Centec 2A

Its a start...........

Ebay

Centec Automill horizontal milling machine Item number: 7619434717

Many thanks, but it's not a 2A, which is much smaller and better suite

to my needs, space and the load bearing of my wooden floor!

Cheers anyway

Mat

-- Myford Mat

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Matt,

I hope your wooden floor is strong! According to my 'hand book' a 2 is 380LB gross plus 150LB for the pedestal stand.

Ro

-- elj221

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Matt,

On of the regular second hand machinery suppliers advertising in the ME had a 2A on their lists for years - it had the vertical head and they wanted £1400 for it as far as I can remember. When I get home this weekend I'll see if I can dig back a bit and see which one it was since they might still have it on their books, but not advertising it now. The price was a bit steep, which is probably why it wasn't moving, so they might be open to offers if they've still got it :-)

I've got a 2A myself, and I tenfd to keep a lookout for anything to do with them. Like you, I couldn't get anything bigger in my workshop.

Jim.

Thanks Roy

It is a concern, particularly as it's going to sit next to my Super 7!

I looked at it like this, 500lb is really only the weight of thre not-too-large people and any floor should be able to take that.

For sound insulation and to spread the load I've put down doubl underlay underneath a 4' x 8' sheet of 30mm MDF. So the load shoul spread across about 9 or 10 floor joists, which I reckon(/hope) i plenty more than enough. (As a further question; aside from not usin an anvil at midnight, does anyone have good tips on staying friend with the neighbours by keeping machine tools quiet?)

Cheers

Mat

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using

Cheers Jim

Just located one for 1100.00 incl VAT/delivery to my second floor fla

- not the pavement!

I'm keen to learn from your experience, any tips on maintenance 'dos'/'don'ts', spares, DIY raising blocks.... email is: glassandbras at ntlworld dot com.

Thanks again

Mat

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how about this one not a centec ....but i have a feeling its better....and suited to shed

they usualy come with vertical head .....ask.

Found on adtrader

Machinery & Equipment OFFERED Milling Machine Horizontal Harrison 600, excellent condition, =A3550 ono. - (yadt-23-4834)* Tel: (07039) 562645 Price: =A3550.00 Town: Gainsborough Postcode: DN21 This Advert was placed on - 07th June 2006

all the best........mark

Thanks Andrew

Well, I don't have to be too matey with upstairs since I'm thei landlord! (But I am on good terms with them.) However, the one' underneath (the workshop) need careful handling.

Thanks Mark

The only Harrison miller metioned on lathes.co.uk weighs in at 1100l and since this is horizontal I think I'll pass - but thanks for th tip.

Cheers

Mat

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glassandbrass

Matt,

I've got a few manuals/information sheets which I could scan for you if I can find them. I think they contain maintenance information, which isn't really all that extensive - I think the main recommendation is changing the oil in the main (body) gearbox every six months - but I assume that would have been for a machine in constant use. The oil seal in the vertical head gearbox is not very leak proof so you tend to be continuously replenishing it on a regular basis in any case :-) When the machine is not in use, I keep a used food container on the table under the head to catch the oil drips and keep the table reasonably 'dry'

I've goi a drawing somewhere of a raising block which gives an extra

2.5 - 3" which I will make some day when I've got the time - I bought a dovetail cutter a year ago to make it, but haven't had the time to contemplate getting the metal and starting.. College Engineering sell a rectangular section of cast iron by the inch which will do that raising block. If you don't have a raising block, then make sure you have a low profile vice/rotary table, etc since there isn't much room under a Clarkson holder with a mill.

If you haven't decided on a position in your workshop, leave a bit of space on the left hand side - so that you can read the dial easily on the knee lift/lower handle. It's at the rear left hand side of the machine and it can be difficult to read if you haven't got hawk like eyesight :-)

What do you get for your £1100? Does it have the power feed for the table? Does it have the simple vertical head, or the quill one? Mine is the quill head which is a great advantage over the non-quill head since you wouldn't be constantly forced into using that %&$^$%£ knee feed handle down the left hand side :-) For that price I would expect a quill feed vertical head.

Things I intend to fit are X and Y DRO scales - there is a fair bit of backlash on my feed screws and DRO readouts would make positioning a lot easier.

I assume you've found the Centec pages here

Jim.

Andrew

You can't have too much daylight between the cutter and the table, s two stories plus 3 inches should suit

Jim

All documentation welcome, this site provides some of what yo mention:

I'd be very interested to have a copy of your raising block drawing.

Thanks for the tip on positioning the 2A.

For 1000.00 I have a 2A with a quill-type vertical head and th overarm/arbor. It doesn't have power feed or the swivelling table, bu I'm happy with the price. The other 100.00 is for two chaps to driv

100 miles round trip, strip it down, lug it upstairs and reassembl it!

Let me know how your DRO adventures progress - I'm thinking about windscreen wiper motor for the table.

Yes, I've seen the lathes.co.uk pages, in fact it was Tony Griffith who first alerted me to Centecs. For those of you who are not aware o this website it is a goldmine of free information. Plus Tony i incredibly knowledgeable and generous with his time. I have called hi several times for info on lathes and mills and he has always tried t help.

Thanks to all who replied - much appreciated.

M

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Matt,

That seems a pretty fair price - especially the delivery charge :-)

Jim.

All I can see is MACHINE code

"I've got a 2A myself, and I tend to keep a lookout for anything to d

with them." Likewise, Jim. Looks like there will be competition when that genuin Centec dividing head or rotary table turns up on Ebay. ;-) You sent me the drawings for that riser but do you think I can fin them on this computer thing? I have still to set my mill up as I have only just paid off the builde for the extension and new workshop. It's been in the corner of th dining room for the last two years! Matt, I intend to mount my mill on adjustable rubber bottomed machin feet. They might help with the noise a little. Ro

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I've a friend with a 2A which he has bolted it to a plywood raft that sits on an array of small casters. I haven't counted them, but I would think the array is something like 7x8, or 56 casters in all. Its quite stable and easy to move around in a tiny workshop. I'm thinking of doing the same with my 2B.

-- Regards, Gary Wooding (To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

Voila :-)

JIm.

Matt,

The handbook I have in PDF format is only for the 2A but closely ressembles teh one shown on the web site you give. It has the annotations for the cross sections of the machine which are not g8iven on teh web site

I've also located a dimensioned sketch of a raising block to suit the

2A

Jim.

:-(

Oh dear, best laid plans and all that. Guy turns up with his son Centec looks great, but sitting on the top of a pile of bits and rag is a 30INT Clarkson autolock. Despite being assured it is a 2MT quil it turns out that it's the rarer 30INT.

All my tooling has been built up arount my Super 7's 2MT spindle an I'm not about to double up on fly cutters, slit saw arbors, dril chucks, tapping heads... If it were any other mill I might have bee persuaded to get an adapter, but that's another inch of the 2A' daylight lost and it's not a lot to start with. Problem is the quil head is three-quarters the value of the machine, so it's not a trivia problem to rectify.

It was an honest mistake, but the poor bloke was a bit gutted - jus driven 50 miles and now he has to lug it back again.

I guess the lesson (in hindsight) is to check, check and check again but if someone says: 'yes its 2MT', then you tend to believe them.

Back to the drawing board - anyone got a 2MT Centec 2A with a vertica quill (MK3 as per lathes.co.uk). It would be nice if it had a swive table and motor drive for the table, but it's not a deal breaker.

Many thanks for all contributions and advice - much appreciated.

Mat

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