New tools

[mechman48]

Hi all
Not been on for a while as you may know, Xmas/Jan I think, anyhow carrying on from my last post The priorities have been completed-total revamp of the kitchen/bathroom & cloaks to The satisfaction of SWMBO  I finally made it to the Harrogate exhibition last weekend, accompanied by my better half (how I persuaded her to tag along lord only knows!). As mentioned prevously I was on the lookout for a lathe & possibly milling machine to complement my future garage conversion & needed to physically see my narrowed down choices rather than pick from catalogues with the intention of prioritising the milling machine. After flitting back & forth between two sellers- Warco /Chester(usual disclaimer) I finally plumped for the Warco WM16-VF, mainly due to price & size to fit into my garage.I was also eyeballing the WM250-VF lathe with power x feed  when lo & behold dearly beloved said why not get the lathe as well..  :    clap: once I got over the shock & picked myself of the floor..well not literally, no further prompting was needed  I am now awaiting delivery of two new machines.. who says Xmas doesn't come early  & birthdays, fathers day, anniversary.. for the rest of my remaining days  Will give a write up when I get them set up & tested out once I've done the garage out  
 
George

[Stilldrillin]

Aren't wives amazing, occasionally! 

Congratulations, and well done, George! 

David D

[andyf]

As David D says, congratulations! I have the smaller WM180V version of the Warco-badged Weiss lathe, and it serves me well for what I want to do.

But beware; for the fairer sex, revamping the kitchen/bathroom and cloaks usually comes under the heading of "normal obligations of a husband", so you may find yourself presented with tasks of Herculean proportions over the next few months (or years) to reduce your brownie point deficit.

Andy

PS I hope you meant to write "kitchen, bathroom and cloaks".  I'm trying hard not to think about  breakfast-time activities in a kitchen/bathroom.

[PekkaNF]

Well done! I'm giving your stradegy a go and we'll see if it works here too!

Pekka

[Deko]

Hi George
              Finaly bit the bullet then,congratulations! I hope they are as trouble free as mine have been,and you now have lots of fun with them.

Cheers  Derek

[mechman48]

Andyf..oops, mea culpa    did actually mean kitchen, bathroom, & cloaks, can't envisage myself combining both activities either 

Pekka , be careful, strategy worked but it weren't cheap & fortunate that better half    was in a good frame of mind (bless)
Cheers

[mechman48]

  As an addition, I also got stands with both machines,the question is have any of you guys had to buy adjustable feet (the catalogue shows a couple of different types for sale) to fit to the stands to allow for levelling or are the stands sufficiently stable enough, also do you reckon rubber pads under to absorb vibration? they looked ok on the stands at the show, I know the garage floor is reasonably level to start with but I remember years ago installing machinery & levelling up with jacking screws then fitting pads & resin bonding them to the floor (tiko pads I think they were called  ) mind you they were industrial training machines Colchester 1600/2000/Harrison 250/300.
TIA

[Noitoen]

 

[dsquire]

 

Noitoen

Even though pictures are nice it is still nice to use some dialogue in the posts other than em-icons. They are used to enhance the dialogue not replace it. 

Cheers 

Don

[PekkaNF]

Pekka , be careful, strategy worked but it weren't cheap & fortunate that better half    was in a good frame of mind (bless)
Cheers

Relationships and dialoque are harder than chasing thread. But I have a cunning plan for this summer. HER relatives are visiting here and I'm practising my best behaviour (I does not come easy or naturally, but I'm practising).

Pekka

[Kjelle]

*Relationships and dialoque are harder than chasing thread. But I have a cunning plan for this summer. HER relatives are visiting here and I'm practising my best behaviour (I does not come easy or naturally, but I'm practising).

Pekka*

If you are anything like my in-laws, you shouldn't have any problems... Maybe they are the problem? (I'm married to a girl from Savolax)

Kjelle

[PekkaNF]

*Relationships and dialoque are harder than chasing thread. But I have a cunning plan for this summer. HER relatives are visiting here and I'm practising my best behaviour (I does not come easy or naturally, but I'm practising).

Pekka*

If you are anything like my in-laws, you shouldn't have any problems... Maybe they are the problem? (I'm married to a girl from Savolax)

Kjelle

I'm from SAWO Good, but somewhat talkative people there? I married a girl from Mexico/Chihuahua. Feel right home there too.

Just have to keep my eye on the ball, and think of predence that had worked out fine. I'm bowing to Master George and dream of a small scale workshop revamp.

Pekka

[mechman48]

 
 
Have started the conversion of my garage this week & have att. photos for anyone interested, thread & photos is updated in the 'The Shop' section.
Will keep y'all posted. 

[PekkaNF]

Pekka , be careful, strategy worked but it weren't cheap & fortunate that better half    was in a good frame of mind (bless)
Cheers

Relationships and dialoque are harder than chasing thread. But I have a cunning plan for this summer. HER relatives are visiting here and I'm practising my best behaviour (I does not come easy or naturally, but I'm practising).

Pekka

So, I jumpped on the plan:
* Make a 9 m3 crater
* Fill it 8 m3 sand
* Even it with 2 m3 fine rock ash (????)
* Pave 36 m2 of concrete tiles
* Be hospitable to wife's relatives
* Make a table....

Still some fourniture in process...earning brownie points is hard job, but mechman's proven track record keeps me going.

Pekka

[andyf]

The terrace and table are too good, Pekka. You are in danger of Mrs Pekka's relatives asking you to do the same for them.

Andy

[PekkaNF]

The terrace and table are too good, Pekka. You are in danger of Mrs Pekka's relatives asking you to do the same for them.

Andy

Not only that, but she asked me to make a shrinkking machine to compact fourniture down to aircraft allowance limits

Build two different benches today. Still have to design a chair for me or 
Pekka

[mechman48]

 
  
Just about got sorted out with the garage conversion; got my 'toys' set up on their stands & levelled off as best as could, not having access to an engineers level used my magnetic DIY version & if I say so mesel' not too bad for my tired auld peepers.
Had to get a set of adjustable feet for the mill as my attempt to level of the floor was not 100% successful(first attempt at this sort of thing) & chinese stand fabrication left a lot to be desired,had sent one set  of the lathe stands back with the lathe for an exchange as the lathe had a very poor manufacturing / Quality control problem, anyhow got it sorted.

A selection of photos for your perusal:

machines as assembled on stands



daughters now defunct dresser put to good use



Clearer view of WM 16



.. Will have to close off for now as photobucket new version is freezing up my pc  will continue later.

Cheers
George

 

Reverted back to original Photobucket..anyone else had similar probs with new version?..

Picked up a bargain from my local rag a few weeks back.. bargain at £35..mint condition apart from surface rust on table, soon cleaned off



Started tramming mill: ..

Level from front to back: taking into account my elderly eyesight.+ varifocal glasses, & allowing for paralax error..well! got to look for some excuse    not done too bad methinks 



..and from left to right



Set up centering device with 150mm finger on 3mm float glass after cleaninig table.. & glass. Dial calibrated in 0.01mm increments..zero at right of table



+ 0.005mm high at left of table..total swing 300mm.. looks good!



Zero at front of table.. with 50mm finger



..zero at rear



Double checked with DTI.. zero at right..



+0.001" high at left..could well be slight discrepancy on glass ?



Zero'd at front..



- 0.0005" at rear..close enough for me I don't think I need to tram it in any closer..if it aint b*****ed don't fix it I always say.

.

video shot of indcator ..instructions tell you to run it at less than 500 rpm to give an overall view of any deviation:



Looking forward to creating swarf..   

Cheers
George

[Stilldrillin]

Very nicely/ painstakingly done George! 

I love to see a virgin workshop. All ready to be swarfed........ 

Showing great potential. What will you be making?

David D

[DMIOM]

George,

Just couple of observations on the tramming shots using the Blake / co-axial centring indicator, especially for anyone who doesn't follow on with a conventional indicator sweep as you did.

The Blake indicator will certainly give a qualitative indication, but it may not be the best tool to use.

Tramming a mill using either a single plunger indicator on a displaced-centreline arm, or using a tramming rig (as Bogstandard's design) has the plunger operating in its designed axis, so, if desired, absolute readings can be taken. 

With the Blake indicator, its great at showing qualitative differences, and centring by minimising the needle's oscillation, but I don't believe you can easily take absolute readings from it.  At its heart, the centring indicator does use a graduated indicator mechanism, but the indicator arm has variable geometry, so the graduations are really only relative as you creep towards the centre 'it was +/- 20, now its +/- 1'.

Also .... when tramming, to get the maximum sensitivity, you want to measure at as great a radius from the spindle as you can. With a conventional spindle-mounted holder, this positions the indicator out at the extremity of the sweep. Using a long arm on the Blake, the longer the arm, the longer the lever outboard of the pivot and the greater the reduction in sensitivity, so you won't get the same benefit from taking a wide sweep.

Dave