Restoration and modifications to a Tom Senior light vertical mill

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

For my part that's an excellent resolution of something that's been nagging for some time. So thank you Steve for the update, it's a good result. I was one of the ones saying there's summat oop, so I'm pleased on your behalf.

As for the object lesson in buying secondhand electronics of indeterminate history, I've got two Telemecanique Altivar drives here I bought on spec' both have been set up with the OEM software and then locked so almost all of the setup parameters are not available via the integral front panel. I tried downloading the software, but it killed my laptop.

Some things one just puts down to experience.

Good news, many thanks for letting us know.

Simon

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Simon Williams 3 on 08/05/2020 10:48:14:

For my part that's an excellent resolution of something that's been nagging for some time. So thank you Steve for the update, it's a good result. I was one of the ones saying there's summat oop, so I'm pleased on your behalf.

As for the object lesson in buying secondhand electronics of indeterminate history, I've got two Telemecanique Altivar drives here I bought on spec' both have been set up with the OEM software and then locked so almost all of the setup parameters are not available via the integral front panel. I tried downloading the software, but it killed my laptop.

Some things one just puts down to experience.

Good news, many thanks for letting us know.

Simon

Is there no parameter that unlocks the system. If not that a bumma.

Steve.

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

No progress on the Light Vertical itself but I need to use it to do some modifications to a Wadkin sawbench that I'm restoring…. I'd appreciate some feedback on this…

I have to cut a rebate into the edge of the saw's table. This is my plan to support the table on the mill, using the existing fixing system and two 50mm x 20mm bars. Does it look ok? I could put a jack where the ribbing reduces? The table weighs about 45kg……

Miles

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Thats a lot of overhanging weight straining the knee, is there any way you could use a weight and pulley to assist the balance?

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

Thanks old mart. Counterbalancing with weight is a good idea. I'm not too happy working at the limit of longitudinal travel either. Jobs like this are a good case for having a head which rotates around the axis of the column….

Looks like it will be a day's preparation for 1/2 hour machining

Miles

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

It is always better to prepare carefully than to regret what you did later. When I made the R8 conversion for the museum's light vertical, I spent ten times as much time setting everything up to be perfect and better than my normal work. There was no second chance to get things exactly right and to my great relief, the results were even better than expected.

You could move the work between cuts, if the length of cut is too long. Careful re aligning should work fine.

When we had only the drill mill at the museum, I found that the slot in the bed which was used by the vice keys was not very good when the vices were used as a pair spaced out. The X movement is 500mm, and the bed is about 120mm longer, so getting the slot running true to the ways was not easy. The head had to be swung at about 40 degrees either way to mill the entire edge of the slot. Now the slot is within 0.001" of true which is an improvement on the 0.007" before. Before any cutting, the entire length was mapped and because the worst error was positive, most of the cutting was only 0.001" deep to clean up.

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

Thanks again for your suggestions old mart. 15 months later and I've been wondering if it might be better to take the machine to the workpiece……… The sawbench I'm modifying has a sliding table. It would be possible to mount the ram of my Dore Westbury to the sliding table in order to mill the slot in the main section of the table.

In the picture the cut is highlighted in red.

Edited By Miles Hellon on 14/10/2021 20:07:59

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

I need a 1" dia. cutter for the end radius. I could get one with a 1/2" shank and use a MT2 collet to mount it as high as possible in the spindle. Was thinking of this cutter

Edited By Miles Hellon on 14/10/2021 19:55:18

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

That is a lot to pay for one cutter. I wonder if you could get by with a 1" diameter indexable cutter. The type I had in mind uses APHT 11 or 16 inserts.

This is what I mean. In the USA or Canada, similar products would be more likely to be in inches rather than metric.

https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Cutting-Tools/Indexable-Carbide-End-Mills/90-Indexable-Carbide-End-Mills

Edited By old mart on 14/10/2021 20:14:04

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

I've never used indexable cutters but I don't see why not. 25mm dia. is fine and with integral 2MT……. I hadn't spotted those on the Arc website. Thanks old mart.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

The type of indexable cutter I mentioned is not designed to plunge cut more than about 0.01", 0.25mm because it cannot cut in its centre. With that limitation, you could run sideways after the start and cut a groove in several depth steps, or you could use a smaller centre cutting mill to produce a narrower groove before using the bigger one. These indexable mills are available from 10mm diameter with one insert right up to 100mm diameter with about 8 inserts. The shell mills which fit on an arbor to suit your spindle start from about 40mm 4 insert, below that they are usually solid shank. I have a 25mm one with the shank turned down to 20mm to fit an R8 collet.

The indexable type are cheaper and the Chinese inserts for steel or aluminium are very cheap, and they are double ended so a box of 10 has 20 cutting edges.

Edited By old mart on 15/10/2021 18:16:08

[Miles HellonParticipant @mileshellon]

Thanks. That should work fine, for me. It's not going to be a very rigid set-up so, I'll only be taking very light cuts. If it takes all morning to cut the rebate, that's ok! I'll do plenty of experimentation first.

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