Omnimill 00

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Coming along nicely Ian, thanks for regular updates on progress.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Second attempt at this post. VM are apparently having issues which are intermittently shutting down the Internet connection. Keyway cutting went rather well with the home made tool.

Horizontal motor has been fitted. Bit of a pain fitting it in on my own. Had to put the motor in and prop it up on some wood then bolt on the fitting plate inside the base.

I have the inverter and enclosure I used on my old cnc mill so I intend to use it for this mill. The inverter will used for the table drive and I should be able to crowbar in the psu, contactors and overloads for the drives.

Also have a spare box the same as I used for my lathe so going the same way for the mill.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

The mill has mostly been reassembled now, just a couple of covers to finish off.

Now its time to get started on the electrics and sort out the new motor for the table drive.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Had a busy weekend and now have the mill running on both vertical head and horizontal. Bearings sound good under power apart from a bit of a rumble from the intermediate pulley on the vertical head but that's an easy fix.

The motor has arrived for the table drive and I need to make a new adapter plate for it and an extension shaft so it fits in the gearbox properly. First job though is to make some t-nuts for the table.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Looking really good Ian, I'm not at all envious!!!! , but hoping to get one of these myself at some time.

Brian

[VicParticipant @vic]

Looking good. Nice to see these old machines refurbished. Have you thought of ball screws for the table?

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Ian,

You might want to consider fitting a bigger hand wheel to the knee, if you have a job with a lot of vertical movement you will find the small wheel hard work. The small wheel should fit on the other end of the table to give you another option for table traverse. The machines were only supplied with one table hand wheel as standard from new.

Paul.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Thanks guys. I have a couple of ballscrews somewhere so that might be a job for the future. I will look into the larger handle idea.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Yes good idea on the hand wheel for the knee Paul. I found it a bit small when I had an Omnimill. The lever and castellated boss works well for the knee on my Warco VMC.

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Ian,

You are doing a fantastic restoration job on that machine. It looks as good as it would have done when left the factory.

Colin

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

Lovely machines, always liked them.

Nice resto, kudos.

Only thing that put me off them is the lack of fine feed on the quill.

Regards, happy M1 Senior owner with the quill feed vertical head.

Edited By thaiguzzi on 27/05/2019 14:40:56

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Thanks for the compliments guys. It has been a nice project to do. Decided last night that I couldnt wait any longer and stuck a bit of sqaure steel bar in the vice and had a go with the horizontal cutter. So far I`m well impressed. Nice cut with a used cutter I picked up from ebay. Started making some T nuts for the table.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Did a bit more cutting tonight with one of the horizontal cutters picked up from eBay. Definitely happy with the cut quality so far.

Now I need to get on with sorting out the table drive.

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

New table drive motor fitted. Had to alter the length of the existing opinion, make an extension shaft and fit an extra bearing inside the mounting plate to get it to fit correctly. It took a bit of time but works well now.

I picked up a 24v dc led lamp from eBay to give it a try as a machine light and it works well. Fitted a couple of pipe holders to the side of the mill column. An insert was glued into the bit of stainless steel pipe to drill and tap for the lamp bracket and the tube was slotted so that the cable could be run through it.

I may get another lamp for the other side but will see how it goes when I get started making some bits on the machine. Just got the coolant to sort out now and it should be all done.

[Julian LockyearParticipant @julianlockyear12200]

Looking really tidy and ready for some work!!!

I have a similar Mill and will be fitting a new motor and inverter drive in the near future. I also need to make an overarm support before doing anything serious with the horizontal spindle.

Are you planning on fitting a DRO ? That is also on my list.

I had considered filling the head support arm with concrete to stiffen it up. I doubt I'll be around long enough for it to rust through It would definitely change its resonance.

Looking forward to reading more on your project.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Stunning restoration, it looks wonderful

Brian

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Thanks Brian.

Julian, a DRO is planned for the machine but I will need to get my Warco GH Universal sold first but that will be after holidays.

[Glenn McLeodParticipant @glennmcleod54240]

Hi all, I am new to this forum…….about 45mins! I've been after an Elliott 00 milling machine for a while now and after a few lost eBay auctions I finally picked one up today.

Has been a bit of an interesting journey getting back to my house in a Luton van. Long story short. They forklifted the mill onto the van but the mill was overweight for the tail lift so wouldn't allow it to lower. So a frantic stripping of the vertical head and anything else I could easily remove to get the weight down ensued. What illuded me was the main bed and knee.

My question is could anyone help me with a manual for this machine?

This thread has given me the drive to strip it down a bit more than planned.

Ian is the machine all wired up and running now?

Many thanks.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Hi Glenn, you could try this place; no connection except as a customer.

Brian

**LINK**

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

If there is a forum for these machines (I would guess there is) the manual may well be available as a download.

[Glenn McLeodParticipant @glennmcleod54240]

Thanks Brian will check them out.

not done it yet: I havent found any forums as yet for just these machines, only the odd posts about them on forums like this. I need to keep hunting. I'm already impatient to get it stripped and rebuilt so I can use it. 😁

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

**LINK**

This is where the old Elliott yahoo group went,

It has been copied into the VMC series of machines still in production so a lot of general usage questions eg size of cutters translate across. There are are even copies now with the horizontal capability.

[Julian LockyearParticipant @julianlockyear12200]

Hi Glenn

There used to be a manual advertised on eBay for the omnimill.

About £10 if I remember correctly.

Not the most informative document but better than nothing.

Can I ask what your mill cost ?

I’m going to sell mine so interested to know what they fetch.

Edited By Julian Lockyear on 05/10/2020 17:06:43

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

Glenn,

I have a manual that I could scan and email to you in the fullness of time. Send me a PM if interested.

Julian,

They seem to fetch between £800 and £1200 depending on condition, spec and location. I paid £800 for mine in 2018 older version with power feed from jackshaft off the main motor. They seem to be quite rare and sought after machines so you shouldn't have any trouble moving it on, I wouldn't be without mine!

Paul.

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

The vertical motor on my 00 failed so I lashed out and got a Newton Tesla inverter and 1.5 horse power motor,I can now reduce the speeds considerably to drive larger dia cutters on tough mterials. The horizontal spindle also suffered the same problem as I had a handful of brand new cutters up to 6 inch dia but could not use them on the 100 rpm lowest speed for steel and ougher materials, I found by rotating the vert head through 90 degrees and swiveling round the whole top assembly ,so that the vertical pulleys and the horizontal pulleys are in line and using a longer belt I can drive the horizontal spindle at very low speeds. For most horizontal work the original motor is ok for most purposes ,its just occasionally that a really slow speed is required. As with most of this type of mill,the vertical head ccould be more rigid,so for work with the head vertical and quill locked I have stiffened the assembly by boring a one inch thick steel plate to suit the quill and attached the end of the plate to the round overarm,the plate is split so that 2 bolts clamp the plate securely to the quill. big improvement with large end mills,and the mill is used in this mode most of the time.A good mill for its overall size .but I do miss my Elliot Milmor with its 50 inch table.

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