# Never enough space



## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

for us UK lot ............. though we try and stretch it as much as possible ;D

anyway ................... I may have a bit of a problem 







things seem to be changing a little 




so ............... pop quiz ............... ???




answers on a postcard ........... below :big:


CC


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## RobWilson (Aug 1, 2009)

BIGGER mill ???????????? MORE DOGS


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Perhaps ................ a slightly bigger mill, swarf magnets I have a plenty cheers :

CC


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Just to prevent Rob having a coronary ;D :big: ;D






CC


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## arnoldb (Aug 1, 2009)

Ahhh :idea: - it is a bigger mill then :big:. Shoehorn won't work; you'll have to get a darn big crowbar :big:

If your "swarf magnets" are of the same variety that I have - (don't just attract ferrous swarf - ali & other non-magnetic materials are also attracted), do you also end up with punch-holes in your hands when cleaning them ??? :big:

Arnold


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Swarf Magnets 






 ???

CC


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## RobWilson (Aug 1, 2009)

:big: I WIN , WHAT DO I GET ;D 
show us more, looking good so far........................ great pack of dogs.."swarf magnets"
Rob


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## Foozer (Aug 1, 2009)

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> I may have a bit of a problem



Solution, Box it up and send over to the Colonies. I might just have a bit of extra space available.

Arrow points to the one barn i use now, have another that is empty, might be able to squeeze the "package" in somewhere in the yard. 






Too much space can be just as bad


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

RobWilson  said:
			
		

> :big: I WIN , WHAT DO I GET ;D



A brand spanking new invisible raincoat ............... don't lend it out mind 8)

There is no more yet ................ except in the back of the Van ..........

............... 







The plan tomorrow was ......... eldest Son would pop over and give me a hand with the heavy bits, unfortunately he played Rugby today and now has one arm in a sling ............. so plan B kicks in .............. 

errrr ............. there is no Plan B :'(

CC


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Foozer  said:
			
		

> Solution, Box it up and send over to the Colonies.



Thanks for the help ............. however; having travelled to the Southern extremities of the country today ......... to collect "said item" ..................... OK .................... it was 40 miles   :big: ................ I'll make the sacrifice and squeeze it in ............ the offer is much appreciated though :bow:

CC


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## bearcar1 (Aug 1, 2009)

Oh, I don't know CC. I would just bet that a case of OSH could have the effect of rounding up a few stout backs to assist you. Shoot, if it were, I'd even come over and have a go for you, of course it would take me about 16 hrs to get there, and thats if I left now :big:


BC1
Jim


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## RobWilson (Aug 1, 2009)

Just what i need CC ;D
what make of mill do you have there ?
Regards Rob


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

RobWilson  said:
			
		

> Just what i need CC ;D



You can have two if you want ;D


OK, once all the parts are put together it should look like this ..........






providing I get all the bits in the right order  :

CC


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Blimey ............. that's a really crap photo ............. and it's not mine ???

hang on, I'll try and find a proper piccy 8)

CC


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## Foozer (Aug 1, 2009)

CrewCab  said:
			
		

> Thanks for the help ............. however; having travelled to the Southern extremities of the country today ......... to collect "said item" ..................... OK .................... it was 40 miles   :big: ................ I'll make the sacrifice and squeeze it in ............ the offer is much appreciated though :bow:
> 
> CC



40 miles here is two separate 30 minute road delays for construction, running the gauntlet of road vultures (radar cops) and a half dozen guys wanting to wash your window at every stop sign.

I think in Texas its 'bout a 6-pack trip.

UPS delivers 

Robert


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

Hopefully this is better :







CC


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## RobWilson (Aug 1, 2009)

TWO WOULD BE GOOD, ONE FOR WOR LASS :big:
any chance of a smaller photo  of the mill  very nice CC Thm: NICE ONE
Rob


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

RobWilson  said:
			
		

> TWO WOULD BE GOOD, ONE FOR WOR LASS :big:



Nay prob's .......... 2 in the post as I type : .................. honest ???

smaller picture  blimey .......... on a pin head probably ............ anyway, hopefully a "slightly" larger piccy has appeared  8)

CC


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## arnoldb (Aug 1, 2009)

Whoo - Hooo ! Nice mill CC Thm:
Now I'm jealous !!!!

As to swarf magnets - my motley collection Rof}:





Regards, Arnold


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## Maryak (Aug 1, 2009)

arnoldb  said:
			
		

> Whoo - Hooo ! Nice mill CC Thm:
> 
> Regards, Arnold



Ditto. ;D

Best Regards
Bob


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## RobWilson (Aug 1, 2009)

So unfair CC, Arnold,,,,, three swarf magnets each ...........


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## CrewCab (Aug 1, 2009)

RobWilson  said:
			
		

> So unfair CC, Arnold,,,,, three swarf magnets each ...........



They are available for hire :

CC


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## arnoldb (Aug 1, 2009)

RobWilson  said:
			
		

> So unfair CC, Arnold,,,,, three swarf magnets each ...........


CC's magnets is definitely superior quality to mine, but, I think in terms of maintenance across the board it takes equal amounts of effort! Rof} 
In fact, on their own, and even worse coupled to the  de-burring tool  I posted in the break room about, the whole lot takes away a lot of shop time ;D

Regards, Arnold


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## CrewCab (Aug 2, 2009)

I like the de-burring tool Arnold :big:

A little more progress today, 

all the big lumps are out of the Van and in the Workshop, I've measured up and widened the space I'd created : 












together with 2 boxes containing loads of R8 Collets etc, power feed, tilting vice (that weighs a heck of a lot as well) a boring head set and a few other bits 

Anyway that's as far as I can go for now till my two son's can come around and help out .............. I think even with the 3 of us it's going to be hard, but do-able ................... hopefully tomorrow evening.

CC


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## RobWilson (Aug 2, 2009)

very nice CC , some heavy looking lumps ;D

Regards Rob


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## vlmarshall (Aug 2, 2009)

Nice lumps! Good luck moving the stuff, be careful, and take pictures. ;D


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## arnoldb (Aug 2, 2009)

Like Rob & Vernon stated: Nice lumps 8)

I'm pretty sure you'll have lots of fun with it, once you get it all "lumped" into your workshop ;D

Regards, Arnold


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## ksouers (Aug 3, 2009)

Very nice new toy there, CC :bow:
You've come back with a vengeance 


Did you get a DRO with it?
You gonna move the DRO from the X2 to it? Hope you at least got scales for it.


Cheers,
Kevin


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## JimM (Aug 3, 2009)

Oooohhh that looks nice CC

I missed out on one of those on Eb*y a couple of months ago - the seller pulled the auction as he did a deal offline (wasn't with you was it !)

Was it advertised or a friend of a friend job.

Cheers

Jim


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## CrewCab (Aug 3, 2009)

Kevin, no DRO but I'm hoping to transfer the one from the X2, as far as I can see I'll just need to replace one scale, two of the existing ones should transfer, but I'll know better once I'm set up ............. small steps I'm afraid 

Jim, no wasn't me but I think I know the one you mean, was it the one with the Newall DRO. I've seen about 3 on ebay over the last few months and all of them were withdrawn, I assume because someone had done a deal. 

CC


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## JimM (Aug 3, 2009)

Hi CC, yes the one I wanted had the Newall DRO - I actually contacted the seller when it was pulled and he told me he let it go for £800 which seemed like a bit of a bargain to me (I think it even included a vice etc) 

I've ended up with an Elliott Juniormill which I think the 626/VMCs are based on - at least they appear to be similar in design.

Please post some pics when you attach the DROs as I'd be interested to see how you mount yours. It's something on my 'must have' list but need to let the bank balance recuperate from the mill purchase first 

Cheers

Jim


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## RobWilson (Aug 3, 2009)

Hope all goes well tomorrow CC 

Regards Rob


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## CrewCab (Aug 3, 2009)

Blimey Jim if that one sold for £800 including the DRO someone sure got a bargain  : ............ the new price of mill + Newall DRO is I believe well over £2.5k and that's without any tooling ................ Oh well, as you say, if that's the case ..............  

Rob, Cheers  ............ third time lucky, hopefully 


anyway ............. a better evening, after a busy, and very physical day at work (for which I'm getting far too old ;D ) .......... my lifting appliance's arrived ..............






and shortly thereafter .....................






Handy having large son's ;D

Anyway, everything fits together, it spins over fine, the power feed works .......... very well .......... even the light works and the "one shot" lubrication squirts oil somewhere ................ which very shortly ends up in the coolant tray :big:  :big:


at just before midnight, I felt it best not to spin it up and make a few chips, though I was sorely tempted ??? ............... Oh well, Thursday perhaps ........... I'll keep you posted 

CC


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## ksouers (Aug 3, 2009)

My, my. That's a tight fit!!
And I see your lifting equipment is properly lubricated with beer ;D


And it matches perfectly with the X2 color scheme ;D

Somehow I imagine you having to dodge the Boxford to get peek around the right corner of the mill table.


Kevin


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## RobWilson (Aug 4, 2009)

Looking good CC , ;D looks like the belt cover will just clear the shelf too
Regards Rob


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## arnoldb (Aug 4, 2009)

Yep - tight fit; can't wait to see what you find hiding in the chips later on ;D
And properly welcomed with a toast as well 

Regards, Arnold


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## CrewCab (Aug 7, 2009)

Well, I've spun it up and butchered a little aluminium (for our overseas cousin's please feel free to remove the spare "i" ) ;D

and it's seems like a nice piece of kit guys 8) ............. It's not really fair to compare the lil' X2 which weighs 55kg (120lbs) to a mill weighing 410kg (970 lbs) I 'spose ......... they are totally different machines, 

I'll spend a little time playing with the new one and post my thoughts in the hope it might help others.

CC


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## CrewCab (Aug 9, 2009)

Managed to get a bit of time playing with the Mill this weekend, and I have to say "WOW" ............ what a difference, it's in a different league to the X2; now I'm not knocking the X2, it's a great little tool but the 626 is even better than I expected 8)

I've not done anything exciting, just made a stop for the limit switch (only came with one), plus tried it out on a variety of materials, ally, brass, steel, titanium and cast iron, nothing phases it ;D ............. I only took 10 thou cuts on the titanium though ??? ..................... must sort out the coolant system ............ I feel another thread coming on ;D

Anyway, my ramblings are only offered to help anyone else considering a bigger machine, after I started using the X2 I quickly decided a bigger one was on the cards at some stage, my considered options were a S/H Bridgy (which won't fit in) an X3 or the 626, so in essence it was a choice between the latter two, I'm sure I would have been happy with a X3 but, I'm glad I waited for this one.

CC


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## CrewCab (Aug 9, 2009)

Anyway, a question for you guys used to bigger mills ..................

On the X2 I have a locking pin to stop the quill rotating while I undo the draw bar to change tooling, there is no similar device on this mill, I've downloaded the Grizzly Manual and it says

_"Keep one hand on the tool, loosen the adjustment hex nut, then completely unthread the drawbar"
_
It just doesn't feel right, how do you tighten and loosen the ER collet chuck 

CC


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## ksouers (Aug 9, 2009)

CC,
Sounds like your first mod/project has found you  ;D

My Powermatic has a pin that I must hold up that locks the spindle. Gravity will cause it to drop out, freeing the spindle. That's the theory, anyway. So, as you might expect it often stays stuck when I don't want it to and will fall out when I need it to stay up. It seems I need 3 or 4 hands to change tools, but I manage.

The pulley stack has 3 holes in the bottom for the pin to catch, so I don't need a full rotation to catch a hole.

The spindle is an R8 and somewhere along it's life it lost the pin inside the spindle that keeps collets etc from spinning, so once the tool is loosened I have to hold the tool to keep it from spinning inside the spindle while I undo the drawbar, all the while keeping the spindle from spinning as well.

Changing tools on the X2 is much easier...


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## CrewCab (Aug 9, 2009)

Well, I've solved the problem of loosening the ER Chuck by "retro fitting" a couple of flats : ............ 












but I still feel I should be able to lock the quill ............... perhaps it's just X2 syndrome 

CC


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## arnoldb (Aug 10, 2009)

Nice going CC - and good to hear you're happy with the mill.



> but I still feel I should be able to lock the quill ...............


Is there a modification coming up ??? ;D

Regards, Arnold


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## CrewCab (Aug 10, 2009)

arnoldb  said:
			
		

> Is there a modification coming up ??? ;D



Perhaps, If I can find a successful one that I can copy base mine on ;D

There is a very active Yahoo group for the 626 Mills, but, for the life of me, I find the Yahoo groups very hard to navigate and to follow  ............. but, if anyone can advise me otherwise I would appreciate it.

CC


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