I have a Bridgeport turret mill but space and budget are a whole different story. I think that for the money a lot of the hobby mills produce some nice work.

I have a WM18 size machine and all in all I'm very happy with it…its work envelope is great for its size and weight

My gear only lasted 4 weeks and after stripping it out it was because the speed change levers detents only put the gear half in mesh with its steel counterpart…after modifying that and a new gear alls been well since ( 3 years… but then done away with see below)

Modifications I've done

Motor drive to Z axis

3 axis dro

power drive to X

tramming screws on head to hold head at 0 degrees

oiling system to screws

replaced motor with induction motor and VFD now 1.5kw

get rid of gearbox and fit htd belt drive

machines runs so much better and almost silently from 40rpm to 2000rpm and no vibration

I'm limited in the weight of machine I can get in my workshop ( down 13 steps) but it does everything I can imagine.

George

the oiling system is a pump from arc some pipe a 3 way connector and fittings into each nut…the pipes are a bit of a pain to route so they dont get trapped on the travelling of the ways

The Z drive is a small parverlux 24 dc geared motor from ebay theres a seller who does loads of these

Its mounted via a coupling to where the handle fitted and controlled by a switch mounted on the side of the control box

The motor and belt drive is here its a 1440 rpm 1.5kw 3 phase motor with a 35 tooth 15mm wide 5 mm pitch htd belt and the pulley on the spindle is a 72 tooth

the gearbox is removed completely

the tacho drive is relocated to between the 2 gears left on the spindle

Guard removed for photo held on with the screws visible in front of the front  pulley

Edited By Ian Parkin on 01/02/2016 10:44:55

It's far more likely to be a matter of production cost. It must be cheaper to knock out injection moulded gears than hob metal gears.

I would expect a gear train to be able to cope with the forces applied by a stalled motor without damage. That is true of my lathe and mill as I have stalled both by being over-ambitious. Of course none of the above applies for shock loads, like running the lathe tool into the chuck; then you're likely to lose some gear teeth. And possibly some of your own if it doesn't happen to be your machine tool.

Michael

is this the same as your gear?

this is how mine wore out as the teeth were not fully in mesh

Having said that the one that i have spare which has been in 3 years or so is like new after solving the engagement problem

I am due to get delivery of my M16 next week. Knowing my luck, i am bound to make a mistake. So what advice do you give to prevent your problem. How, for instance, can i check & adjust meshing of the gears

Is it easy to replace? What should I look for when it all arrives. Have I bought a pup?

Any advice please

Hi Sam, I’ve had my WM16 for 5 or 6 years and never had any problems with stripping of gears and I do drive it hard!
Mark P.

Mark p

I think Chris Evens6 was referencing Mark p..rickett2

Just to clarify; I've had my mill for 3 years now & gave it the eyeball inspection on receipt & all looked fine, I did a few tweaks, gibs, tramming etc. & have run it when needed without any hassle, I have used Hi speed on occasion but as Michael says…

"changes by hand" -motor off, emergency stop on, twist the spindle back and forth until the engagement switch for high/neutral/low comfortably sits in the right position, thats the best i can advise.

So far I have not 'wellied' it as far as d.o.c. is concerned, I generally listen to what the motor & cutter are doing when I am cutting so can judge when I've got too much or too little on. As said earlier I plan on giving it it's first annual once over later this year but I am of the old engineering idiom …'if it aint broke don't fix it.

George.