Warco Mill

I have a Champion 20V which I believe is pretty much identical -

The down side, it is fairly light duty, cutting 8DP (coarse) gears in

1/2" cast iron, I take cuts of 10 thou or less, a lot of cuts on a large gear wheel! It lacks momentum, the cutter stalls fairly easily and quickly , no gradual slowing down to warn you. There is a fair bit of backlash in the table, about 20".

However overall I like it a lot, it has done some fairly large scale work so far. It is very accurate and quite solid considering it's light overall weight, and very adaptable. However I would have got a Tom Senior if I could afford it!, but my problem is it does not go slow enough.

I found it very good for drilling lots of 1/8" holes in a 2" scale smoke box, high-speed use is good, bearings are smooth, fairly quiet. The digital rev counter is useful, and the digital Z DRO is excellent, I use it al the time.

Hope this helps

Simon hewitt

If it's 20" that's probably travel and not backlash

Taking bets?

Regards, Tony

Hi Simon

Thanks for the info, the machine you have is similar to the Warco WM-16 in many respects except the price the Warco is =A3300 pounds more than the Champion, I just wish the Tom Senior had a much faster speed. I think I really must try and get to The Fosse to have a hands on look at the alternatives.

Derek

Derek

That is a really good idea, there is no substitute for some hands on time when you are spending money.

Your Tom Senior is a well regarded machine if it is in reasonable condition; have you considered going three phase and a VFD to get a higher top speed and also variable speed? Might work out cheaper than changing the whole machine. I have never owned either machine but a friend wouldn't change his Senior for anything, or so he tells me. A Z axis DRO is really easy to fit and the one (ArcEuroTrade) I fitted to my Axminster RF25 cost no more than =A340 a few years ago and they are cheaper still now. Best money I spent on the machine and as Simon says it was in constant use when I had the machine.

regards

Keith

Hi Keith Thanks for your comments, I must admit even though I have a 3 phase inverter set up on my MyfordS7 I had not thought about it for the TS mill. All food for thought.

Derek