# Tom Senior / Maho Vertical Mill Spindle Mod



## rhynardt (Jan 23, 2016)

Hi All

I have been working on and off building a new vertical spindle for my Tom Senior M1 Milling Machine. She is a old english machine dating from the late 50s. The current knucklehead vertical spindle i have has a set of helical gears that has seen better days. I wish to preserve the old knucklehead but having the gears cut will cost more than what another newer mill will cost. The Tom Senior is for it size class much more rigid than anything on the market and i really would love to keep on using it.



So i have started to build another vertical spindle to replace the knuckle head about a year ago. The spindle was made from EN19T , fairly tough stuff , especially on the old Myford ML7 i used to own. 



I completed the spindle, bought the matched pair of angular contact bearings and deepgroove bearings for the floating part. 



I started work on the quill and got hold of a cast iron "air operated vibrator"that has seized. i pressed the piston out and found that the bore was still in good condition. That would have been the housing for the whole assembly.


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## rhynardt (Jan 23, 2016)

Earlier this week i got wind of a guy selling a Maho mill vertical spindle only for less than what i have paid for the set of AC bearings. It was a 6 hour drive and border crossing from me , but luckily i also had some business to do in the same area that i have been putting off for a while. Needed no convincing to go and look at it even if it was just to get the quill and housing pack to use







I got the spindle and found that the power quill feed wasnt working and has been partially dismantled to probably find the issues. The bearing pack was untouched and incredibly smooth!!! Bargain!!!


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## rhynardt (Jan 23, 2016)

The first problem i found was that the drive gearbox lacked a woodruff key on the output shaft. I found the key in the gearbox housing and proceeded to fit it. Works perfectly!! I think someone in the past took it apart and didnt seat the key properly. Upon assembly it probably fell out and the gearbox was perceived as broken...






The next issue i found was that a brass gear selector pin was completely worn out and thus not selecting the ratios properly. I proceded to make a new improved version of the selector pin.



Then i found that the drive dog clutch would not remain engaged unless you keep the engagement lever in place by hand. Upon investigation i found that the assembly was also removed. A similar pin as on the drive gearbox selector was worn out thus engaging the clutch was the first issue

Another issue found was that that even with the selector pin back to original the drive would engage but not remain so , unless the selector lever is held in place by hand... I found a tube in the assembly that had 4 small holes in it and what looked like a spring loaded plunger.  I found four small ball bearings in the pack of odds and ends that came with the spindle and fitted them in the 4 holes i found on the tube. Eureka !! the dog clutch was held engaged by the four ball detents and worked as advertised!


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## rhynardt (Jan 23, 2016)

My plan is to mount the spindle on a horisontal hollow bar in a similar fashion as this



I want to use hollow bar so i can drive the spindle with a driveshaft running in the hollow bar and thus use the vertical head's original drive



Any advice?


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## Str8jacket (Jan 26, 2016)

Not sure how the hollow bar would mount to your machine? Would you have a separate drive motor mounted out back?
Watching with interest as i am looking at doing something similar


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## rhynardt (Jan 26, 2016)

The hollowbar will be mounted on  top of the mill vertical as per the second to last photo. The drive motor i want to mount in the vertical cabinet that the hollowbar mount upon. That would enable me to still run the horizontal spindle when needed by just changing belts. The hollowbar will have a driveshaft running through it, driving the vertical spindle ,  and be driven via belt and pulley arrangement from the motor.


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## rhynardt (Feb 4, 2016)

Got a little time in on a friends Lagun mill so i squared up some old tractor weights to use as a backplate for the maho head. The weights are actually very nice cast iron with no voids or sand pockets! 
	

		
			
		

		
	




Will continue tomorrow or saturday. Hope to have the head mounted before my daughter is born!


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## rhynardt (Feb 5, 2016)

Got a bit further tonight. Stuck the plates together with four 10mm allencap bolts and 2 dowels to keep everything lined up




Then we started to bore out the central bore




Flipped it over and then did the larger bore. 




Drilled four twelve mm clearance holes for the allencap bolts that will hold the backplate to the mill head. Unfortunately through poor planning i drilled these clearance holes right on to of the four bolts holding the plates together so it resulted in very carefull drilling after the offending bolts were removed, only the dowels holding it all together. 

Decided to then rather drill twelve 10mm holes around where the flange will attach, using 6 alternating holes to clamp the lot together and the other six holes for the hollowbar/driveshaft unit flange. Centredrilled it, but will continue tomorrow


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## rhynardt (Feb 6, 2016)

Got the whole day to play today! So i continued by drilling and tapping the twelve holes



Fitted the assembly and its a slight push fit! Perfect!!




Next up was the flange that connects the head assembly to the horisontal hollowbar.
Chucked up a piece of 20mm truck wearplate, not sure what grade of steel but it was pretty hard



Drilled the flange six 10mm holes to attach to the head assembly and countersunk it for M10 allencap screws


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## rhynardt (Feb 6, 2016)

I found this photo, would like to show what the whole assembly was made out of:




Castiron tractor weights that was discarded. Very nice cast iron!!

Lined up the whole cast iron sandwich assembly in the four jaw, gave it a bit of tailstock support and started rounding things off


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## rhynardt (Feb 6, 2016)

This is the assembly "well rounded off"



Turned over



Fitted to the head with the flange attached


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## rhynardt (Feb 6, 2016)

Next up i cut the piece of hollow axle for the horizontal hollowbar . Tough stuff indeed.



Gave the end a snug press fit into the flange it will be welded into



Had a friend weld up the assembly with 316 SS rods as he recommended it





Thats it for today. Tomorrow is another day


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## FOMOGO (Feb 6, 2016)

Some very nice work there. Definitely thinking outside the box, or as my Dad used to say " That's using your head for something other than a hat rack". Mike


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## mattthemuppet2 (Feb 6, 2016)

dang, that's some impressive fabrication work!


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## middle.road (Feb 6, 2016)

Now if I grabbed a scrap counter and machined it, about halfway through I'd hit a void that was filled with sand and that's when
things would really start getting interesting...


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## rhynardt (Feb 7, 2016)

Thanks Mike. Got to make do with what we have in this part of the world

Sent from my GT-P5100 using Tapatalk


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## rhynardt (Feb 7, 2016)

I was quite astounded by the quality of the cast iron, not a single void in sight! Got a bit further this morning. Cleaned up the welded flange and trued up any warpage from the welding heat. Also bored the two pockets for the driveshaft bearings.






Did a testfit with the head assembly and it all looks good!






Things are going to slow down a bit now as we are moving cross border for a month to have my daughter born. Hopefully we can come back sooner and i can finish off this project


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## rhynardt (Feb 19, 2016)

Hi All

Got back home earlier today with a beautifull noisy 2week old babygirl. Guess i should start looking for a shotgun.... 

Getting back to the Tom Senior-Maho marriage...

A fellow machinist friend decided to give me a surprise and complete the driveshaft and pillowblocks, ready to mount on the machine!
Herewith a couple of pics he took for me

Making of the driveshaft:









Next op the boring of the pillowblocks and the completed project:








Tomorrow morning i will go and fetch it and attempt to mount it. Once that is done i will have to figure out exactly how i will transfer drive to the head. I have a 1,2kw -3 phase motor and vfd already waiting for this job.

Will take plenty more pics tomorrow when setting up


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## rhynardt (Feb 20, 2016)

Hi All
Got my Maho milling head mounted!!!

After endless power outages today in this brutal heat we are currently experiencing i threw in the towel as my workshop is like a oven when the ac doesnt run! So i got it mounted and left it there.

I lifted the whole assembly to see how it all fits on the mill body with a engine jack with a rope through the spindle







I then proceded to measure out the mounting holes for the pillowblocks, lay it out on the mill body and drilled the 12mm holes for the allencap bolts. Once that was done i bolted them on lightly so i could bed the horisontal arm straight and in line







Then i bedded the horisontal arm in the pillowblocks, tapped everything straight with my mallet and she seated very well! 




Then i fastened the top of the pillowblocks to the bottoms and started to tighten all the bolts holding the assembly to the mill body




It looks like the business!! 







Hopefully the power wants to remain stable tomorrow so i can get some work done


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## Grumpy Gator (Feb 20, 2016)

_First congratulation's on your new baby girl._
_Excellent __modification very well documented.
We had a Senior M1 in the shop. Very stout machine.When my uncle / teacher passed he left me all the machines in the shop. Unfortunately the estate was in probate for 18 months so she doesn't look her best.  
Here is a picture of her {We called her Gertie} 












TomseniorM-1003



 Deleted member 18150
 Feb 20, 2016
 1





Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing her completed.
*G*
_


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## rhynardt (Feb 21, 2016)

Thanks Grumpygator. I hope a good clean and lick of paint will sort gerty out. Unfortunately i cannot view the picture. 
I hope to mount a motor on her today so i can see how she cuts!

Sent from my GT-P5100 using Tapatalk


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## rhynardt (Feb 22, 2016)

Hi All 
Got the motor mounted and belts sorted






After all that and wiring up a vfd to the motor , i found the motor is cooked. It heats up quickly and then trips my overloads. Running a 1,1kw motor on 1,5kw drive and all properly set up. 

Hopefully i can source another motor relatively soon and cheap!


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## Grumpy Gator (Feb 22, 2016)

_Sorry to hear about the motor._
_How far will the bed be from your new quill location ? From the pictures I would guess 10"._
_  ***********
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
***********G************_


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## rhynardt (Feb 25, 2016)

The bed will be about 400mm or 15" from to quill. Major improvement to the original. I am fitting a single phase motor for the time being


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## FOMOGO (Feb 25, 2016)

Congrat's on the Little girl, and outstanding job on the head. Mike


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## rhynardt (Feb 25, 2016)

Thanks Mike. My new 3phase motor should  be here tomorrow!!!!


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## rhynardt (Feb 26, 2016)

She is alive!!! Got the new 3phase motor mounted earlier, this thing is a beast
 in comparison to the old vertical head, with none of the noisy protestations i got so used to. Will try to get a tachometer on her to see what range i am getting


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## FOMOGO (Feb 27, 2016)

Cool! Glad to hear it worked out so well. Have you named your baby yet? Maybe Millie would be appropriate.Mike


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## rhynardt (Feb 27, 2016)

Hi Mike
I think my missus would chase me around with a large knife if i tried that one!:- The baby's name is Micke. Dont know how to type it phonetically though but its to do with dutch and german.


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