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| Fitting a Variable Speed Motor to a Dore Westbury Milling Machine |
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| NickG:
Very nice work Andy, looks as though it will be much more useful now. :thumbup: Nick |
| madjackghengis:
--- Quote from: andyf on February 08, 2010, 05:33:37 AM ---Thanks, Ned. I got a laser from the local pound shop with exactly that in mind, but on thinking more about it I went no further. There were three problems: 1. The best wall for the job is obscured by tools hanging from racks and hooks. 2. The mill sits on a stand which can shift in position slightly on the floor if I bump into it during the course of a job, 3. A round column, though it can be a nuisance, does have one benefit. The ability to swing the spindle in an arc from side to side sometimes enables me to get the spindle over the extreme ends of the table and beyond, in effect extending the X axis travel of the table. This can come in useful, but to use a laser it would mean drawing an exactly vertical line down the wall every time I changed the position of the spindle along its arc (perhaps, rather than "exactly vertical", that should read "parallel to the column", which would make the line more difficult to draw). For Sale: Laser, as new. £0.99, batteries extra. :lol: Andy --- End quote --- Andy, when I was working with a bench top mill, I often needed that extra X axis work space you claim from your round column. I still needed to be able to keep the head in alignment at other times. I found that the easiest way is to hang a plumb bob with lots of chalk on the line, and use it for the line, and hang it from a pipe or beam so it could be moved easily when I needed a different line. It also ensures a true vertical line as well. It never failed me as long as I had that bench top mill, and having more than one meant I could use both the added X axis and have an accurate alignment at two different head positions and move between them, to machine long work. Mad Jack :ddb: |
| andyf:
Thanks, Jack. Ned made a similar suggestion, and I'll have to revisit the idea. I did buy a laser, but it was a real cheapo - too big a blob of light to be much use. l may have a problem getting the mill column as vertical as the plumbline, though. The mill is bolted to a small (1'6" x 2' square table) which stands on a sloping (1" in 4') concrete garage floor, across a corner. The table legs are of different lengths, so that the column is more or less vertical if the whole thing is positioned exactly on some marks I made on the floor, but any movement (and I do have to move it quite often, to get at things which have dropped behind it) can throw the alignment off. I suppose a patch of self-levelling floor screed would be a good idea. But it's surprising how far you can get with a bit of planning. I've learned to hoist the head higher, and extend the quill further down, than is strictly necessary for things like a short centre drill, if the next step on the same hole will involve a longer drill bit. Andy |
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