Search Results for 'arc euro'

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Sam,

A friend has been quoted anything up to six months for a spare for his lathe.

Shortly, we will make our own version of some of the parts, to use easily available standard items, which will actually be an improvement on the O E.

When I enquired about spares for a Swiss bore gauge, I was told that spares were not available, being required for repairs (!) and quoted an astronomical price for a complete replacement with a 6 to 8 month lead time.

In Contrast, Arc Euro always surprise me by quoting upto 2 days, and the item arriving next morning!

A case of exceeding customer expectations!

I have never experienced anything other than excellent service from, and relations with, the company.

When I enquired about a small part from Warco, the following day a packet arrived, with half a dozen, FOC!

Having broken the plastic interior for a Tap and Die box, and following an enquiry at a show, Tracy Tools very kindly sent a replacement, and declined payment!

In complete contrast, I have given up hope, after two years,of even a response from another UK importer.

Not needed anyway, Arc supplied what I needed as soon as the item came back into stock, (and at half the price quoted by the original importer ) AND without wanting airfreight and VAT on everything!

Howard

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 28/10/2020 13:09:53:

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 28/10/2020 13:06:43:

I often see these posts & wonder why.

If my wife walks into a shop she expects to be served quickly, Unless there is a queue. So why would it not be the same for expecting a supplier to get the goods off to a customer fairly quickly. Can one tell me the difference?

The real heros in the story are the couriers who are able to collect the goods from the supplier & get the goods to the customer toot suite.

It is not the supplier that needs congratulating for doing what one would expect from any shop is it?

If , however, the supplier offers advice, or good returns service etc then by all means they deserve praise.

Now tell us who carried the goods & congratulate them– Yet you do not– Why?

To answer your question regarding couriers, I dont say which courier delivers anything that I receive because I cannot fault any company, I buy from Ebay, Amazon and many tooling companies including Arceuro and can honestly say that I get stuff delivered quickly and in good order and usually within three days of placing the order so anything that arrives within two days of the company getting the order needs a mention as in the case of Arceuro. What does amaze me is the number of courier companies that get mentioned on here who have lost it, broken it or take for ever to deliver it all call at my house with packages from all over the uk within what I consider a good fast service, so I cannot find fault with any, they are as good as each other.

Martin P

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Gentlemen,

Last Saturday I was in the process of making a die when I found that I didnt have the correct size End mills so work cam to a halt, in the afternoon I placed an order with Arceuro for two 2mm Slot drills and some parallels and at 9:00 this morning the postman handed me the goods, it doesnt get any better, excellent service.

Thank you Ketan.

Martin P

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Posted by not done it yet on 26/10/2020 22:13:14:

Would something like an Abwood tilting vise fit the bill?

Real Abwood tilting vices are large and very, very heavy. I have a 6" one and no way would it go on a Senior mill. Franky I'm a little dubious of putting it on my Bridgeport. Got it 'cos it was too cheap to let go but have only used it once.

There are smaller import versions in similar style. Merely very heavy.

The couple I looked at years ago were rather indifferent as to vice quality. Odds are that the price the market will accept isn't enough to engineer a really good vice on top of all the swivelling gubbins.

I imagine Ketan at ArcEurotrade is most likely to have found something useable and affordable. Realistically you need a very good vice for this sort of job. After carefully setting the vice angle pounding a job down onto parallels to get it settled snugly in the vice is clearly less than ideal. Indicating in a tilted vice and tilted workpiece that don't feel like behaving is, um, seriously frustrating. Arc prices are are up towards the top end of "home market" versions which may be indicative!

There are some very inexpensive tilting vices using either sheet metal side arm brackets or a quadrant and sidelock screw. As purchased the quadrant and side lock screw version is generally marginally less inaccurate but neither are sufficiently accurate or rigid for proper milling use with a decent size cutter. Many folk have re-worked the cheap side-arm type, like the Clarke CT25 from machine mart, to produce a small tilting vice of very satisfactory accuracy for light duties. Fundamentally the moving jaw is too small with insufficient guide area and there is little that can be done about that. I think life is too short and the rewards incommensurate with the effort.

I have a tilting table like like Andrews and one of the 0 to 90° variety using a similar quadrant to permit rotation. The common size 0 to 90° is generally smaller, albeit a little taller, than the common ones like Andrews. More in keeping with the Senior I think but it does only tilt one way. If well made the simple one or two lug and pivot type can work well but setting can be tricky and the pivot arrangements need to be beyond reproach.

Arc do a couple of smaller ones in the same style as Andrews which are worth a look.

Clive

[Philip AParticipant @philipa30666]

I haven't done much to test all the parting tips you've given me yet. Mainly because the Arc parting tool has the blade on the wrong side so it's not possible to part less than 16mm away from the chuck which is way further than the 1/4 – 1/2" you're recommending.

I've ordered a sample of EN1A steel to see if my problem is that I'm working with the wrong material. I was wrong to say that EN1A can't be zinc plated, it's only the leaded EN1A-Pb which can't be plated.

Would you be able to explain whether the top side of the parting blade needs to be horizontal or at an angle? The parting tools shown on the mini-lathe.com website show blades which have a horizontal top side:

However the Arc tool and many other tools and websites recommend that there is an angle. The arc tool achieves this by having a half moon ground into the top side:

I think practically speaking a parting tool with a horizontal blade would be more convinient because if used with a quick change tool post it's height would only ever need to be set once.

[Philip AParticipant @philipa30666]

Posted by Andy Gray 3 on 23/10/2020 12:43:27:

Posted by Philip Antoniou on 23/10/2020 09:35:29:

I just shimmed the gibs on the underside of the carriage as they were riding on the edge of the ways. I used shim washers instead of cutting strips of shim that most people use, seems rigid. Fitted the Arceurotrade brass gibs; one has made an improvement, letting me tighten up the gib more while still letting the side move. But the other gib is the wrong size and just jams the movement.

Be slightly careful with the shimming – it cures a symptom rather than the cause. The gib shouldn't bear on the bottom of the slide (or the top). If it does, it is either not being held properly by the adjustment screws, or is rotating slightly, which forces the lower corner into the bottom of the slide.

In an ideal world, the pressure on the gib should be at right angles to the sliding face – it isn't on the mini lathe (and many other designs, too) so there is a tendency for the gib to be pushed downwards as the adjustments are snugged up. There needs to be enough engagement of the adjustment screw tips to stop this. Also, as the gibs are so narrow, the point of action for the adjusting screws needs to be close to the sliding face to reduce the tendency of the gib to rotate, not on the back of the gib as is the default.

After trying several internet solutions without making a huge difference, the thing that sorted mine was to depen the recesses in the gib to take the tips of the dog-point adjustment screws. These need to be angled to match the adjustment screws, not flat to the gib strip itself. I managed to do this by clamping the gib to the slide itself (with the hole location overhanging) and drilling them deeper. I also had to add clearance to prevent the threaded part of the adjusting screws fouling the gib. I managed this with a 4mm end mill in a drill press. (A bit hairy, but worked OK).

Hi Andy, I was actually talking about the gibs that hold the carriage down (pic below), which were riding on the edge of the underside of the ways. I used shim washers to get those horizontal, and was wondering why others are using more awkward shim strips:

But you are right about the slide gibs, the grub screws are forcing them to rotate, it doesn't look right at all, but seems to be working as there's no play now. I'll probably do something better once I can afford to buy a milling machine:

[Pete WhiteParticipant @petewhite15172]

Posted by Oldiron on 24/10/2020 20:28:58:

Posted by Pete White on 29/09/2020 14:00:32: I don't think I can mention Arc Eurotrade?

Pete

As far as I know there is no ban on mentioning our good friends @ Arc Eurotrade.

regards

O good dont want to to break tthe rules.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

On the manual mills I tend to use the supplied knuckle bar type handle though I do tend to prefer a cranked type handle but that may simply be due to having used that type a lot more. On the CNC where it is my go to vice I use a 12mm combination spanner as you can't get the knuckle bar in due to the chip tray all around the table.

I'd probably give it 9/10 if 10 were the Kurt version as it does what I want of it and the Kurt certainly cost over 10% more! Each type of vice has it's vices such as the gap along the middle of the vice bottom where you may want to rest work or that can allow swarf onto the screw but that is countered by it having a far greater opening capacity then something like my K4 with it's solid bottom.

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Posted by Pete White on 29/09/2020 14:00:32: I don't think I can mention Arc Eurotrade?

Pete

As far as I know there is no ban on mentioning our good friends @ Arc Eurotrade.

regards

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Peter also asked my via one of my Videos on Yutube but I will reply here so that I can add some photos and it may be of use to others wanting to put a big vice on a small mill.

As others here I suggested an 80mm vice for this Mini-mill and these following photos illustrate some of the reasons why I'm using the SX2.7 with a table of 595 x 140 which is larger than the mini-mill's table at 460 x 112.

Firstly a shot of a 100mm versatile vice from ARC without it's swivel base, not that as the size of a vice goes up the fixed jaw tends to be further back from the mounting lugs so if a cutter of modest size (12mm in photos) is to clear the back of any work in the vice then it will have to be mounted to the fromt tee slot. This makes it almost impossible to see the handwheel let alone the dial on a non DRO equiped machine.

The next size down is the 80mm Versatile which can be mounted to the central tee slot which gives a better view of the handwheel and you can also see the dial

Side by side comparison

Peter did say he was thinking of the Radial vice from ARC which probably does have a slightly smaller footprint than the versatile due to not having the "lip" all round the base but tee slot position would still come into it and they don't open as far.

The other thing to think about on the very small mills when looking at vices is their height, here you can see that the top of the 100mm vice's jaws are just under 25mm further above the table than those of the 80mm eating into valuable head room

Finally on a safety note I managed to drop the 100mm vice while taking these photos as it is just about hovering when bolt holes are over that nearest tee slot and that is with the jaws closed, glad I had steel caps on at the time even though I did manage to jump back in time so it only dinged the vinyl tile.

[Andy_GParticipant @andy_g]

Posted by Philip Antoniou on 23/10/2020 09:35:29:

I just shimmed the gibs on the underside of the carriage as they were riding on the edge of the ways. I used shim washers instead of cutting strips of shim that most people use, seems rigid. Fitted the Arceurotrade brass gibs; one has made an improvement, letting me tighten up the gib more while still letting the side move. But the other gib is the wrong size and just jams the movement.

Be slightly careful with the shimming – it cures a symptom rather than the cause. The gib shouldn't bear on the bottom of the slide (or the top). If it does, it is either not being held properly by the adjustment screws, or is rotating slightly, which forces the lower corner into the bottom of the slide.

In an ideal world, the pressure on the gib should be at right angles to the sliding face – it isn't on the mini lathe (and many other designs, too) so there is a tendency for the gib to be pushed downwards as the adjustments are snugged up. There needs to be enough engagement of the adjustment screw tips to stop this. Also, as the gibs are so narrow, the point of action for the adjusting screws needs to be close to the sliding face to reduce the tendency of the gib to rotate, not on the back of the gib as is the default.

After trying several internet solutions without making a huge difference, the thing that sorted mine was to depen the recesses in the gib to take the tips of the dog-point adjustment screws. These need to be angled to match the adjustment screws, not flat to the gib strip itself. I managed to do this by clamping the gib to the slide itself (with the hole location overhanging) and drilling them deeper. I also had to add clearance to prevent the threaded part of the adjusting screws fouling the gib. I managed this with a 4mm end mill in a drill press. (A bit hairy, but worked OK).

[Philip AParticipant @philipa30666]

Posted by Ron Laden on 23/10/2020 08:14:33:

Posted by Philip Antoniou on 22/10/2020 19:53:46:

Posted by Ron Laden on 22/10/2020 14:06:15:

I think one of the failings of the small mini lathes is the lack of rigidity of the tool mount/compound slide through to the cross slide, you can see in the video the amount of flex at the tool post.

My CJ18 mini lathe was a bit of a nightmare when parting off, it depended on the job it was sort of ok with not too heavy or deep cuts in aluminium but parting steel was always a problem.

I went down the rear tool post route which transformed it and made parting off a pleasure to do, it did mean however making a heavier duty cast iron cross slide with T slots and a 50mm square steel tool post for the parting tool. Obviously a fairly serious mod but it did cure the parting problems and to some degree improved general turning having a heavier cross slide bed.

Picture below of the original cross slide and the heavier version, not a 5 minute mod but it was worth the effort.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 22/10/2020 14:20:20

Did you make the new cross slide? Does it also use gibs with bolts to tighten it up?

Philip, yes I did make the heavier duty cross slide but like I said it is quite a serious mod, picture below of finished item. You need a sizeable chunk of cast iron, a T slot cutter and a dove tail cutter, and a mill. Yes the cross slide is gib mounted with adjusting screws but I increased the screws from 3 to 5.

Before getting in to any serious mods and I am not suggesting for one minute that you make a new cross slide, I did but I wanted a rear tool post and T slots. Have you tried inverting the parting tool and running the lathe in reverse, quite a few people seem to get better results in parting this way on the mini lathe.

I was asking more out of curiosity, that is too much of a mod for me, though I'll consider the rear toolpost for a later date.

I just shimmed the gibs on the underside of the carriage as they were riding on the edge of the ways. I used shim washers instead of cutting strips of shim that most people use, seems rigid. Fitted the Arceurotrade brass gibs; one has made an improvement, letting me tighten up the gib more while still letting the side move. But the other gib is the wrong size and just jams the movement.

I'll probably fit the taper bearings as I have them now, but need to make a special nut to hold the back of the main shaft for the puller. That's a 30mm part so will see if I can part that off or if I have to resort to a hacksaw.

[Andy CarlsonParticipant @andycarlson18141]

Posted by Philip Antoniou on 22/10/2020 19:55:36:

This is the parting tool that Arc recommended: https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Cutting-Tools/Lathe-Turning-Tools/8mm-Parting-Off-Tool-with-Parting-Blade

I havent got the Arc Euro one but it's important to check that the blade is being held properly upright with this type of holder. If it's leaning over by just a few degrees that will mean that the clearance angle on one side is not doing its job and that side can rub. I needed to use some shim to make sure my blade was properly vertical.

[Andy_GParticipant @andy_g]

Posted by Philip Antoniou on 22/10/2020 19:55:36:

This is the parting tool that Arc recommended: https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Cutting-Tools/Lathe-Turning-Tools/8mm-Parting-Off-Tool-with-Parting-Blade

I have something very similar, and don't find it very useful – I do use it on a quick change toolpost for small diameter brass / ali or for cutting grooves.

I found this type much less touchy and more useful:

https://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/SMALL-PRO-PARTING-SYSTEM–9MM-SHANK–1729.html

[Philip AParticipant @philipa30666]

Posted by JasonB on 22/10/2020 12:58:20:

The only thing more worrying is how much trouble the OP must be having to feel that the cut in the video is so good!

Phillip exactly which of the parting blades did you get from ARC?

This is the parting tool that Arc recommended: https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Cutting-Tools/Lathe-Turning-Tools/8mm-Parting-Off-Tool-with-Parting-Blade

[Dr_GMJNParticipant @dr_gmjn]

Apologies if I've already asked this at some point – I got side-tracked with finishing a project rather than fettling equipment.

Does the Arc-Euro ML7 cross-slide bearing upgrade also apply to the compound slide?

Thanks.

[Philip AParticipant @philipa30666]

Hello, first time posted here. I just bought my first lathe the other week, I went for a min-lathe due to space. Everything was going great, made my first delrin parts to fix the kids nerf gun, and then made my first 25mm steel part. And then everything went wrong when it came to parting off the steel.

I did some reading and found that mini lathe users tend to run the machine in reverse to part off. I also bought a HSS parting off tool which Arceurotrade said has been tested with the lathe. Yesterday I managed to finally part off my workpiece but it still looked like the tool was cutting small chips off the workpiece rather than a smooth slice.

Then this morning I saw this video, of a chap in the US testing a new tool on the mini lathe. His tool is taking lovely smooth slices off. I can't figure out what he's doing differently:

I've ordered some taper bearings and upgrade gib strips as I've read that these help with parting off.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I think the reasoning for linking back to the website is that it contains a lot more detail on the various items than could be included in the catalogue, typical example of milling cutter info on web site. It would obviously also require the reader to have a catalogue in their possession and it to be the one that has any page refs in it which would change from cat to cat.

[phil1962Participant @phil1962]

Posted by John Hinkley on 15/10/2020 13:32:06:

Phil,

I bought one of the earlier ones the same as the mill referenced in Dave's link. I note that the report is dated 2017, however the comments are still valid. The model I bought was a two-speed geared one. I broke the nylon gear in pretty short order, most probably due to my inexperience and I replaced them with a pair of steel ones ones which were intended for one of the mini lathes around at the time. They shared a lot of parts. Not entirely happy with the geared head I made my own belt drive conversion which transformed it into a quieter machine. The latest incarnation with its modern motor and associated electrics looks to be a step change again. A big advantage is the square vertical column but I found the spindle travel notchy and not easily controllable. Otherwise it did what I wanted it to do. You're never going to rip great chunks of metal with it but if you are prepared to accept its limitations, I'm sure you'll get along fine.

I added a digital caliper style 3-axis DRO system form ArcEuroTrade which was a useable low-end arrangement but never entirely satisfactory. I sold the machine when I returned to the UK from France in 2015, replacing it with a Warco VMC.

Here's the mill belt drive conversion:

And this was the X-axis scale installation. That usb plug is very vulnerable! I know, 'cause I wiped it off and had to replace the scale!

To sum up: I consider it a capable machine and, given the improvements that have been made in the one on offer today, reasonable value for money for a first mill. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

John

Edited By John Hinkley on 15/10/2020 13:33:17 – spelling!

Edited By John Hinkley on 15/10/2020 13:35:02 Hi John this was one of the first posts I found on google very interesting I am lucky they have up graded them now to belt drive I could of got the one with the DRO fitted to but £900 was a lot for me but will fit one to this one after xmas I have tried it on some Aluminium and some HDPE also some brass it seems to cut lovely so I am sure for small work it will be fine the drill press will come in handy to thanks for the help most kind of you both ATB Phil

[William AyerstParticipant @williamayerst55662]

Thank you both, sorry for the miscommunication. I meant the SC3-400 or SC2-300 from Arc. JasonB, could you elaborate a bit about the pulley ratios? It's not explained anywhere and I'm a bit confused. I like the idea of a more substantial machine but don't want to end up paying £300+ more for no reason…

re: warco fettling- this is what I meant, maybe it was the wrong words:

• Each machine is fully tested by a member of our team and comes with an individual accuracy test report.

With regard to milling – it seems that every YouTube machinist I've come across has a separate mill, but I'm not sure how much of a requirement that is for general use? Thinking of small cast iron castings and components for small live steam.

I have seen some guides on making a milling 'pallet' that sits on the cross slide and allows an angle plate and then a vertical milling slide to be mounted – but then also heard that milling on a lathe is limited and better to spend a few hundred pounds on a dedicated machine? The SC3 has a milling attachment available direct: https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Lathes/SIEG-C3-SC2-SC3-Mini-Lathes/C3-SC2-SC3-Accessories/C2-C3-SC2-SC3-Milling-Attachment but I've heard it's not very robust…

I am not clear on the requirement for a tumbler gear for 'normal purposes' – I don't know how many left handed threads I'd want to cut?

 

Edited By William Ayerst on 20/10/2020 10:53:07

Edited By William Ayerst on 20/10/2020 10:57:04

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

If anyone wants to buy either book my email says they are on an introductory offer at ARC.

Links

Mill

Lathe

[Nicola CasaliParticipant @nicolacasali98042]

The optocoupler appears to be fine. I tried a replacement anyway. P10 remains high and the LED is lit. Removing the presence of an optocoupler completely, extinguishes the LED. I'm not sure what's going on here. Using the Index pin, P15, as the estop seems to work.

I think I'll contact ArcEuro. This is where I purchased the machine in 2011. Maybe they can still obtain spares.

Thanks for your help.

Edited By Nicola Casali on 17/10/2020 15:22:26

Edited By Nicola Casali on 17/10/2020 15:23:02

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

MCB,

I believe they have been published by Arc Euro as an independent enterprise and may not yet have been allocated an ISBN

Talk to Arc, they will know

Regards Brian

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

+1 for not buying from Machine Mart based on my experience of their expertise.

Trawl this Forum to see what experiences others have had with the other suppliers. They all vary.

Over the years, having dealt with Chester, Warco and Arc Euro Trade, I would place them in reverse order for after sales support. If there is a problem of any sort, this can be important, whether it is a matter of advice or problem solving or supply of replacement parts, or even a complete machine.

Each supplier will offer a different package and warranty for what is often basically the same machine, but in a different colour scheme (Certainly if we are talking mini lathes )

Make allowance in your budget for tools such as measuring instruments, a 4 jaw chuck if it is not included in the package on offer.

Sometimes there are Accessory packages on offer which cost less than the total of all the individual items.

A secondhand machine, in good order, can be a money saver, and very often tooling can be thrown in as part of the deal.. But if you are unsure, take someone with you who knows what they are about.

Joining a Model Engineering Club, near you, can be a good way of finding a helpful guru.

Howard