Considering a new Warco WM18 Mill Anything I need to know?

GrifterGuru

GrifterGuru

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Have been considering this for a while and am giving serious thought to going ahead with purchasing a brand new Warco WM18 Milling Machine, purely for hobby use.

Further info on the website here >> https://www.warco.co.uk/milling-machines/33-wm-18-variable-speed-milling-machine.html



wm-18-variable-speed-milling-machine.jpg

Are there any "Gotcha's" or any issues I should be aware of?

Anything specific I will need in addition to the machine (not tooling), other than a power feed, DRO, changing out the quill DRO for a better unit, a quality vice and bed covers?

Any advice on this one? It will be at least 4 months away when I purchase ((late October/Early November), so time to consider everything fully.

Is there a similar machine with the same size table, same quality at a different price point? Yes, I am looking at all options.

TIA to anyone/everyone who chips in on this.
 
Pretty sure those are made/assembled by Weiss.
I have a Weiss VM32 and I'm very happy with it.
 
DavidR8 said:
Pretty sure those are made/assembled by Weiss.
I have a Weiss VM32 and I'm very happy with it.
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Had heard mutterings about that, but was actually unsure as to the veracity of the claims...
 
DavidR8 said:
I know the GM of the plant in China as I'm working on helping them with their manuals. I can ask if you like.
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Well that was a dangerous admission. Now everyone with a Weiss rebranded machine, and those that think they might have a Weiss rebrand will be on your case!:grin:

I've had a trawl through the Weiss website and it does seem that a fair chunk of Warco's mills and lathes bear a striking resemblance to Weiss products.

@GrifterGuru, assuming it is a Weiss rebrand, you might be reassured by the fact that Precision Matthews seems to have chosen Weiss as their Chinese suppliers of choice. PM do seem to be reasonably picky.

That said, PM might have a stronger relationship with the factory than Warco, have more influence, and reap the rewards of the 'A' bin. We don't know but @DavidR8 might at least be able to confirm Warco's supplier is Weiss. ;)

Warco wouldn't bloody confirm or deny who their supplier was for the WM18, when I phoned them a month or two back suggesting that it looked a lot like Weiss models. :grin:

Anyway, I am a bit of a Warco fanboi as the chaps in the spares department are great guys and very helpful. They've helped me source a replacement guard for my second-hand Warco 6" bench grinder and really helped me with my bought-new Warco 5" bandsaw when I was having trouble with stalling (turns out you need the blade tensioning a lot more than I had previously dared). Now I've got the Warco Minor mill, I have no doubt they'll curse the day they gave me their email address. :grin:

On reflection, absent me having the patience and knowledge to get old iron back last year, I wish I'd got a WM180 lathe from them. It looks to be much closer in principle to the old Hobbymat/Prazimat compact lathes than the standard Chinese 7x lathes with its wider bed.
 
SouthernChap said:
Well that was a dangerous admission. Now everyone with a Weiss rebranded machine, and those that think they might have a Weiss rebrand will be on your case!:grin:

I've had a trawl through the Weiss website and it does seem that a fair chunk of Warco's mills and lathes bear a striking resemblance to Weiss products.

@GrifterGuru, assuming it is a Weiss rebrand, you might be reassured by the fact that Precision Matthews seems to have chosen Weiss as their Chinese suppliers of choice. PM do seem to be reasonably picky.

That said, PM might have a stronger relationship with the factory than Warco, have more influence, and reap the rewards of the 'A' bin. We don't know but @DavidR8 might at least be able to confirm Warco's supplier is Weiss. ;)

Warco wouldn't bloody confirm or deny who their supplier was for the WM18, when I phoned them a month or two back suggesting that it looked a lot like Weiss models. :grin:

Anyway, I am a bit of a Warco fanboi as the chaps in the spares department are great guys and very helpful. They've helped me source a replacement guard for my second-hand Warco 6" bench grinder and really helped me with my bought-new Warco 5" bandsaw when I was having trouble with stalling (turns out you need the blade tensioning a lot more than I had previously dared). Now I've got the Warco Minor mill, I have no doubt they'll curse the day they gave me their email address. :grin:

On reflection, absent me having the patience and knowledge to get old iron back last year, I wish I'd got a WM180 lathe from them. It looks to be much closer in principle to the old Hobbymat/Prazimat compact lathes than the standard Chinese 7x lathes with its wider bed.
Click to expand...

Part of the reason I am looking to Warco is, as you say, the support. Not knocking the "Leicester" contingent (Much....) But I am far from happy with their idea of "support" as regards certain machines.

Have heard a lot of good things about Warco and the support they offer, yours just adds to that. Wish I had turned to them in the first place and it is why I am now looking hard at what machines they offer.
 
We're not very well served in the UK for buying new machine tools.

Honestly, I treat ArcEuroTrade as a general supplier of tooling like RDG and Chronos. I'll give them credit for their free PDFs related to the C3 and SC3 mini-lathes (think they do the same for their mini-mills too), they've put some effort in there and good on them for doing that.

However, the two times I've phoned them to ask them if they had a particular part (the more generic parts that would fit or be fettled to fit most of the standard design mini-lathes) it was as if I'd asked them to supply some assembly or other from the International Space Station.

Amadeal are a bit bargain basement and I suspect there's not much engineering expertise there beyond what a Google search could find, but fair play, there's not much pretence and they all but admit you're not getting champagne service at the prices they charge.

Chester I've heard some pretty awful things about.

Warco do seem to be a step above the rest in the UK; a bit less amateur I suppose.
 
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