AMA25LV Milling Machine

[Omnimill]

Still can't decide what Mill to get. :-[ Anyone have any experience of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....ee-All-Categories&_fvi=1&_rdc=1#ht_1478wt_941

Similar price to an X3 but with a bigger table and better travel?!

Vic.

 

[Paolo]

Hi Vic
It seames to be similar to mine...."Optimum Bf 20"...Nice machine...!
Just a little cons...the plastic gear..so you have to be very careful entering on the piece and at right deep...

Best regards
Paolo

 

[John S]

Nice machine, seem well made but two points I am not happy with.
One is the motor drive gear which is either brass or plastic and does shear easily.
Second is the Z feed handle mounted at the top of the column which is tiring to use.

John S.

 

[Omnimill]

Thanks for your thoughts Guys. I don't live too far from Warco so I may pay them a visit as they also sell a similar looking range of mills.

Vic.

 

[pete]

Omnimill,
I have that head bolted on the back side of my lathe, Supposedly, It's built by Weiss machine tools in Nanjing China, I found out thru Bigbore that Weiss may just be an office in China and have tools built by manufacturers and badged with their name, John Stevenson may be able to verify this or not. If it were me, I'd buy one with the R8 taper. You'll save money on tooling costs. So far I haven't used mine yet but I also own a Sieg C6 with the mini mill head and the Weiss milling head is light years ahead of the Sieg. This of course is reflected in the extra cost.

Pete

 

[Omnimill]

Apart from the plastic gears it seems that X and Y leadscrews may be plain Metric thread rather than the more usual Acme form? I've seen some reasonable prices on Ballscrews though so maybe that is an option to consider.

Vic.

 

[pete]

Vic,
I don't know for sure but I ordered my lathe and mill with imperial screws, I think? Warco offer this machine with either imperial or metric leadscrews and dials. I was taught imperial measurement in school and I'm getting too old to change now. If? This is a plain non acme screw supplied machine then it would be fairly easy to buy screws and nuts from any good industrial supply and with a bit of lathe and mill work fix that detail But I really doubt it comes with plain screws. Tho I have been wrong before as my wife likes to remind me. Due to costs/size/weight limitations I've had to get and sometimes modify equipment to suit my shop.

Pete

 

[Twmaster]

Any idea who the actual manufacturer is?

 

[John S]

I was under the impression it is Weiss however Syil is saying that Weiss is a trading company.

I can't truthfully comment so won't, other than to say I'd trust Syil as far as I could throw them, they spend far too much time on the web badmouthing everyone else instead of sorting their own support problems out.

However I will ring China tomorrow just to satisfy myself.

John S.

 

[pete]

John,
My info for Weiss being just an office came thru a member here and was in an email from Precision Matthews. They seem to really know their stuff, But??? I'd be interested to know for sure.

Pete

 

[NickG]

Hi Vic,

I bought this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XJ20-Milling-Machine-from-Amadeal-Ltd-Now-in-stock_W0QQitemZ360232523457QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item53df8816c1 about a year and a half ago with another guy from our club. It was quite a bit cheaper than this at the time. The amadeal guy seems good to deal with, the other guy that bought the same machine had problems with his but got good service when he went back to the dealer. I probably had the same problems but couldn't be bothered to go back as I just thought it's cheap and chinese so they are probably all the same. He reckons he got his sorted out though.

Personally, If I was to go back in time, I would have searched around for a good quality, old, second hand machine but that's only because I have the space now. The machine I got had relatively large capacity and doesn't take up that much space on the bench - front to back is pretty compact. It also has a bit of weight behind it and a powerful variable speed motor which is a bit coarse but does the trick. I haven't sheared any gears yet but I probably haven't given it a great deal to do. It's giving me decent results but the quality difference compared to my 45 year old harrison lathe is vast.

Another bad point about mine is the handwheel at the top which john mentioned. Especially difficult to raise the head as it's a lot of weight being lifted. I put one hand under the head to give it a helping hand as it just feels like there's so much strain on the geared handwheel.

The feed screws are also very fine, which allows for getting a good finish but is frustrating at times. I never thought it would bother me but a power feed would be good. A good point though is that it has tapered gip strips and the table can be adjusted to give a very smooth action. In fact, I never even adjusted mine at all, am using it straight from the box.

Some adjustment / setup time, a DRO and a power feed would transform the machine.

If you are hell bent on going for a new machine I'd probably go for an x3 variant though, they seem more robust and some better features such as having the z travel hand wheel right in front of you.

Nick

 

[Omnimill]

I went to the Warco showroom today and had a look at the WM-18: http://www.warco.co.uk/WM-18-Variable-speed-mill-D98781848F.aspx# and the WM-16: http://www.warco.co.uk/WM16-Variable-Speed-Mill-C06E15C340.aspx.

I had a look under both tables and they looked to have non Acme leadscrews as far as I could tell. They looked well finished and the bigger one seemed quite solid with a good table size. The WM-16 is only just big enough for me so I expect the even smaller tabled X3 will be too small but I reserve judgement until I see one up close. The WM-18 fits the bill, except for the, er bill it's currently £1,250.00.

Vic.

 

[NickG]

I know somebody that bought this and is very happy with it:
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Milling-Machines/Model-Super-X3-Mill

Table size and travel doesn't look too bad.

can also get here:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-SIEG-Axminster-SIEG-X3-Mill-Drill-377295.htm

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-SIEG-Axminster-SIEG-X3-Super-Tilt-Head-Mill-Drill-377659.htm

I don't think I'd fancy paying this money for one of these machines to be honest. For a little more you could have this from warco? http://www.warco.co.uk/VMC-Turret-Mill-C7DAEB08E0.aspx

 

[Omnimill]

I think I've looked at most machines now from £800 to £1250, at least on the net. I'm planning on taking a trip to Axminster Tools at High Wycombe to see a few up close as soon as I can. Given how cold it is in the garage I'm not in a desperate rush to buy anything at the moment! I did see this which is very sadly well over budget: http://www.lathes.co.uk/advertphoto/100113sixis/ Nice or what!

Vic.

 

[John S]

I did see this which is very sadly well over budget: http://www.lathes.co.uk/advertphoto/100113sixis/ Nice or what!

Vic.

No quill feed................

John S.

 

[Twmaster]

Have any of you fingered out who made the machine in the OP?

 

[John S]

In a word NO ;D

It's very convoluted, Weiss is a trading company and they sub con to two contractors, these same contractors also sub con to Optimim but Optimum are not strictly a trading house as they do manufacture some parts.

Where it gets sticky is that 'probably' the directors of the sub con houses are the same as Weiss and Optimum.

Very very grey areas.

John S.

 

[Twmaster]

Loverly. Thanks John.

 

[Omnimill]

No quill feed................

John S.

True, but given the quality etc I could live with that!

Vic.

 

[NickG]

agreed, that was a beauty!