VMC Tooling Advice Needed!

[Neale]

Even threaded shank cutters have enough plain section for a collet to grip - haven't had a problem (although most of my cutters are plain shank anyway).

I have a Warco VMC, broadly similar to your machine; I flip the lid open and hold the pulley to "lock" the spindle and that's always worked OK for me.

DRO's are great. I doubt if I've looked at a dial on my VMC more than a half-dozen times since I've had it. No more losing count when you are moving a couple of inches, trivial picking up centre lines with a wiggler, etc.

[cncJim]

Even threaded shank cutters have enough plain section for a collet to grip - haven't had a problem (although most of my cutters are plain shank anyway).

Ah ok thanks, good to know.

I have a Warco VMC, broadly similar to your machine; I flip the lid open and hold the pulley to "lock" the spindle and that's always worked OK for me.

Yes that is what I had to do to release a cutter that was already in the autolock - It was VERY difficult though (took far longer than it should have), could not for the life of me get a good grip on the pulley. Maybe I will get use to it but I think I will try and come up with a easier solution. Maybe I could make a tool to slip over the "cog" part (or maybe one already exists?).

DRO's are great. I doubt if I've looked at a dial on my VMC more than a half-dozen times since I've had it. No more losing count when you are moving a couple of inches, trivial picking up centre lines with a wiggler, etc.

Wiggler? Is this the tool used to find the edge of the work piece? So to find a centre line I guess you would find the edge of the workpiece with the wiggler, zero the DRO, find the opposite edge and the centre will be half the dro reading?

Jim

[Neale]

To unlock a tool, I would hold the spanner in place on the chuck nose and give it a tap with a rubber mallet. The inertia of the drive system means that most of the shock goes into undoing the locking part. Helps if you put the machine in lowest speed as well. Hopefully that's the last time you will need shock tactics, though!

My DRO lets me "find" an edge with a wiggler. I zero that axis, then pick up the opposite edge. Then there's a "halfway" button on the DRO that sets zero to halfway between the two settings. No arithmetic needed, don't need to know the diameter of the tip of the wiggler, even! Even if you want to zero on an edge, and are going to be using metric coordinates, say, you can pick up the edge with the wiggler, then set the coordinates to half the wiggler diameter (0.25" in my case), and zero is on the edge. Then switch to mm and away you go! So much easier than dials...

[cncJim]

To unlock a tool, I would hold the spanner in place on the chuck nose and give it a tap with a rubber mallet. The inertia of the drive system means that most of the shock goes into undoing the locking part. Helps if you put the machine in lowest speed as well. Hopefully that's the last time you will need shock tactics, though!

Good tip! I suppose the other consideration is tightening the tool...

My DRO lets me "find" an edge with a wiggler. I zero that axis, then pick up the opposite edge. Then there's a "halfway" button on the DRO that sets zero to halfway between the two settings. No arithmetic needed, don't need to know the diameter of the tip of the wiggler, even! Even if you want to zero on an edge, and are going to be using metric coordinates, say, you can pick up the edge with the wiggler, then set the coordinates to half the wiggler diameter (0.25" in my case), and zero is on the edge. Then switch to mm and away you go! So much easier than dials...

Ah I see - Sounds very useful, hopefully my DRO has a similar function. Of to search the internet for a manual!


I don't suppose you know what is missing from the side of the mill do you? Does your Warco have a similar hole on the side?

[mekanik]

Hi Jim
Congrats on your new purchase you have a good selection of kit with it and i couldn't see you needing much more, only disadvantage of using ER32 is the posibility of the tool coming loose and marring the collet, the Clarkson tightens the cutter hard into the rear centre so is not an issue, but i am not fortunate enough to have anything so exotic and it seems to work for Neale.
Happy metal munching
Mike

[Neale]

It worried me a bit at first, Mike, as my previous mill had an Autolock-style holder. That was on a 2MT shank, though, so not so useful with an R8 spindle (and having used both, I would have R8 over MT anyday). I haven't done any really heavy cutting, but no problems so far. It does mean that I'm not restricted to screwed shank cutters. I mainly use imperial size cutters and I only have metric ER32 collets, but they seem to grip OK. I have wondered about buying a few specific imperial collets to suit my cutters, just to minimise the closure of the collet and get maximum grip. I could imagine that the Autolock would be better for CNC work, where you might want to change cutters and go back to a known Z height setting; CNC conversion is on the plan but still a fair way off for me!

Not sure about the hole in the side. Might have been for some kind of switch box? Access to internal wiring? My machine has a removable panel on the back. The Warco version actually has a couple of 1" or so holes at that point, one each side, so that you can stick a bar through to take lifting strops.

DRO appears to be Newall - decent make, hope you can find a manual for it. It has the 1/2 button for finding mid-lines, so you're in luck there!

[cncJim]

Hi Jim
Congrats on your new purchase you have a good selection of kit with it and i couldn't see you needing much more, only disadvantage of using ER32 is the posibility of the tool coming loose and marring the collet, the Clarkson tightens the cutter hard into the rear centre so is not an issue, but i am not fortunate enough to have anything so exotic and it seems to work for Neale.
Happy metal munching
Mike

Cheers Mike - I am really eager to start cutting something but I am holding off until I understand how to operate the machine and tooling properly! The mill needs a good clean and I want to make sure everything that needs lubrication has it. Also it has not been levelled yet, just dumped in the garage! I got it as part of a home workshop clear out and there are still boxes I haven't checked out yet.....

This is the latest find - a boring head and a number of different types of homemade looking boring tools (I think!). I guess the longer ones would be more useful on the lathe?

Not sure about the hole in the side. Might have been for some kind of switch box? Access to internal wiring? My machine has a removable panel on the back. The Warco version actually has a couple of 1" or so holes at that point, one each side, so that you can stick a bar through to take lifting strops.

DRO appears to be Newall - decent make, hope you can find a manual for it. It has the 1/2 button for finding mid-lines, so you're in luck there!

Hmmm it is odd - There is a control box on the other side. I will investigate to see if its hiding a matching hole behind it. I think I will make a plate to cover it, maybe attach a flexible light to it.

Dead easy to find the manual for the DRO - Good spot on the 1/2 button!
http://www.newall.com/upload/content..._MANUAL_en.pdf

Jim