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Thread: New (to me) WM30 mill.

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    Default New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Well, last week I took the plunge and purchased a used machine from a forum member for a great price. He had purchased an RF-45 and wanted to move this machine to make room for that one. It's Weiss WM30 with the long table. I've looked at this as a similar class of machine to the Tormach 770 I lust after but am not going to have. I wanted something that had more Y travel than my PM-20 and more mass to take a little more cut. The fact that this would already be largely converted was a huge plus. I will not need to machine screws and make axis hardware. I love the column attachment on these machines better than the older PM-20 style. Seems much easier to bring into tram when the column bolts to the top of the base.

    I'm planning to use one of Keling's 3 axis breakout/driver combos for the new control. Lot's of stuff baked in that I was trying to cobble up on my breakout and got distracted with. Spindle control 0-10V and charge-pump are built-in as well. Motors are 570oz on X/Y and a 906oz for the Z.

    The shipping manifest showed it at ~580lbs and seemed to be every oz of that weight too. They fork-lifted the mill crate onto my pickup truck but to get it off I had to disassemble it on the truck and take it off a bit at a time. It's funny. It doesn't seem too much bigger till you walk back to the PM-20 after spending time with the 30. Then you clearly see the size difference. That and when my wife and I tried to move the base+table we quickly determined that wouldn't be wise. That base alone seems to weight almost as much as my current mill.

    Plans are to use my exiting mill to setup for an oiling system on the new one. It will be far easier to accomplish with my PM-20 than it would have been on the old X2. I will be constructing a base from heavy lumber to support the mill and provide a better enclosure than my current shower curtain hanging from the ceiling. I also will be looking at how to convert to a belt drive. I'd really like to get at least 4000 out of it, 5000 would be nicer and worth a bearing upgrade if need be. I'd like to have a high and low gear. I know my current mill struggles with drilling at less than 2000RPM in high gear as well as facing or fly-cutting. I will also do the 3 bolt mod on this machines head casting as well.

    I will also be prepping my old mil to sell. It really needs me to create some kind of enclosure for electronics and a remote E-Stop for at least the CNC drives. I now have strong motivation though. Since I would like to pay for this mill using the proceeds of the other.

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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Looks like a nice machine. Congrats. I got the Keling 3 axis (MX3660) driver to simplify setting up, and the same motors. I haven't determined if the Spindle 0-10V optional section shown on the driver/BOB requires another power supply, or not. It seems info is sketchy at best on some of this stuff. I also got the ethernet smoothstepper to handle the connection to the computer, rather than a parallel cable. I picked up a dead Shuttle K45 for the case to possibly use as an electronics enclosure. It's small, and I just have to mock things up to see if it is useable.



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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Nice mill, its so hard to find a 30 anymore!

    It does not look so big until you go to move it and it really is heaver than it looks.

    Top speed is not too bad stock. The stock spindle bearings were real tight on that one so before you run it faster you will want to re set the preload or change to A/C bearings.

    youtube videos of the G0704 under the name arizonavideo99


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Yeah, I think they are an awesome nich. But probably in that grey area where they don't sell to the mini-mill crowd, and if people want to move up they want to move **UP** and go RF-45 or MD001. I think it's a very nice size for me. It's manageable still without heavy lifting gear and its a lot more massive than an 0704 or 25. And you are right. I went to shift that crate a bit to get more room to work and I just grunted and huffed and succeeded only in moving myself around. Had to get the head and column off before I could get it too move on the rubber bed liner.

    I'll likely look at replacing the spindle bearings with the same tapered rollers I used in my PM-20. Once they broke-in the machine just purred along wonderfully and ran cooler at 4500 then it used to at 3000. I'll try to re-set pre-load first but if they give me issues I'll chuck 'em for better ones. I know realistically that 4-5K is as good as it's going to get.

    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Now that I have finished up a customer's job I had some time this weekend to start working on this again. I carted the parts I will need to get to work on out to the shop and took a peak under the hood on the milling head. The motor control seems to be in good shape but seems a little sluggish responding to load. Might tweak the pots a *little* to see if I can up the reaction to load a bit. Just looking at the spindle it seems like there is a pretty decent amount of stuff to grab onto for a belt drive but the motor shaft seemed kinda tricky. The end is turned down heavily to fit the gear onto the shaft. Figure I don't want to lever too far off that shaft. Might be best to make a stepped bore for the pulley so I can slip it onto the motor shaft as far as possible. Been a long time since I did the PM-25 so I don't recall if it was that way too.

    I'm going to start laying out the pattern for oiling channels in the saddles. Until I'm ready to plumb up the oil system is it possible to just install those little ball-bearing type oil-ports (not sure of the correct term)? That would still allow me to better oil the ways than just slather it on and hope some works in between.

    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Quote Originally Posted by davidlee64 View Post
    Looks like a nice machine. Congrats. I got the Keling 3 axis (MX3660) driver to simplify setting up, and the same motors. I haven't determined if the Spindle 0-10V optional section shown on the driver/BOB requires another power supply, or not. It seems info is sketchy at best on some of this stuff. I also got the ethernet smoothstepper to handle the connection to the computer, rather than a parallel cable. I picked up a dead Shuttle K45 for the case to possibly use as an electronics enclosure. It's small, and I just have to mock things up to see if it is useable.
    The MX3660 will require a separate 0-10 supply.

    A lazy man does it twice.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Ok, I don't think I'm going to be able to get a fully plumbed oil system setup before I need to get the PM-25 sold. So I'm thinking that I can do the hard parts now, milling the channels, cross drilling the ports, and threading them. My thought was that instead of all the plumbing bits for now I could install those ball bearing oil ports for now until I'm ready to buy and install a one-shot system. I want to be sure that I get parts that are correct. I don't even know what the names of the ball-bearing oil ports are?

    Oiler designs also have my head swimming. Is there a good set of plans out there with a stable list of parts? I know the machine is not turn-key but I am trying to avoid a bunch of rabbit hole type projects that take 6 months to complete and tweak into functional systems. I'd like to settle on a design so I can select the ports that are sized close to what I need.

    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Made some progress on building a new stand for the machine. Because I have no welding skills nor welding friends the stand will be wood but with some features to facilitate a better leveling arrangement. I'm using 4x4 posts vertically to support the weight of the machine which should provide excellent strength with no real threat of sagging like a bench would tend to do. The legs will be mounted onto good leveling casters to permit moving the machine out from the wall when needed. There will be a compartment for electrical on one side of the machine and a compartment for fixture storage directly under it. To the other side is more storage for coolant, ect.

    The interface beteween the mill and the stand will be a steel plate supported on leveling studs as large as I can pass through the bolt slots on the base. This will allow the machine to be leveled and not have cast iron in contact with the wood at all. I'm going to shape a pan from plywood and use some kind of marine coating to make it waterproof, as much as possible. I want to have better chip containment than the current shower curtain around my machine provides.

    This allows me to place the CNC controls / motor controller / and possibly the PC inside the stand and do a nicer job of wiring it. I'll install some 12V cooling fans to the compartment as well as shields to keep chips out.

    I've identified the oil-port parts I want so that I can oil the machine manually until I settle on the fittings for a one-shot system. I'm working now on plans for the oil grooves in the X, Y, and Z saddles.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_0843-jpg   New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_0842-jpg  
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Quote Originally Posted by photomankc View Post
    I'm going to shape a pan from plywood and use some kind of marine coating to make it waterproof, as much as possible.
    Have you considered some flavor of fiberglass & epoxy? That would be significantly more durable.



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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    That is what I am considering depending on how much trouble it becomes to obtain the fiberglass. There are some options I see mentioned that can be done minus the fiberglass and should be fine for the low-duty cycle involved. Still, I would prefer fiberglass if I can get the materials without too much fuss and expense.

    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Keep us updated on your stand, I have a simliar sized mill on a much smaller stand, I would like to build a chip tray for.



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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Take the time to do a nice fiberglass pan. Mine has worked out quite well so far.

    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...uestion-2.html



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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    LOL. I *KNEW* I had seen that design somewhere on here but couldn't locate it so I made mine from recall. I really liked the 4x4 posts vertically arranged. Thanks for posting the inspiration!

    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    So I finally got home with some spare time after 2 months of traveling and worked up the nerve to start cutting on mill saddle. I added oil groves to the top and bottom of the saddle as well as entrance holes feeding the groove. Now I have to noodle how I'm going to setup to cross-drill the connection holes. For now I will be using 3/16 press-fit ball oilers so I can oil the grooves with an oil can later on I will add real plumbing to it for a one-shot system. I still find myself a little lost in the choices for valves, fittings, and tubing but I need to get the grooved and cross-drilling done so I can move on with other work. I need to sell my PM-25 pretty soon and I'd like to have this one up and running shortly after.

    I used a 0.156" carbide ball-nose to make the oil grooves at 0.045" depth of cut. It cut beautifully at 14IPM and 4000RPM. I've been using BobCAM(v27) to generate the tool path and G-Code. So far it's been decent. There are still a lot of bugs but it allows me to use the solid model to work from rather than converting to DXF and manually inputing the widths and depths. I've been kind of craving that along with easy simulation of the results. It also has a S&F calculator that seems to have reasonable defaults and agrees pretty well with GWizard for most common cutting conditions. GWizard still has better refined numbers but at least the BobCAM defaults are sensible. Other programs can make a forgotten S&F setting in an operation a complete disaster.

    I can't call it great software. It crashes FAR too often and silently fails to produce toolpaths at times. It was decent though for the price I ended up paying for it.

    I have to pay off some medical bills for, me, my wife, and my kid. It's been a banner month for the 'ol photoman household for injuries.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1132-jpg   New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1133-jpg   New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1134-jpg  
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Tested out the oil-port idea on the first X axis oil groove. Started the oil port cross drilled holes on the mill and then switched to the drill press to finish up using the pilot holes formed on the mill. That worked nicely since the reamer was too long to use easily on the mill's Z. With the saddle mounted on its end I had to use screw machine length in ER-25 holders to have enough Z space to operate in. The holes were finished reamed to 3/16" for the oil ports to press into. Pressed the ports in with just some adjustable C clamps.

    My first oiler made me think this would be a failure. It just would not get anything through the oil port. Barely worked with the grooves wide open, if I put something over the grooves it was impossible to deliver oil. I then tried the one I had from the auto parts store and it nearly squirted oil into my face through the top of the saddle after I filed a small grove in the tip of that oil gun. Perfect. With the grooves covered it still delivered plenty of oil so that seems to be a success for now so I will continue to head down this direction with the remaining oil ports.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1137-jpg  
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Finally finished adding oil ports to the saddle. Added the ports for the Y axis slide. This was a little tougher to finish since there were no finished surfaces to work from and it's too long on end to work with on my machine's Z. The ends of the X dovetails were rough casting as well so no clean way to stand it up on end. I setup on the mill to machine in a flat around the oil-port area on each of the Y dovetails. Bit of a brain-fart in the morning when I set it up. I don't know why i didn't think to flip it over and machine a smaller flat from the bottom rather than coming down from the top. Would have needed less material removed. But it's done now.

    I also machined the ends of the X axis dovetails flat and perp. to the ground surface on the front of the saddle. This made is FAR easier to setup on the drill press to drill and ream the 3/16" holes to press the oil ball valves into. Had to mark it out by hand since I couldn't pilot drill the hole on the mill like last time.

    This job has made me happy I purchased the angle plate and 2-4-6 blocks. They've been a big help in setting up for this job.

    Next stop. Z Saddle!

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1140-jpg   New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1142-jpg   New (to me) WM30 mill.-img_1143-jpg  
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Well, now that the medical bills from the summer are starting to taper off I'm looking at getting my stand finished up. I've been working up a 3D model of it to design the chip pan. I'm going to try to get it done with fiberglass using plywood as a mold to lay the fabric. I'm guessing I'll use shower drains in the pan floor for eventual flood coolant. I'm going to stick with heavy clear shower curtain though on the sides. I really appreciate the fact that I can get around my current machine to work on this or that without needing to disassemble a big cabinet around it to do it. It will not look as spiff as some designs but the curtain has been very functional for me.

    The side cabinets will be for control electronics and PC. Perhaps also spindle power for a VFD later on down the road. I'll just need something to mount up a display and keyboard. Hope to start getting the fiberglass going in December.




    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails New (to me) WM30 mill.-screen-shot-2015-12-02-12-36-a  
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Nice work so far.

    Regarding the oiling. I thought up this simple solution a year or more ago using the zerks and tubing. Cheap and easy and tested to reasonably high pressures (about 140psi air). I never had it fail. But I also havent tested it at higher pressures and dont need to. It is an oiler. I figure the zerks already have the check valve so the oil wont drain back between oilings etc. Anyway in case you hadnt seen this, it is a cheap and very viable solution. And since zerks fittings come in so many angle configurations, you are bound to find them for your app.



    A lazy man does it twice.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    Very cool. Where did you get the zerks from? So far the only ones I have come across were the flat variety I added to my machine. This has been the most difficult part of the design really. The shear number of various types and designs of these fittings makes me feel like a deer in oncoming traffic. Thanks for the tip though.... I like how unobtrusive that would be vs some of the other versions I have seen.


    Edit: Never mind. I ran across them as 'grease fittings'. I guess that was what my fittings really were too despite find them when searching for oil fitting.

    Last edited by photomankc; 12-07-2015 at 04:35 PM.
    CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.


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    Default Re: New (to me) WM30 mill.

    They are available at all auto parts or hardware stores. Most auto parts stores have bins of Dorman or similar parts, not the package stuff on the shelves if you are desiring something specific. You can get them in different diameters too. You could probably run even smaller tubing if needed.
    It was just 1 of those comic like lightbulb moments that inspired it. I havent used it yet be see no reason it wouldnt work and again, its cheap. You could also just use a tap in a piece of tubing to get a real low profile fitting.

    A lazy man does it twice.


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