WARCO WM-250 lathe family and WM16 mill

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

To finish 2015 off I managed to finally get the new QCTP fitted to my lathe.
Cut up a length of BMS, no bandsaw required here just a bit of old school elbow grease!

Turned down to 22mm, 10mm hole drilled and a 6.7mm hole drilled further up the piece for a 8mm tap.

6.7mm tapped with M8 tap to fit existing stud on topslide.

Work piece fitted to stud to check for fit.

Piece parted off and turned down to 10mm for 1.5mm pitch thread.

The next steps was a baptism of fire! I installed my 4 jaw chuck and placed the round splined Turret body of the new QCTP in the jaws using copper pieces to protect the splines.

I used the inside diameter on the turret to align it in the 4 Jaw Chuck. Fortunately I watched this Youtube video so the process was not to painful:

https://youtu.be/2KMhx4DbyDg?list=PLK1rceD0kKIhofLeXXSjU7Qn6fipJOgvA

I had to then make some shims up for a 8mm boring bar to get work on centre. I set my boring bar 42mm out of the tool post but after a single pass it was clear that I would have to reduce the amount of overhang as the bar was deflecting in the bore.
This was a laborious task and took up much of the day as I had to bore 1 side of the the Turret turn the work around realign and bore out the other side.

Once complete the result was spot on and very pleased that I can now take advantage of the benefits a QCTP has to offer!

G

Edited By Grant Nicholas on 01/01/2016 02:03:34

Edited By Grant Nicholas on 01/01/2016 02:07:36

Edited By Grant Nicholas on 01/01/2016 02:10:43

Edited By JasonB on 01/01/2016 07:58:12

Edited By JasonB on 01/01/2016 08:00:47

Edited By JasonB on 04/01/2016 15:48:32

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Grant,

Nice job on the tool post. Only seen this after posting response to your other thread earlier… precisely one of the reasons I mentioned /suggesting all queries re. Warco 250 / 290 machines to be collated under the 'Warco 250 & WM16 family' thread.

George.

Edited By JasonB on 04/01/2016 15:49:57

[Grant NicholasParticipant @grantnicholas81434]

 

Posted by mechman48 on 04/01/2016 14:53:57:

Grant,

Nice job on the tool post. Only seen this after posting response to your other thread earlier… precisely one of the reasons I mentioned /suggesting all queries re. Warco 250 / 290 machines to be collated under the 'Warco 250 & WM16 family' thread.

George.

Hi George

Thanks and I do apologise. I completely forgot to do this and understand the benefits of having everything Warco in 1 place. I have now bookmarked that thread you linked to.

Perhaps a moderator can make a dedicated Warco category as there seems to be a lot of members here with the Warco family of machines?

G.

Edited By JasonB on 04/01/2016 15:50:33

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Hi Grant.

No need for apologies; I too am surprised at the no. of members that have Warco equip', says a lot for our particular choice of Chinese machinery. I did suggest the same idea in one of my posts, just prior to the hols IIRC, but not so sure any of the moderators have noted suggestion… yet ? No doubt a lot of Myford owners would suggest the same idea although there is a Myford owners forum on another website.

George.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

The problem with making it a Warco dedicated catagory is that the "family" includes very similar machines by the likes of Chester, SPG, Toolco, Amadeal, Busy Bee, Optimum, etc, etc

At least the way it is now anyone who knows their machine is similar to the WM250 has a chance to find the thread. If it were just called a Warco thread they may not bother looking.

J

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Posted by mechman48 on 02/08/2014 13:00:02:

Martin… Used magnetic readouts bought from Arco Euro.. look in their index 'Measurement' for 'Digital readout bars with dedicated remote display' so far they work just fine, auto switch off so no chance of running batteries down, have had the batteries in for over a year now, look in my album for a couple of pics of how I fitted mine… as for the quick disconnect, I haven't come up with anything just yet, still mulling over it…

Cheers

George

George/Martin : Thanks for the plug..Just a small correction. They are not magnetic scales. They are cheap and simple digital readout bars which work in the same way as digital callipers. link

George, you nearly gave me a heat attack . Magnetic scales are a lot more expensive, similar/more than glass scales. Might introduce them later this year.

Ketan at ARC

Sorry, just read the post and realised it was an old post.

Edited By Ketan Swali on 04/01/2016 20:03:38

[David CambridgeParticipant @davidcambridge45658]

Unfortunately my milling vice broke today so I need to replace it. I think I will probably get a vertex K4, but before I do does anyone know if that’s a bad idea for a WM16 mill?

Thanks

David

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

I have the WM 16 mill & have one of these vices, the 100mm size, so far it has sufficed for my needs, I did a bit of tweaking to eliminate some jaw lift but there are better ones available that will do this 'automatically' …on my wish list… but it all depends on your budget.

**LINK**

George.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Could somebody please post a picture of the sticker on the splashback that lists the threading dial positions?

Like a fool I forgot to note what they were before I binned the splashback(I don't have room for it on the bench), and although I have the change gears set for the 1.5mm pitch thread I need, I have already ruined two workpieces.

Mine's a metric lathe if that helps.

Thanks,

Nick

[JimmehParticipant @jimmeh]

Here is the from my WM250V-F Metric lathe. Just in case you need to calculate your own change wheel combinations the lead screw pitch is 2.0 mm and the gear on the headstock is 40T. Hope the picture attaches okay (just check my album if not).

Cheers,

James

Edited By Jimmeh on 10/02/2016 21:52:12

Edited By Jimmeh on 10/02/2016 21:53:20

[JimmehParticipant @jimmeh]

Sorry… Just realised which chart you really wanted and put it in my album. For a 1.5 mm thread pitch you can pick up on 3 or 9.

James

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Thanks very much Jim, you're a star.

That would explain why using 1 didn't work.

I can finish my adapter tomorrow.

[Steve Skelton 1Participant @steveskelton1]

Hi, I am new to this site and would appreciate some technical advice please.

I am considering buying a WM 250 lathe but have a specific job in mind which requires me to cut an external 4mm thread onto a nylon bar (M39 x 4). From the spec of the m/c it can only cut pitches up to 3.5mm.

I have spoken to one of the technical guys at Warco but to say the least he was unhelpful – he said "if the specification says 3.5 then 3.5 it is! Can't help you".

Not having a m/c to examine and having never used a small machine of this type before I am a bit in the dark. Is there anyone who could advise me whether change parts could be acquired that would allow this to be done.

Thank you in anticipation.

Steve

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Not directly associated with this thread, but my Chester 9×20 will cut a 4mm pitch thread, its a case of looking at the ratios for the 2mm setup and changing one of the wheels to half or double( I forget which way round…) the number of teeth….

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

The one proviso is make sure you can actually fit the gears needed on the Banjo but in theory as John says altering the gear train should do the trick. You may have enough gears supplied or may have to source others.

The coarser pitches can also put more strain on teh leadscrew but in your case as its nylon there should not be a problem. You may also want to turn the spindle by hand as the tool moves a bit fast at M4 pitch!

Edited By JasonB on 11/02/2016 17:13:32

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looking at James's other chart

Things should be quite simple, as john says take the setup for 2mm pitch and half the gear on the end of the leadscrew.

You have a 40T on the spindle so with a 40T on the leadscrew you will get 1 turn of the screw per 1 turn of the spindle. You have a 2mm pitch leadscrew (I think) but by having the gearbox in position B this has a 2:1 increase so 2 x 2mm = 4mm. The gears between the spindle and 40T leadscrew can be anything as they are just idlers in which case you should have something to fit

Edited By JasonB on 11/02/2016 17:21:53

[Steve Skelton 1Participant @steveskelton1]

Thanks for this – so the general consensus is that 4mm pitch is possible.

Just have to buy the lathe now then!!

Cheers

Steve

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Posted by Steve Skelton 1 on 11/02/2016 15:08:43:

Hi, I am new to this site and would appreciate some technical advice please.

I am considering buying a WM 250 lathe but have a specific job in mind which requires me to cut an external 4mm thread onto a nylon bar (M39 x 4). From the spec of the m/c it can only cut pitches up to 3.5mm.

I have spoken to one of the technical guys at Warco but to say the least he was unhelpful – he said "if the specification says 3.5 then 3.5 it is! Can't help you".

Not having a m/c to examine and having never used a small machine of this type before I am a bit in the dark. Is there anyone who could advise me whether change parts could be acquired that would allow this to be done.

Thank you in anticipation.

Steve

With tech support like that, I think I'd be spending my hard earned elsewhere…..

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by John Rudd on 11/02/2016 19:04:02:

With tech support like that, I think I'd be spending my hard earned elsewhere…..

.

+1

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Well my WM250 V ( I changed from 250 to 250 V mid order) & my M 16 mill arrived at 11-00 today. I bought the stands for both machines & am a little disappointed by the height of both machines . I will have backache within minutes when I try to use them. Especially the mill. I should add that I am 6ft 6 ins tall

So I need to raise them both up 6 inches before bolting down. I am considering 3 short lengths of 6 * 4 steel channel for the lathe & 2 for the mill.

Has anyone had the same problem & how did they deal with it.

Should I go with a concrete slab with all the hassle & inability to relocate to another part of the workshop if I wish

An annoying thing is that i will have to spend another £ 30-00 to hire a hoist again to lift them on to it

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 12/02/2016 19:04:26:

Should I go with a concrete slab with all the hassle & inability to relocate to another part of the workshop if I wish

An annoying thing is that i will have to spend another £ 30-00 to hire a hoist again to lift them on to it

I don't know about the mill, but 2 people will lift the lathe onto its stand in the same time you'll spend unfolding the legs of a hoist. Carrying mine across the road and down the cellar steps wasn't fun, but I don't expect to have to do it again.

[John BaronParticipant @johnbaron31275]

Same with the Mill. I have a mill similar and two people lifted it easily onto the stand. WFWiW I didn't bother bolting the stand down. It is stood on a patch of old conveyer belt.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

The lathe weights 180Kg which in old money is 3.53 hundredweight. Not really the sort of thing one can easily lift on ones own or even with 2, especially with no decent lifting points.

But I have now found a length of Catnic lintel which I can cut up to make a decent base plus I have now found that my next door neighbour has an engine lift in his garage. The Catnic has flanges that will make the base wider & hence more stable without tripping me up

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 13/02/2016 06:13:22

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Warco list it at 120kg? Which seems about right to me.That's hardly unmanageable, nor is it a difficult thing to hold

Mine was delivered to work, and unloaded with the forklift. I broke the pallet down, and removed all the stuff that unbolts easily; chuck, compound slide, tailstock and splash guard. Two of us then lifted it into the boot of my car.

On getting it home, a different friend and I carried it across the road, down the cellar steps, through the door and onto the bench. It isn't fun, but is doable. 15years ago, when I worked in a warehouse we would have called it easy! I have an engine crane, but using it to do most of that would have been making the job harder, not easier, quicker or even safer.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

That is odd because in my instruction manual it says 180 Kg. Once it was on the supports it was all I could do to slide the tailstock end across into final position & I had to bar the headstock end across the concrete floor. However, it is certainly lighter than my Drummond M type which sits on a nice rigid cast iron stand

As i have the HD catnic lintol I have cut it up & the lathe & mill now stand on 4 pieces 9 inches higher than before. I expected some flexing but am a bit surprised that the flexing comes between the lathe & the cabinet. There is quite a lot so I an considering putting metal plates on the underside of the top of the cabinet with bolts through the 4 corners of each cabinet half. to make the top more rigid. Seems a poor cabinet design

Once I am satisfied that the lathe & mill are in the right place in the workshop i will cast the catnic lintols in concrete with the top flanges of the lintols half an inch out of the concrete so I can always adjust the fixing bolts between cabinet & lathe

[Author]

Posts