tom senior vs milling machine.

[hareng]

Its in your 2nd piccy Ronan, good to go.

Just check the upright dovetailed column for play or tightness.

 

[graffian]

Only draw back I can see is no quill.

 

[ronan]

Only draw back I can see is no quill.

thats true graffian , but i do have a good pillar drill for things that need drilling at an angle , also i could do what this chap and fit a bridgeport head to the top casting.

http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/major/major.html

 

[ronan]

I finally got to collect the tom senior milling machine on thursday after a long wait. It is in brilliant condition mechanically , the paint is a bit tired but i am not worried about that. The mill came out of a community college and hasn't a mark on the bed apart from where the vice was situated, its only a bit of frosting/very light pitting. There is virtually no visible wear on the vee-slides and no backlash in the leadscrews. It is (thankfully) a metric machine.
The motor is dual voltage 2hp so it should be easy to use a vfd with it. I have a couple of questions of an electrical nature , the feed in the x-axis is controlled by a small motor and reduction gearbox on the left hand side of the bed, i have included a picture of it , can anyone tell me can i run it from a vfd ? the markings on the motor nameplate don't mean much to me , but i suspect it has the ability to have two different voltages to feed it for fast and normal running speeds.

 

[ronan]

I bought this machine from a chap who has an engineering works , he used to deal in machine tools and still does to a limited extent. he is also into classic trials iron and old cars/trucks also.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

Nice mill that,when you said about space,I thought it was one of those TS mills that look like they're for sharpening gramaphone needles.

Is that your 68 Bonnie?

I think if it's 3 phase,you can run it faster than standard with an invertor.


You might find this usefull,if you didn't know about it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tom_senior/

 

[ronan]

Nice mill that,when you said about space,I thought it was one of those TS mills that look like they're for sharpening gramaphone needles.

Is that your 68 Bonnie?

I think if it's 3 phase,you can run it faster than standard with an invertor.


You might find this usefull,if you didn't know about it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tom_senior/

The only other small mill i seen was a chinese bench top thing that didn't appear to be very well designed, made or finished, it was in a local tool shop. Believe it or not the tom senior cost far less to buy and is infinitely better all round.
Yes i know about the tom senior group but its emptier than a scottish pay toilet over there, very little action.
Its not a bonnie (i wish it were) , its a 1969 T90p which i converted to 500cc when the engine needed a rebuild, i used to ride it all the time , the state of the roads over here and some of the plonkers driving on them means i don't take it out much.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

The Myford VMC is not a bad mill,but don't come up that often.I'll try and find some pics of the small TS mills I was talking about,they look almost home made.
T90P,never heard of that one,ex police?

 

[pedrobedro]

T90P,never heard of that one,ex police?

That's what the "p" stands for, I like the look of that. A friend had an old Enfield that he did as a trialler and it was a really nice job.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

That's what the "p" stands for, I like the look of that. A friend had an old Enfield that he did as a trialler and it was a really nice job.

I know it does with the bigger models,just never heard of a 350 version.Half thought it might be a typo.
I had a T110 for 13 years.

 

[pedrobedro]

I think they were done as a special for the Dublin police, unless I'm remembering things that never really happened (again )

 

[Flathead_Dave]

Some of the Tom Senior light weights I was talking about on here,you have to scroll down to mills.

http://www.quillstar.co.uk/

 

[madkayaker]

I think the feed motor is dc or reduced AC from the speed controller not separate feed. There is a fast travel and a controlled travel but the one at work will only feed when the spindle is running

 

[ronan]

I think they were done as a special for the Dublin police, unless I'm remembering things that never really happened (again )

Correct , top marks ! I had a running argument with an american chap on a british bike forum, he worked in the american triumph importers back in the 50's 60's and he assured me 100% that 1969 t90's never existed. I amazed him by sending him a picture of the engine and frame numbers.
Any other t90's i have seen over here have been the same year and date code so there must have been a batch sold over here to the police.

 

[ronan]

I think the feed motor is dc or reduced AC from the speed controller not separate feed. There is a fast travel and a controlled travel but the one at work will only feed when the spindle is running

What i wanted to do madkayaker was run the main motor via a vfd and the table motor by a separate vfd , there is a huge amount of wiring and electronics i can bypass if i do this , there seems to be an interlock switch on nearly every door or panel, i intend to disregard these , i think they were only fitted because these machines were supplied to schools.

 

[madkayaker]

Why would you want to do that? You have lots of fine speed adjustment and both directions. The switches would have been standard and there is no sensible reason to remove then

 

[ronan]

Why would you want to do that? You have lots of fine speed adjustment and both directions. The switches would have been standard and there is no sensible reason to remove then

Well the table motor is three phase so i have no other method of running it apart from a separate vfd or do i ? Could i not connect the machines buttons directly to the vfd that drives the table ?

 

[madkayaker]

I would think that the vfd would run them both and then you would have speed control on the panel

 

[Flathead_Dave]

If the machine just has the one 3 phase cable and your shed is single phase,just plug it into a converter and run it as standard.

 

[ronan]

If the machine just has the one 3 phase cable and your shed is single phase,just plug it into a converter and run it as standard.

If you mean a rotary converter dave,i am really not a fan of them. Too noisy and bulky for where i live and variable frequency drives are now cheaper than rotarys and have great features such as soft start etc.