hand scraping ways

[squazy84]

I have a small milling machine and I want to get it as perfect as I can for use, ive found no wear or any problems on the machine,its swiss made and has been superbly built but its old so im expecting to find some wear so the questions...
1. where can I purchase a reliable straight edge to transfer engineers blue to the surfaces I need to test/work?
2.can I perform this work myself,as ive never done scraping before without too many special tools? the mill is very small eg 15''x9'' travel

 

[Pete.]

Scraping straight edges are thin on the ground I've found. Surface plates are easily found though and you can make a straight edge.

Scraping is easy in concept but labour-intensive. A novice can easily make a plate flat the biggest hurdle is scraping for alignment, it's no use getting something flat and true if you've neglected to make the ways point in the right direction.

Start your research here:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/machine-reconditioning-scraping-and-inspection/

 

[squazy84]

there is a lot of info there,i see straight edges cost more then my machine cost me! my ways are out very little,but i can see the table gets a little tighter where it would have traveled less as you would expect,really all i want is to get rid of that feature of the mill,im not looking for 0.2 thou accuracy

 

[squazy84]

the machine in question

 

[squazy84]

ive actually just let off a gib screw half a turn and now it moves play free over the full travel so hopefully its not much it needs

 

[doubleboost]

That looks like a very sturdy mill
Quality bit of kit

 

[squazy84]

cheers,its the nicest thing I own I reckon! I think I may have over spec on the motor I use to run it,its a 1.5 horse powered by an inverter but i suppose its better to be looking at it then for it!
edit I stole your idea for keeping the cutting fluid(in my case engine oil lol) in a squeze bottle why did I never think of that!!?

 

[Pete.]

Nice little mill. Keep the speed down on those plain bearings though, or at least monitor the temperature when it's running until you know it's not getting tight. If it starts warming up where the spindle bearings are stop and let it cool then lower the speed a bit.

 

[squazy84]

I think it's able for 1400 rpm,my motor is geared to provide about 2100rpm if I run it flat out which I will rarely do but I've been wary of the plane bearings,I'm sympathetic to their plight!

 

[AndyStobbs]

I have been addressing the tight areas on my B & S mill with emery paper. Just kept working the area until the table/saddle ran with the same freedom across the whole travel.

 

[squazy84]

anybody know anything about the graduation on the dials on these things? x dial seems to be anti clockwise and graduated 0- 100 while the y axis seems to be 0-150,ive no idea what these figures seem to correlate to,neither metric or imperial settings on my vernier agree with the dials?the screws are not worn and look original,im stumped lol

 

[Pete.]

On the X if one turn moves the table 2.5mm then the dials are graduated in thousandths of an inch.

 

[squazy84]

on x one turn seemed to get 78 thou movement but the y got 100 thou for one turn, it looks like someone has mixed up all the dials because the x is graduated 0-100 anti clockwise and the y is graduated 0-150 clockwise,i have an imperial harrison milling machine and it just does what it says on the tin! this makes no sense although my digital vernier is a bit iffy at times

 

[Pete.]

Sounds like someone changed the x screw for a 2mm pitch metric one, and the Y for a 2.5mm pitch screw. Or they used an un-worn part of the x screw to make a new Y screw then replaced the X.

 

[squazy84]

they have been messing anyways,its possible the dials got mixed up because they are all the same size so im going to try find pictures now of what should be where

 

[squazy84]

i need to find someone with this brand of milling machine really to compare whats what,

 

[Pete.]

Well, it seems that as standard it should be a metric machine and the vertical head you have can run up to 2000rpm!

http://www.lathes.co.uk/mikron-small-millers/

 

[squazy84]

yes i seen that alright and ive it geared for 2000rpm at full motor speed but ive not passed 30hz on the vfd just feeling my way round and getting to know the machine,plus i want to run a better system of oiling then the wick set up and run fuly synthetic for that rpm lol

 

[J.Nieuwenhuis]

I have got the same milling machine, minus the vertical head.
If you need any pictures to compare, just let me know.
I would be glad to help.
Should you ever consider selling this mill, I would be very interested.

 

[squazy84]

They are just the nicest little machines,mine is in the kitchen on its own work bench,that's the kind of house I live in I would greatly appreciate pictures of the respective dials because I'm not sure mine are correct