In article ,
Modat22 wrote:

[ ... ]

I do have a few grips about the machine so far, fine mill feed was
very sloppy due to metal fragments in the worm gear assy (took me
awhile to find the problem)

That is common with the import machines. They are best viewed
as a pre-assembled kit, which you may have to disassemble to complete
some of the parts to the proper accuracy and finish.

The gibs are ground a bit sloppy and need a good polishing. The fly
cutters 2 had stripped allen screws, and the adjustable angle vise
bolt pattern won't work with my cross table.

The screws are often the worst part of these import machines.
It is a good practice to just replace them with new screws obtained from
some good dealer like MSC. A box of 100 of a given screw will probably
cost you about what five to ten of them at a local hardware store would,
and you will get better quaility screws. Don't worry about those left
over -- they can be used in building projects as you start *using* the
machines.

I have to ether buy or make a cross table height spacer to get my work
high enough to use my mill. Smithy sells a table that will do the
trick for 210.00 but I was thinking about sand casting a 5 sided cube
3/4 inch thick that I could bolt down to my cross table and mill the
top then try cutting t slots down it for my hold down clamps.

That sounds like a plan -- if you have the facilities to do the
sand casting.

The instruction manual for the machine is written for people with more
experience than me and is a bit hard to follow.

That is also common. For the lathe part, look for a copy of
South Bend's _How to Run a Lathe_ book, or Atlas' similar one. It won't
teach you what is where on your machine, but it will explain how a lathe
should be used, and may help you to understand what documentation came
with your machine.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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