Wen 33013 benchtop milling Machine

A quick overview of the Wen compact mill. Nice mill for the garage or basement for light duty mill jobs. Travel in X=5 1/8", Y=11" 13/16, Z=7" variable 2 speed 0-1100 rpm & 0-2500 rpm

[jmbstudio]

I bought a Grizzly G0704. Love it. Do not do any belt drive conversion. This is for CNC setup only. All the lemmings on YouTube did the conversion without really knowing why. They wanted ridiculous RPM, then they all complained that they lost the low end torque. This is what happens when you change the gear ratio. The plastic gears, if they do break, are super easy to change. My mill and lathe stop before they do damage because the variable speed cuts out. Ive overloaded both machines several times and they just stop turning. I upgraded my spindle bearings and now my end milling is way, way, way smother. I also made a better locknut for the spindle.
Make chips that dont need dips!
ps you didnt buy a machine, you bought a fun project. upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. eliminate deflection. rpm increase only smokes cutting tools.

[johnsims]

Thank you. That helped. I was trying to figure out how to get the spindle to travel. It doesn't. LoL. That helped bunches.

[MrWoodchuck]

I haven't really tried precision work yet. I set up an indicator and the X & Y seem to be within .001 over an inch. I also put a piece of brass round stock in the collet & a lathe tool in the vice and used it like a lathe by moving the quill (head) down. That works well & I held .001" on the diameter.

[TheTreegodfather]

I have the same mill.

You're definitely going to end up either replacing the gears... Or just doing the belt drive conversion. I went with the latter.

I also built an autofeed for the X axis.

There's things you can do to take up the backlash, and if you tram the head in, it'll hold it pretty good.

[richardsalinetrojr]

Considering on buying this exact same machine. was planning on buying a drill press due to fact I have 5 AR lowers I need to mill out prior to the start of building but thought this would work out better for the lowers than a straight drill press would. has anyone here used this mill for any lowers and if so any info I should know beforehand other than potentially stalling out the machine itself? any info would be great. would really love to get the ghost gunner 3 mill but I don't have 3k to spend Considering all the money I'm putting out to build 5 new rifles.

[Coopdeville]

I have the same mill and I definitely want to figure out a way to extend the z axis a bit.

[MrWoodchuck]

I forgot to mention (for people new to milling) that when removing the collets, to only loosen the drawbar a couple turns and then give it a rap with soft metal like a lead or brass hammer. So that you don't damage the screw threads or hex on the drawbar.

[Thekingmaker]

Got this mill myself, currently converting to cnc.

[SergeiPetrov]

How stiff is your machine? I bought a similar mill. The only difference is the belt drive and the morse taper number 3. After the clamp rods were adjusted, all guides made full contact. (Before adjustment, the guides on the column on the side where the rod was mounted only touched the rod itself) and the machine stiffness increased by 10 kg of pressure from 0.05 mm deviation to 0.015-0.02 mm at the weakest point (along the longitudinal axis of the table).

[eliotmay]

new to milling. What should I order to secure my work? A vice of some sort . any suggestions?

[majordumptruck]

I’m looking on buying one but 900 is maybe a little high but I’m not shure

[IFartThereforeIPoo]

What tolerances were you able to hold?

[luisvasquez]

Do u even think it’s possible to buy one and put one on

[luisvasquez]

Have you ever thought about upgrading to a digital speed controller read out

[michaelfisher]

Should have just bought the HF one. Same model but a lot less money.