Lights Blinking and Everything

I’m pooped, so I’ll repost what I put on the Chaski forum.

My friend Mike and my dad (not exactly machinists) got mad at the mill and refused to quit working on it while I posted questions on the web. They figured out the worm gear. Mike called a machinist buddy of his, and he confirmed their discovery. We moved the head up and got it stable.

I did not find a pin. If one existed, it must have sheared and vanished.

I figured out how to move the head horizontally, and I centered it on zero degrees. Then I did my best to tram it. I have a Tesa TI (metric), and it was within two notches, N, E, S, and W. The Indicol I bought is not the ultimate in rigidity, and my skills are negligible, so there may be some error I didn’t catch. Luckily, my squares arrived today, so I was able to use one to get the spindle close to trammed before using the wrench and Indicol.

The power feed and DRO are set up and working. Now I have to wire up the VFD and make a cord for it. I better get to Home Depot; I forgot to buy a plug. I don’t know where to put the VFD. I may just stick it on the wall. I get the feeling I won’t need it to be as convenient as the one on the lathe.

The machine rocks a little. Is bolting it down worth the effort? I don’t want to get squooshed.

I thought it would be a space problem, based on some measurements I got for Bridgeport Series I floor space, but those measurements must be off, because I could shove it back another six inches and still get full travel on the table.

I’m not sure how far out the ram should be. It shipped fully extended, and I figured the machine would be better balanced if I moved it to the center of the ways, so that’s what I did.

The manual is as bad as I expected from other people’s Chaiwanese adventures. It would be great to have an American machine with an American manual at a Chinese price.

The top cover on the motor has a big chunk out of it, because the importer doesn’t put anything between the motor and the table when he ships.

I think the most humorous part of the lathe is the brand name on the DRO: “Sino,” which means “Chinese.”

If anyone is looking for a Taiwan mill right now, Matt at Quality Machine Tools is willing to deal. I could have done a little better for this price, had I known it would take this long. He sells a slightly better mill with a 3 axis DRO.

It looks like I got a free coolant system, although all I see for the moment are a nozzle and a hose.

I haven’t run the machine, obviously, but I am extremely impressed with what I got for the money.

Thanks for all the help. I’m going to try to get the vise mounted.

The DRO says “ALE.” I think that’s a good idea.