Search Results for 'arc euro'

[EtheAv8rParticipant @etheav8r]

OK maybe I don’t need one, but I want one and am going to get one. Initially I planned to do milling on my lathe, a Wabeco D6000E. However events conspired to make this not possible with the Wabeco vertical slide, so that went back to the supplier.

I decided (like I did originally with the lathe….) to get a small budget mill and indeed got offered a great deal on a second hand MiniMill (Sieg X2 clone) with lots of kit for little money and nearly bought it. But I figured that it would be limiting in the future and it is better to get bigger than I currently need (but not too big as to make transporting to the workshop and installation an issue) and buy once, rather than upgrade later (and upset SWMBO further “what on earth do you want that for?&#8221.

So I started looking into it and drew up a list of the usual suspects:
~ Sieg X3 or Super X3 from Arc Euro Trading
~ AMA25LV from Amadeal – the version with x-Axis powerfeed and DRO looks particularly appealing
~ Champion 20V (looks like the AMA25LV) or Century from Chester Tools
~ WM16 or WM18 (but this is getting a bit too heavy) from Warco

But then there are these intriguing threads on new technology and CNC. The idea that I can produce a drawing on a PC and have the mill accurately make that part is of great interest.

 

I have a manual lathe. I have a lot to learn. I want to make ‘stuff’, and in CNC for the mill will get me there quicker and I can afford it, then I am very tempted to go the extra 5 miles (cost-wise) over the mil acquisition if it is going to save me several miles in getting to actually make ‘stuff’. Some of this stuff will be parts for model helicopters and aircraft. Accuracy and repeatability are essential.

I am particularly attracted to the preparation service offered by Arc Euro, though I believe that with an appropriately detailed instruction guide I could do this myself – most of the machines do not have such a guide.

Ideally I would like CNC with some manual capability so that I could just do some simple milling and drilling tasks without having to produce a drawing.

 

One solution here might be to buy the Super X3 from Arc and the Syil Super X3 Milling Machine Conversion Kit from Amadeal.

 

The Syil X4 plus CNC looks very nice, but is way too expensive, and also is really too big and heavy. The ‘manual’ over-ride with an electronic hand controller looks great!

CNC versions on the Sieg Super X2 and the Sieg KX1 CNC Mill Bundle are affordable, but too small and limiting, and the Sieg KX3 Hobby CNC Mill Bundle from Arc looks to be the best compromise – size and capability are in the right area, still too expensive…. But doable!

So I open the discussion to the forum (no anti CNC ranting please – I am after useful help and advice):

 

Should I simply stick with a manual machine (and which one – I would probably favour the Sieg Super X3 from Arc – and add a DRO), or shall I make the leap to CNC (and again how and which? – I want to use it, not spend a great deal of time and associated hassle building it).

 

Edmund

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by EtheAv8r on 28/06/2011 11:20:32:

This is very interesting – how long would it take to learn to use the drawing package used to generate the dxf file, and is the CAM drawing from another program, or a result of the dxf file. And then what kit is required CNC Mill wise – and is it all very expensive?

 

I am interested in this, and the process and would like to understand a little more of just what is required to do this. I am about to buy a mill, am a complete beginner and know practically nothing! CNC for non programmers sound interesting – but I would want to be able to perform some manual milling/drilling too – is this requirement mutually exclusive on a low cost single mill setup?

If you are reasonably familiar with PCs and Windows, getting the hang of a drawing package is fairly quick. Once you have the drawing in CAD, you save the drafing as a DXF, import that into the CAM package, where you select how it will treat the various parts of the drawing (for example, if you had drawn a circe, you might intend that to be a simple circular toolpath, or the outer edge of an “area clear” operation). The CAM program generates the Go-code, which you load into the CNC control that interprets the G-code and translates that into coordinated moves of the various axes.

 

Kit-wise, the expensive way is to buy a purpose-built CNC mill (for example, from Tormach, Taig, or Arc Eurotrade). The cheaper way is to start with a manual mill and convert it; Taig can sell you a “CNC-ready” mill that has the necessary motor mounts, to which you would add your own motors, drivers, etc. An example Taig conversion is documented here:

 

http://www.jeffree.co.uk/pages/taigcncpt1.htm

 

and here:

 

http://www.jeffree.co.uk/pages/taigcncpt2.htm

 

although these days I would probably use Mach 3 instead of Desk CNC, so the details of the electronics would change a bit.

 

There are ways of making the end result usable both manually and under CNC control. The simplest way is to use stepper motors that have double ended shafts, and transfer the hand crank to the back end of the motor. However, with Mach 3 there are several options for adding hand controls (so-called “pendant” controls) that give you manual control of the mill via the motor drive system.

 

Regards,

Tony

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Try Arc Euro, not just what you want but a god price, i bought some a while back and am pleased with them for the price.

 

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Cutting-Tools/Slitting-Saws-and-Arbors/Slitting-Saws

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

Andrew.

I’ve got the equivalent Chinese motor and inverter combo from Ebay that John mentions.

To all intents and purposes runout is non-existant, as is motor noise, so I imagine the Arc Euro products would be as good.

 

As an indication of how little noise emits from the motor at full speed, I can tell you that the cooling fan for the inverter is noisier and the cutting process is far more significant in its contribution.

 

Martin.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

I too baulked at the cost of a decent milling vice and made the mistake of buying on a budget. I have since ditched the ‘budget’ vices.

 

For small to medium sized work, I have been using the DH1 vice from Warco, and with the soon to be available high jaws, I suspect this will become my vice of choice. Its capacity and holding capability belie its modest footprint.

For larger jobs, I invested in some extremely heavy duty vices similar to those supplied by Kurt in the USA, these are used for heavy milling of large components.

For a smaller Mill, the vices produced by Soba or Vertex are a suitable alternative.

Avoid vices which offer multipkle axis of adjustment unless you have a specific need to machine compound angles, as each adjustable angle adds to the instability and flexibility of the vice.

 

For small parts, the precision vices sold by ArcEurotrade and Chronos amongst others are very useful, and can be held in a larger vice where necessary.

 

regards

 

Graeme

[Anonymous]

So, I’m bored waiting for a 2mm cutter to do the business at 5000rpm and 150mm/min feedrate. It’s a carbide cutter, in aluminium, so I should be able to run it much faster.

 

I note that Arc Euro Trade do a series of high speed spindle motors and associated VFDs. I’d be interested in the smallest setup, about 0.5hp. The question is, does anyone have practical experience of these particular motors and VFDs? At this stage there are three things I’m interested in. One and two, the radial and axial runout; does it meet the 0.005mm quoted? And third, how noisy are the motors. A dB(A) number would be ideal! I live in a quiet rural village, and this motor may be running for several hours, so the neighbours won’t thank me if it is noisy.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

Does anyone know where I might purchase a reasonably priced “Wedge” type Quick Change Tool post in the UK to suit a Boxford 4-1/2″ Model “A” lathe.
I see that “Piston” types are available but I would much rather have a “Wedge”

These things seem to be proliferate in America but not over here….

I’m not interested in the Dickson type QCTP as the holders will be too difficult to make.

Regards

Paul

[CJWParticipant @cjw]

Hi David,

 

I use toolmaker’s vices on my mill. I have a 3″ width bought from Arc Euro Trade and three smaller ones which I use either independently or in conjunction with the larger vice. They make excellent milling vices. Just a little more fiddly to tighten than the standard type, but without the problems of jaw lift.

 

All the best,

 

Chris

 

[david lockwoodParticipant @davidlockwood10028]

Hello every one, I have just been out in my workshop and have finally realised the cause of some of my problems when trying to mill square.

 

I wont bore you with the saga but I at last realised that the non moving jaw of my vice moves when it is tightened up enough to hold the job when milling. i put a dial indicator behind it and mesured 20 thou of movement whilst putting on more torque then was really necessary, just for the purpose of the test .

 

I must say this is a fabricated vice which came with the mill. I have seen some toolmakers vices sold by Arc Euro Trade and Ctc Tools which look the same as each other, the principal of these vices seems to be that the moving jaw is pulled downward and prevents jaw lift. Could the rear jaw still tilt back under the pressure?

 

if any one has had experience with these or if you can recommend a vice to fit on a dore westbury i would be very grateful

 

regards David

[GLENN BUNTParticipant @glennbunt80076]

Hi,

I have recently completed a CNC conversion of a Tom senior Light vertical and I decided to use the knee as the Z axis. I chose Arc Euro Nema 34 stepper 6.5 N.m motors wired in parallel configuration mounted alongside the knee and connected to the hand wheel arbour via timing pulleys and belt. I chose a 25mm dia ballscrew for the axis and used the ends of the old leadscrew to retain the straight bevel gear mechanism. I fitted two gas struts from http://www.sgs-engineering.com to even out the load on the motor. This works fine, in recent tests the axis was repeatable within .0005” and as an additional benefit the machine can still be used manually. It won’t compete with a dedicated CNC machine for speed but it was very satisfying to see 90+KG of machine rapidly traversing up and down via CNC control. I hope to submit an article later this year on the conversion.

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Hello!

 

I have a small diamond wheel (I bought it from Arc Euro Trade) serving an Harold Hall’s “Tool & cutter grinder” and would like to know what’s the best way and instrument (dresser ?) to use to dress it.

Can anyone help me, please?

 

Dias Costa

Edited By Dias Costa on 09/06/2011 15:34:29

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

 

Hi All

 

Hi John Haine

West system is used by some US machine builders. it is rather expensive. they specialise in boats. With the interest in boating in the UK there must be stiff competition for epoxy suppliers. A little research should find a competitive supplier.

 

Hi Terryd

Great to hear you are interested…..

I found a list of distributors in Europe by doing a Google search for Megapoxy

Then I found this page for Distributors.

http://megapoxy.com/?cat=16

 

I believe Megapoxy was developed by Vivacity Engineering an Australian company.

There are not that many kinds of epoxy on the market, many companies’ market similar products. I chose Megapoxy H because it was reasonably priced and the company was helpful when I made enquiries, I will stick with them in Australia.

 

In Australia (found today on the net) one supplier quoted 4 litres of Megapoxy H about $96.00 ex GST (VAT in the UK)
One litre packs of anything tend to be expensive. in OZ it is sold by the litre, not weight as many of the suppliers I Googled in the UK tonight showed on their price lists.

The main thing is to get an epoxy that does not have added solvents. And has a reasonably slow setting time to give you time to place the mix.

I tried the following four word Google search and came up with a number potential of contacts.
Buy epoxy resin England

With the membership behind MEW I guess there will be a number members who know local suppliers.

Cheers

 

John

 

[DMRParticipant @dmr]

My last MEW on subscription was issue 164 and I have not regretted that decision – keeping my eye on what is in each issue on this site, and in Smiths, and picking up outdated issues for a quid or 50p. I do not normally participate in these discussions , but I have to add to what is being said. I am prompted to post by the posting from some chap mentioning that it was his decision to stop subscribing that was the one mentioned in issue 165 Page 61 “Reasons not to Subscribe 1”, And I thought that was me! Unfortunately I cannot locate that posting in this thread – it may have been deleted as being a touch embarrassing!

It amazes me that the Editor has not terminated this thread long ago – he would have done if he had been around at the start of it instead of at Harrogate. He must hate it and hope it goes away with the next issue. I have met him on his two visits to the (most recent) spring Myford open days. I told him (by e-mail at the time) by way of explanation as to why I was not renewing my subscription – not least because I could get no responses to my offer of articles or (mainly) Scribe a Line. Ironically he used my Scribe a Line offering from my same mailing telling him why I was terminating my subscription in issue 169 (I think) “Light short circuit”, which I thought a real stab in the back.

I seem to have deleted my e-mail to DC ending my subscription; otherwise I would just attach it here, but I generate a similar version as follows: I should add that a secondary reason was the endless Linton Wedlock thing on that drawing program, which ran to at least a full edition and was totally OTT.

I have been in automation all my life, working first at the North Staffs Tech (now a pseudo university), then at Harwell for a few years and all the rest with various versions of GEC which ended up in french hands. In later years it has all been on-site automation on power stations/substations and steel works: central data loggers, sequence and remote terminal controls. anything from humble pumps to Olympus Engines, main boilers and turbines – the lot. I knew/know many programming codes, both complex source codes and basic machine codes. They are good for things you need to do more than once or you are otherwise into manufacturing. They are useless for one-off production as in building a model unless (my example to DC) I wanted to make lots of spokes for Traction Engine wheels. As a fact, I know that it would take me far longer to set up a lathe or mill for one -off’s using CNC than just do the job manually, a unique application being the cutting of spokes in a wheel from solid which is why ArcEuro use it by way of example on their show demo’s. It looks impressive and is a sort of 3D item cutting in two dimensions, needing no datum start point as such beyond the middle of the uncut lump. Some of the postings on this thread infer or state that individuals have gone down the CNC path, “I modified my S7 but am disappointed with my progress”, and are now realising their error.

I am not against CAD/CAM/CNC articles as such, but since the normal mortal making one-off models has to be the main reader of ME/MEW, then it should be restricted. I suspect DC was given the Editorial job as he offered to take MEW forward on a CAD/CAM path, and I suspect Dave Fenner (come back Dave) gave up the job because he could not see enough meaningful content to support more issues per year. I made the following observations to DC, most likely in a different order:

1) If he has insufficient meaningful content, he should not have (agreed to go to) gone to more issues. ME is not like MEW. There is always a different model to serialise in ME – infinitely more variatons on a theme. With MEW a lathe is still a lathe in a literal sense and all we get is variations on a theme and there is a lot less meaningful content per month than there used to be, as others have poined out.

2) He has insufficient content for Scribe a Line because it is all appearing on the web site. Instead of appealing for content he or his assistants should be routing articles to Scribe a Line with permission of the writers at the start of a thread. I always read all the scribes therein.

3) Being Editor of both magazines is clearly one too many and many aspects are suffering. As an added bit not said at the time he claims that the Eds Bench (such as it is these days) is the last thing he writes yet he manages to advertise the Myford open days a month late. Subscribers may just have got it in time.

4) If he dares to, run a questionaire on how many people have gone down the CNC path and given up on it and why.

5) It takes time to master any programming language and even longer to get good at it, and stay abreast of updates and debugs. And you have to be using it all the time or you go rusty! I never make the same item twice, but I do remake bits when I get it wrong. If I went CNC now I would have more failed bits due to my CNC errors. Yes you can cut air and wood first (thus taking even longer) and save all the segments of code for use again, but that is like saving every bit of scrap metal in the hope that it will be handy some day, and how many of us have an ever growing scraps pile.

6) If he wants to go down a CNC path, then he should go off and start a new mag just for CNC.

7) I have no idea how many bullet points I made and this getting a bit long……

By way of example of superfluous content apart from CNC, I considered the recent Tony Jeffree run on the basic Worden tool and cutter grinder quite naff and scraping the barrel for articles. Tony being an “in” person gets listened to of course, and I have admired his submissions for stepper motor articles. He claims to have read all the MEW’s, and yet is unaware of Jim Whetrens efforts to improve the machine and he makes the basic Hemingway kit – as is. He failed to grasp th

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Long post so go get a coffee.

 

I feel that this has all been taken out of context. Looking at a generic issue of MEW there are 10 project subjects per issue and this isn’t counting editors page, scribe a line etc.

 

So from issues 164 to 170 that’s 80 projects without a mention of CNC and after that we have 1 or 2 out of the 10 until we reach 177 which by a fluke had 3 but still wasn’t 33%

 

Now amongst the previous 1,770 projects [ approx ] since the mag started and that’s very conservative as the early issues had something like 15 articles in them per issue there have been umpteen articles on toolposts, lathe stops, tool and cutter grinders but no one has bitched over these.

 

David has mentioned that the American Digital Machinist magazine has a quarterly print run of 15,000 so there must be a demand out there for this subject matter. We don’t have a specialist magazine for this but and it’s a big BUT, the magazine is called MODEL ENGINEERS WORKSHOP and like it or not these machines are now in, wait for it, model engineers workshops.

 

Now to put my other hat on. When the Sieg range of machines were being thought about we, as in Ketan at ARC and myself were doing CNC conversion kits for the X3. We were asked by Sieg to help out with a turnkey machine which we were initially loath to do as that took away the kit project. However reflecting on this if we didn’t someone else would, so the first KX1 was built here and shipped to China.

 

When these were ready at the new factory setup just to do the CNC machines we went over to shake them out and sort out support etc.

Support was to be in the form of a web based forum with links to the various agents around the world. ARC became the sole UK and European agent with some sub agents in Europe. other countries like America had their agents and certain countries that were lacking agents were dealt with direct from the factory.

 

For every machine sold details were passed to me for support purposes, the exceptions being internal sales in China and Russia which has bought a large number for training schools. I do not get the Russian numbers but can guess from the blocks of serial numbers missing.

 

There are now in excess of 3,000 KX machines out there since they were introduced and this doesn’t cover copies like Syil, How Mou, and Novacon so just what the total is no one knows.

 

This also doesn’t cover any home built or converted machines or the literally 1,000’s of routers which all work on the same principle.

 

Add to this the 15,000 readership of the only magazine for these people and you will see they are a force that will not go away whether you like it or not.

 

Now if Myford for instance were able to sell this many instead of their rumoured 18 per year perhaps they could call the shots ?

 

John S.

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/05/2011 23:31:36

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

I did have the figures, but if you look at Workholding in the lathe by Tubal Cain, he goes into the errors in 3 jaws.

 

I think, for a standard quality 3 jaw, using the preferred pinion, about 5 thou is all that they guarantee new, at a distance form hte face. See the appropriate DIN standard which many work to..

 

If you were .020 out then either the chuck is not set properly in its backplate (unlikely in view of its other results) or possibly you had a flake of swarf in somewhere – possibly even internally. Or maybe you didn’t use the preferred key.

 

Could one expect repeatability of .002 every time (using any key?) No. (unless you were lucky)

 

I have a brand new Pratt Super Precision chuck. The error on that varies between 1.27 thou to about. .0004″ using the preferred pinion on bars. About 1/2 thou on 100 mm rings on the same preferred pinion.

 

Thats a new instrument of a grade somewhat higher than the standard chuck (and it had to be reworked twice to get it into the SP tolerance so it took some weeks to be delivered)

 

Would you do better with a new chuck from RDG and ARc euro. Possilby – BUT, what are you to gain? No one in their right mind takes a bar and puts it into a 3 jaw and regards it as true. If you need a bore concentric with a circumfenrence, you either turn them at the same setting, or you reset in a Griptru, collet or 4 jaw.

 

For rough work, yes you can turn end for end or reset, but if it matters, as in an axle tube with bearings at each end and you want to be able to slide and axle through, then no you most certainly cannot, not even with an SP chuck, unless you are very lucky, because the error is greater than the reaming allowance oversize.

Edited By mgj on 29/05/2011 22:08:22

[Peter Simpson 2Participant @petersimpson2]

I have been experimenting with my Burnerd 3 Jaw chuck. After skimming a 1″ diameter piece of BMS I reversed this in the chuck and did the same to the other end. I put DI on the free end an measured 0 run out. I then removed the metal from the chuck to simulate another activity that may have been required. The metal was then rechucked and the DI was set back up again. The best repeatability was approx .005″ to the worst being .020″ I removed the metal several times, used all three chuck key positions to nip up the metal. The repeatability was poor to say the least. Could one expect to get a repeatability of .002″ every time you carry out this experement. Is the chuck worn out or strained by it’s previous owner.

Could I expect better results if I purchased a chuck from the likes of RDG or Arc Euro.

Many thanks for any info supplies

[Tony RayParticipant @tonyray65007]

Nic,

 

I have owned a Super X3 for about a year now. I did the prep myself based on the X3 prep guide on ARC’S website – there are a few differences but nothing too major. Its rated as a more complex prep by Arc but it’s relatively straight forward. DO NOT attempt to strip the spindle ! I agree with Stewart – do it yourself

 

I have the R8 version – I like it as the taper release easily. I have an R8 ER32 but use the R8 collets in preference.

 

This is my first mill and I’ll list the short comings as these are probably more informative than the positives.

 

1. Its not a Bridgeport – no suprises there !

 

2. The drawbar lightening / slackening method as supplied; you use a pin spanner at the collet end and a hex wrench at the drawbar end – its fiddly, awkward and can be hard to get good torque. But you can build something infinitely better using the mill and your lathe with just 4 simple components. PM me if you need more details.

 

3. Absence of a depth stop eg like on a drill press – again a little work with a lump of ally, some threaded studding a bit of bright angle & you are there

 

4. Column flex – viewed by many as the weakest part in that its open back allows some flexing – but not when you are being sensible.

 

5. Z axis leadscrew pitch is finer than the X3 to make raising the head a bit easier on the cranking arm but takes a while to crank up. On the web you will find solutions employing counterweights & pulleys – have not done it yet but I am tempted.

 

6. No powerfeed – again the info is on the web should you want to build one – mine will be based on a CNC design.

 

I had a problem with mine in that the motor stalled within a few days of running it – Arc were very helpful – I had probably over done it I sent the board back to them & was running again with a couple of days. Arc could not have been more helpful.

 

7. Tramming – because of the swivelling head resetting is tricky ( but I cut some 60 degree parts for a grinding rest and with it its a doddle) I’m still working on the best method for resetting tram & verifying but did it in less than 15 mins tonight.

 

8. Dial grads – X & Y are 0.02mm and are graduated from 0 to 90 ( 100 being 0 again) so you have to remember that eg 0 -90 is actually 1.8mm total travel. I’d prefer it graduated from 0 – 1.8mm similar to my Boxford. I’ll probably make some dials one day ( If I don’t DRO it in the meantime)

 

9. Supplied drill chuck run out is not good I need to replace it but use the ER 32 for accurate drilling.

 

10. Tapping mode is probably not as useful as it might seem.

 

11. Chuck guard – I removed mine & disabled the switch. I’m involved with H&S & consider that it was more of a risk than the swarf but I always wear Safety glasses.

 

12. As reported by others in appearance at least the Z gib strip looks poor – they report that reworking or replacing it makes things smoother but TBH I haven’t and its OK .

 

13. Fine downfeed – is locked by turning a handwheel – it takes a bit of effort I called Arc when it would not work & it turned out I was not being manly enough !

 

14. Protection of the ways from swarf – bellows etc are available.

 

As far as the prep goes I’d allow a month, working in the evenings. Don’t try to disconnect the two flexibles connecting the head to the control boards – you can remove the head and swivel it out of the way along with the back unit containing the boards.

 

I prepped min onthe pallet that it arrived on. I replaced the top Z axis bearing ( £3 or so) as it was gritty – Arc make us of a blind bearing puller I lashed something up & the bearing came out easily. The was a lot of casting sand / swarf in the main column so the strip down & adjustment was worthwhile. Once completed I hired an engine crane to lif it onto the bench – it might only be small but it is heavy !

 

Assuming you can’t stretch to an Emco or something with European pedigree the other new choices are RF type machines which would appear to have their own drawbacks.

 

You might be able to get a used Raglan or some other compact machine but what will it cost, will it have a standard spindle taper, what condition will it be in what happens if something breaks ?

 

Spares for the Super X3 are almost off the shelf.

 

Do budget for tooling, clamps a vice etc – it all mounts up !

 

If possible try to get to see whatever you are considering before you buy.

 

Tony

[mickParticipant @mick65121]

The size of collet chuck is realy goverened by the max tool diameter the machine is designed for, which is 12mm I have had an 18mm diameter running on my KX1 but that was held in a tool holder, which I prefer as you can build up a decent tool library, as they only cost around £8.0 from Arc Euro I don’t think I’d be tempted to use slitting saws on it though

[PatParticipant @pat]

Hi Bernard

 

The Arc Euro Trades are for the Seig mini lathe. However Seig are not the only factory making bench top machines to the same generic specification. This means that there are differences that are much more significant than the paint colors and badges. You will need to identify the manufacturer of your lathe and there are some clues on this web site http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/versions/versions.htm#Versions

I have a Red Bull mini mill undergoing CNC conversion and there are some significant differences in the detail on this mill compared to the Seig X2. I also suggest you compare your printed paper manual with that of the Seig C3 to see if the exploded parts drawings are the same.

 

A better solution is to fit linear DRO’s to each slide and a web search will turn up details of how others have enhanced their lathes this way. A cheap alternative is to fit tool maker’s buttons to the slide and a fixed reference point for each slide and use a micrometer or digital caliper to measure the movement – a long reach DTI would achieve a similar result assuming that you are only interested on how far you have moved the cutting tool – but remember that the tool must be moved half the distance required to reduce the diameter of the work.

 

I question why you would want to add any sort of DRO that counts the fractional movement of the lead screw and not the movement of the tool tip relative to the machine bed / work as pointed out by CoalBurner. The simple lead screw mechanics used on these lathes means that there is backlash and the methods for adjusting this to be a minimum will not allow it to be eliminated. Any time served machinist will bring the tool to the work always from the same direction making any backlash that remains unimportant. When getting near to size look at the advance on the lead-screw index to gauge how much is actually being removed per division on the scale. A simple bit of arithmetic (source of error so care is needed here!) allows the correct advance to leave a light finishing cut to bring the diameter in on dimension.

 

Good luck – Regards – Pat

 

PS Don’t forget the cheap caliper type DROs are not water proof which might be important if you are going to use suds or have a workshop where damp is a problem.  

 

 

Edited By Pat on 20/05/2011 11:17:14

[Bernard OwenParticipant @bernardowen87680]

Hi, I have a 7×14 Chinese mini lathe sold by SPG in Hinckley, it is identical to the Clarke Conquest lathe, I want to fit DRO’s to the slides and have seen them in Arc Euro Trades catalogue but have been told they won’t fit my lathe although the slides look the same as the Seig C3 lathe, I have read David Fenners book on the mini lathe and there is a chapter in there about fitting these DRO’s and it doesn’t say anything about them only fitting certain lathes, could somebody clarify this situation for me.

Thanks.

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

There are plenty of X-Y tables around, available from the usual suspects. For example, Arc Eurotrade (catalogue distributed with this month’s MEW) has 3 sizes of table on page 43 of the catalogue; he smallest has a table 200mmX90mm and a table travel of 130mmX70mm. These are manual tables, but would be simple enough to convert to stepper drive if you so desired, using the existing leadscrews.

 

Regards,

Tony

[SkarvenParticipant @skarven]

Hi,

Andrev Johnston:

I had a quick look and a search on the practicalmachinist and I must say that my first thought was that I have a lot to learn here!!!! On the other hand, this centering indicator from Bernardo was only 89 euro, so I’ll try that one first.

Off Topic. No, I’m not in Austria, but I think these machines come from there.

I’m a Norwegian from the middle part of Norway.

 

mgj:

I tried ebay for a D1-4 to ER3, but could not find anything. It’s so easy to order everything at once from the same supplier, that I’ll try the ER25 for now.

I’m also convinced that it is better to go for a 3-axis integrated system at once.

There will probably be some limitations in a hybrid system, and the mill with 3-axes only had the problem with the MT 4 morse cone spindle. Everything else was just as I wanted it. I think maybe I can live with that.

 

My order now looks something like this. Tell me if you have any additions or comments.

 

Expert 165D w/3-axis digital Readout (29675,00NKr) e 3390,-

Soft solid Jaws DSI-DK11-160 21-0853 e 38,-
Live center with 7 interchangable tips 22-1041 e 118,-
40 pos.tool post & Multifix E, 4 tips 23-1001 e 395,-
6 station revolving tailstock turret 22-1071 e 96,-
12 pcs. set metric size center drills 41-1070 e 28,-
Bernardo coolant fluid TURN for lath 5l 54-1202 e 59,-
Machine Mount MS-80 53-2000 e 29,- * 4 ?
Indx carbide turning tool set, 12 mm 44-3084 e 115,-
Digital indicator 32-1005 e 20,-
Universal-Magnetmessstativ 32-1055 e 49,-
ER-25 Collet Fixture direct mount D1-4 22-1080 e 65,-
ER-25 Collet round hole collets 26-1022 e 130,-

bits for 44-3084 e ?

Mill FM 50 VM with 3-axis digital e 2910,-

Stand BF3 with chip tray 56-1015 e 215,-

Coolant pump 11 liter 400V 51-1000 e 188,-

Coolant for mill

Deluxe clamping kit 52 pcs 14mm M12 28-1001 e 71,-
Hor/Vert rotary table 8inch 27-1001 e 329,-
Mill chuck set OZ MT 4 / 3-25mm 15pcs 26-1007 e 265,-
2-way tilting vice PTS-100 28-2033 e 205,-
20 pcs HSS Tin-coated end mills, 3-20mm 42-1020 e 69,-
10 pcs Tin-ctd roughing end mills 6-25mm42-1016 e 109,-
Taper shank drills MT2/3 9pcs 14.5-30mm 41-1050 e 79,-
Boring head combo 75mm incl boring bars 25-1020 e 215,-
Edge finder with indicator lamp SOE20S 32-1060 e 58,-
Centering indicator 32-1070 e 89,-

Kai

[John CoatesParticipant @johncoates48577]

Dunno yet – I’m still ploughing through the Arc Euro Trade catalogue gaining inspiration for my shopping tip the Harrogate ME show on Saturday !!!

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Hi again,

I have since found the diameter of bearing I want and I will order two ASAP>

The number is R10 2Rs and is sold by ArcEurotrade.

This changes things now and I can do the bearing fit a different way.

 

I will now turn down the shaft to five eigths and fit the bearings against a step on the shaft.

Then I will make a spacer and an ‘End float’ adjustor which I will make with a thread and screw it into the bearings to take out endfloat. Then this will be fitted into a threaded end cap.

Securing the cap with two big head screws as before.

Much simpler.

 

Clive