Centec 2A vertical movement

The knee goes all the way down to the base. In the full down position (knee screw in the back) and the quill all the way up, the distance between the bottom of the quill and the top of the table is 21 cm. As for the distance between the tool and top of the vice, that's about 3" with a typical tool. Are you sure you don't have a stop in place. See the rail on the left side of the mill.

Boris

No stops are undone and free and the total movement is barely a couple of inches. Seems there must be a load of swarf in my drive or something. When I had the gib strip out the knee didn't seem to want to come off forwards. How is the knee removed ? By winding all the way to the top and beyond (which migh be difficult for the same reason) with the head removed ?

Jon

The Centec 2A is a nice machine. I like mine a lot. It does not offer a lot of room between the spindle and table, though.

IAW the Centec page at

there should be 9.5 inches of travel up and down, with 8 inches from spindle to table with the table full down.

Long end mills, tall vices and lengthy end mill holders will eat that space in a hurry.

Cheers Trevor Jones

You've got it. Loosen all the gib screws -- cross slide, table, and knee. Take the table and cross-slide off first because the entire assembly is very heavy. Take the vertical head off. You won't have to retram it -- but it wouldn't be a bad idea to do so. Then screw the entire shebang up to the top and off. If you have problems getting the knee to the top and off, apply generous doses of CRC (WD-40) or the UK equivalent and keep working the knee up and down until it comes free. Another possibility is a bent lift screw or something else binding in the lift mechanism. It would be a good idea to take that off, apart, clean it, and regrease it anyhow. You'll have to do that anyhow. From what' youv'e told me, you've only done about 1/3 of the cleaning and greasing it deserves. I was there two years ago when I acquired my Centec

2A -- love the machine.

Boris

It occured to me -- strangely. That there might be some kind of stop on the lift rack. I just looked at mine again, because I couldn't remember how the lift mechanism worked. Cog in the body and rack in the knee. While the rack is relatively well protected, I can see how lots of swarf could build up in there. A clog of swarf at the top of the rack could do it. Spray the CRS up into that space. Using a thin tube on the can. I think you could get in there and past the lift cog. Not much room to do anything else though. Flood it. Good luck.

Boris

Hi Jon, As Trevor stated, the 2A is "headroom challenged". Quite a few owners have made raising blocks for theirs - usually about 6". My 2A is the universal model which probably reduces the headroom even further. That aside, the knee travel on my 2A with the factory stand is 6.75 inches.

I have a PDF of the 2A,2B owner's manual if you're lacking one.

Regards Dean Buck

The thing redefined "vertically challenged" by only having a couple of inches vertical travel never mind the 9 or so it should have.

I have now got the knee off and found the teeth filled with compressed swarf. It's going to be sooooo nice once I have finished.

Jon

It's only "headroom challenged" if you refuse to take advantage of the horizontal spindle. There, the distance from the spindle to the far T-slot is 8". People keep forgetting that it is very nice horizontal machine also. Besides, one shouldn't be milling battleship anchors on a little mill like the Centec 2A, that packs a whole lot of great features in very modest floor space.

Boris

Please tell me what a centec 2A is. I am in the market for horizontail mill.

chuck

A very nice little horizontal mill made in the U.K. It can also have a vertical head, making it both a horizontal and a vertical mill. A favorite of hobbyists in the UK. Very rare in the U.S. (I was lucky). In the U.S>, you're more likely to find a #4 Burke, which is stiffer than the Centec 2A as a horizontal. I use my Burke as a horizontal (I have a vertical head for it) and my Centec as a vertical.

I would very much appreciate an emailed copy of that one, while you are sending it out.

Thanks Loads!

Cheers Trevor Jones

Dean, If that's different to the "Read Before Installing" manual I sent you, I'd appreciate a copy too please.

-- Regards, Gary Wooding

(Change feet to foot to reply)

It is all back together now with full smoooooth vertical movement and all slides nicely tightened up (but not too much so). Also lubed everything in sight and brought the gearbox oil level up to where cogs get wet (though not quite the window).

Thank you all for your help. Jon

I think it would be interesting reading too. thanks chuck

Hi Dean I am new to the forum and have a centec 2A which I am renovating an would be very appreciative of a copy of the owners manual if you coul email to me. Like all the guy's comment the Centec is a great milling machine fo the model engineer but really usefull Centec literature is harder t find than hens teeth. My present stumbling block is the power feed gearbox I only have a 1 tooth and 40 tooth pick off gears and reading the lathes.co.uk Cente M/c write up it appears there should be four?. kind regards Bria

-- BrianProut

I can fix that for you easily. We'll do a swap. I'll send you my manual feed end fitting and take your useless power feed gear box in exchange ... then I'll have the stumbling block of getting the additonal gears.

Kidding aside, if anyone has a centec 2A power feed gear box from a wrecked

2A mill, I'd really like to buy it. Also, has anyone adapted a power feed to it, and if so, how.

Boris

It IS worth keeping in mind that these machines are a product of a time when, if you were in the market to own one, you had a better than average idea of how to run it and what it was capable of. There was not the support in the way there is for the hobby machinists these days. Very little in the way of literature came with most machines, and almost none of that had to do with actually running it.

Just ran out to the shop and checked. There should be four gears total. On my machine, two live on the power feed, and the other two reside in the bit of space at the edge of the powerfeed, inside the cover. Didn't count teeth, it was cold out there. :-) If you email me, I can measure the gears and give you a tooth count. At least you have two speeds available, the fastest, and the slowest (You do know that they are swapabble driver/driven , yes?

All the good writing I have seen on these is in the magazines Model Engineer and Model Engineers Workshop, where there have been several articles devoted to repairs and modifications to the Centec mills.

Cheers Trevor Jones