Elliott Omnimill 00 advice needed.

[Ben17484]

There’s one of these mills for sale near me and I think it looks like a good upgrade for me at a good price. I can’t find too much out about them beyond what’s on lathes.co.uk so was after some advice. Firstly, has anyone had one or a similar model and how do they rate? Secondly, has anyone had one apart for transportation reasons? I need to get it through a single doorway over and down a step. I have an engine hoist and some good willpower, but that’s about it. Do they come apart in to reasonable chunks for moving?

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[matthewsx]

I don’t know anything about the brand but it looks like a good hobby sized machine. Is that a horizontal spindle, and if so does it come with a spindle and overarm stuff?

If the price was right I’d probably be all over it.

John

 

[Aukai]

Would you be able to pull the table all the way in one direction, angle it through the doorway, then run the table all the way in the opposite direction to get it through the door?

 

[TimHarrison]

I have a Junior Omnimil, virtually identical but earlier.

The swivelling over arm at the top can be removed fairly easily with 4 nuts and disconnect the motor wiring, then the entire vertical spindle, overarm and motor can be lifted off. The table and knee also comes off by removing the screw fittings from the chip tray and disconnect the table feed then lift off. After that the engine houst should be capable of moving the main body of the mill through a door.

Fully assembled the mill weighs about a ton and a bit so most hoists will need a bit of weight stripped off anyway.

I love mine but it is currently down for some electrical work as the previous owner had problems with it and had bodged it removing the starter and operating it by using the motor direction switches to start and stop the motors.

 

[Ben17484]

I have a Junior Omnimil, virtually identical but earlier.

The swivelling over arm at the top can be removed fairly easily with 4 nuts and disconnect the motor wiring, then the entire vertical spindle, overarm and motor can be lifted off. The table and knee also comes off by removing the screw fittings from the chip tray and disconnect the table feed then lift off. After that the engine houst should be capable of moving the main body of the mill through a door.

Fully assembled the mill weighs about a ton and a bit so most hoists will need a bit of weight stripped off anyway.

I love mine but it is currently down for some electrical work as the previous owner had problems with it and had bodged it removing the starter and operating it by using the motor direction switches to start and stop the motors.

Thanks for the info Tim.

I like the look of it and it seems like the perfect size for me.

The one I’m looking at is 3 phase so I need to factor in the cost of the parts needed to work on single phase. I’ve not really looked In to this yet, so I’m not sure how much that’ll all cost.


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[matthewsx]

Thanks for the info Tim.

I like the look of it and it seems like the perfect size for me.

The one I’m looking at is 3 phase so I need to factor in the cost of the parts needed to work on single phase. I’ve not really looked In to this yet, so I’m not sure how much that’ll all cost.


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VFD's are cheap and adapting a mill shouldn't be tough.

John

 

[Ben17484]

I have a Junior Omnimil, virtually identical but earlier.

The swivelling over arm at the top can be removed fairly easily with 4 nuts and disconnect the motor wiring, then the entire vertical spindle, overarm and motor can be lifted off. The table and knee also comes off by removing the screw fittings from the chip tray and disconnect the table feed then lift off. After that the engine houst should be capable of moving the main body of the mill through a door.

Fully assembled the mill weighs about a ton and a bit so most hoists will need a bit of weight stripped off anyway.

I love mine but it is currently down for some electrical work as the previous owner had problems with it and had bodged it removing the starter and operating it by using the motor direction switches to start and stop the motors.

I can’t find an awful lot about these mills online, but lathes.co.uk mentions that the ridgidity on the vertical head isn’t the best so you shouldn’t take too deep of a cut. Do you find you have an issue with this?


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[TimHarrison]

I can’t find an awful lot about these mills online, but lathes.co.uk mentions that the ridgidity on the vertical head isn’t the best so you shouldn’t take too deep of a cut. Do you find you have an issue with this?


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I have not found any issue wit this, but I dont tend to be using large carbide cutters and making big cuts which would probably find any weaknesses. The overarm carrying the spindle is never going to match the rigidity of a purpose built vertical mill but as the vertical motor is 3/4 HP against the 1 1/2 HP of the horizontal motor there is not the power to push that hard either.

Overall I find the mill to be a great machine for my use as it is very flexible with having both vertical and horizontal capabilities, plenty of power for my needs and as rigid as I need.