Selection of suitable milling machine for CNC conversion

[IanT]

I have never looked properly at the Warco range.
The GH universal is too big for the space I have available, but the WM16 and 18 may be an option.
I think Warco exhibit at the Midlands Model Engineer Exhibition. I will go and have a look at their lathes then.

Thanks Simon for the offer. I will remember that when nearer the time to start. It could be very helpful.

[terry1956]

Hi Ian,
I am currently converting a Warco GH universal. I have it all in CAD and would be happy to explain how and what I have done so far.
Regards Simon

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

. Hi, I am thinking of converting a warco super major, and would be interested in knowing your plans for your conversion. My mill as power on the z axis and x axis, and wonder if I can keep these lead screws in the conversion. Would be glad to hear your views on this. Michael

[magicniner]

There's a European supplier who will supply their machines already fitted with ballscrews (and I think steppers/servos), but I can't remember their name.
IIRC they were based in Austria, but it's been a few years since I looked at their website.

How do they work manually, given the question to be addressed -

Hi,
I am in the process of choosing a milling machine for hobby use.
Mainly milling aluminium, and occasional mild steel.
I intend to convert it to CNC in the future.

?

[Cube3]

Hi Michael,
If these are the lead screws that came with the machine then I would suggest that they are not suitable due the backlash. You would have to check to see if they are a buttress style thread, if so then you to change for ballscrews. The Super Major looks the same as my mill so I can provide some guidance and explain how I converted mine.
I have converted mine to a 3 phase motor and VFD, kept the gearbox and can get 3000rpm which help with the smaller cutters. I could get more rpm but I don't want to explode the gearbox!
Do you use CAD, if so what CAD system?
Regards
Simon

[terry1956]

Hi, thanks for getting back, yes I do use cad. Solidworks for drawings, fusion 360 or vcurve for g code and mach3 for the machine. I have a large cnc router that I use, but the z axis is very limited so the reason I have the warco. I would be interested in knowing which ball screws you used, what sizes etc, motors you used, in fact all the details. Michael

[Cube3]

I used a Bridgeport to machine all in one go the ballscrew mounting features. Used a 90 head to do the end faces. Although a slightly more complicated setup it got everything square and true as best I could.

[Cube3]

Hi Terry,
Send an email to simon.m at cubethree.co.uk and I'll send over my CAD in SW2018. I'll also dig out some images of the machining of the casting for the leadscrews.

[Edward]

I converted my Sieg 2.7 to CNC and I am happy with it.

What can I say, it's Chinese, so you will need to adjust and improve a couple of things here and there, but nothing major, or difficult. I had to grind a bit of the underside of the table to be able to fit the ballscrew, but other than that it was a straight forward conversion. I read this forum extensively to get me acquainted with what drives to get, steppers, etc. and eventually I made my own toroidal PSU as per instructions in this helpful forum.

Don't expect super fast speeds or large widths of cut, it's a small mill after all, but if you are sensible, you can have a nice machine that you will enjoy.
The main negative is that the head is fixed, i'e, it doen't swivel or tilt forward or backward, so for tramming you need to shim the base of the column which requires a little more patience, but quite doable. If you were to get this mill, get the version with the longer table.

[dazp1976]

I've only just finished my AMAT25. Hopefully start testing it out this week, time permitting.

[Doddy]

I converted my Sieg 2.7 to CNC and I am happy with it.

If you were to get this mill, get the version with the longer table.

I similarly did the SX2.7 - long table version. One word of warning the SX range have the DC brushless motor which causes a problem getting the spindle under NC control - so the S2.7 might be easier. Nice machine once you get it under stepper control.

Most of the mini bench mills have common ancestry within the Chinese foundries... just different paint jobs.


Dazp: That's one hell of an enclosure!