- Joined
- Mar 20, 2014
- Messages
- 418
Just before Christmas, I got an early present - a Warco WM18 mill to replace my old Rong Fu RF25 clone. The Warco WM18 is an import Weiss VM32. It’s much nicer to use than the old mill, with one exception. There was no depth stop.
So, I decided to make one.
It’s all made from bits from my scrap box. The fixed stop on the head is a cast iron piece that was originally on the rong fu to hold the chip guard, milled to suit. The extension arm attached to the quill dro is a piece of steel I had on hand, shaped to reach the right distance and look interesting.
The rod is some 18mm bar, slotted at the back so the moving stop won’t rotate. The moving stop / collar is bored to suit the rod, and the lock knob is some knurled brass with a bolt turned down and loctited in, that has a copper slug on the end of it so it doesn’t mar the rod. There’s a dog point grub screw in the back of the collar that rides in the slot, keeping the locking knob up front.
It works well. I can set the depth via the quill dro, and then get repeatable depths within a couple of hundredths of a millimetre. There’s a bit of flex in the arm, but it’s good enough for me.
So, I decided to make one.
It’s all made from bits from my scrap box. The fixed stop on the head is a cast iron piece that was originally on the rong fu to hold the chip guard, milled to suit. The extension arm attached to the quill dro is a piece of steel I had on hand, shaped to reach the right distance and look interesting.
The rod is some 18mm bar, slotted at the back so the moving stop won’t rotate. The moving stop / collar is bored to suit the rod, and the lock knob is some knurled brass with a bolt turned down and loctited in, that has a copper slug on the end of it so it doesn’t mar the rod. There’s a dog point grub screw in the back of the collar that rides in the slot, keeping the locking knob up front.
It works well. I can set the depth via the quill dro, and then get repeatable depths within a couple of hundredths of a millimetre. There’s a bit of flex in the arm, but it’s good enough for me.