Author Topic: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion  (Read 270020 times)

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #475 on: October 21, 2012, 05:08:32 AM »
 :lol: :lol: Thanks lads  :beer:

Now i have allot of work on  :bang: :bang: i need to move my shop around to fit my new mill in . This mill would have made a much better CNC conversion , more travel ,faster spindle speeds,larger table , 30int , and a dam site better built .



Comes with DRO , a load of tooling,power feed,  all for allot less than an X3 mill . :med:

Rob

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #476 on: October 21, 2012, 05:32:20 AM »
By 'ek Rob. That's a cracker! :bugeye:

Hope it's condition is as good as it's looks.........  :thumbup:


"This mill would have made a much better CNC conversion".. I think yer timing was a bit off, Rob......  :doh:

David D

David.

Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Offline DMIOM

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #477 on: October 21, 2012, 05:43:33 AM »
By 'ek Rob. That's a cracker! :bugeye:

Hope it's condition is as good as it's looks.........  :thumbup:


"This mill would have made a much better CNC conversion".. I think yer timing was a bit off, Rob......  :doh:

David D

no no chaps - Rob has done the rough prototype on the Chester in this thread to gain experience, then he'll go on to do a proper job on the Viceroy !  :lol: :lol: :lol:

Dave

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #478 on: October 21, 2012, 05:45:05 AM »
Hi David 

Two things wrong with it , hi/ low lever is stuck in low and the power feed motor needs a re wined ( i am sure i can sneak that into a job at work ) , not to bad as  i have to strip the machine anyway to move it , no marks on the table , the DRO second hand is worth more than what i payed for the machine , the DRO needs re fitting .


 :lol: :lol: :lol: I if only we new what was round the conner  :bang: :bang: :bang: 


 :lol: :lol: :lol: Dave , one CNC conversion is enough for now  :Doh:


Rob

Offline DMIOM

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #479 on: October 21, 2012, 06:44:59 AM »
....... Dave , one CNC conversion is enough for now .......

But it'll be quicker the second time round because you can machine the parts on your first CNC ! :coffee:

Dave

Offline NickG

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #480 on: October 21, 2012, 07:55:05 AM »
I am looking out for one of those, we have one at our club - very solid, well built machine. They used to be relatively cheap but think people are cottoning on and they seem to be going up in value.

Nice 1 Rob!
Location: County Durham (North East England)

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #481 on: October 21, 2012, 11:44:57 AM »
....... Dave , one CNC conversion is enough for now .......

But it'll be quicker the second time round because you can machine the parts on your first CNC ! :coffee:

Dave

Hi Dave  ,,, I think IF I were to do another CNC it would not be a conversion  it would be a complete new build .Having one CNC mill (when finished) would make life easier too build a second .


Cheers Nick , yes its a good size solid mill and not too large for the home shop . :med:


Rob

Offline loply

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #482 on: October 21, 2012, 02:49:57 PM »
Rob, that mill looks like a corker. I wasn't aware of the model. Where'd you find it?

I've just started the journey on converting my Denford Viceroy lathe to CNC, not fancy donating the mill to me so they can keep each other company?  :beer:

Lack of a quill will give your right arm a workout when drilling though!

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #483 on: October 21, 2012, 03:40:22 PM »
Hi Richard   

John DB put me onto the mill , lol nope its keeping my other mills company lol ,not having a quill is a good thing in my opinion as its a mill machine not a drilling machine ,much more ridged set up for milling  ,  there is no quill on my Aciera F3  and i manage just fine , i have other machines for drilling  :med:


I've just started the journey on converting my Denford Viceroy lathe to CNC




Interesting , I hope you do a post of your progress  :poke:


Rob

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #484 on: October 21, 2012, 03:41:41 PM »

Lack of a quill will give your right arm a workout when drilling though!

Doesn't the table have a vertical power feed?  :scratch:

David D
David.

Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #485 on: October 21, 2012, 03:45:03 PM »
Sadly not David , but adding one for boring operations would be a nice wee project  :dremel:

Rob

Offline doubleboost

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #486 on: October 21, 2012, 03:47:37 PM »
Hi
Rob
I see you managed to get that horrible anti rust grease off the table
That must have been there for years
John

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #487 on: October 21, 2012, 03:50:02 PM »
Sadly not David , but adding one for boring operations would be a nice wee project  :dremel:

Rob

Ah! That's a surprise Rob......  :bugeye:

I never worked a grown up mill, that didn't....... I've done a lot of drillin/ boring, with vertical mills.  :thumbup:

David D
David.

Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #488 on: October 21, 2012, 03:54:22 PM »
 :lol: :lol: :lol: Its not that grown up David its just got a power feed on the X axis  :palm:


Its still on John , that a photo i took in the factory  :lol:


Rob

Offline doubleboost

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #489 on: October 21, 2012, 04:09:01 PM »
Kerosine works well on oriental grease
I would treat yours with respect and use brake cleaner :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
That DRO is very similar to mine
John

Offline micktoon

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #490 on: October 22, 2012, 03:52:31 PM »
Hi Rob, You sure do have a serious machine buying problem lad  :lol: ,saying that apart from 'where the hell will you put it'  :palm: it looks a cracking buy , nice solid bit of oldish English kit, from the good days. I bet you have suddenly lost interest in the CNC project on the other mill  :bugeye: . I can hear you saying ' no that REALLY is it this time, no matter what , there is No more room lol................... until the next buy that is  :)

 Cheers Mick.

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #491 on: October 22, 2012, 04:16:17 PM »
Hi Rob, You sure do have a serious machine buying problem lad  :lol:


 :lol: :lol: :lol: I do don't I  :lol: :lol: :lol: funny worlass said the very same thing  :palm:

saying that apart from 'where the hell will you put it'  :palm:

loads of room Mick , I just have to move a few wee things around in the shop , like my workbench  :bang: :bang:


I bet you have suddenly lost interest in the CNC project on the other mill    :)


Nope , I will finish the cnc mill project , then do the new mill and die filer  oh then have a bash at the cnc lathe  :palm: 

any way i still need  TCG  :poke:


Rob

Offline micktoon

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #492 on: October 22, 2012, 04:30:49 PM »
.................... and don't forget your fly press  :lol:

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #493 on: October 22, 2012, 04:40:51 PM »
 :Doh: i had forgotten about that  , me and John will have to call over for it  :thumbup:

Rob

Offline krv3000

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #494 on: October 22, 2012, 06:11:03 PM »
a good one rob its a bawt time you fawnd me one

Offline NeoTech

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #495 on: October 26, 2012, 09:54:29 AM »
If i bring a tent and come over to UK - i can get machining lessons?  *damn* i didnt know a aciera could do those setups. =)
Machinery: Optimum D320x920, Optimum BF20L, Aciera F3. -- I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. http://www.roughedge.se/blogg/

Offline NickG

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #496 on: November 03, 2012, 05:25:28 AM »
Lovely work on the cabinet Rob  :thumbup: don't know how you do it!

One of these has come up for sale:

Looks to be a 626 with a myford badge on it, the VMC, made in Taiwan. Do you reckon it'll be any better than any other 626? It's not cheap, about 2/3 of the cost of a new one. Lathes.co.uk only has a short paragraph and reckons the only difference is that some myfords were fitted with uk switch gear and motor.

Cheers,

Nick

Location: County Durham (North East England)

Offline 9fingers

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #497 on: November 03, 2012, 06:10:32 AM »
Nick, I've had one of these from new in around 1987 and is the target of my CNC conversion thread on the forum.
http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,7345.0.html
It is essentially a 6x26 but without the fine quill feed wheel - a feature that I've not found a problem.

Naturally it will have similar design compromises but in order to earn the Myford label, they were imported into the UK and stripped down by myford and the slideways scraped and generally given a check over. Mine also had a British/eu motor fitted as at the time, Chinese ones had a bad reputation. I had one on a drill press that was badly balanced and soon became a doorstop.
In any case I now run the VMC with a 3 phase motor and inverter.

The machine in the photo looks very clean and has possibly had little use as the paint usually gets stained by oil/coolant etc on hard worked machines.
Provided the feedscrews and nuts are not badly worn, I'd say it is worth getting at 2/3rds new price.
Note that spares will be no more available for it that warco/chester machines.

If you are looking for a target for CNC conversion there won't be much that Rob supplemented by my project experience won't know about the task. Feedscrew condition will then be irrelevant.

hth

Bob

Rob.Wilson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #498 on: November 03, 2012, 10:26:43 AM »
Hi Nick

I am pleased Bob chipped in on this as he is better placed to give you advice on the build quality of Myford machine , I would expect it too be built to allot  better quality  than the two Chester 626 machines i have  come across .


Rob

Offline John Stevenson

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Re: Chester 626 mill CNC Conversion
« Reply #499 on: November 03, 2012, 10:30:22 AM »
Because of it's age the Myford machine would have been a Taiwanese based machine which at that time were of decent quality.
The Chester / Warco machines being made now are Chinese and depending on the factory they are produced at could have differing quality.
John Stevenson