removing the head/table from a meddings MF4?

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Posted by Nigel McBurney 1 on 06/01/2017 19:45:15:

.One thing to watch if you have not used a machine with decent motor and large 2mt drills ,they have a lot of power and can spin the work ,vice and all ,if there is a jam up, until you get familiar with it bolt the work or vice to the table when using drills or reamers 5/8 dia and above.

+1 on that. Once it goes, there is no way you can stop it! Been there and learned the hard way.

Steve

[TobyParticipant @toby]

Thanks Nigel and Steve for that warning. At the moment I am probably limited by the size of my drills but no doubt that will change

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

It is always worth having a foot stop on a drill because the day always comes when you are in a hurry and don't clamp the job, if you manage to hang on you can hope the overload will trip if you have one. The standard Meddings setup did not have an NVR or motor overload it is probably a good idea to fit a proper motor starter with a conveniently positioned estop (note to self: get this sorted out). Meddings did offer an NVR overload and kickstop as an option but it was only mandatory for school use, grown ups were allowed to choose.

Mike

[TobyParticipant @toby]

This one will be going on an inverter/vfd so that will provide motor protection and NVR. It does have an E stop switch but its mounted right at the back where there is no way you would get to it in an emergency! Plus I don't think is a good idea having a e-stop between the inverter and motor.

I'll probably do what I did with my lathe, completely bypass the standard switchgear and wire the inverter direct to the motor. The inverter controls giving all the necessary E stop etc.

[TobyParticipant @toby]

An update. The stuff has been collected and loading the drill was not as bad as I feared. I had a mate with me and we lowered the table and head to the bottom so the CofG was low and then walked it onto a sack truck. Getting it into my van was a bit more fun but we ended up just raising the head and table again then tilted it until it was on its side, half in the van, then lifted the bottom and shuffled it fully in.

In fact the biggest problem was that we had taken my mates engine crane just in case we needed it and that just got in the way!

So thanks for all the help and advice, it certainly made it a lot easier!

Oh, and when I said we "collected the stuff" that included a meddings MB10 and a AJH belt sander. I was just able to lift the MB10 into my van on my own but it is a heavy little thing!

Next job is to check everything out, wire in an inverter and hope they all run! So far all I have done is check the motor on the MF4 can be 240V delta and look at how it is wired at the moment. It looks like it has a NVR in the back of the on/off switch wired back to a E-stop, plus what I assume (not tested it yet) is a reversing switch. At least electrics don't scare me

Lastly, a couple of pics of the new toys in my very untidy garage…..

Edited By Toby on 09/01/2017 19:11:36

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Hi Toby, looks a excellent collection of machines, nice to get an unmarked table, so many seem to have been drilled by morons, must have come from a good home. The MB 10 is a heavy little beast, mine put a dent in my new bench top when it got the better of me.

Mike

[TobyParticipant @toby]

yes, the MF4 is what I was after and so far looks like it is very good condition, there are a few very minor drill marks on the table but it is much much better than any others I have seen for sale recently. The only strange thing is the depth stop, it is a double nut type rather than the clamp type shown in all the pictures I have seen. I don't know if that is a meddings change but I suspect it is a modification. Anyway, the real test will be when I get it running!

The MB10 looks ok except the big setscrew holding (I assume) the rear pulley looks to be cross threaded. I haven't removed it to see what the damage is though. Apart from that it still turns smoothly although I have let to turn it on. The biggest problems is that I don't think I have much use for a drill with minimum speed of 3000rpm but I am sure it will come in useful one day. I just could not resist it for £30

The belt sander is a bit of an odd one, I sort of fancied one before but don't really have the space. But this one just happened to be in the same lot as the MF4 so I had no choice to take it. All I know so far is that the sanding belt looks usable (if maybe a bit coarse) and the drive belt is in one piece. I think something is wrapped round the motor shaft though (maybe bits of an old belt?) and on the front it says 2HP 3 phase, 440V. The spare inverter I have is 1.5HP so I shall have to see if it is man enough for the job (hopefully yes with a soft start).

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