &4 jaw chuck & faceplate, both steadies and plain centres. Rotating center and drill chuck are not standard so are a bonus if included.

But you have a lot of other threads to read on this site on this subject to catch up on too.

Hi guys, I am fortunate in that I run two workshops on a semi professional basis, one here in the UK & one in South East Asia. In the UK I have an old Myford ML7 Tri Lever set up as a capstan, a Warco 1340 with taper turning, a Warco VMC mill & a Warco band saw. In Asia I have a Warco 1330 a Warco 1660, a Myford Super seven bought new, an Indian Capstan lathe that was bought brand new & one of the Warco larger mills, & a Warco band saw. As needs must I have pushed all of my machines hard to turn a dollar & I can't speak highly enough of the Warcos. Warco have bent over backwards to supply me spares when needed when Myfords would not even bother to answer Emails, no wonder they went to the Wall. Frankly I get tiired of guys saying the Chinese or Taiwanese machines can't hold a candle to British stuff, they obviously didnt serve an apprenticeship where I did in the sixties, the old British machines were crap & I wish I had one of my Warco machines then! I,m only 65 but when I served an apprenticeship we were still running cone headed flat belt drive Dean Smith & Grace & the such. Herberts & Wards with no tooling! The only real problem I have had with both of my 1300 series Warcos is the hollow spindle, it says on the "Tin" that the mandrel will pass 1 1/2 bar, which it will at both ends, but gets stuck in the middle, this is somewhat annoying if you need to pass 1 1/2 bar. This is easiely resolved by pilot boring the mandrel as one would on a gun barrel lathe. I can offer this service if anybody needs it done. Regards R

(PS, I have my head below the parapet & I am locked & loaded to repell all boarders riding Boxfords, Myfords & Colchesters for the remarks on British crap, but I speak as I find....pound for pound the Warcos can,t be beat!)

Warco could not supply any spares for my Warco 314 bandsaw and were not interested in my difficulties. No bending over backwards that I could detect.

Eric

Hi Crabtreeengineer,

Your comment about boring the spindle on a GH1330 interested me as I ran into exactly the same problem this week.

I'll do the work myself but interested in how you did the pilot boring - tooling used etc.

cheers

CB

CB, there are two ways of doing this, both of which require a boring bar to pass through the entire mandrel. Both of the methods use a fixed boring bar position, hence cuts are not put on using the cross slide but by moving the cutting tool. In this respect I have a sliding gauge bored to the correct size (1.510 inch) There are offset micrometers available but I find this method of setting the tool accurate enough.

1) this method involves using a conventional boring bar but with a collar that can be clamped to the boring bar behind the cutting tool. The OD of the collar is sized to the diameter you are boring to, hence more than one collar may be needed depending on how much your mandrel needs to be border by.

Measure your mandrel ID to see how much you need to take off. Set up you boring bar to ensure it will clear the mandrel at the back. Set the collar behind the cutting tool, & set the cutting tool to the diameter you are cutting. There are micrometers for doing this, but a sliding collar that fits over the boring bar with the OD to your final diameter will suffice. For smaller cuts just use feeler gauges behind your tool to set to size. Then bore out the mandrel, using lots of oil & clear the swarf as you go. Continue in this maner until you get the diameter you need. Essentially this is the way large gun barrels are machined out, with the collar behind the cutting tool acting as a travelling support.

2) The second method is a more engineered method that will give better results. Two pilot bushings are required, one a number 5 morse taper one to fit the taper in your mandrel & the second a threaded one to fit onto the thread at the back end of your lathe mandrel. These bushings need to be bored at 1.00 inch. A boring bar needs to be made that will fit into your tool holder & must be sufficiently long enough to be supported by the rear bush at the start of your cut & to allow sufficient travel to complete the cut.

Set up as follows. Remove your guard at the rear end of the mandrel & screw onto the mandrel threading the rear pilot bushing. Remove your chuck & measure your lathe mandrel to see how much you need to bore out. Slide your number 5 morse taper bushing over the boring bar. Sharpen & hone your cutting tool. Install the tool in the bar & set to the first cut size with your gauging busing & feeler gauges. Slide the boring bat into your lathe mandrel, fitting it into the rear pilot bushing. Tap in you number 5 pilot busing into the front of the lathe mandrel. Remember that you will be boring blind with this method, hence ensure you have spaced out correctly so you know when your cut is completed.

Continue in this fashion until you have achieved the bore you require.

For both methods I use a very slow speed & lots of oil...I mean there's no hurry here is there?

As I am a Profesional Engineer trying to keep the wolf from the door, for option two I can rent you all of the tooling required for this option, with you picking up courier costing both ways. This would still work out cheaper than you manufacturing the tooling required. Depending on your address I may be able to drop off & collect, let me have your post code.

It may seem a lot of hassle to do this, but it takes about an hour including set up, & once done it well you have full bore through the lathe mandrel for life.

Regards R

CEng. MSc. MEI.