Warco Mill – but what model??

[VicParticipant @vic]

I’m not sure why they supply a draw bar as my Warco mill came without tooling. My VMC has a 3MT spindle and I use an M12 draw bar exclusively as it seems to be the most popular size.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If anyone has any doubts, the Imperial model certainly has a 3/8 BSW drawbar.

Measuring things in mm on an Imperial machine causes needless confusion, since very few, if any, Metric dimensions will exactly equate to an Imperial one.

If the machine is Imperial, it is a good starting point to measure in Imperial units.

But you will come across some machines where, for some reason, thread systems have been mixed. An Imperial machine with a R8 spindle might have Whit form threads, but 7/16 UNF for the drawbar.

3/8 BSW threaded arbors are becoming scarcer, being replaced by M12. So that could mean buying or making another drawbar.

Or you could, with care, do what i do and make and fit M12 to 3.8 BSW adaptors.

But there is very little metal between the two threads.

Once in place they work OK, but tapping 3/8 BSW into M12 can be quite fraught, and very fallible! Probably easier to tap the 3/8 after the M12 has been screwed / Loctited into the arbor.

Of course, with a second hand machine, you cannot be absolutely certain what previous owners have done.

It may have left the factory with Whit (or any other ) form threads, but that won't stop anyone modifying or repairing with Unified or Metric.

Howard

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