Gear Head Milling Machine - enough speeds?

[Ben17484]

I’m looking at another milling machine and this time it’s a gear head. I’ve only had variable speed mills before and I didn’t spend loads of time on them.

My question is: is 6 speeds enough? What am I missing out on by only having these 6 speeds

(I don’t know the exact speeds, but I’d assume they’re fairly evenly spaced between the 75 and 1600rpm top and bottom speeds)

I know a gear head will be louder than a variable motor, but my lathe is gear head, so I don’t mind the noise.


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[markba633csi]

That's a good range I would say- and a good amount of horsepower
The slower speeds would be very handy for drilling large holes, swinging a flycutter, etc.
Are you able to inspect the machine beforehand? One important thing to check for is that the
quill is a tight sliding fit in the head with no excessive play. You want less than 0.001 inch if possible.
This specification will affect every operation you do with the machine so it has to be tight.

 

[Ben17484]

That's a good range I would say- and a good amount of horsepower
The slower speeds would be very handy for drilling large holes, swinging a flycutter, etc.
Are you able to inspect the machine beforehand? One important thing to check for is that the
quill is a tight sliding fit in the head with no excessive play. You want less than 0.001 inch if possible.
This specification will affect every operation you do with the machine so it has to be tight.

Thanks Mark.

So you wouldn’t say id be missing much with just preset speeds?

The machine would be new from Warco. I’ve bought from them in the past and they’re very good, so I trust the machine.


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[pontiac428]

Sheave head machines have 6 or 8 speeds, so you're gaining some convenience by being able to switch with a lever. If you've ever had to jockey sheaves, that's a lot of relief. Vario heads have an advantage because you can dial away chatter from cutter resonance, sometimes the "right" speed for a setup is 50 RPM to one side or the other. The world made due on sheave heads for a very long time, though, so the steps aren't a show stopper by any stretch. What you can do is put a 3-phase VFD or a variable DC motor as a retrofit on that mill at any point in the future.

 

[cooper1203]

I have a clarke machine mart special pillar drill with fixed speeds (i think from memory there are about 6) i found its almost impossible to get the right speeds and after a dozen or so holes the drill bit is beginning to get dull.

completely off topic but as your local to me or at least in the same county where do you source your metal etc

 

[ChazzC]

1600 top speed is low if you plan on using Carbide inserts, or will be drilling small-ish holes or using small diameter end mills.