SEMCO LC 1½ Turret Mill / FIRST LC-1½ (Bridgeport clone)

[Smouser]

I have not updated this thread for a while.

Since the last update, I have finally got the mill up and running 'properly' in the last week.

The control panel is wired up.

I have installed a power feed for the Z-axis.

More details here.

Fitted a small bracket so I hang some tools I use regularly on the mill.

A 'dust' / chip guard to protect the ways.

In hindsight, I should have just gone for a smooth piece of rubber. The chips get stuck in that style way cover.

I installed a scale for the quill.

Also a scale on the knee.

It took me ages to get that scale aligned. I must have wound the knee up and down 30 times. Some blocks with jacking bolts were installed to get it all aligned.

ALL the scales had to be rewired for the Chinese 5-axis DRO. I printed and laminated the scale pinout which the DRO uses for future reference.

The 5-axis DRO (I am only using 4-axis).

It has got a really cool summing feature built in. The Z-axis (quill) and U-axis (knee) can be summed so you can get an accurate reading regardless if you move the quill or the knee.

Finally, I re-installed the guards the machine came with.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with those guards.

Pros:
1. They contain the mess/chips to a degree.
2. I have to dodge less hot chips.
3. In theory, the machine is a little safer.

Cons:
1. The guards take up quite a bit of space.
2. It can be a pain to open/close the guards each time you want access.

I did remove the guard switches so the machine can be run with the guards open.

 

[Brad93]

I couldn't work with those guards, if you had to operate a boring head or a dividing head that's gonna be a pain in the butt

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

I couldn't work with those guards, if you had to operate a boring head or a dividing head that's gonna be a pain in the butt

The fact that @Smouser has already disabled the interlocks says it all really... A well designed machine guarding solution should be ergonomic enough that using it with the guards in place is as easy or easier than not doing so.

The existing setup is IMO only suitable for a CNC conversion or a machine dedicated to roughing or surfacing operations with flood coolant, not the multi-purpose application of a turret mill.

 

[Smouser]

Yeah, as I said, it is a love hate relationship with those guards.

Luckily, they can be kept open if needed which gives me enough access.

I assume some H&S assessor was a bit 'trigger happy' where the machine was before I got it.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

That vice is (or at least appears to be) something else though... Very nice.

 

[Smouser]

That vice is (or at least appears to be) something else though... Very nice.

It is a very nice vice. Came with the mill which made the mill that much more of a bargain.

There are no drill or mill marks on the vice itself (a first for all the vices I have owned). The jaws have been touched by an end mill on the top at some point but it has not affected me yet.

I found an older photo on my phone which I took in May when I got the machine. It is a Rohm 161827 vice.

If the current price on google is to be believed, it costs way more new than what I paid for the mill and the vice.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

It is a very nice vice. Came with the mill which made the mill that much more of a bargain.

If the current price on google is to be believed, it costs way more new than what I paid for the mill and the vice.

Rohm stuff isn't cheap, I can well believe you could buy a used mill for less than a new vice from them!

It really is a beauty too, lucky sod!