Hello all,
I used to read and attend other forum discussion earlier in my life. However, it soon became too much of a pain with cocky persons and other people just ruining a perfectly good thread. So, here we go again. This is my first post here and might be a long one. For those who want to skip to my questions, they are listed in the end of this post.
I've developed an interest in hobby machining during last few years and after having a heated shop built to our farm, I've had the chance to start acquiring machinery. Sure, these machines will help fix our farm equipment also and they won't be just sitting there. I come from automotive repairing industry and my tooling and knowledge has mostly been acquired from that side. Therefore, I recognize being a newbie and assume I know nothing about real machinist tools and work.
My first mill was a Schafner W12, a small Swiss made universal mill from the 50s and I still own it. I just love the nostalgic touches of it and will keep it for smaller work. But unfortunately that's what it is capable of...smaller work. Therefore, I just bought a Deckel FP4 manual mill from a Internet auction(!)... without seeing it. I know I know, that's not the way to go. Where I live, these gems just don't pop up often, so I had to take a chance. It's from 1978, so it has seen some miles. I bought it from a machine shop which decided to clean up their facilities and they still have one Deckel for odd jobs.
What I thought as being a well serviced machine by responsible users turned out to be basically a machine with many signs of wear and damage. Now, I don't know if my expectations are too high for a machine older than I am but my other mill from the 50s is still very accurate. This Deckel had basically no way wipers, since every one of them is worn beyond service limit. The spindle has been repaired, apparently due to someone crashing the table in Z direction, since the intermediate piece (between ram and spindle) has been welded in few places. The housing cover at the rear of the machine has also been butt welded together from two pieces. Few knobs are missing or repaired by using a bolt etc. I haven't done any work yet but tested the machine by running it through its speeds and feeds. Everything seems to work fine and no disturbing noises from the spindle.
Since the wipers were missing I decided to check the gib adjustments. X and Y seems to be ok and has plenty of adjustment left but the Z axis was a disappointment. The adjustment is more or less bottomed out. There's maybe 2 mm (0.08") left to tighten the gib and I'm positive that in my usage this will last a long time. However, I haven't tested the Z axis play now and in general the accuracy of the machine, so I'm not sure yet if this qualifies as a machine to last my lifetime. I hope I can still remedy the years of neglect. In theory, what could you do to repair the Z ways? Turcite? Larger gib and have the ways grinded?
Questions:
1 The Z axis feels quite heavy to manually move in upwards direction (full travel and not only in both ends). My other mill has a table which you can remove and lift by one person, so I might be asking for too much, but should you be able to move it effortlessly the full travel without having to pause somewhere between to shake your arm or shoulder muscles? Maybe the gib is adjusted too tight now or is the machine intended to be moved only with power feed? How would I check for correct adjustment in this machine?
2 How are you supposed to use the electric oil pump? Keep it on for several seconds or just a short burst enough to hear it build up pressure?
3 Electric cabinet has three contactors with timers. What are these used for? (I don't have electric diagrams)
4 On user side the control panel has buttons starting from left: Stop button, Start button, an unknown rotary switch and the coolant switch. What should the unknown third switch do? I hear a contactor or something from the other side of the machine but nothing really changes. No symbols or texts are visible around the switch,
5 Written in the manufacturer's plate, this is a FP4 model from 1978. How long did Deckel make before and after this year similar FP4 mills? Are the NC versions basically the same base machine with just added automation?
6 What are e.g. FP4A or FP4M models? Is this a FP4M (as in
(M)anual)? Franz Singer Gmbh identifies e.g. way wipers with model designation FP4
2700 where I assume the number has to do with machine serial number range? I'm really having trouble identifying differences between models and which parts are therefore interchangeable. Reason for my question is, let's say I want to buy a high speed spindle or horisontal support from Ebay. Is it reasonable to assume I might get a part which doesn't fit my machine, even if it's for a FP4?
7 Is the X axis nut adjustable? There's quite much play in the handwheel right now. If so, how is this procedure done?
8 Everyone by now thinks I should get the manual and parts diagrams for this machine but due to reasons mentioned before, I'm not sure if I would get the right one. I have one manual in german but there are some differences already with this machine and its not that thorough. Could this
Deckel FP4, FP4M Operation Manual | store.lathes.co.uk be the correct one? Are there manuals available for service personnel (with more detailed repair procedures)?
Thanks in advance!
