I Got Burnt!!

The most important areas to pay attention to on these benchtop mills of any brand, the real deal breakers for me are is the table flat and are the ways ground straight and true. These machines are notorious for crap ways with tight and loose spots.

If you think these kinds of things can't happen on more expensive machines...my brother and his company are going round and round with Mori Sieki on a brand new $200,000 CNC lathe, the Y axis is rusting and pitting badly.

Agreed coolidge. After cleanup and reassembly one of the first things I checked was the table. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least (VERY flat). And I have no bind/loose on the ways. When I got my 1340GT (Taiwan) there were some niggling things I had to address, so even on a much more expensive machine there were still some issues.

I probably will never own/buy a machine that doesn't need something fixed/adjusted/cleaned. :)
 
4. Shifting into gear difficult - as a new machinist he may not know that you have to turn the spindle a bit to engage the gears when changing gears and let the lever find its spot. Those levers are not precise with the front panel, put in gear properly the lever may not line up exactly with the marks painted on the front panel. It sounds like its not centered on the gear and rubbing on another gear. If you can engage the gear properly and there's no rubbing/clicking on another gear, but the lever isn't exactly centered on the front panel indicator then no big deal. If it continues to grind on another gear with the lever wobbling then okay, something is wrong there and I might be looking to return the mill. As for the shift lever rubbing on the front panel mine does that to, that's not exactly a precision fit. Clearly they could machine some off the back of the lever or use a thinner front panel to create more clearance but its another cosmetic issue. Design you're own thinner front panel with FrontPanelExpress software and pimp that mill out!!

It is quite possible that in trying to force the gears into place that something in the lever/yolk assembly of the shifter has been moved out of alignment causing the vibration. From the video that appears to me to be gears rubbing.

As a side note, the levers on theses machines are typically installed by drilling a hole through the lever body and the shaft at the same time after the gear head is assembled and then, using a pin or roll pin to hold in place. No two are done exactly the same. A fiber washer during assembly would go a long way in avoiding the rubbing.
 
Yes, they are simply held on by a roll pin. And shifting those levers was never precise IIRC. I fixed that with a gross-overkill of gutting the head and installing a belt drive. :)
 
It is quite possible that in trying to force the gears into place that something in the lever/yolk assembly of the shifter has been moved out of alignment causing the vibration. From the video that appears to me to be gears rubbing.

As a side note, the levers on theses machines are typically installed by drilling a hole through the lever body and the shaft at the same time after the gear head is assembled and then, using a pin or roll pin to hold in place. No two are done exactly the same. A fiber washer during assembly would go a long way in avoiding the rubbing.

A fiber washer is a good idea, I want to say my mill of old 9 years ago had a washer under there. He may have a defective gear head, the one on my first 12z was dodgy the right hand lever would actually move too far to the right and lock up the entire head. Positioned as best as I could position it still wobbled back and forth like his does in the video. If he still has the first mill I'd check to see if CO was okay with swapping the heads.
 
My Bridgeport and my g0730 makes That clicking noise when cranking at a rapid pace:chunky: as does the mills at the college, it's in the handles.
As for the casting voids well that's part of foundry work, AS long as they are not in a critical area or affecting the function or accuracy. You cant remelt all castings or you would never get anything out and the price would be prohibitive. ( people who have worked in a foundry understand this) Remember that we buy these imports because we cant afford the high quality machines like Bridgeport and monarch and this is the price we pay to play. Many manufacturers hide the voids with dondo, its a common practice, unless we strip the paint off of them we will never know. My old D.E> whiten gear cutter ( my avatar ) was loaded with lead, as was many of the old machines I have rebuilt . As for the lead screws binding well that could be anything from loose screws to tight gibs and needs to be looked into further. Now the gear noise and the vibrating in the head stock is a problem that should be fixed to your satisfaction! the rest is cosmetic.
 
A fiber washer is a good idea, I want to say my mill of old 9 years ago had a washer under there. He may have a defective gear head, the one on my first 12z was dodgy the right hand lever would actually move too far to the right and lock up the entire head. Positioned as best as I could position it still wobbled back and forth like his does in the video. If he still has the first mill I'd check to see if CO was okay with swapping the heads.

The gears that move are indexed by a sprung ball and detent. If the gears are properly indexing and there is vibration/rubbing then it may be more serious. The transmission is pretty simple and I would not have any reservations pulling it apart to find the problem, fixing it and moving on. I can totally understand being frustrated with issues on a new machine but as along time owner of Chinese made machines I have come to accept there will be issues I need to deal with.

I don't know what the issue was with his first machine but I am surprised they went as far as send a whole new machine. Typical response would be to send a replacement part.

Back when I was building homes I always got a kick out of replacing $50 Moen faucet (which you could still get parts for) that had lasted 50 years with a $800 European faucet would only last about a year.
 
Sorry to hear. I try and avoid anything that is import for my shop within reason and reputation of source. I love old USA iron. You will not see a burnt video from me because of old USA iron. That being said, It may be a better choice fixing up old USA iron than to buy new China crap. Yes, you will get your hands dirty and you could find yourself saying at times “I made a big mistake buying this project”. But when all the dust settles down. You can proudly say you restored it and it will last your lifetime…Good Luck, Dave.
 
Hey guys I have just been informed that some how two videos have been posted. The one you should view is named Charter Oak milling machine and is 5 .57 minutes in length.
 
FWIW, I would try to get a full refund and go buy a Grizzly. At least they stand behind their stuff. That is ****-poor customer service and quality.
 
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