WM 240 cross slide

[chris matthewsParticipant @chrismatthews96319]

Hi Folks,

Apologies in advance if this is not the right category for my first post.

I took delivery of my WM 240 and have it sitting pretty on its stand, overall the quality is ok, however there appears to be considerable grit like deposits everywhere which I can only think is cast iron from the finishing process. I had to rebuild the compound today as it was super gritty, dismantling it the finish is very poor and the gib is particularly bad, anyway…

I ordered the vertical mill slide and cross slide adapter plate, when I went to fit this today I noticed the cross slide isn’t square and the right hand tee slot is out (narrow), I have contacted Warco to see what they can do but wanted to get opinions from an informed community on if this is acceptable, especially the cross slide error and if this will be transferred into the compound, tool post, tool etc.

Many thanks in advance!

Chris

[chris matthewsParticipant @chrismatthews96319]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Second from last photo shows two round marks in the bottom of the tee slot which are likely to have been caused by a bolt or stud bottoming out. The topslide usually has Tee bolts so unlikely to be that, have you bottomed out a bolt when trying your milling attachment? This is not good as it can snap the top out of the tee or distort the whole cross slide.

How flat is the top of the cross slide as in theory the sides are not critical. Lack of a complete circular mark left by the top slide suggests it's hollow.

Edited By JasonB on 27/11/2018 07:06:25

[AJWParticipant @ajw]

That T slot looks very close to the edge?
Must be to spec I assume.

Alan

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

They are all close to the edge, same as my 280 and not been an issue in 11yrs. But if jacking studs or cap head screws into the bottom of the tee slot you are taking a risk.

[KettrinboyParticipant @kettrinboy]

I would run a dti across the crosslide top surface in both axis to check for distortion or for slope , out of interest I just did this test on my 1963 Harrison L5 crosslide and the total indicator reading over the whole crosslide slide surface was 0.01 mm which is about what I would expect , I would get in touch with Warco and just ask what the shop tolerances are for the crosslide ,and if yours is significantly worse what can be done about it , I know Harrison back in the day for example sent each new machine out with an inspection test sheet with all the parameters checked against shop tolerances.

regards Geoff

Edited By Kettrinboy on 27/11/2018 09:20:25

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

It's important – especially for vertical-slide milling but also to a degree for compound slide work – that the top surface of the cross slide is parallel to the saddle movement in the vertical plane; otherwise the vertical slide will be out of square to the spindle with all the problems that would go with that.

You could test that with a dial gauge mounted so that running the saddle back and forth would show any deflection.

Both the cross slide T-slots on my WM250V let a 10mm silver steel bar in with an easy fit – maybe a 0,1mm or so clearance.

Your top photo prompted me to put a square against the cross slide edge and top surfaces on mine, and they're also somewhat out of square, though I can't see that it would ever matter given the parallel top surface. I'd not been aware of it in 3 1/2 years' use of the lathe.

And mine too appeared to be covered in places with coarse grinding paste when I got it. I washed the stuff off with white spirit and thought no more about it.

Edited By Mick B1 on 27/11/2018 09:48:13

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I think that looks horrible and would ask for my money back. We should not tolerate shoddy products from our suppliers.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

John Haine,

I think that you are assuming that it's a new lathe, as I did on reading the first bit of the post – then I scrolled down to the photos and realised it's distinctly secondhand. In which case, I doubt that Chris has any recourse to Warco for remedy. Careful checking of the various surfaces and tee slots as suggested by other respondents is the way to go, but I fear Chris, you're in for a bit of a journey with this one. Maybe replacement of the defective parts is the easier, if more expensive, way to go?

My 2d,

John

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Quite cheap if you thin down the tee nut

If it is second hand then it has hardly been used or was previously owned by a tool polisher

 

Edited By JasonB on 27/11/2018 12:02:57

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I read the OP as a single owner lathe. Perhaps not new, but certainly first-hand. The pics do indicate it has been put into use and it would seem the faults(?) have only become apparent because of a new attachment being bought for it.

[chris matthewsParticipant @chrismatthews96319]

All, thanks so much for your responses, what a great community! For clarity John the lathe is new, only use has been turning some en1a to ensure it ran from the factory, I have yet to check tolerances on turning material.

the first job i need to do is mill some material so pushing to get the mill setup sorted.

The marks in the right tee slot were there when the lathe came, the tee nuts and bolts which come with the base plate don't bottom out.

Filing the tee nut will work but lets see what Warco say.

will provide an update guys.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

It was the LEFT hand tee slot I was commenting on, two rings as indicated, the cap heads that hold the adaptor plate to the cross slide via tee nits would be the likely candidate.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by JasonB on 27/11/2018 13:41:17:

It was the LEFT hand tee slot I was commenting on, two rings as indicated, the cap heads that hold the adaptor plate to the cross slide via tee nits would be the likely candidate.

.

<< Pedant Alert >>

I knew what you meant, Jason, but

Strictly speaking, that's the 'first from last photo' not the 'second from last'

MichaelG.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

So it is, I probably meant to say second up or next from last, it was early in the morning.

However would you agree that they look like a screw or stud has gone beyond the bottom of a tee nut?

[chris matthewsParticipant @chrismatthews96319]

Jason I not helping myself here – I did mean the right!

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

That cross slide is badly warped. It's not sitting on the ways properly and the tee slots are all skewed. Even if you're past your warranty I would raise it as an issue with the retailer.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by JasonB on 27/11/2018 13:57:50:

So it is, I probably meant to say second up or next from last, it was early in the morning.

However would you agree that they look like a screw or stud has gone beyond the bottom of a tee nut?

.

Absolutely … 100%

MichaelG.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I'd agree it looks like something has been 'mis-tightened' and I can see that distorting the slots.

In the second photo the other part of the t-slot appears to be ground square but pulled upwards which suggests it's been bent out of shape rather than badly ground. That would also explain the slot being slightly narrow.

This might not be obvious when used in normal lathe mode

Neil

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Well, I stand corrected! I really thought it looked used, if not abused. I would consequently be onto Warco pretty pronto to get it sorted under warranty and not try to do anything that might void it.

Good luck!

John

Edit: On further reading, if the tee slots were marked like that when delivered, can you be sure that it is "new" and not a returned item that you've been sent?  Just a thought.

 

Edited By John Hinkley on 27/11/2018 17:16:12

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Posted by John Hinkley on 27/11/2018 17:12:25:

Edit: On further reading, if the tee slots were marked like that when delivered, can you be sure that it is "new" and not a returned item that you've been sent? Just a thought.

A good thought too…but its not cricket is it, sending out a returned item…? Surely Warco dont do that?

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Could be that they machined the top surface and tee slots first then used those to mount the slide inverted to machine the bottom and vee ways.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I would not be surprised if the table was machined from the end of the original billet. A likely case of using every bit of the billet possible.

In the old days, castings were ‘weathered’ for a few weeks or months before final machining took place, to avoid such movements after machining. ‘Just in time’ methods have rplaced the large inventory of rough castings.

Same occurs with timber – the ends are often needed to be discarded after seasoning – usually evident by some splitting at the extremity.

Question: is the bed OK at the other end?  That might be a pointer.

Edited By not done it yet on 30/11/2018 21:50:21

[NOEL THOMASParticipant @noelthomas42823]

Hi Chris.

Did you get a satisfactory response from Warco, what happened?

Thanks Noel

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