Wabeco F1200

[Wongster]

The wait is finally over!!! The mill was delivered in the morning while I was printing the Z axis endstop clamp to replace the broken one on the Portabee 3D printer. It is now sitting proud on the bench space where the Proxxon PD400 used to sit due to its height.



There is a thick layer of dried out grease on the ways of the mill and on the table. But all axes move very smoothly. I know that it is a practice to disassemble new machines to clean out all the dried grease like what I did for my Sherlines and Proxxon, but for this, I've some hesitation. The axes are silkly smooth to the turning of the handwheels and there is a test report enclosed in the pack showing all the test done on the mill and its accuracy. Would I disturbed that by disassembling it? Especially when I'm rather bad at getting the gibs right as experienced from the other mills and lathes.

It was a blessed day for me today. I discovered that the plastic casing of the Mitutoyo Digital Vernier has cracked and a small little screw can on longer hold the thumb wheel. Made a trip down to my favorite shop in town to buy a replacement. It happened that the shop owner, Mike of SgTooling, has several pieces of China made MT2 collets. He doesn't have the complete set but gave them all to me with 2 MT2 saw arbor and an MT2 flycutter - FOC!!! Tested the collet just now and it fit perfectly!

I'll clean up the table and do some test cut soon. Will be leaving home early tomorrow. Hope for a good solid few hours of shop time sometime next week.

Some pics of the various parts attached to show off my new toy













Lastly, any member here with a Wabeco F1200 to share your experience on the mill?

Regards,
Wong

[DaveH]

Wong,

Sorry Wong I need to correct you there a little -"This is our new toy"


DaveH

[doubleboost]

Congratulations
Wong
I hope you and the new mill will be happy together:drool
This remindes me of my first (and only) new machine
It was a Axminster mill/drill i could not sleep the night before it arrived
I must admit i used it a fair amount before rebuilding it
John

[Wongster]

Dave, then you better start reading the manual thoroughly and provide me with instructions while I use it.

Thank you, John.

One question: There are 2 ways to move the z axis. Which should I be using? The drill press like level has a stroke of 55mm. Do I use it if I'm moving less than 55mm?

Regards,
Wong

[DaveH]

(07-07-2012, 11:05 AM)Wongster Wrote: Dave, then you better start reading the manual thoroughly and provide me with instructions while I use it.

Thank you, John.

One question: There are 2 ways to move the z axis. Which should I be using? The drill press like level has a stroke of 55mm. Do I use it if I'm moving less than 55mm?

Regards,
Wong

Wong,
I've read the manual ready when you are.

The "drill press lever" is used mainly for drilling and "rough" settings.

The basic standard way to use this type of Mill is to use the "Fine" adjustment for all Milling operations. Move and lock, then machine.
The spindle is kept short as possible and locked. This will give the maximum rigidity.
Any axis or movement not being used in a particular milling operation should always be locked to achieve the maximum rigidity.

DaveH

[Sunset Machine]

Wongster, in reference to that last pic, you'll need to wear some shoes... Hot chips between your toes is no good at all... <chuckle>

[DaveH]

(07-07-2012, 01:14 PM)Sunset Machine Wrote: Wongster, in reference to that last pic, you'll need to wear some shoes... Hot chips between your toes is no good at all... <chuckle>

I can testify to that

DaveH

[doubleboost]

Cold ones in the toes are no good
Just ask my wife
The comment "at least it is stainless so it should not get infected"
Did very little to calm her down
Keeping swarf out of the house is a major problem for me
John

[Wongster]

Dave, got it. Saw from some youtube videos the drill press lever being used to do rough cut and the handwheel for finishing passes.

Sunset, you've sharp eyes. Didn't realize my feet being in the pic. Most in SG don't have the habit of wearing shoes into our homes. I'll try getting use to have it. Had a few pieces of steel "needles" that I had to "dig" out from the sole of my feet and fingers while using the lathe. So its a to start wearing shoes.

John, I have acrylic sheets acting as shields on 2 sides of the machine in use. A smaller one is usually placed in front of the machine to stop chips from flying out at me. The sheets are glued to acrylic bookends to make them stand up. They're portable so that I do not have to have too many pieces around in my little room. Good for CNC operatons but not as effective for manual work.

Wanted to do some test cuts this morning but wife needs to leave home earlier to help our pastor with some new church member. Will see if I've some time tonight after church.

I watched with interest on some youtube vids of face mill in use. For this machine, do you think its rigid enough to use a face mill? Or I should just stick to the flycutter?

Regards,
Wong

[TOM REED]

nice looking little mill should give you years of service. tom