Thread: Hercus OLM279

HI,

Just wondering if these taper pins are the ones used to locate the vertical head on the mill?

Hercus Taper Pins 2 NEW Suit Hercus 9" Metal Lathe | eBay

Mine didn't come with the locating pins so it's something I need to fix this as soon as I can.

Ben.

Also I'm thinking of buying a toolmakers vice like this:

63mm 2 5" QGG Screw Guide Precision Toolmarker'S Vise Free Postage | eBay

It's maximum height is 80mm.

Originally Posted by bwal74

HI,

Just wondering if these taper pins are the ones used to locate the vertical head on the mill?

Hercus Taper Pins 2 NEW Suit Hercus 9" Metal Lathe | eBay

Mine didn't come with the locating pins so it's something I need to fix this as soon as I can.

Ben.

Also I'm thinking of buying a toolmakers vice like this:

63mm 2 5" QGG Screw Guide Precision Toolmarker'S Vise Free Postage | eBay

It's maximum height is 80mm.

Ben,

The locating pins are nothing like those taper pins. They aren't tapered. I'm pretty sure the mill handbook contains details of the method of their installation. I installed them in my No. O.

The vice shown is a grinding vice. In my humble opinion and whilst I'm not an exponent of buying Chinese I reckon you would be far better served by purchasing a milling vice such as this - 3" 80mm Precision Swivel Milling Machine Vise Free Postage | eBay

Milling requires the workpiece to be securely clamped. The milling vice should have more clamping force than that dainty grinding vice. Also, the long sliding jaw on the former lessens the chance of jaw lift which if happens will often result in non parallelism of the milled surface.

Bob.

Ben, The dowels provide alignment of the vertical head enabling correct meshing of the gears. A ring is required that fits inside the VH casting and in turn slides onto the drive gear ensuring concentricity. The dowel locating holes are then drilled into mill body casting through the holes provided in the VH casting. I encountered a problem when drilling those holes on my mill. The left hand hole was perilously close to the edge of the mill body. I made my dowels as stepped dowels and made drill guide bushes to fit in the existing holes in the VH. Hercus may have repositioned the holes on latter mills. My mill is an early version, serial number OL-8. The early vertical heads did not feature the offset gear drive. (For some weird reason the enter button is not working on my keyboard hence the lack of paragraphs.)

Originally Posted by Anorak Bob

Ben,

The locating pins are nothing like those taper pins. They aren't tapered. I'm pretty sure the mill handbook contains details of the method of their installation. I installed them in my No. O.

The vice shown is a grinding vice. In my humble opinion and whilst I'm not an exponent of buying Chinese I reckon you would be far better served by purchasing a milling vice such as this - 3" 80mm Precision Swivel Milling Machine Vise Free Postage | eBay

Milling requires the workpiece to be securely clamped. The milling vice should have more clamping force than that dainty grinding vice. Also, the long sliding jaw on the former lessens the chance of jaw lift which if happens will often result in non parallelism of the milled surface.

Bob.

Bob
Good to see you back on this forum.
Agree with you the small vise shown by Ben would not be suitable for milling, its as you say a grinding vise & perhaps a small dia drill vise. (Light work)
The one you have shown from Ozemestore would be a winner with its swivelling base & low overall height.
Probably should have purchased one of these rather than refurbish the Hercus vice I had second hand & damaged that came with my mill.
Some years back I purchased a hardened & ground vise (very accurate) as shown in the photo, its got similiar dimensions to the one you highlighted. It does not have a swivel base, but has proved effective.
I think they are still available off E Bay new.
regards
Bruce

Hi Fellas,

Thanks for the input. I already have the milling vice offered from Ozmestore1, overall it does the job for the money I paid. But its 90mm high and as you both would know, vertical space is limited on the Hercus. I was also looking at this one:

63mm 2 5" QKG Quick Action Precision Toolmakers' Vise Free Postage | eBay but wasn't exactly sure of how you clamp it to the table.

To overcome the height limitations I will start to (or when I actually need to) clamp jobs to the table. That means buying or making clamping pieces. I already made some tee nuts now I just need studs, washers and clamps.

I'll have to dig out my Hercus folder and look up the part about the locating pins. I think my holes are already drilled in my machine, I will borrow the wife's phone tomorrow and post some photo's.

Cheers Ben.

Originally Posted by bwal74

Hi Fellas,

Thanks for the input. I already have the milling vice offered from Ozmestore1, overall it does the job for the money I paid. But its 90mm high and as you both would know, vertical space is limited on the Hercus. I was also looking at this one:

63mm 2 5" QKG Quick Action Precision Toolmakers' Vise Free Postage | eBay but wasn't exactly sure of how you clamp it to the table.

To overcome the height limitations I will start to (or when I actually need to) clamp jobs to the table. That means buying or making clamping pieces. I already made some tee nuts now I just need studs, washers and clamps.

I'll have to dig out my Hercus folder and look up the part about the locating pins. I think my holes are already drilled in my machine, I will borrow the wife's phone tomorrow and post some photo's.

Cheers Ben.

Ben
That vice is identical in design to the one I have.
Mine is 75 mm wide by 65mm high.
It been a total winner, in that its very accurate, & the moveable jaw does not tend to lift the workpiece when its tightened up. Easy to clamp the vice to the machine table by clamping into the slots in the vice sides or ends.
I made a bunch of small clamp plates, & tee nuts & threaded studs of varying lengths.
Very easy to bump the workpiece down onto parallels. I use a piece a lead about 2'' or so across. Its an old weight off a scuba diving belt. The lead works fine for me in setting the workpiece before machining. Its a dead weight with no bounce.
My End Mill head is located by a couple of Shoulder screws. I will take a photo for you, if needed.
If yours are lost it would be a simple job to turn up replacements.
regards
Bruce

Hi Bruce,

If you could post a photo or two of your locating pins that would be helpful. I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do but a picture paints a thousands words.

Thanks Ben.

Ben
Here are photos & a sketch of the 2 Alignment Screws for the Hercus End Mill Head.
They could be machined up from a piece of Bright Mild Steel rod.
The important dimensions are the .250" dia & the .3125" dia. as these mate with the corresponding dia holes.
You may notice I have also slotted the heads of the Hexagon Bolts 3 off used to clamp the End Mill Head in position.
This is to simplify removal & refitting. A hex spanner is used for final tightening of these clamp bolts.
When you machine the 2 Alignment Screws everything should line up & be good.
regards
Bruce

Thanks Bruce,

I like the slotting of the heads idea, I was going to sacrifice an old spanner but I'll give this a go instead. I've emailed your drawing to work so will hopefully get some done this week.

Thanks Ben.

Originally Posted by bwal74

Thanks Bruce,

I like the slotting of the heads idea, I was going to sacrifice an old spanner but I'll give this a go instead. I've emailed your drawing to work so will hopefully get some done this week.

Thanks Ben.

Ben
Have any luck with your alignment screws for the Hercus O Mill ?
Bruce
ps I have been using my mill, a lot lately they are a wonderful mill.

Hi Bruce,

Unfortunately not. Daylight savings has conspired against me, we have 5 kids and the youngest two are one and three years old . They won't go to bed now until 7.30/8.00ish and by the time they do it's generally to late to start anything (and both the wife and I are nervous wrecks). Hopefully we will get a routine going again and I'll be able to get back into it. I'm still in the middle of doing a lathe stop for my lathe which is nearly finished. I've got heaps of projects I need to sort out, the list keeps getting bigger.

Even work has been really busy so no time to do my own bodgie's.

I told my wife I need time in the man cave real soon, which she agrees with, but I'm not sure where to start.

Cheers Ben.

Hi,

I was going to start a new post regarding this question but it relates directly to my mill.

Due to space constraints my garage/workshop/storage area is out of space and I've stuffed my mill in-between the shaper and tool chest. It's not really optimal. So now I'm thinking off making up a trolley to put in on (so I can move it in and out when I need it). Most hardware shops sell heavy duty castors with brakes for reasonable prices and I could fasten the mill to the trolley so it won't come off.

So what do most Hercus Mill owners think?

Ben

ps I was just thinking of maybe putting the shaper on a trolley?

A mill on wheels is no problem and is a good idea, just make sure you build the base wide enough so when the caster's turn in it's still stable.

My shapers are on wheels so I could move them easy, but you would need some fairly rigid wind down feet to handle the back and forth when it is running.
I put caster's on all 4 corners but would recomend fixed wheels on the back where the weight is if its a Douglas.

Dave

Hi,

I've turned up some locating pins for my vertical head. Was attempting to cut some a slot in the first one and things didn't go to well. I did a test slot in a large bolt head (gal bolt which I faced off in the lathe), it wasn't too bad. But i think I'm running the mill to slow for slotting. I think I'm doing about 900 rpm (I'm not really sure because I haven't figured out the VFD speeds yet) maybe slower. I've blunted the slotting blade ( a cheapie from ozeseller in SA :75x1 0mm X72 Teeth HSS Slitting Slotting SAW Free Postage | eBay). I was taking about 0.10mm cuts. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

Ben

What is the material you are cutting?

If its mild steel run the saw around 150 RPM or less.

If its High Tensile run it around 100 RPM or less.