Warco minor mill/drill

I'm a complete newbie to the M.E. forum & this is my first posting, so try to bare with me please. I recently acquired a 1980 vintage Warco Minor Mill/Drill which did'nt come with an operating manual. It all appears to be in good condition but I can't find a way of engaging the fine downfeed handle, - it does'nt appear to be movable in or out & it just turns with no effect. There's a sign on the belt casing warning me to stand clear of the coarse downfeed handle when disengaging the fine feed, - if only I could engage it in the first place! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially if some kind soul could also provide me with a link to download the operating manual. Thanks for your patience.

Hi Mervyn

I do'nt know what the Warco mill you have is like,but my little mill is a seig X1 type,and in order to engage the fine down feed, you have to push in a button on the left hand side of the mill just behind the fine feed wheel. I think it must engage some kind of dog clutch, becausein order to engage i have to keep turning the wheel, whilst pushing hard on the button. Hope this helps!

Cheers Derek

if it is similar to the major then the black knob in the middle of the course feed is screw in to engage the fiine feed, out to disengage.

Hi Mervyn

As Baldric has said the large black knob in the centre of the three arm drilling handle controls the fine feed. With the knob screwed out (anticlockwise) the two are disconnected. With the knob screwed in (clockwise) there is a taper which is seated and the fine feed knob will operate.

At that vintage the machine will be very similar to the Rong Fu 20/25 machine and the manuals are available to download and read as long as your chinglese is up to the task. There is also a good Yahoo Group that covers the Mill Drills and is well worth joining. The manual is available from the Micro Machine Shop web site just Google RF 20/25 Mill Manual and you will find it easily in PDF format.

Regards

Keith

PS I've had the Axminster version since 1984 - fine machine, have fun with it

Look here matey, you can download a manual

http://www.grizzly.com/

Cheers

Brian

Try this, this is the page. http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mill-Drill-Milling-Machine-25/G1005Z

Thanks Derek, but the Warco layout is totally fifferent to the Seig ie. the fine feed is situated on the rh side & there doesn't appear to be any knobs or buttons to press, - but thanks for taking the time to reply.

Hi Baldric, yes the layout is similar to the Major but there is no knob in the centre of the coarse adjustment wheel, only the capheaded screw that secures the wheel boss to the shaft.

Hi Keith, yes the layout is very similar to the Rong Fu but there is no locking knob in the centre of the coarse downfeed boss, or anywhere else as far as I can see. Tomorrow, if I can find how to do it, I'll post a photo. Thanks for your reply.

Regards

Mervyn

If its anything like my chester mill the fine feed is engaged by pushing the three handled knob toward the body and pulling out to disengage.

Roy

Hi Roy, I tried to push/pull the coarse downfeed knob this evening but it did'nt move at all. Thanks for your post.

Regards

Mervyn

All the same Mervyn.

http://cdn0.grizzly.com/partslists/g1005z_pl.pdf

Screw in tight part 34 3 drill handles then should not move except 28 the fine feed.

33 in to 31 acts as a clutch

If that dont work, its a strip down job to see whats not engaging or missing.

Mervyn Hi

There was a version of that type of mill that had a setscrew above the fine feed spindle and to the rear of the coarse drill feed. The setscrew was in a curved slot that allowed the fine feed block to rotate and engage the gear on the end of the fine feed spindle with a spline cut into the coarse feed shaft. The set screw is released and the whole fine feed spindle moved up or down (can't remember which) while slightly rotating the coarse feed handle until you fell it engage. Tighen the set screw and you are away. There is also a version with a setscrew in the fine feed block with a straight slot to allow the fine feed handle to be moved forwards and backwards to engage. With these systems the three drill handles are always engaged so be careful when you disengage the fine feed if it is holding th espindle extended as the spindle will pull up and rotate the handle quickly, painful.

There is also a version that does not have a large knob in the middle of the coarse feed but had a threaded rod with a small lever with a round knob, these were prone to break and so were replaced by normal threaded bolts or setscrews.

A picture would help a lot in identifying which of these varients you have and what other names it was sold under.

Keith

Mervyn

I have put a picture of the different version of the fine feed engagement in my photo album as I have no idea how to include pictures with a post.

Keith

Mervyn

At the risk of stating the obvious have you given Warco a call? ( 01428 68292 ) I've always found them to be very helpful. The age / serial No. would probably be useful.

Norman

Hi Keith, thanks for your reply & the photo which shows a model very similar to mine, differing only in as much as mine does not have any form of adjustment around or behind the fine feed housing. I am going to phone Warco for their assistance.

Regards

Mervyn

Hi Keith, thanks for your reply & the photo which shows a model very similar to mine, differing only in as much as mine does not have any form of adjustment around or behind the fine feed housing. I am going to phone Warco for their assistance.

Regards

Mervyn

Yes, thanks for the number Norman, I have now phoned Warco (01428 682929) who were very helpful. They told me to push in the collar that surrounds the coarse feed shaft to engage the fine feed. This I could not do because the collar was seemingly immovable. I removed the housing to expose the pinion & sliding collar & with the aid of lots of WD40, an aluminium drift, & my 1 lb persuader, I managed to shift it .Clearly, the previous owner had not engaged the fine feed for a very long time. After lubrication it now slides perfectly. Problem solved!

Thanks for your assistance

Mervyn

Mervyn, well done, first ME problem solved. There will of course be many more challenges along the way and may they all be sorted successfully as well. The fact that we all learn something new each day is what makes this hobby so absorbing and addictive. Look forward to seeing some of the things that you produce on the mill, they are much under-rated and I have found mine to be a very useful and reliable machine. Although I have a much bigger and newer one now I am reluctant to see the mill/drill go. If you haven't already give some consideration to putting some form of DRO on at least the two main axis, you won't believe how much easier it makes using the machine. Not all that expensive these days either.

Best regards

Keith