Yet another lathe

[Milly SParticipant @millys]

Hi all just to let everyone know my Colchester Chipmaster is being returned with full refund on Thursday unfortunately we could not solve problem so it’s going back to business I bought it from

so now I’m looking for another lathe thinking of buying new this time  maybe a warco 240/250 not sure

if anyone has a warco lathe I would like to hear your opinion on performance & durability + customer service

cheers

Steve

[peak4Participant @peak4]

I have a larger, and thus more expensive GH1330, as well as a much older 720, which is a Myford S7b clone from the ’70s/80s
Quite happy with both, so long as you see them for what they are; a perfectly serviceable machine, but not up to the production finesse of a British/Western lathe.
If you’re prone to changing chucks a lot, I am, make sure you check out how they mount on any potential new acquisition.

Bill

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

I have had a Warco WM250 for many years. Still working although not greatly overworked these days. Read more about it on my website Journeyman’s Workshop covers installation and a review.

John

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

if anyone has a warco lathe I would like to hear your opinion on performance & durability + customer service

I am a recent convert to Warco ownership – a GH600 in my case. I was a a bit wary of buying a “Chinese lathe” after 30-ish years with a Super 7 & a Boxford before that. My usage is (at present) mainly making tooling & bits for motorcycles, though I do have a set of ETW Seal castings if I get around to engineering modelling. I chose the GH600 to get the headstock and (mainly Metric) screwcutting gearboxes, as I prefer simple electrics, full power in every speed & didn’t want to be fiddling with change gears.

The reality is that I have been suprised by the overall quality, am finding it a very nice machine to use and suprisingly accurate. There were a few rough edges that required a bit of fettling (3 jaw chuck & faceplate particularly) and a couple of minor running adjustments, but it was pretty well good to go out of the box – even the protective coating didn’t put up much of a fight to remove. The 125mm 3 jaw chuck (Fuerda brand IIRC), following a strip, clean (a bit of grittiness inside, but not much) deburr & reassembly is probably the most accurate 3 jaw I have used. Gripping a 20mm ground bar, I measured around 0.015mm TIR close to the jaws and 0.02mm TIR at 75mm away. ! The chuck also has a very nice “feel” – no mushiness when clamping it up, it tightens down to almost a solid stop.

A light cut over a 28-ish diameter, unsupported,  “dumbell” parallel bar shows negligable difference in diameter on bands around 100mm apart (“negligable” being around the width of a graduation line on a Metric micrometer) & faced surfaces appear flat (not checked against a surface plate yet, but measuring thickness with a caliper the jaws gripped the edge & were just dragging nearer the centre).

Out of the crate there is only one division backlash on the cross slide dial (0.05mm diameter reading) and 1 1/2 divisions (0.01mm ) on the compound. Saddle & tailstock locks only require a light clamping effort to securely lock the slides. Only rather excessive backlash at the saddle handwheel feels a bit more than I was exepcting and, rather strangely on a Metric machine, the saddle dial appears to be calibrated in Imperial – something that Warco are in conversation with the factory about.

The geared headstock does sound a bit “geary” wahen running, but not much noise difference between speeds and it isn’t loud ( no louder than various small Harrisons I have used at work in the past) – selection is a bit stiff on all gears (headstock and feed box) at present, but is easing with use – the gears need “feeling” into mesh, & don’t feel to be tooth-rounded. All gearboxes were filled to the correct level with a clear, light yellow-ish oil that has not changed colour after a couple of hours running.

This machine has sufficient power to get an inserted carbide tool chip breaking nicely on undetermined grade steel & produces piles of small blue chips with ease under power long or cross feed. Not tried screwcutting yet. My only modification (so far, but no more planned – yet ! ) has been to replace the supplied 4 way toolpost with a T51 Dickson style QCTP – life is too short for shimming tools !

I have had limited dealings with Warco, but a phone call & follow-up email regarding the strange saddle dial markings were answered promptly & positively. I can’t comment on the purchasing process as the machine was bought for me, but contact regarding shipping was prompt and the machine turned up when advised. Be aware that the machines come crated on a pallet & are delivered by a pallet company. Mine was dropped at my garage doors by the delivery driver using a manual pallet truck. The cabinet required some assembly (two all-welded pedestals, two back panels & shelves with thick rubber mats) and the use of an engine hoist (and a bit of grunting & swearing) to get the machine lifted off the pallet and onto the base. Too soon to tell WRT to durability, but this appears to be a well made, substantial, machine that I doubt that I will wear out

I still have to get the Myford out & the Warco into it’s final resting place. I elected to mount it on “levelling castors” to be able to pull it away from the wall for access to the electrical cabinet) & at present it is just “levelled up” sufficiently to stop it rocking while I have been having a play with it.

Originally I was intending to keep the Myford (it is a well equipped, lightly worn ex-school machine that I have upgraded & enjoy using), but I am coming around to the idea that the Warco could replace it.

Nigel B.

[billlane76Participant @billlane76]

Hello,

I have had a warco machine in the past they are good machines & served me well for many years so this would definitely not be a bad choice. I Also recently brought a machine from Amadeal a AMABL250 with a 2 axis digital read out lathe which i have been enjoying very much so i would maybe look into them to compare prices & see what deals you can do.

 

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

mjnbuk,

Yours was a very interesting and informative reply and confirmed all my opinions about the quality of a Warco geared head lathe. At my age, together with the Student and the Myford I have had in the workshop for many years, I am not in the market for another lathe but if I were to be starting from scratch, or starting over again, it would be a ‘no brainer’ to choose a Warco. I was impressed with the quality and prices of the machines both at exhibitions and when I called at their erstwhile showroom in Warrington a few years ago. I have never subscribed to the notion that if something is of far-eastern manufacture then it must be of poor quality. I also note your comments on the accuracy of your 3-jaw chuck. I bought an 8″ 4-jaw San-Ou self-centring chuck on eBay ‘buy-it-now’ that was so cheap at £108, including VAT & delivery, I thought at first it was a scam. It cost me £50 for a well-used L0 backplate and I took a great deal of time and care making an interstitial plate with a register to mount the chuck but the accuracy and quality cannot be faulted so much so that it almost ‘lives’ on the lathe, not least because it is so robust and well made that I can hardly lift it!

[Robin DuftonParticipant @robindufton85682]

We had a 240B lathe and I’ve used a couple of Warco gearheads.

The 240B was replaced with a Myford, and the Myford is a nicer lathe. We only replaced the Warco as we got the Myford for a good price, and I’d only recommend buying the best Myford you could find if you wanted one, which could be pricey. It need a couple of rough edges knocking off although it was a half decent little lathe and I’d recommend going for the belt drive for reliability. We’d still have it if we hadn’t got lucky with a lightly used Myford.

If you’re coming from buying a Chipmaster then there are nice Harrison M250s that come up for sale now and then. With older British built stuff it’s better to wait for something good than diving in because they’re ‘built better’. They may have been 40+ years ago, but they’re mostly shagged out scrap now.

[Matt TParticipant @mattt]

Hi Steve,

I have warco super mini lathe so my opinion on it’s quality might not be too relevant. It’s a Chinese mini lathe so you get what you get, however watching other YouTube unboxings etc I can tell mine has gone through some kind of quality control.

One thing I can speak to is the customer service. I had an issue with the drive pulley on the motor, warco were quick to respond and popped the bits in the post for me. I feel quite confident in their customer service. If I remember rightly they even responded on a Sunday!

 

HTH

Matt

[Andy StopfordParticipant @andystopford50521]

I have a Warco lathe and milling machine. the lathe is a WM180 (mini-lathe sized, but heftier) so probably not what you would be interested in if you had a Chipmaster, but for what its worth I’m very happy with it, and I’ve found Warco’s after sales service exemplary – for example, the leadscrew was faulty, I phoned them and a new leadscrew was despatched that day, no requirement to return the dodgy one (which might form the basis of an electronic leadscrew one day).

[Simon MarksParticipant @simonmarks43050]

I purchased a 280V D1-4 this year and I am generally very impressed by the performance of the machine.

The bits I didn’t like were/are:

The selector for the feeds. It was a bit clunky to engage. After stripping, fettling and rebuilding it now works like silk.

Having to change gears for threading. I knew this would be a source of frustration before purchasing the machine but because of limited access getting a gear head machine was out of the question. I have always planned to do and electronic leadscrew conversion as a compromise/upgrade. I was going to use James Clough’s design but he no longer ships to the UK thanks to Brexit. I have found another system from a German company so will install this over the Christmas break.

There was a  fair amount of chatter when parting off steel. I solved this by replacing the top slide with a solid tool post mount.

The design of the tail stock body. I would have preferred a “necked” design so it could fit over the cross slide a little more. I feel I have to extend the quill a little further than would be ideal when using tail support.

Having said all this it is a much more capable machine than my old ML7. Don’t get me wrong I did some excellent work on my Myford but it was getting tired and, like me, in need of retiring.  It had quite hard life before me and  over the years it had developed ,again like me, a bit of a sag in the middle.

Hope this helps.

 

 

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

I’ve had a WM250V for 8 years +.

I’m pretty happy with it. I bought the 250 because I can’t readily find room for a milling machine and I could easily adapt a Warco baseplate to fit the Myford double-swivel vertical slide and milling vice I already had.

It runs quietly and smoothly, I can take 100 thou depth of cut turning, and I regard it’s slight lack of torque at the lower end of the higher speed range as a feature, not a bug – it’s saved me a few tools that my preceding Myford would cheerfully have crunched. I’ve never changed to the lower speed range – so far I’ve been able to cope with screwcutting at c 180 rpm.

Changing chucks is a pain – it’s fiddly and you need a slab of flat bar for the nuts to lever against when taking off the 3-jaw. But the 3-jaw on mine shows such good concentricity that it’s not often necessary.

I would like a proper feed and screwcutting gearbox, because setting up a geartrain for any screw pitch I’ve ever cut means that powerfeed is too coarse for normal turning. But hey, that’s what generally goes with home lathes.

I do work for a local steam railway on it – mostly pipe unions, valve spools, lubricator adjusters and suchlike, some of which are in batches of 30+, so it’s a bit more than just a hobby lathe.

When it’s gone wrong, it’s always been through a mistake of mine, and always been within the scope of what I could fix. There have been no electrical or electronic issues.

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