Search Results for 'arc euro'

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Norman,

My emailed got bounced back, so I'll reproduce it here:

Norman,

Well, I'm certainly no expert, by any manner of means, but from how you describe your machine, it sounds like a bit of a basket case, if you don't mind me saying! Did you buy it new? I got my mill from Amadeal about a year ago for the princely sum of £416. I think they've gone up a little, but not that much. Got some extras with it, too - a half-decent vice and a collet set. The latter was a non-standard design, since replaced with a "proper" ER25 set from CTC Tools in Hong Kong. (I find their stuff really good value, even taking into account shipping costs.) My mill spindle is fixed, in as much as it does have the facility to go up and down in the head, much like a drill press spindle would do. I get the impression that it's just one more thing to go wrong and introduce play when worn. Maybe this is what's happening in your case? No doubt there are ways around all your problems and hopefully someone will point you in the right direction. I suppose, in your position, if I could afford it, I'd pass it on to a new owner and invest the money in a new one. At least, then, you'd have a year's guarantee with it!

DRO is indeed digital readout. I got mine from Arc Eurotrade. It's the cheap end of the market, but the accuracy far out-performs my machining ability! The belt drive is cobbled together from a design on the web and my own ideas. Originally, I bought the conversion kit from The Little Machine Shop in the USA, thinking it would just be a straight forward fitting job. I should have known better! Turns out that although the spindle is 30mm in diameter (a fact I found out when I changed the bearings) it reduces to 28mm where the pulley fits. Not only that, but the pitch of the securing bolts for the base plate were different, too. Not much, but enough to make it necessary to make a new one. So, all in all, I'd have been better off making it from scratch. To be fair, there was a warning on the web site to check the spindle etc to ensure the kit would fit, so I suppose it was my fault it didn't. You live and learn.

All in all, from your description of your proposed mods, I think that I'd be inclined to use the money elsewhere on a new mill. Easy for me to say - it's not my money!

Anyway, best of luck, whichever way you choose to go about it.

Regards,

John Hinkley

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Hi Petro1head

I have the WM16 which I bought at last years Harrogate exhib' along with a WM250V-F lathe. My workspace is a converted single garage 8' X 17' & I have placed the lathe at one end & the mill down one side with benches/worktop down t'other. If I put the two machines alongside ea.other I would be looking at .. 1.43 mtrs (56.3 " working space (inc. allowing for mill table travel distance). In your set up even if you put an extra 12" (300mm) between machines you could still get both along one 8' wall, there again depends on what lathe you have..Myford/Boxford/Harrison/Atlas/Colchester? .. have you tried a scale drawing with cardboard cut outs to move around to see how to best fit your equip't..?

My WM16 is the equiv' of Amadeals 25, Chester Champion 20v .. (usual disclaimers) all have virtually same specs, the only difference is in price. Chesters are showing a reasonable 'sale' price (£ 816 as at today, inc VAT) but you have to add del on top, I got delivery inc' plus stands, you will need the basics..milling vice, clamping system(unless you can make your own), some milling cutters, collet set ( I have a ER25 set) basic measuring equip't (inside/outside mic's, rules, protractor etc).

I have built up my bits 'n' bobs over the past year (rot' table, digital height gauge, digital depth gauge, digi vernier etc) as luckily I could manage to do so but am now retired so I am looking at.. 'do I really need it now' .. can I make it? I am still looking at a couple of items that I would 'like to have' but it's going to take that bit longer to get them . I hope to be going to Harrogate this year so maybe the 'Chancellor of the Exchequer' will allow some 'budgetary easing' .

As for customer service, I have found that the main dealers are much of a muchness, mind you I do get most of my stuff from Arc Euro/ Chronos, but have bought items from Warco/Chester/Clarke (usual disclaimer ), although in the same context I have returned a couple of items to ArcEuro for exchange without any hassle, (thanks Ketan) same applied to Chronos.

So there you have my experiences & point of view, you can only work within your budget & what space you have.

Happy hunting

George

Edited By mechman48 on 23/03/2013 16:15:04

[petro1headParticipant @petro1head]

Posted by magpie on 23/03/2013 08:54:00:

Ketan is the owner of Arc Euro Trade and a great bloke to deal with, However, the nearest mill to the ones you have been looking at, (the seig X3) that Ketan sells is quite a bit more expensive, but it's the old story of "you get what you pay for"

Cheers Derek.

Edited By magpie on 23/03/2013 08:58:26

Well the amadeal one, ama16v is the same price as the warco.

i having racked my brains for the layout of my shed, I think the wm-16 may be a tad too big

so, next question, what should I buy when I get it, ie tools vices etc etc

[magpieParticipant @magpie]

Ketan is the owner of Arc Euro Trade and a great bloke to deal with, However, the nearest mill to the ones you have been looking at, (the seig X3)  that Ketan sells is quite a bit more expensive, but it's the old story of "you get what you pay for"

Cheers Derek.

Edited By magpie on 23/03/2013 08:58:26

[petro1headParticipant @petro1head]

Posted by Springbok on 23/03/2013 05:22:20:

No connection but Kietan at Arc Eurotrade seems to come out best on this forum.

Bob

Kietan? can't see that make on their website

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

No connection but Kietan at Arc Eurotrade seems to come out best on this forum.

Bob

[MadMikeParticipant @madmike]

Recently I ordered a package deal Sieg Super X3 from ArcEuro. For reasons of holidays and "stuff" I asked for delivery on 21 March, yesterday.

Well they delivered the entire package exactly as I asked. It was extremely well pcked/crated and the delivery driver was very helpful and managed to "wiggle" his pallet truck through my collection of motorbikes to place the whole lot exactly where I wanted it.

Crates were removed and the machine lifted onto its base cabinet. 150 kilo's and 3 very unfit men made it somewhat painful and humourous. However we did it and then had a couple of cold beers.

This morning it has been cleaned down, checked and double checked and has made it first trial cut.

A very big thank you to Ketan and his colleagues at ArcEuro for their help and attention to detail. They deserve praise for the way they handled my order. They certainly deserve a Gold Star award for service. I cannot praise them enough.

Normal disclaimers apply, I am just one very satisfied and happy customer.

[MadMikeParticipant @madmike]

Got mine from ArcEuro. Quality is good, price is good. What more can you ask for.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

What about something like this that is sold for the X3 mill ?

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machine-Spares/X3-Small-Mill-Spares

Top item, carries a stanadr 4" vertical DRO bar.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Personally I would have got bored and spent the money on something else if I had tried to wait six months! Aside from taht personal view, the advice already given is sound.

I suggest you browse he websites of companies like Wraco, Arc Euro Trade and Chester and others that advertise thorugh this site. Think about what you would like to make, bearing in mind that bigger is more expensive in mjaterials as well as equipment, but up-sizing is costly too!

You'll find there are three main choices:

• A new British or European machine .
• A used (perhaps very used) European of even American machine.
• A new far-eastern machine.

(Second hand far-eastern machines can be found too!)

Bear in mind that you will NOT be tied to the lathe or mill you buy for accessories, with the exception of a few items (such as change gear wheels if these don't come with the lathe).

Everyone here has a strong preference, usually so heavily influenced by personal experience we find it hard to understand why anyone might not share our choice. Suffice to say that intelligent choice of machine can get you more accuracy, usability, capacity or reliability for your money than you might expect.

I suggest to really do think about what you want to do, your budget now and in the future, and also look at some of the discussions. Then ask lots of questions of people with the sort of things that take your fancy.

The only biases I think MOST people here would share are to avoid combination machines and think twice about round-column mills, as has already been mentioned. The combination machines do not have the versatility of a true vertical mill, and owners of round column mills usually end up making a lengthy modification to stop teh head turning sideways when it is moved up and down.

Neil

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Just to prove I don't spend ALL day looking at this forum.. I a couple of hours was enough to make a new ER25 chuck using a large-ended MT3 blank arbor from Arc Euro and a ball bearing collet nut from Gloster.

Made easier as I already have an 8-degree 'square' made for my first ER25 chuck & homemade collets. This chuck is much smaller but doesn't have the through capacity. I'll use it for milling cutters and teh other for holding bar on the lathe.

The ballbearing nut is brilliant – I was able to collapse that collet by hand.

Neil

P.S. yes I know there are three holes left to drill for a tommy bar

 

Edited By Stub Mandrel on 16/03/2013 14:57:47

[Old SchoolParticipant @oldschool]

I have fitted the new board and it's all working again, thanks for all the help I have received and a generous discont on the new board from Ketan at Arc Euro.

Olly

[Old SchoolParticipant @oldschool]

My X3 milling machine died this weekend, it started by running fast and slow then stopping fault light on did it a few times then died. To me it seems like a board fault. The machine is a few years old and the gaurd circiut has been bypased.

Arc Euro suggested testing the motor before the purchase of a new board unfourtumnately thier engineer is off sick and I am no electrician any help greatfully recieved on how to do it.

Olly

[james karranParticipant @jameskarran98514]

Thanks. I've had no joy finding an online stockist of high precision 6003Z bearings, I'll have a look at Arc Euro Trade. I did wonder why they're not rubber sealed units, presumably it's to run cooler so radial clearances in the bearing can be minimised (especially since there doesn't appear to be a pre-load spring)?

There's a drawing of the spindle in the manual, there's no pre-load washer or spring shown but it is just the spindle and bearings out of context, I guess I'll see what the arrangement is when I get to it.

The issue I've got with the milling quill is purely related to the quill and the fact it rocks noticeably unless fully locked down, the other slideways were locked and the work secure. I can't really see where the free play is coming from, I'd have thought there'd be a point (while tightening the clamp) where the quill was just free to slide and the rocking play was minimised but it doesn't seem to work quite like that. I guess I need to look a bit closer, I suppose it's possible there's a chip or some other debris lodged in there.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Andyf on 05/03/2013 21:52:52:

If you buy one from Arc Euro Trade, you can pay them to do this preparatory work for you …

Andy

.

Andy,

If I understand correctly; they no longer offer this service

… Ketan has explained why, on other threads.

MichaelG.

[AndyfParticipant @andyf]

John, asto reliability, cynics say that Seig C3s often don't work that well straight out of the box. They do sometimes need a bit of fettling to get everything working right. If you buy one from Arc Euro Trade, you can pay them to do this preparatory work for you, or if you are reasonably confident, do it yourself; they very sportingly show what is involved here.for the standard C3 and here for the Super version.

As Neil says, the Super version has its advantages. The motor is more powerful and more capable of delivering torque at low speeds, so the High/Low gearbox hidden inside the headstock of the standard version is not needed. The gears in there are made of Delrin, a type of enginering plastic, and have been known to break.

If your budget rules out the Super C3, you might consider the Real Bull (I kid you not!) mini-lathe sold by some UK suppliers under their own names – Warco and Amadeal spring to mind. This is very nearly the same as the standard C3, and indeed most of the parts you might ever want to replace are interchangeable between C3s and Real Bulls. Some say RBs come with a slightly better standard of fit and finish, and they do have various little oil ports to help you lubricate most of the bits which need it. They use an American (KB Electronics) speed control dircuit, rather than a Chinese one, and KB controllers have a better reputation.

Don't forget that buying the lathe is only the beginning of wallet drain. By the time you are finished, you can easily spend half as much again on tooling, though at least most of that can be bought as and when needed, which reduces the pain somewhat.

Andy

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Hi James

Ketan at Arc Euro Trade is a bearing expert. He may well be along in a moment anyway, but I'm sure he would be happy to advise if you contact him direct.

Neil

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Hi Mike,

You need to decide where your ambitions lie. If you follow your father into more ambitious models you will need to buy a bigger machine or accept the need to upgrade later.

If you are sure you only want to tackle modest work, or a re limited in space and budget, then consider my dad who has an ancient unimat that meets all his shipbuilding needs. No longer made (altrhough the mill version is). Plenty of second hand examples are out there.

If you want a low cost option consider a C0 lathe – available from various suppliers – mostly compaitible with unimat as I understand it, but a bit heavier built. Other options are the TAIG/Peatol which is smaller.

Milling can be carried out by fitting a 'vertical slide' to the cross slide of these lathes. I think the Peatol can be converted into amilling machine in a similar way to some of the Unimats.

Neil

[magpieParticipant @magpie]

Hi Mat

I have a ER32 set and bought a pair of collet blocks from Arc Euro. Excellent bit of kit with lots of uses.

Cheers Derek.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I only ever take light 'cuts' and have never left the tool warm too the touch, unlike with ordinary grinding wheels. I uised to use paraffin as a lubricant but cut dry now. I don't use it a lot and haven't seen any degradation in the wheel (one of Arc Euro's diamond cup wheels).

Neil

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Takeaway

I bought both a lathe & a mill from Warco at last years Harrogate exhib', both are performing more than adequately for my needs so far! there are a few tweaks that I do as I am going along to improve capability & performance in general terms but basically am using them 'straight out of the box'. you must remember that you gets what you pays for, don't expect a 'Rolls for a Mini price'. all the dealers at H'gate (Warco,Chester,Amadeal, Arc Euro etc, usual disclaimer) were selling Chinese machines & equipment ,with very few, if any, Brit bits. I too was on the lookout for a Myford Super 7B but there were only 2 for sale, & second hand at that! ..& priced at stupid money! so I ended up with both machines plus stands for less than the price of one of the Myfords

If you are set on looking & getting 'British then I suggest you look in the MEW mag, go to the last two pages & browse the 'Home & workshop' machinery section (Usual disclaimer other than interested browser) where you'll find 'Brit 'stuff, Myfords,Harrison, Denford, Boxford etc, with a selection of Myfords S7B's..starting around £3000, again overpriced.

As with other members comments, you can't blame the Chinese for filling a niche market when our successive governments have failed to invest & maintain in Britiish manufacturing base & prefer to go chasing the almighty dollar & larger & larger profit margins for shareholders tied in with, as a once female Prime Minister instigated & stated, 'the need for privatisation & open market competitiveness', hence bringing about the decline & in many cases the cessation of our manufacturing base, & sell off of all our utilities, nationalised industries(for all their shortfalls) car manufacturers, steel industry etc,etc, what hasn't been swallowed by the Chinese has/is being swallowed by Asia, go try looking for something labelled 'Made in England' you might be lucky & get a Morgan +2.. if you have the dosh! even Roll Royce are no longer 'British' so I think you should reconsider making comments on burgeoning economies that are seizing the opportunities that 'British investment ' has / is failing to do..all in the name of 'profit!!' or a 'quick buck'

Cheers, Have a nice day!

George.

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Alan

If you can work out a set up for hobbing the gears rather than cutting them Arc Euro list suitable hobs and at a price that is competitive if you need more than a couple of cutters.

There was an article in MEW about doing just this exercise on a Myford I think. It will depend on what kit you've got and how you can adapt it though.

Keith

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

As a beginner I have been more than pleasantly surprised by the service and also advice I have had from suppliers. Particularly in two cases where the offending machine wasn't even bought from them. Mentioned in despatches: Arc Euro, M-Machine, Tracy Tools and RDG.

We'd sit in the pub with mates moaning about poor service so I'm sitting in the pub singing the praises of good suppliers!

[AESParticipant @aes]

Gents,

Harking back to a discussion yesterday where Wolfie very kindly explained what happens with the ME Forum and posts getting obliterated by the ads etc on the L & RH sides (thanks for the explanation Wolfie) it's happening to me on this thread!!!

It's only when I get below the ads (Geoff Roger pic of his tree stump removal apparatus) that I can read the complete posts from then onwards.

As this thread apparently started off talking about Arc Euro Trades excellent service (seconded – usual disclaimers) I did wonder how we apparently "drited" on to tree removal! (grin).

As Wolfie said, it may well be "not a problem of this Forum" but it ain't 'arf annoying when it happens (and without wishing to snipe at anyone, honestly – this sounds exactly like the "bloody" IT department when I worked at Swissair – "it's not the system, it's the way you're using it&quot

Yeah right!!!!!!! (Then why doesn't it happen with any other of the several Forums I use regularly – regardless of if I'm on my own computer/software, as described yesterday, or when on site with a customer, using their desktop PC and software set up (ALWAYS MS please note).

Krgds

AES

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

For not only delivery but diligence, common sense and good manners the people at Arceurotrade take some beating.

Paul