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Info on Varnamo FU2 FUB 2A Universal

markp

Hot Rolled
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Location
Petaluma CA 94952
Im picking up this varnamo universal tomorrow and haven't been able to find any information/user manuals anywhere online. Id normally just buy a manual from the usual suspects but cant find anything out there. Anyone have any operator/maintenance manuals for this model? Thx
 

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Can't help with the manuals, but am mildly jealous! :)

We had a bunch of Varnamo mills in the Canadian Forces, at some point, some forward thinking individual bought a couple containers of them and force-issued them out to the many machine shops the Canadian Forces had at the time. Along with a very nice selection of accessories from various sources.

Great mills, very intuitive to use, as the power feed levers all tended to move in the same direction as the table.

One of the issues we did have, was that the ones we had, had a phenolic or similar 'nut' on the table rise screw, and if you pushed the table crank over a bit too much, you ran the screw off the nut, causing it to then drop, with the end result being a stripped nut and the table landing hard at bottom.

Our solution was to replace the nuts with a nut made of Bronze.

IIRC, ours were UM3 size mainly, and were equipped with a more or less standard vertical head on the power overarm, plus the universal head as yours has, mounted on a swinging support so it could be swung out and mounted on the horizontal spindle. Tried Tony at Lathes.co.uk ?
 
They have the varnamo manuals for some of the other models. I read a previous post of yours that mentioned the phenolic knee nut. I’ll keep that in mind when I commission the machine. Thanks
 
I managed to drop a table on one of our machines. It was one of those 'earth shaking' moments, and I gotta admit, I just stood there slack jawed for a second or two.

A hydraulic Porta-Power cylinder was a real handy tool to lift the whole rig back up so as to gain access to the innards as required.
 
Powered up the machine, everything works great so far. Y axis was a little stiff but loosened fine. Machine was bought at an auction in silicon valley 30 years ago and stored, never put into service.
 
Try this link; Verktyg och verkstadsmaskiner • Maskinisten You can search the forum without being a member, but to ask questions, you need to register. And they do answer english-speaking questions... Storebro systems seems to have gathered all Swedish machine tools under their roof, might be a good idea to mail them...
 
Tried emailing Storbro service and parts, No answer yet. Looking it over more closely I dont think this machine was ever put into service. They never even installed the vertical taper drive keys! Probably wont need any service anytime soon. I did get a lubrication chart that was wire tied to the rear machine door so I guess that will have to do for now.
 
Can't help with the manuals, but am mildly jealous! :)

We had a bunch of Varnamo mills in the Canadian Forces, at some point, some forward thinking individual bought a couple containers of them and force-issued them out to the many machine shops the Canadian Forces had at the time. Along with a very nice selection of accessories from various sources.

Great mills, very intuitive to use, as the power feed levers all tended to move in the same direction as the table.

One of the issues we did have, was that the ones we had, had a phenolic or similar 'nut' on the table rise screw, and if you pushed the table crank over a bit too much, you ran the screw off the nut, causing it to then drop, with the end result being a stripped nut and the table landing hard at bottom.

Our solution was to replace the nuts with a nut made of Bronze.

IIRC, ours were UM3 size mainly, and were equipped with a more or less standard vertical head on the power overarm, plus the universal head as yours has, mounted on a swinging support so it could be swung out and mounted on the horizontal spindle. Tried Tony at Lathes.co.uk ?
Trevj if your ever in the Swift Current SK. area let me know & drop by, we have the same machine & you can show us a few tips, for sure we will have coffee & buttermilk
 
LOL! I left Moose Jaw in 1999, but I can guarantee I knew at least some of the folks that ran that mill, and took good care of it!
One of them was the guy that sorta planted the idea in me to apply for a transfer to his Trade in the CF!

FWIW, I have a couple spare cards for that era AcuRite DRO, and a couple old scales, if you need them. It'd take me a bit of digging to find, so if you don't need, even easier!
 
LOL! I left Moose Jaw in 1999, but I can guarantee I knew at least some of the folks that ran that mill, and took good care of it!
One of them was the guy that sorta planted the idea in me to apply for a transfer to his Trade in the CF!

FWIW, I have a couple spare cards for that era AcuRite DRO, and a couple old scales, if you need them. It'd take me a bit of digging to find, so if you don't need, even easier!
I was wondering if I could convert this to a cnc, And if a guy could do it would it make sense to do it?
 
I was wondering if I could convert this to a cnc, And if a guy could do it would it make sense to do it?
You CAN do about anything, but honestly, I don't think it makes much sense, when some careful shopping will get you a running machine for likely less that you would spend on a retrofit, even if you did have the servos/steppers etc., around.
You either have to power the knee up and down (heavy load) or the quill (short travel), for your Z axis. X and Y are relatively easy, unless you want closed loop. By the time you put ball screws on the surfaces, you start getting in to work and money that could go towards a built for CNC machine.

Besides, the Varnamo's are pretty nice rigs to run! :)
 








 
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