Tom Senior Light Vertical Milling Machine

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

And finally the cross slide. I intend to fit some levelling feet hence the wood packers.

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Morning all,

The last couple of days I have been doing a little more work rebuilding the ts.

Managed to get the majority of the head back on and also the table. The shell tonna oil arrived so everything has a liberal oiling.

The shaft that runs through the head to drive the quill I found had a slight bend in it. Maybe from an historical knock it had had? I managed to true it up but surprised at how soft the material is.

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

A couple more photos

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Beautiful job there. Where in the world are you ? We don't see that type of brick very often.

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Posted by Chris Evans 6 on 28/09/2016 08:55:06:

Beautiful job there. Where in the world are you ? We don't see that type of brick very often.

Thanks Chris

I'm actually in south yorkshire and not sure why the rear face of the bricks are like that. I assume it makes them easier to cut?

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Interesting pictures of a nice job in progress Damian. Thanks for posting.

I wonder if the quill being made soft is a deliberate feature? An over-stressed quill would bend before anything expensive broke, and then the soft quill would be fairly easy to straighten out again.

I've seen your bricks in Somerset so they're probably not a local brand. Although Yorkshire Tea is popular here I can't imagine there's much demand for Yorkshire Bricks! Possibly the slots provide a key for plastering. Anyone know what they are?

Cheers,

Dave

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Hi all

Been a while since I updated the thread as I've had a few other things get in the way of finishing up.

I've finally got the mill back together and with a new name plate its ready for wiring up which will be the job for this weekend.

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

[Nick TParticipant @nickt]

Nice job Damian!

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Very nice.

Want one

Rod

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Lovely restoration

MichaelG.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Looks great Damian, excellent job! JD

PS what's the gizmo on the wall behind it?

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Posted by Nick T on 14/10/2016 13:23:05:

Nice job Damian!

Thanks Nick. Now to the inverter and rest of the wiring

[mark smith 20Participant @marksmith20]

Very nice restoration and very quick ! Im just about there with my different mill but its took me 3 months.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 14/10/2016 19:49:32

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Posted by mark smith 20 on 14/10/2016 19:47:59:

Very nice restoration and very quick ! Im just about there with my different mill but its took me 3 months.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 14/10/2016 19:49:32

Thanks Mark. I'd not really thought about the speed of the turn around as it was a pleasure to do. More hopefully over the weekend.

Will you be posting your rennovation

[mark smith 20Participant @marksmith20]

I may post a few before and after photos ,though i took hundreds of all the parts ,etc.. whilst i was doing it.

I`m having a little problem setting the horizontal spindle bearing clearance on mine and the spindle nose is getting rather warm at full speed. its separate, though connected through gearing, from the vertical head. Any idea how warm is too warm.

Its a plain tapered bronze bearing type .

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

I'm not sure on the bearing so hopefully someone else will pick up and add a comment Mark. If not post in the main section as help will be forthcoming.

One more pic

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

A call at my old friends for a chat turned out to be very productive. 'Here I dug these out for you' Result

[damianParticipant @damiannoble34800]

Should get me started, quite a lot of 1/4" 3 flute cutters mainly supermill branded.

Not much progess with the mill wiring which is disappointing as I really wanted it up and running to make some swarf.

[TendorParticipant @tendor]

Thanks for the account Damian – a really inspiring job.

Your photo in post 24/09/2016 00:19:29 shows the vertical slide gib arrangement and raises a question that you and/or the forum members might be able to assist with. I hope it's not too dumb of a question…..

The Hercus 270 shaper that I'm overhauling has the same gib arrangement on its vertical table slide; that is a 'solid' trapezoidal-cross-section gib, adjusted with adjusting screws (with lock nuts) and then clamped with hex-head bolts at right angles.

My question is: How is the gib adjusted so that the locking action is able to function? From your photo, the Tom Senior lock is formed by another screw acting in the same direction and manner as the adjusting screws.

In the final stage of adjustment, are the clamping bolts tightened so that the opposite flat face (A) of the gib is pulled hard onto its mating surface and thus imposing the correct alignment to the gib? If so, how does the locking screw subsequently move (or bend, doubtful?) the gib so that the angles surfaces are pressed hard together?

Alternatively, are the clamping screws only 'nipped up' so that the locking screws is able to force the (slightly free) gib to slide in the locking direction? If this is so, then in the unlocked condition the gib would not be fully constrained and there is nothing to make the angled surfaces lie actually parallel. (The gib would likely rotate a little about the tips of the adjusting screws and only the leading edge of the dovetail would make contact).

Just to muddy the waters, the Hercus locking screw/handle differs from the Tom Senior. It is in the direction of the clamping bolts. I cannot see how it can possibly work as intended. What am I missing? (For the shaper, this slide is not intended to move under cut – it should be locked.) The Hercus has two adjusting screw/clamp bolt pairs. The locking nut acts on a through stud (shown protruding in photo) but could equally be a bolt.

Any thoughts appreciated. (Don't want to hijack this build thread – will move to a new thread if more appropriate.)

Thanks,
Rod.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Rodney Entwistle on 20/10/2016 07:23:26:

… The Hercus 270 shaper that I'm overhauling has the same gib arrangement on its vertical table slide; that is a 'solid' trapezoidal-cross-section gib, adjusted with adjusting screws (with lock nuts) and then clamped with hex-head bolts at right angles.

My question is: How is the gib adjusted so that the locking action is able to function? From your photo, the Tom Senior lock is formed by another screw acting in the same direction and manner as the adjusting screws.

In the final stage of adjustment, are the clamping bolts tightened so that the opposite flat face (A) of the gib is pulled hard onto its mating surface and thus imposing the correct alignment to the gib? If so, how does the locking screw subsequently move (or bend, doubtful?) the gib so that the angles surfaces are pressed hard together?

Alternatively, are the clamping screws only 'nipped up' so that the locking screws is able to force the (slightly free) gib to slide in the locking direction? If this is so, then in the unlocked condition the gib would not be fully constrained and there is nothing to make the angled surfaces lie actually parallel. (The gib would likely rotate a little about the tips of the adjusting screws and only the leading edge of the dovetail would make contact).

Just to muddy the waters, the Hercus locking screw/handle differs from the Tom Senior. It is in the direction of the clamping bolts. I cannot see how it can possibly work as intended. What am I missing? (For the shaper, this slide is not intended to move under cut – it should be locked.) The Hercus has two adjusting screw/clamp bolt pairs. The locking nut acts on a through stud (shown protruding in photo) but could equally be a bolt.

Any thoughts appreciated. (Don't want to hijack this build thread – will move to a new thread if more appropriate.)

.

.

Rod,

Your question is very well put, and your concerns seem entirely logical.

Forgive me for asking, but; are you sure that the locking-screw doesn't have a supplementary pressure plate, or pad [such as I have seen on other equipment] ?

MichaelG.

[TendorParticipant @tendor]

Thanks Michael,

I did not want to make the first post too long, but I'll add a couple of extra photos here…

No, the gib is plain. This photo shows the underside. Note especially that the three contact pads are co-planar. They appear to have been machined in a single pass under a shell-type cutter. It is original and not modified. I have confirmed this with other owners. I have considered that the centre pad should be lower than the outer pads, thus allowing the gib to bend under the action of the locking handle. But, there is no evidence of that and I also don't think the thick section would allow much bending action for a reasonable applied force/torque.

This photo is viewed from above with the gib removed.

I have had contact with another owner and also an owner of a Douglas shaper from which the Hercus is derived (Hercus took over the manufacture and made some mods). Both confirm the their locks don't work in the sense that very little, if any, extra friction is added when the locking handle is tightened. On mine, I can detect only a tiny change. So, if the two clamp bolts are pulled up, I cannot see how this lock can possibly function properly.

By the way, with the clamping bolts "nipped up", the adjusting screws act as very firm locks with very little torque. However, that cannot occur when the clamping bolts are tight (as I am supposing they should be).

Rod.

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