Today I acquired...........

[ronan]

I had another go last night and struggled again, but I think I understand why now. It was really difficult to push it hard enough while getting the drawbar into the thread. The collets had come with the machine when I originally bought it and I haven't used them at all really as a result of this issue. I took the collet back out and ran a 7/16"-20 UNF tap into the drawbar thread in the back of the collet. I then had another go and that made it much, much easier to get the drawbar most of the way in and then I could push up on the collet and tighten the drawbar. Hooray! I guess most of my problems with the collets have been down to carp threads in the arceurotrade collets. Thankfully they were soft enough (or maybe the tap was taking a surface coating off) to fix the problem.



That's jolly decent of you @Kram, thanks! Will send a PM.



Sadly, yes. It would seem like a big improvement to get it sorted, but it's a tiny little pin (not a key) that goes into a hole in the spindle. When it fails (which, according to the guy I spoke to at arceurotrade, is almost inevitable) it drops down into the gap inside the spindle assembly and thankfully then lies in a little pocket that doesn't do any damage or cause any problems apart from the loss of the pin. Fixing it involves dismantling the spindle assembly, which arceurotrade describe as a very difficult job involving specialist tooling, so I decided I didn't want to go there! I did look at making a top-hat shape pin (that couldn't fall into the spindle) and gluing it in place, but in the end I concluded it was too hard to reliably get it into the hole in the spindle without risking doing some other damage so I gave up and have lived with it. For any tooling that sticks out of the spindle enough that you can hold it with your hand, it's not a problem at all - I'd only struggled with the collets, but hopefully the fix with the tap (described above) will make that better.

Glad it worked out for you and you are back in action with your machine. Vertex collets are a bit more expensive than the chinese made cheap ones, but are better quality. It might be worth buying a few in the more common sizes.

 

[Dr.Al]

Glad it worked out for you and you are back in action with your machine. Vertex collets are a bit more expensive than the chinese made cheap ones, but are better quality. It might be worth buying a few in the more common sizes.

I might do that, but to be honest in the 6 years I've had the milling machine, I haven't particularly missed having R8 collets. The ER40 collet chuck works fine (and is easy to install regardless of the taper as there's plenty to hold onto while you're tightening the drawbar).

 

[cheb]

A dozen boxen of medical books and a spare backbone. The latter being a plastic teaching aid.

 

[ronan]

I might do that, but to be honest in the 6 years I've had the milling machine, I haven't particularly missed having R8 collets. The ER40 collet chuck works fine (and is easy to install regardless of the taper as there's plenty to hold onto while you're tightening the drawbar).

I use the spindle collets, simply because they give me another 80mm or whatever in room under the cutter. But my machine is small.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

A nice drill from Pressbrake thanks

A Meddings?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

A dozen boxen of medical books

Physician, heal thyself. [OK, OK.....exit stage right >> ]

 

[123hotchef]

A Meddings?

I have no idea what it is there is no names

 

[Kram]

Collected my new undersize oversize collets! Undersize as 27,28 and 29 are short. The 32 is slightly short but that is understandable as it gets a bit thin. 26 in picture is the correct length. The tapers look correct so hoping they are ok.

27-29 were a different seller that I wont use again. Everything so far from Zimi-hk has been good.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I have no idea what it is there is no names

Looks very much like the one I bought from Cheb - 3-phase but running through a converter

 

[123hotchef]

Looks very much like the one I bought from Cheb - 3-phase but running through a converter

View attachment 217498

not quite the same but very very similar, but who knows what was changed and when.

 

[Pete.]

Big empty spaces on the workbenches. A broken side door and a broken garage door. Really boils my ****. Self employed ,all power tools bought new last December to put up a mezzanine floor in my unit. Have been skimping and saving for the material. Bought all the steel ,fixings etc for delivery this and next week. Was planning on doing the mezzanine over the next couple of weeks. Now don’t have the tools to do it...Bloody thieving scum

Sorry to hear that Johnny.

What tools do you need to get you going? I might have some you could have on loan for a few weeks.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@Parm

 

[angellonewolf]

^^^ quite an unusal hammer whats it for ?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

^^^ quite an unusal hammer whats it for ?

It is a Cobblers hammer, north continent pattern

Or:
What's it for?
Parm

Are you calling @Parm an it?

 

[Johnnybravo]

Sorry to hear that Johnny.

What tools do you need to get you going? I might have some you could have on loan for a few weeks.

Thanks Pete

It’s a severe annoyance, but not the end of the world. Lucky being unlucky. Could have been a lot worse Hopefully somebody else who possibly couldn’t afford having their stuff nicked was spared ​

 

[Sammy7]

Johnny, like hood if you need anything send a pm if I have it you can borrow it. Everything I have is for hobby use so not needed to earn a crust. Bog roll sorry not available.

 

[Parm]

Big empty spaces on the workbenches. A broken side door and a broken garage door. Really boils my ****. Self employed ,all power tools bought new last December to put up a mezzanine floor in my unit. Have been skimping and saving for the material. Bought all the steel ,fixings etc for delivery this and next week. Was planning on doing the mezzanine over the next couple of weeks. Now don’t have the tools to do it...Bloody thieving scum

Really sorry to hear that mate. I hope they get what’s deserved

 

[badabec]

Bring back the rope and add fly tippers to the list

 

[ronan]

Bring back the rope and add fly tippers to the list

There is a few around here i'd kick the stool for.

 

[Johnnybravo]

Bring back the rope and add fly tippers to the list

Bring back MrPlod who actually did something about crime,not the muppets we pay for now who seem to think their sole purpose in life is to stand around looking important at an accident scene .Endangering the lives of numerous road users who now have to use the lanes whilst they stand around on a road they generally block unnecessarily for hours,doing sweet FA......