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Posted by Trevor Jones on April 23, 2008, 9:05 pm
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Cheshire Steve wrote:
> It seems a slightly odd combination of industrial strength castings
> and modest table size, but no complaints there. I think of it more
> like a hobby sized machine made to industrial standards.
>
> What oil do you use in the box and vertical head ?
>
> Steve
Dunno. The stuf that was in it when I got it, has not leaked out
enough to motivate me to search out a refill product.
When the time comes, I'll use what I can get that comes close to
matching the specs demanded, I suppose.
Cheers
Trevor Jones
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Posted by dm on April 23, 2008, 4:32 am
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I looked into getting a 2A with a quill feed but they proved very expensive
for such a small mill, (the last two went on ebay for £650+ ) and so I went
for an complete Elliott 00 although I will have to engineer a micrometer
feed for the quill. I got what I thought was a reasonable deal. Even so
another Elliott 00 in now on ebay with the horizontal support , arbor ,
quill stop assembly, and top cover missing is already passing the £310
mark with 4 days to go. Some Old metal commands a vast premium (the
smaller it is the much more costly per Kg) yet others equally or even more
capable do not.
Derek (A Barker not a Myford owner)
> Cheshire Steve wrote:
> >
> >>Steve,
> >>Mark is correct that the manual is in the files section
ofhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/centec_milling_machines/
> >>Unfortunately the site is not very busy but there is someone else
> >>there who has had raising blocks made. I think they have all sold but he
> >>may do another run. They were MUCH cheaper than the ones on the other
> >>site mentioned.
> >>I have had my 2A for about five years but have yet to power it up as
> >>I still have not finished building my workshop. Somebody else wants the
> >>house finished first!
> >>The 1" horizontal arbour was actually made by the PO. He did not
> >>include a key as he thought it better the cutter spun on the arbour
> >>rather than damage the gears if the cutter were to jam. It looks to be a
> >>straightforward turning job apart from milling the flats for the
> >>spanner.
> >>
> >>Roy
> >>2A CB988
> >>
> >>--
> >>elj221c
> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>elj221c's Profile:http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=37570
> >>View this thread:http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=853083
> >
> >
> > Five years ! I have only had mine a day and want to get it going. That
> > is true patience :-)
> >
> > I have applied to the Yahoo group - though it took me four attempts to
> > enter a correct decoding of the distorted wording that is the anti-
> > spammer protection. Hopefully that will answer my questions.
> >
> > I thought 8 inches between the quill and the table would be good
> > enough to start, but I can see how that gets rapidly eaten up. Two
> > inches for the ER25 and then at least another inch for the cutter, but
> > that still leaves 5 inches. If I need a really big gap then I can mill
> > in the lathe. Just so long as I don't need a big traverse and a large
> > gap at the same time. Only 6 5/8 inches for the horizontal spindle may
> > be a bit more of a problem, but then I am making small items right
> > now.
> >
> > It will do for now.
> >
> > Steve
>
> I have a 2A that gets a little use. It came with the "good" vertical
> head, and power feed (re-motored to run on our 110 volts) as well as a
> single phase motor. It has the metal stand, and I still have the
> switches and contactors for 3 phase use, buried in the base.
>
> I thought I paid too much for it, but, for now, would not consider
> replacing it, unless something much nicer came down the pipe.
>
> The headspace goes fast! You start looking at all the tooling with an
> eye to picking the shortest one.
>
> It pretty much has the same envelope, as a Sherline mill, but it was
> made in a time when iron was fairly inexpensive, and these mills were
> built to an indstrial standard, more than a hobby one.
>
> I have made a few end mill holders from drawbar thread equipped drill
> shank adapters and blank end MT2 arbors.
>
> Usefull enough a tool to keep in the basement, where a larger machine
> would not fit very well.
>
> I figure a riser block is in the future for the 2A, though. A couple
> extra inches of headspace will allow us of a proper vise, rather than
> the low profile drill press vise that lives there now.
>
> So far the inability to come up with a vise I like, that is an
> appropriate size, has been my biggest beef with it. Small worries indeed!
>
> Cheers
> Trevor Jones
>
>
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Posted by John Blakeley on April 23, 2008, 6:00 pm
Please log in for more thread options Trevor Jones wrote:
> Cheshire Steve wrote:
>>
>>> Steve,
>>> Mark is correct that the manual is in the files section
>>> ofhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/centec_milling_machines/
>>> Unfortunately the site is not very busy but there is someone else
>>> there who has had raising blocks made. I think they have all sold but he
>>> may do another run. They were MUCH cheaper than the ones on the other
>>> site mentioned.
>>> I have had my 2A for about five years but have yet to power it up as
>>> I still have not finished building my workshop. Somebody else wants the
>>> house finished first!
>>> The 1" horizontal arbour was actually made by the PO. He did not
>>> include a key as he thought it better the cutter spun on the arbour
>>> rather than damage the gears if the cutter were to jam. It looks to be a
>>> straightforward turning job apart from milling the flats for the
>>> spanner.
>>>
>>> Roy
>>> 2A CB988
>>>
>>> --
>>> elj221c
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> elj221c's Profile:http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=37570
>>> View this thread:http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=853083
>>
>>
>> Five years ! I have only had mine a day and want to get it going. That
>> is true patience :-)
>>
>> I have applied to the Yahoo group - though it took me four attempts to
>> enter a correct decoding of the distorted wording that is the anti-
>> spammer protection. Hopefully that will answer my questions.
>>
>> I thought 8 inches between the quill and the table would be good
>> enough to start, but I can see how that gets rapidly eaten up. Two
>> inches for the ER25 and then at least another inch for the cutter, but
>> that still leaves 5 inches. If I need a really big gap then I can mill
>> in the lathe. Just so long as I don't need a big traverse and a large
>> gap at the same time. Only 6 5/8 inches for the horizontal spindle may
>> be a bit more of a problem, but then I am making small items right
>> now.
>>
>> It will do for now.
>>
>> Steve
>
> I have a 2A that gets a little use. It came with the "good" vertical
> head, and power feed (re-motored to run on our 110 volts) as well as a
> single phase motor. It has the metal stand, and I still have the
> switches and contactors for 3 phase use, buried in the base.
>
> I thought I paid too much for it, but, for now, would not consider
> replacing it, unless something much nicer came down the pipe.
>
> The headspace goes fast! You start looking at all the tooling with an
> eye to picking the shortest one.
>
> It pretty much has the same envelope, as a Sherline mill, but it was
> made in a time when iron was fairly inexpensive, and these mills were
> built to an indstrial standard, more than a hobby one.
>
> I have made a few end mill holders from drawbar thread equipped drill
> shank adapters and blank end MT2 arbors.
>
> Usefull enough a tool to keep in the basement, where a larger machine
> would not fit very well.
>
> I figure a riser block is in the future for the 2A, though. A couple
> extra inches of headspace will allow us of a proper vise, rather than
> the low profile drill press vise that lives there now.
>
> So far the inability to come up with a vise I like, that is an
> appropriate size, has been my biggest beef with it. Small worries indeed!
>
> Cheers
> Trevor Jones
>
Steve
I would try to get a full arbour. I have used a stub on mine but having
the support of the overarm makes a big difference to rigidity. The stub
can handle slitting saws but I had a half-inch wide side and face
running last night. Not something I'd want to do with a stub arbour.
Clamping the job to directly to the table helps with the lack of elbow
room. Having said that I got one of the raiser blocks talked about in an
earlier reply and it has made a big difference to the machine. Just
changing to horizontal milling without having to take the vertical head
off speeds things up no end. Now with the extra room I am on the same
hunt as Trevor for as decent vice - top of the list for Harrogate.
Mine came with a huge three phase motor that the previous owner was
running on a straight forward single phase supply. He was on fuses, as
soon as I turned it on my trips fell about laughing. I had a spare
2800rpm three phase which went in without any hassle so the Centec now
shares a variable drive with the lathe, the 2800rpm giving a useful
speed range.
I have turned mine 90deg. so I operate it from the LH. side as it were;
works well for me. I could be tempted to get rid of it but only if a
later, larger Centec came up at the right price.
Hope you enjoy using it once it's clean.
Cheers
John Blakeley
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Posted by Cheshire Steve on April 23, 2008, 6:15 pm
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> Hope you enjoy using it once it's clean.
>
> Cheers
> John Blakeley
Oh I will enjoy it John .. I have been waiting for this. I have a
queue of jobs. I am very happy to have it. And being 2MT I have a lot
of tooling ready to go. Just need to make some t-nuts, and sort out
the oiling and wiring and bingo..off we go.
Steve
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Posted by campingstoveman on April 27, 2008, 6:59 am
Please log in for more thread options Gentlemen,
I bought a Centec 2 last year for a princely sum of £60 its in Horizontal
mode which to me is not a problem as I have a milldrill to do vertical work.
It also came with sales literature and a 20000 rpm grinding head attachment
which I have not tried yet.
Martin P
> Just collected a Centec 2A with the good vertical head and I am
> strongly inclined to plug it in, but it has been in store for ages (I
> am still trying to remove some of the gloop using petrol - must have
> had Shellac in it). Obviously I will go over it for electrical safety
> (single phase), but I wonder if anyone has commissioning advice ?
>
> Also I don't have an arbor for the horizontal milling arm - though it
> came with a stub arbor, the sort you would use on a lathe. Is there a
> source for 2MT full arbors, or should I just use the stub arbor (saves
> mounting the overarm anyway).
>
> Any Centec owners that can offer advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Steve
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> and modest table size, but no complaints there. I think of it more
> like a hobby sized machine made to industrial standards.
>
> What oil do you use in the box and vertical head ?
>
> Steve