Buget Warco Major 5 axis conversion

[Robin Hewitt]

Hi Irving

Don't 'learn' too much, this is just my way, room for improvement :heehee:

I use an ER32 chuck, much bigger overhang than you've got, but you need to hammer to change a tool. Swings and roundabouts.

I use a drill chuck because it is so much easier to change the bit and I don't end up scrunching a 5mm collet down to a 4.2mm point contact. That's got to hurt

Holding the work down is the big problem. I have other methods but that's my favorite.

You can clamp alternate ends from above but it makes the G code complicated. You can leave mounting lugs and saw them off afterwards. You might mill through holes first (if it has them), then run a big bolt down before removing the other clamps and milling the external. You might not be milling full depth and have excess that you can clamp sideways but space is limited if you don't want to compromise the splash guards. Water mess that makes :heehee:

Changing fixture part way through usually means cleaning out the tee slots with the work in situ and moving stand-offs. Not easy without losing X,Y or applying a tilt.

Don't use stand-offs and you hit the bed.

Cutting a sacrificial spacer for every job would be expensive.

Using scraps doesn't hold it true IMHO.

I cut my bolt down standoffs all from the same 3/4" thick bar and I don't face the top. That way I can make more and they are all very close to the same height. They are sort of pear shaped. The fat end just allows them to pass by each other in adjacent tee slots. The thin end, with the screw thread, is offset so they reach just past half the tee slot separation when turned 90 degrees.

I put the centre drill in deep when I drill for the thread so I get an annulus for alignment.

3/4" thick is pleasantly chunky, allows me to countersink an 8mm cap head flush to hold it down while still having some meat left to relieve most of the top so it stands proud around the threaded hole. The smaller sizes do get a bit chewed on occasion.

If you can come up with a better idea I am all ears

Robin