IMPROVING THE DORE WESTBURY MILLING MACHINE
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I BOUGHT A DORE WESTBURY MILL MINUS THE HEAD ON FLEABAY AND EVER SINCE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A SUITABLE HEAD TO FIT ON IT.
I`VE BEEN CONSIDERING BUYING A RUSNOK MODEL 70 HEAD FROM THE USA BUT THIS TYPE, ROUGHLY THE SZE OF THE DW DOES NOT HAVE THE FINE FEED OR THE 2 MORSE TAPER SOCKET AND THROUGH HOLE IN THE SPINDLE AND IS EXPENSIVE TO BUY, PLUS ALL THE PROBLEMS OF FREIGHT AND CUSTOMS DUTY TO NORWAY. THE RUSNOCK IS SIMILAR BUT SMALLER THAN THE BRIDGEPORT "M" HEAD AND HAS A MANUALLY OPERATED QUILL JUST LIKE A DRILLING MACHINE.
I`VE BEEN CONSIDERING BUYING A RUSNOK MODEL 70 HEAD FROM THE USA BUT THIS TYPE, ROUGHLY THE SZE OF THE DW DOES NOT HAVE THE FINE FEED OR THE 2 MORSE TAPER SOCKET AND THROUGH HOLE IN THE SPINDLE AND IS EXPENSIVE TO BUY, PLUS ALL THE PROBLEMS OF FREIGHT AND CUSTOMS DUTY TO NORWAY. THE RUSNOCK IS SIMILAR BUT SMALLER THAN THE BRIDGEPORT "M" HEAD AND HAS A MANUALLY OPERATED QUILL JUST LIKE A DRILLING MACHINE.
ABOVE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF THE "HEADLESS" DORE WESTBURY MK2 THE TABLE SIZE IS 500 X 150
ABOVE IS THE DIMENSIONAL SKETCH OF THE RUSNOK 70 HEAD
MY INITIAL DESIGN THOUGHTS ARE TO CARVE OUT A MODIFIED HEAD FROM HT ALUMINIUM ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE DW MK2. THIS WOULD HAVE A MOTOR MOUNTED ABOVE THE HEAD SIMILAR TO THE ABOVE CONFIGURATION. I WOULD LOOK INTO HAVING ONLY ONE TOOTHED PULLEY ON EACH OF THE MOTOR AND HEAD SPINDLES AND HAVE THE VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR RUN FROM 150 TO 2500 RPM, WHICH WOULD REMOVE THE COMPLEXITY OF THE DW MULTIPLE PULLEY AND BACK GEAR ASSEMBLY.
ABOVE ARE VIEWS OF THE DORE WESTBURY MK2 MILLING HEAD
RECENTLY I`VE BEEN READING THROUGH A WEBSITE andysmachines.weebly.com WHERE HE DESCRIBES HIS VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE FOR THE DORE WESTBURY MK1 MILL. I CORRESPONDED WITH ANDY BUT UNFORTUNATELY HE PASSED AWAY SOME TIME AGO BUT THE BEAUTY OF THE D.I.Y WEBSITE HOSTED BY WEEBLY.COM IS THAT THERE IS NO FEE FOR A SIMPLE WEBSITE SO THAT ANDY`S SITE IS STILL AVAILABLE ON LINE.
ABOVE IS A PHOTO OF ANDY`S DW MK1 WITH THE VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR AND SPEED CONTROL UNIT. ON MY MACHINE THE SPEED CONTROL WILL HAVE TO BE RE POSITIONED AS MY PROPOSED NEW HEAD WILL CLASH WITH IT. ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT ANDY USED A SECOND HAND TREADMILL MOTOR TO POWER THE HEAD BUT I WILL SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION THAT USES A STANDARD OFF THE SHELF 240V UNIT. MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE NEW TYPES OF VARIABLE SPEED CONTROLLERS IS DISMAL SO THAT I WILL HAVE TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE BEFORE I CAN LAY OUT THE HEAD DESIGN.
MY INTENTION IS TO HAVE THE COLUMN VERTICAL MOVEMENT CONTROLLED BY MEANS OF A PINION WORKING WITH A RACK CUT IN THE NEW PLAIN VERTICAL COLUMN. THIS WILL MEAN THAT THE HEAD WILL HAVE TO BE SWIVELED OVER THE BED BY MEANS OF A FLANGED JOINT UNDER THE "TEE" CASTING AS THE COLUMN WON`T SWIVEL. THE SAME GOES FOR THE HORIZONTAL TUBE AS THE HEAD WILL SWIVEL THROUGH 180 DEGREES VIA A FLANGED CONNECTION AT THE HEAD.
i WILL DO A PRELIMINARY LAYOUT OF WHAT I INTEND TO DO TO SEE IF THIS IS POSSIBLE, AS MANY IDEAS FALL AT THE HURDLE OF THE FIRST LAYOUT.
MY INTENTION IS TO HAVE THE COLUMN VERTICAL MOVEMENT CONTROLLED BY MEANS OF A PINION WORKING WITH A RACK CUT IN THE NEW PLAIN VERTICAL COLUMN. THIS WILL MEAN THAT THE HEAD WILL HAVE TO BE SWIVELED OVER THE BED BY MEANS OF A FLANGED JOINT UNDER THE "TEE" CASTING AS THE COLUMN WON`T SWIVEL. THE SAME GOES FOR THE HORIZONTAL TUBE AS THE HEAD WILL SWIVEL THROUGH 180 DEGREES VIA A FLANGED CONNECTION AT THE HEAD.
i WILL DO A PRELIMINARY LAYOUT OF WHAT I INTEND TO DO TO SEE IF THIS IS POSSIBLE, AS MANY IDEAS FALL AT THE HURDLE OF THE FIRST LAYOUT.
STARTING THE DESIGN OF THE NEW DORE WESTBURY HEAD
LAST MONTH WHEN I WENT TO THE BEAULIEU AUTOJUMBLE I WAS ABLE TO PICK UP THE KIT OF PARTS FOR A WESTBURY THAT I`D BOUGHT FROM AN ENTHUSIAST LIVING IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
ABOVE IS A PHOTO OF THE UNMACHINED WESTBURY HEAD AND TEE CASTINGS.THESE CAN BE USED TO MAKE UP THE MISSING PARTS FOR MY "HEADLESS DW MILL". I`VE REALISED THAT THIS HEAD CASTING CAN BE ADAPTED TO THE SAME SPECIFICATION AS THE DORE WESTBURY MK2 HEAD, WHICH WILL ENABLE WESTBURY OWNERS TO UPDATE THEIR MACHINES TO THE LATER SPECIFICATION.
IN PROGRESS