Centec 2A milling machine horizontal / vertical mill.

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

Found this when looking on RDG’s web shop for something else.

I understand that they were highly regarded and versatile being horizontal/vertical capable.

*Clearance / end of line stock*

Centec 2A milling machine horizontal / vertical on cabinet 2mt head

£1,625.00 (exc VAT) – £1,950.00 (inc VAT)

 

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

I’m rich!!!!

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Add in the delivery charge and it is a bargain.

Andrew.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Even more so if with the Raising Block, a long casting with dovetails top and bottom to raise the ram by about three inches.

They are good machines though.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Is it new ? Remember it’s a 2A not the 2B.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

2B has better table traverse

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

It does have a riser block, but a short one (probably CI or steel?) – but does not appear to have any parts for horizontal operation.

As Dave says, it makes a 2B look valuable  Especially with the long ally riser (made by Gary), power feed (on the long travel) and three phase motor with VFD.

 

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

The riser block needs be only the length of the top of the column.

I don’t think it would be too difficult to find a suitable arbor, nor to make a drop-bracket for it. I had to do that for a Centec I owned for a while.

To finish-bore the bearing hole to size and alignment I clamped it rigidly to the table with an angle-plate, slackened the ram clamps and fed the lot inwards against a boring-head.

A 3ph conversion? Maybe nice to have but not really essential.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Agreed, the normal short riser (like the one advertised) is all that is needed, but the long riser can allow horizontal operation without removal of the vertical head.

I don’t think three phase “conversion” was mentioned?  Many machines were supplied with 3 phase motors and later “converted” to single phase.

A 3 phase drive is far better (IMO) than the single phase on that machine.  Variable table feed rate and a smoother motor, with less vibration (there were issues with induced vibrations within the stands with single phase machines) must mean an improvement elsewhere.  I know which I prefer.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I did indeed notice the immediate improvement when I changed the original single-phase motor on my Myford lathe to 3ph, and I have treated my Myford milling-machine and Harrison lathe (all elderly 2nd-hand machines) similarly, but for a relatively small machine-tool it’s not an absolute priority.

My Centec had a 1ph motor and it ran perfectly well, whatever may have been on it originally.

What I think matters more in this case is restoring its horizontal-milling ability.

[Michael CallaghanParticipant @michaelcallaghan68621]

Having owned a centec milling machine, yes they take up little space. However they are very limited in what they can machine. For the money there are far better machines available. I paid £500 for mine with the rising block and lots of extras, and that was only two years ago. Sold it for the same money after needing more bed space, and power.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

A single phase motor mounted in the cabinet makes it very noisy, the sides vibrate (don’t ask how I know). This one has timber bolted in to try to mitigate it. When the centrifugal switch on my single phase motor died (they don’t like being switched on and off all the time) I switched mine to a 3 phase motor the change was dramatic.

[Michael CallaghanParticipant @michaelcallaghan68621]

Duncan, I found that drilling two holes in the cabinet sides and then passing some 10mm threaded bar through the holes and then adding nuts and washers and compressing the cabinet sides a bit put an end to the noise issue.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

That was the first happy discovery with “three-phasing” my Myford lathe: no more very loud cabinet resonance; but the cabinet is of folded sheet-steel so quite likely to vibrate.

I am slowly recommissioning an ancient Denbigh horizontal mill not much larger than the Centec B, and decided it was not worth a lot of ££ for three-phase drive for an old horizontal-only machine on a massive cast-iron stand, and with a spindle speed somewhere around 70rpm.

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