Search Results for 'arc euro'

[mgjParticipant @mgj]

Wheeltapper I agree entirely. Its just a PITA packing and shimming under tools, and then keeping the tool and shim pack together and never having quite the right bit of shim, and taking one out when you regrind a surface.

 

So a quick change post is a much more convenient bet IMO. You can always add to the kit later, buying single holders as you go along.

 

The question is which QCH. I have a Myford Dickson one on the Myford, and one of the lever operated ones from Arctrade Euro on the big lathe. (Chronos also do the same piston operated one) I just have too many toolholders to change on the Myford now, but starting again, the Chinese cheapie is infinitely better.

 

There is a problem with those Dickson types – much copied, (Chronos and Axminster and RDS) and some of the copies don’t fit that precisely and those are not as rigid as some. Maybe they don’t use a mounting block thats identical to the original? Trouble is you never know quite which holders you are getting, because some do fit perfectly!.

Edited By meyrick griffith-jones on 13/10/2009 22:21:13

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Frank,

 

Because I broke mine a few weeks after purchase, I obtained (under warranty) replacement plastic gears from Warco, however at about the same time there were a number of articles in MEW about improvements to the X1 lathe, and other equipment, As a result, I decided to incorporate some of these into the MiniMill at the same time.

 

My problem is that a) it is a hobby, and thus doesn’t rate overhighly in the general scale of things; and b) I get involved in doing other things, both hobby type, and for the house & grandchildren, hence I haven’t yet finished the repair/overhaul.

 

It may be of interest to note that like other people, I have found casting residue where it shouldn’t be!

 

As to the actual gears, this does involve a major dismantling to get at them, eg (from memory) remove motor & controller, remove spring return, remove top stop, lift head upwards and off the slide, remove slow and fast vertical feed mechanism, remove speed change lever, remove rear of head (it’s in two parts), remove intermediate shaft (requires knocking out of bearings, and finally remove main shaft/spindle (also requires knocking out of bearings). 

 

Then replace and rebuild in reverse order.

 

The Arc Euro Trade metal gear set does appear to be a direct replacement. I haven’t tried them for a fit, but they measure exactly the same as the original plastic gears and so I have no reason to believe they will not work. I have to say that I only found out about these after I had obtained and fitted the replacement plastic gears, so they are now in stock just in case. I’m loth to replace until forced into it because of the difficulty in knocking out and replacing the bearings.

 

Yes it is true that there are belt drive conversions available for the X2, and by all accounts they are quieter as well, however, until I see that someone has successfully converted a MiniMill, I will leave well alone, the reason being that although the MiniMill does appear to be based on the X2, there may well be, in fact definitely are, slight differences between the two mills, eg the spring return system for the vertical motion, and, I think, the location of the speed gear change handle. Furthermore, I have a general dislike of making changes which cannot be reversed in the event of unforeseen problems.

 

For what it’s worth, I do now think I may have made a mistake in buying this mill. One of my reasons was because of lifting limitations as a sole worker, however after I had bought the maxhine, there was an article in MEW where someone bought an X3 or similar, and dismantled it to get it into place – something that I never though of. I did want the biggest I could comfortably handle, and had the idea of dismantling to install occurred, then I may well have gone for a bigger machine. Having said that, I do not have any reason to criticise the MiniMill – I went into it with my eyes open, and it does seem to do what it is supposed to do.

 

Hope this helps, Frank.

 

Regards,

 

Peter G. Shaw.

[Frank DolmanParticipant @frankdolman72357]

 For Peter G Shaw’s reasons, plus shortage of space, I have also decided on Warco’s Mini Mill. I would therefore be very pleased to see full details of replacing the gears with metal ones from Arc Euro Trade or anybody else.  I rather gather from his post that Peter has not yet done the job but when he has or if anybody else has, I am all ears ( or eyes)

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Hi David,

 

I see no-one else has come up with anything so I’ll just relate my experiences.

 

For reasons of weight, ie a one man band, I decided that I wanted a milling machine of less that 100kgs. Also, I decided that I wanted a square column to avoid the possible loss of  sideways  registration when moving the head up and down. Effectively this meant I was limited to the Sieg X2 or equivalent.

 

Unfortunately this machine has two problems. One is that the electronics are suspect (MOSFET blowing) and the internal plastic gears are liable to break.

 

Now Warco have a MiniMill. It is not made by Sieg, but certainly does seem to be based on that design. Warco’s machine has a 550W motor against the standard 350W so I hope the electronics have been suitably upgraded. In any case, for  me, changing a MOSFET is no big deal. However, as I quickly found out, it DOES have the plastic internal gears. And they DO break. Fortunately, Arc Euro Trade do have some metal gears for (I think) the C2 or C3 lathe (not sure which), and these are also suitable for the X2 and the Warco MiniMill.

 

Please note: I am not complaining about the MiniMill. I was aware of the possible problems, but hoped otherwise. Furthermore, I have no connection with Arc Euro Trade other than as a customer.

 

Good luck in your quest.

 

Peter G. Shaw

[Colin AbreyParticipant @colinabrey20074]

Simon,  Try Arc Euro Trade http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machine-Spares/Machine-Bellows

Regards

Colin

[Rob ManleyParticipant @robmanley79788]

I would visit http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/ They supply ball screws and have links to various projects and forums which have descriptions and hints on this kind of thing.  Rob

[Jim WhetrenParticipant @jimwhetren72358]

Hello Tony, 

I agree, I use ER 32 colets on my lathe, spin indexer and dividing head, also on the mill until I changed to ER 20 here; to gain better access with the smaller closing nut.

 

I also use the ER 20 collets on a Worden grinder, as they cover metric and imperial shank cutters. I have also made a chuck to use them on a Cowells lathe. Making the chucks is quite straight forward, but I cheat and buy the closing nuts which are reasonably priced.

 

My lathe has a 3 MT which will pass 20mm using the ER 32 collet. If you use a 3 MT holder, you will need a drawbar and will loose this advantage.

 

My collets and closing nuts and a backplate fitting chuck for the lathe came from Arc Eurotrade, (usual disclaimer) and are of very good quality and also reasonably priced.

 

Go for it

 

Jim

[Dave Jones 1Participant @davejones1]

I started out with a unimat 3, and they are excellent little lathes.  The problem is that they are now becomming regarded as collectable and as such parts can be a bit pricey.  I would recommend having a look at the website http://www.lathes.co.uk which has feedback on most types of lathe. 

The main problem I had with the unimat is that it has small centre height, but i suppose it depends what type of model your interested in making as to whether thats a problem.

The arceurotrade sieg lathes are good value for money but they require a bit of fiddling with to get them set up properly. 

I would also recommend getting the mini lathe book from the workshop practice series if your thinking about getting a 3 1/2″ centre height chinese lathe.

[DuncParticipant @dunc]

Robbo

 

Thanks for your reply. My computer’s been acting up so online sessions a bit sporadic.

 

Courtesy of Arc Euro Trade I downloaded the Christmas 2007 article – ie the lathe article only.

 

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

I have to say at the outset that I know nothing about the Warco 918.  However, I do know that besides Ebay, Myford themselves sell second-hand reconditioned lathes. Shame you can’t hire a small van, drive it on to Eurostar and vist Myford’s open-house  on September 24th to 26th and maybe make a purchase.  See their web site.  Usual disclaimer.

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Hi Dunc,

 

Try this link to ArcEuroTrade Projects&Articles.   There are some about the C3 lathe, Bearings for the ML7 crossslide leadscrew,  converting to CNC, etc

 

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projects.aspx

 

Funnily enough, the article about the rotary table isn’t in the projects, but in the sales area for rotary tables, as part of the description

 

 

[DuncParticipant @dunc]

Thanks Robbo for that link. Curious, I went to the Arceurotrade site, then Projects & Articles hoping there may be more topics but could not find them. Trying truncated listings got a

“Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed.”

 

Are there other gems of info like this? If yes, links would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Hi Ken,

for some advice on using the rotary table, try this link:

                              

                        http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projects/rotarytable/UsingARotaryTable.pdf

 

Incidentally, GHT’s method for the slots was to drill a hole at each end of the slot and then mill out in between them.  Of course, this may be teaching Granny——-.

 

Sometimes its quicker, and less messy, to chain drill between the holes and just clean up the slot with the mill.

 

Cheers

 

 

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Just to point out that the Spin Indexer as sold by Arceurotrade, is to a unique design that can hold ER32 and 5C collets on the same tool with no modifications.

 

Given that the 5C series works in fixed sizes and the ER system works over a 1mm or 40 thou range per collet with no gaps this gives you two bites of the cherry depending what collet system you run.

 

Another plus is the ER series is the only work holding and tool holding system readily available so it has a spin off for the people who share collets between a mill, lathe and attachments.

 

John S.

[Jim WhetrenParticipant @jimwhetren72358]

Hello Roy,

 

To sharpen saws on the Worden I used a diamond wheel from Arc Euro Trade.

 

D4BT9 15 Deg. Taper Page 22 of the catalogue.

 

This gave excellent results with such items requiring a fine edge to the grinding wheel, gashing end mills for instance.

 

Regards,

Jim

[Dave Jones 1Participant @davejones1]

***** I have removed a link from this posting ***** The website mentioned has plans scanned from a book, and therefore copyright cannot be proven or ascertained.

 

 

http://homepage3.nifty.com/amigos/index-e.html a website with mods and simple tools made on a mini lathe similar to the C3 sold by arc eurotrade.

Edited By Richmond on 24/07/2009 11:33:21

[Graham HorneParticipant @grahamhorne65034]

Was impressed with Prazimat features and concept but decided to start with what was one of the first few minilathes? to grow bigger than watchmaker size.

Noticed in the MEW Special Edition Readers’ Workshop that the Hobbymat 65 was often seen in the background. That these eminent gentlemen had selected one was good enough for me. I would really appreciate advise on compatable tooling to support this bare machine, things like ‘ Emco travelling rests fit’ or ‘Arceurotrade 5″ 4-jaw chucks will mount’ and ‘Clarke gear change wheels work’.  Or even ‘parts are still gettable at XYZ.com’ Thanks Forummers.

[Jim McPParticipant @jimmcp]

I’m converting a Warco VMC mill -4 axes mostly running now.

Ballscrew on Z. Original leadscrews with nuts fairly tight give about 0.1mm backlash, which is livable with. I’ve bought suitable ballscrews, but not yet fitted.

Z drive (‘low’ cost rolled thread screw) shows no measurable backlash on 1/10 thou DTI.

6N-m stepper motors via 2:1 reduction tooth belt drive and *8 microstep on X & Y,  A bit smaller on Z and rotary table (vertex 6″).  

Suppliers (UK)  I’ve found OK-

Rapid Electronics -bit like RS but usually cheaper

Active Robots – stepper motors

Arc-Euro- motors ballscrews drive electronics bearings-last year they were selling 3A steper drivers for <£30.

Marchant Dice – ballscrews -often good deals on ebay.

Simply Bearings- what they say.

ArmyRadio.co.uk – ex-army 28V 10A power supply.

CNCZone.com – infinite mine of knowledge

http://www.linuxcnc.org/    Home of EMC2  CNC control software.  Free, good, free, easy to use, free, lots of help available on t’internet, and of course, free.

Be warned- CNC is a fascinating hobby in it’s own right- I’m in danger of never making anything else than more CNC machines.  I’ve got the ML7 in my sights.

Good luck with your conversion 

Jim 

 

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

I use cutting oil.

Arc Euro Tade sell MWC I think which is Metalworkers cutting oil.

Soluble is not ideal especially if you have a digital readout.

The modern synthetic soluble oils can sting if you have a cut as well.

regards David