Hello Mark – No, never considered fitting an inverter drive to mine but I seem to remember that someone on here claimed that steel gears were available through ArcEuro – I maybe wrong though (memory issues if you understand!).

I also seem to remember that there was a caution when fitting steel gears as the plastic ones would strip before damaging other parts of the machine in the event of a "stackup".

Arc Euro seem to have 2 replacement metal gears in the catalogue, they are for the mini lathes, one is 21/29T for the high low gear on the spindle, the other is 12/20T for the high low on the gear shaft, you better check, but I'm sure someone said they suited the gear head Sieg mill.

The brushless motors sound like a good idea, although I'll stick to an AC induction motor, and my belt head with back gear, and keep away from the electronics(I think the electronic speed control is just a way of building a cheap machine, not a durable one). Ian S C

I've got a vfd on my Harrison mill and one on my WM250. I found the low speed torque is not as good as they like to make out and its handy to to slip the gear or belt down when doing heavy cuts at slow speed.

I found that the biggest benefit of fitting an inverter drive to my little mill (Warco ZX-15) was the better finish as a result of lower vibration. Go for it.

Russell.

For us that have this type of lathe I thought I would update you with an alignment check I did on Tuesday, did post it originally in thread 'What I did today'… I did a tailstock alignment check & test after a years use, used a coaxial centering indicator which showed a run out of 4 divisions with the quill extended approx’ 30mm & locked plus the shortest leg on the indicator. The tailstock was adjusted to within 1 ½ division on the indicator & adjusters locked. I left it within that range as the initial check started out with a run out check at the chuck with a 16mm chromed shaft from a printer protruding 15mm & set at zero, swung 180* which indicated a run out of 1 ½ thou’.

Did a couple of test cuts with set up as shown in pics, only had to tweak tail stock again twice & manage to achieve final figures as shown, so if my maths is still compos mentis I have a difference of .00045” … which is less than ½ thou’ … .001mm, over a 6” /150mm, length… I think I can call that ‘aligned’ for my intents & purposes. The measurements were taken with a Mitutoyo 0 – 1” digi mic which is capable of reading to .00005” / .001mm, as can be seen in pic 5.

.0015" thou run out at chuck…

Machining set up…

Tailstock reading…

Headstock reading…

Differential over 6" – .000045"… less than half a thou', pretty good adjustment I reckon, (or just b***y lucky! &nbsp …methinks I can safely call that 'aligned'

Not intending the 'granny & eggs' cliché but it's worth checking alignment a couple of times over the year just to give yourself some idea what your machine is doing.

George.

Cover fitted, with expanded metal for safety aspect..

Cheers

George.

ps.. for the eagle eyed purists; the brackets on the table are for additional support when I wind the head up & down as it does vibrate somewhat but there is no vibration when machine in use, & the grinder on the left  does get moved out of the way when I need to use it, it's convenient to store it there at the mo',  I plan to extend the footprint of the table later when I can get round to fabricate a frame & get it welded up… .

Edited By mechman48 on 30/07/2014 17:57:43

Nice one George – well done

As an aside, what DRO scales are you using (make/model/optical/magnetic) and what do you think of them?

…and what did you settle on for the "quick disconnect"

(my parts are on the way from the 'bay also)

Edited By Martin Millener on 01/08/2014 16:29:03

Looks impressive George – a nice job! Let us know how it stands up under a torquey load – particularly at the slower speed.

I'd like to have power drive myself but sadly no room in my miniscule workspace. Even without a WARCO power drive on the X (which would have been my chosen method) with the table wound over to the left to its fullest extent I am unable to get out of the shed door unless I crouch down and crawl under the table. It doesn't get much more cramped than that!

Rik (6 foot tall and finding it increackingly hard – and sometimes unwilling – to bend, kneel or grovel, especially grovel ! )

Thanks for the comments guys.

JasonB… Thanks for the link, how did you do it?

Martin… Used magnetic readouts bought from Arco Euro.. look in their index 'Measurement' for 'Digital readout bars with dedicated remote display' so far they work just fine, auto switch off so no chance of running batteries down, have had the batteries in for over a year now, look in my album for a couple of pics of how I fitted mine… as for the quick disconnect, I haven't come up with anything just yet, still mulling over it…

Ed… Can't explain how the PWM speed controller works, not that into electrickery, Just know that I connected the positive & negative wires to the two motor wires, tested for right direction (switch wires over if not) & it runs fine. if you click on the link in my write up above you will see the PWM & its description. Re. the back problem, know what you mean, same here, (have start of arthritis in spine so that doesn't help) & my a**e is nearer to the floor than yours (5' 7&quot so hopefully I won't aggravate the problem with winding the table either,

Cheers

George

Jason;

Thanks for the tip.

George

I was wondering if anyone had any useful tips when tramming the WM16. I find that when tightening the 2 head lock nuts it pulls the head around spoiling the setting. I end up trying to compensate for this ‘pull’ by setting the tram over to one side by the amount the head will pull. The whole process can be frustrating as it is difficult to guess the amount to offset the tram. It can take quite a few attempts before you get it right.

I made and fitted an extra steady for the left hand side of the head to match the one supplied on the right – this helps a little.

Any ideas gratefully received

Martin