If the mill is one of the round column types, there is unlikely to be any need to tramm it. The only picture of an older typr of MD30B major I could find looks like this:

**LINK**

Surprised to see both Warco Majors are still current in the Warco website.

The GH (gear head) can tilt left or right, the belt drive cannot.

Both round column mounts look to have the same 4 bolts at the base.

Should the tram actually need fixing it's fairly obvious which bolts will need packing after the removal of any paint left in the joint.

Hopefully the machine will already have a milling chuck and a vice. The drill chuck supplied from new is not suitable for milling.

Not certain what an MD30B actually is, so a picture would help identify it for sure. My guess is it's the common round column mill like the one linked by Old Mart, or this current Warco model.

If so download the Grizzly Manual for their similar machine. Grizzly Manuals are usually more comprehensive than British ones.

I doubt there's a beginners guide to this particular machine, but don't worry, in this class they're all much this same! The controls differ in detail rather than function. You might invest in a copy of our very own Jason Ballamy's "Milling for Beginners",

I echo Dave Halford's concern that the machine really needs tramming? What's wrong with the way it cuts, and how is the error being measured? The concern is tramming is much easier to upset than improve.

However, assuming it's the same machine, and after doing what Grizzly say about installation and levelling and being sure it's worth fixing, read on.

I believe the round column is fixed to the base with four vertical bolts or nuts on studding, one of which can be seen right-rear in the Warco picture above.

After the bolts are slackened, the column is lifted so that corrective shims can be inserted underneath. Easy in principle. Several owners have reported their problem was paint splashes under the column foot, in which case the the whole will have to be lifted off and both sides cleaned.

It's a heavy and clumsy job, and inserting the shims correctly is likely to be fiddly. As a weakling with a bad back I'd use an engine crane. Can anyone who has done it advise Paul please? My feeling is best to learn the ropes and read the book before attempting to tram a mill.

Dave

The nuts that clamp the head to the column are located on the r/h/side, right at the back of the head casting. Without going to measure I think they are M16 so prob. something like 24mm AF.

As far as I know all the Majors/RF30's have a pair of nuts / bolts to clamp the head, if yours is different a picture of what it looks like would help.

If Diogenes is right, then you have come across the main drawback of round column mills. When the two nuts are slackened off to raise or lower the head, the spindle axis can swing right or left an unknown ammount which is a bother. This is not tramming but loss of position. We have one of these mills at the museum and I have fitted a laser on the right side of the head (facing the mill) and the beam reflects off a window about 12 feet away and back to a white patch next to the laser. With great care you can get about +- 0.001" as the beam is not perfect and the window glass nothing special.

Regarding drill chucks, they are not intended for used with milling cutters, firstly they don't hold well with the side forces, and secondly the chuck could fall off the arbor.

Edited By old mart on 26/03/2023 21:25:39

Edited By old mart on 26/03/2023 21:30:27

Edited By old mart on 26/03/2023 21:32:29

Hi Paul. Add pictures to album

regards

Try this one Paul Tramming a round column mill – YouTube as usual with U tube there's 75% faffing and pointless chat It's probably the most mistreated very old mill I've ever seen and the shim looks huge.

Btw I have to say that around 75% of those on here have not been machinists, several are from Telecoms, myself included and one is still a Vet.

With model engineers the big problem is they like to Mod things because someone on Utube says it's much better and will spend an hour telling you so, but miss out a vital step and then you end up with a machine thats different others. For instance the mill in Old Marts link can also be found as a google photo search where the photos are not cropped, one shows two of the bolts holding the column to the base casting one stands proud and is not painted so it's a mod for tramming. However a shim is better as the last thing you need is building in extra wobble that shows on the work.

Hi DiogenesII, that one is different to mine also, if you look at the scan below, it shows both the Minor and the Major from Warco's 30 year catalogue, the label on the front of the belt and pulley cover on the Minor one has Major on it, and I think this is the one that Paul has, as the electric cable entry and the column fixing is the same and the angel iron bracket under the belt and pulley cover which can be seen in Paul's photo can also just be seen in the scan on the Minor one. To be sure, the table size on Paul's machine needs to be known, but it does match the one in Old Mart's link.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 27/03/2023 23:37:35

I have an RF30 mill / drill branded TruTool, whcih appears to be the same model as the Warco Major.

The head is clamped to the column with two through bolts

The bolts just push out, the bolt head sitting in a cast pocket in the head casting LHS (viewed from the front).

The bolts on my machine appear to be 5/8"-11 UNC, 6" long. Switching units, the bolt head is 25.7mm AF & the nut 23 mm AF. The OE nut wrench sits in a purpose made pocket in the motor mounting plate.

Sorry for the rotated mobile phone pics.

HTH

Nigel B.

Edited By mgnbuk on 28/03/2023 13:32:42

I would be interested to know whether the cut in line with the column at the rear of the head exists or has been left out when the casting was machined. The centre line clamping which would be similar to the photo by Nicholas Farr would not be very effective if the rear of the head could flex. The two holes without bolts might have been a legacy from the last of the batch of castings still unused when the modification was made. If the cut is present, bolts could be fitted, but not tightened enough to prevent the head being raised and lowered and they would restrict any springing when the single clamp was tightened.

A lot of the drawbacks with the round column design can be circumvented bu careful planning before cutting metal. The quill has 5" movement and a lot of jobs can be completed without needing to move the head up and down. With a er collet chuck and a set of collets, you can also hold many sizes of drills as well as milling cutters and not have to allow for the much longer drill chuck.