Acceptable Wear - Old Chestnut Revisited

Suppose that it depends where the wear really is. Is it slides out of adjustment, feed nut backlash, worn gibs or real "wear"? My Victoria mill has seen some action but most of the table slide wear doesn't cause much practical problem. The main feed nut is two part and can be adjusted. But then I'm not a perfectionist and don't repaint machines just to look nice either!

Charles

Charles Hi

I seem to be most worried about uneven wear in the slide; all of the machines I looked at seriously (two were so bad I didn't bother looking much at all) were "tight" at the extremities of table movement but loose in the central area. I had assumed that this would not be caused by worn gibs but on second thoughts I suppose it could be? I am not over worried about feed screw backlash etc as I will fit a cheap DRO system. Also the cosmetics don't worry me much as I'll only knock the paint off anyway. I've always claimed that "I'm not a perfectionist" as well but it seems that when it is MY money I have an element of that in me. I might well be looking for something that doesn't exist in that I want it to look awful and so be cheap but, at the same time, I don't want any real "wear" of the slideways. What I have a real problem with is "guessing" (because I don't have the knowledge to make a proper assessment) how much real wear I can accept without seeing any practical problems.

Regards

Keith

KEITH The people who are selling these machines. before selling them they are tightening the lead screw nuts..... the wear you talk about is not the tables.....or slides........its you interperating the sellers attemps to get rid of backlash at the handles...........when they tighten the lead screw nuts..........it shows up as you described...........but isnt much of a problem. all the best.....mark

It depends a lot on what you want to do with the machine and what your capabilities are in terms of repair/overhauling said lump.

We were lucky with our Beaver mill, it was in very good nick, but there are plenty of dogs out there as well, so I'd be inclined to keep looking and stay clear of mainstream advertising and concentrate on more localised stuff.

Also, speak to local firms who may be clearing out something that hasn't a use any more, that kind of knowledge is worth having before it hits the adverts pages.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

No, taking into account wear on slides, the direction of the wind and the current inflation rate the answer is more like 41.987

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

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I suppose the question to ask before you answer this is how much could you live with. Personally, for much of what I'm doing at the moment cutting to a few thou' is nice but more than adequate and even overkill for a lot of it. When I start on the prototype mould tools though I would love to be able to cut to less than a thou'. In one situation wear doesn't matter much as all I need is the ability to cut metal without resorting to a hacksaw and a file. In the other, precision is everything.

I'm very pleased with my VMC, which is more than I can say about the awful lathe I bought from Chester at the same time and which was replaced with an equally awful lathe before going back for good.

The Mill has been here and in use for about a month. All my work has been in steel so far rather than ally or brass and it has coped extremely well with my fumble-fingered remembrances from my apprenticeship 25 years ago. So far the machine outperforms me by a large margin.

For reference, the measured table travel movements on mine are 380mm X-axis, 165mm Y-axis, 345mm spindle to table max, 0mm min (it'll touch and still not be off the end of the dovetail) all of which are marginally more than Warco claim for it. Incidentally the spindle to table height can easily be increased by using a spacer, like the Clausing it was copied from. Obviously these are all far smaller than a Bridgeport, Beaver, or Ajax or similar.

Overall I am pleasantly surprised and more than happy with quality, finish, and capability of my VMC. In a few years I may outgrow it as my skills return and I get more ambitious, but then again I may not.

Peter

Mark Thanks for that I hadn't even considered it might be the leadscrew that is worn, I'll check that if I go and see any others. I must say though, all of them claimed not to have touched the machine at all and they were just as they were removed from the "old chaps" workshop where the machine had stood untouched (but still loved) for hundreds of years. You aren't suggesting that they might tell "porkies" are you?

Peter (F) I had considered getting two, a new VMC and then going for a very cheap larger machine that someone is throwing out - just for the larger jobs. A good idea re looking local, I will make my needs known amongst the guys in the local industrial estates and hope someone will take pity on me.

John Thanks, I knew I shouldn't trust Marvin and his cheap Vogon calipers!! Tell you what, I think a couple of the machines I saw were left over after they "demolished" earth for the inter-galactic highway, either that or Slartibartfast used them to knock out a few planets.

Peter (N) Thanks for your comments re the VMC it is still high on my list; I was also having trouble sorting out the actual table travel and height so your measurements are really useful. As I am re-considering import mills I was thinking of asking if your mill had arrived and how your new machines were working out this afternoon. Was the lathe one of the Craftsman/BH600 type? I have been looking at one of those for some time as my Boxford, although excellent, is not much bigger than the Myford and has quite a restricted spindle bore. What will you replace the returned lathe with?

Best regards

Keith

No it wasn't quite as large as those Keith, the one(s) I had was the DB10-G 10"x22". I wanted something a bit larger, and a bit more robust and capable than the ubiquitous 9x20 and I thought this one would do the trick.

I know these things are ridiculously cheap in view of the overall package that you get for a mere =A3850, and I had fully expected to have to modify and repair/adjust some aspects of it. However, the fundamental problems it had were beyond simple repair, and coupled with some mis-leading selling and their inability to agree a compromise led me to return them both.

It's going to be replaced with a Myford. This should be interesting as I'm taking it unseen. However, it belongs to the MD of a local toolmaking company I do a lot of business with, and has been gathering dust in his garage for a few years. He can't remember if it is an ML7 or a Super7, or whether it is gearbox equipped or not. As I'm getting it for the price of a drink and the cost of delivery I don't think I should worry too much at this point.

Peter

Peter

Thanks, I'm sorry it didn't do what you expected. It's almost like playing the lottery with some of these imports - one box good - one not so ?? At least they seem to have handled the situation fairly even if the machine wasn't suitable.

It's an "ill wind" though and you seem to have been in the right place at the right time for the Myford. Well done, I'm sure you will enjoy using it (as I do mine), I have been amazed at how nice a machine mine is to use despite it not being in it's first flush of youth. Hope all goes well.

Best regards

Keith

PS He hasn't got a mate with another for the same price has he??