Warco WM16

[matt-jaysey]

Well I'm chuffed to high heaven. After the back and forth of should I shouldn't I, i bought a Warco WM16 mini mill. I ordered it on Saturday night (26th July 2014) and it arrived on Wednesday 30th July. Thought that was pretty quick delivery time. Bought a Vertex 100mm vice and a clamp set to get me going on the little machine. Abit weird as it is only half a machine compared to the turret mills I'm used to but for the money I'm quite chuffed.

Will be doing a review and update this as time goes on. Cleaned all the assembly junk off it, removed the plastic safety guard thingy as it would just get in the way (I always have safety glasses on). Cut up some anti-static mats from and old job and placed them over the table so I can lay down tools etc.

As for the mill itself, the spindle is dead bollocks with 2/10,000th or so run out, nothing at all. The machine is bloody heavy, and has quite a large z height. The gibs all seem good, but i'm gonna make up some brass replacements for longevity. What I do like is that you get what you pay for. Cast iron and steel bits and that's it really which is good, it means I can adapt and custom things the way I like 'em.

Will get some pictures soon, and pictures of the mods, and any problems I find. My only problem is the supplied chuck is sh*t, with around 5/1000th run out which is a shame as the spindle is bang on. Gonna get a jacobs chuck soon to replcae it and some ER25 collects.

I must say there was 2 little touches I greatly appreciated.

no.1 - they had put oil on the MT2 taper so it doesn't seize whilst in storage,

no.2 - I have 2 small tins of paint, the green and the yellow just in case something needs touching up.

The only problem I have with the whole machine is the square head of the drawbar which is 8mm, its tiny but IS self ejecting, I just turn it past where you would on an old machine and done.

Anyways more to come in the next couple of weeks etc

matt

 

[BaronJ]

Mmm. I've got its big brother. MT3 spindle. Looking forward to learn of your experiences.

 

[Omnimill]

Good man, let's see some pics when you're ready Matt! I have the Warco VMC but like a good look at other folks stuff, especially any mods they carry out. I must make a self ejecting drawbar for mine, not that I really need it, just to shut those up that bang on about MT not being self ejecting! Rof}

PS did Dave deliver your machine? He's a top bloke, very friendly and helpful.

 

[matt-jaysey]

PS did Dave deliver your machine? He's a top bloke, very friendly and helpful.

I didn't catch his name, but was very helpful. My have to turn up a both the 10mm and the 3/8th drawbar myself. Nothing really wrong with the ones supplied but I would like to change the square to a hex. Probably make it out of some drill rod.

 

[Omnimill]

I'd like to see those Draw bars when you make them. I've copied instructions from a guy who made one for his VMC but no harm in looking at others!

 

[matt-jaysey]

When I machine them up I'll also post up the drawings, nothing complicated just for anyone who is thinking of buying one.

 

[matt-jaysey]

Right time for afew pictures nothing fantastic,

Just trying out the machine on some ally, brass and steel. I'm quite happy...........

So the small issues. The placement and function of the quill lock is a pain in the arse. No.1 - the lever is directly in the way of the plastic guard, (which i removed) but the bracket needs to come off aswel. Yes I can rotate the lever but it doesn't give you much room. No.2 - the quill moves when you engage the lock, by around 0.5-0.8mm. This kinda negates the fine feed. Will have to look at the parts manual and work out a way to replace the locking mech.

Just a picture of the solid carbide cutters I have which are Dormer and are great little cutters.

Underside of the Mill, need to make a LED ring light to give me better viewing pleasure lol

And the last of the current niggles, the locking levers themselves. Don't like'em so will be replacing them with some steel/brass versions, but haven't decided yet. Like I said in the beginning, you get what you pay for.

Accessories - 0
Features - very little
Build quality - so so, every bit they can save money on i.e the plastic locking levers
Functionality - Very good - for the money the machine is square, spindle runs true and the machine is solid and heavy for its size which is why I'm so chuffed.

 

[Swifty]

I have plastic handle locking levers on my Bridgeport clone and they work great, maybe it's what's behind the levers that's causing you grief. Just keep in mind that the drill chuck is just that, for drilling holes, it's not a good idea to use it to hold cutters, the grip isn't great and it can knock the chuck around too much.

Paul.

 

[matt-jaysey]

I have plastic handle locking levers on my Bridgeport clone and they work great, maybe it's what's behind the levers that's causing you grief. Just keep in mind that the drill chuck is just that, for drilling holes, it's not a good idea to use it to hold cutters, the grip isn't great and it can knock the chuck around too much.

Paul.

Thanks for the comment, I'm just see how the machine runs at the moment. I'm in the process of buying a set of ER25 collets, I don't have really any tools for a morse 2 taper. The chuck is still sh*t those. I drilled a hole yesterday and the flutes on the drill were dragging on the inside of the hole, you can see the drill running out of true. Wanna get a jacobs chuck for it in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Omnimill]

Far East Bristol locking levers are pretty poor, just buy some decent ones. I've bought most of mine from RS but plenty of places sell them. I think some of the plastic ones with stainless inserts were made in Italy and they've been really good.

 

[BaronJ]

I replaced the table lock levers with plain M6 cap screws. Otherwise they get in the way of the DRO.

Quick one on the spindle guard. Mine is right at the front of the head and only sticks out 15 mm. It doesn't affect the spindle lock lever at all.

Also I bought a flexible goose neck LED lamp from IKEA and clamped it to the support for the control box. The goose neck points up and goes down the back to illuminate the work.

 

[matt-jaysey]

I was thinking of getting a shop/machine light the problem i have with'em is the heavy shadows they cast, could always get 2 but I worked at a place where they had some special make ring lamps the same they have for microscopes, they are awesome, they're like car AC, once you have it there's no going back lol

 

[matt-jaysey]

On the same subject i've been window shopping for a DRO kit, does anyone have any suggestions? Kits they like or ones to be aware of?

 

[BaronJ]

On the same subject i've been window shopping for a DRO kit, does anyone have any suggestions? Kits they like or ones to be aware of?

Mine is Igauging from ARCeuro. Though you can get them cheaper from China. The other advantage is that they work out of the box with "Yuri's Toys" Android DRO and the TEXAS MP430 plus a few bits and pieces.

 

[BaronJ]

I was thinking of getting a shop/machine light the problem i have with'em is the heavy shadows they cast, could always get 2 but I worked at a place where they had some special make ring lamps the same they have for microscopes, they are awesome, they're like car AC, once you have it there's no going back lol

I've had a look at ring lighting. There are some car LED side light modules from China that are intensely bright and run from 12 volts. I've not tried one yet but they look interesting.

Did you mention a table drive ? Here is a picture of mine. This one is the MK2 version.


At the moment I'm running it from a variable 30 volt 3 amp PSU. Though I have a controller that I have designed that will vary the speed from zero to just short of max.

 

[matt-jaysey]

I was thinking about using the bevel drives gears out of a few dead angle grinders I have, been playing around with the idea. Do you have any pictures or a thread of mk 1?

 

[BaronJ]

Have a look at this thread. It shows a lot of the build. If you want to see a full build log let me know.

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=23130

The primary difference between the two is the traverse speed and the wiper motor is of the opposite hand. Minor differences are one is a true three wire electrics and the other is two wire using the motor body as the common connection. All the parts are salvaged from other bits of kit that has reached the end of life and has been discarded.

One of the design goals was to make disconnecting the drive so that the table could be manually traversed. Also the motor stops almost instantaneously so machining up to a given point is easy.