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New Owner of a manual Maho MH600 !!

US-Choppers

Plastic
Joined
Mar 17, 2020
Hi all...

Just wanted to type a quick note and introduce myself. Im Rick and in Southern California my whole life w/in 30 miles of where I was born. I have been fabricating, building, restoring and manufacturing motorcycles for the last 30 yrs. I fell in love with it as a kid and although I have done other professions- this is a habit I cant seem to break and am at it full time. In the process, I had to teach myself how to machine parts, weld, wrench, paint, bend tube, etc.. etc... honestly- I cant believe Im not worn out yet... I still learn every day and I think thats what keeps me going.

I just purchased a reasonable condition Maho MH600... it will be in the shop tomorrow morning and I could barely sleep last night... it seems to be a pretty rare bird here in the States. I have always wanted a more universal type platform after beating my Bridgeport into the ground over the years. After seeing this one pop up locally and hearing it run so quietly, feeling how velvet the axis' move and noticing how rigid and robust it seems for such a small unit- I had to pick it up. It may be with me until my last days.

Unfortunately its bare bones and didn't come w much- its even missing the overarm support which pains me- but maybe as time permits- I'll machine one by copying the mount from the vertical head... it just seemed that the base machine was worthy of investment.

I will try to post as much as I can; in my vintage motorcycle community - we all search for info and rely on each other desperately... I hope that my posts would encourage us to do the same and hopefully I can learn from you guys who are probably very much more experienced and learned than I.

Now the sexy part- Im going to try to post a pic for the very first time.... uggghhhh.....

Nice to meet you all....Screen Shot 2020-03-17 at 9.11.49 AM.jpgScreen Shot 2020-03-17 at 9.10.33 AM.jpgScreen Shot 2020-03-17 at 9.11.38 AM.jpg
 
Hi Rick,

Nice machine, welcome to the group! I have an older Deckel, so sometimes search German Ebay for parts. From time to time I see MH600s and parts for them there. So I suggest that you set up an automatic search/notification on German Ebay for "Maho MH600" and "Maho Fräsmaschine" and start polishing your diplomatic skills to persuade the seller to ship to you.

Cheers,
Bruce
 
Bruce, thank you for the warm welcome . I just went to Ebay Germany, - excellent suggestion.... thank you!

Im taking delivery today- cant wait to start scratching my head to figure out what I will do to step down power to my 3ph 240 and get cutting- this machine is at 550...

Will post some pics as soon as I get it into its new footprint in the shop, noticed my pics came out tiny... typical rookie.... hahah

Best,
Rick
 
I think I have an overarm support for the MH 600. I'll check tomorrow. We may need to touch bases to check dimensions. I'm in Los Angeles area. Rich
 
I think I have an overarm support for the MH 600. I'll check tomorrow. We may need to touch bases to check dimensions. I'm in Los Angeles area. Rich

Now that is lucky.

I gave up looking for one for my earlier MH600 and made one
 
So I met up w Rich who is a great guy and picked up the overarm... was really a pleasure to meet him and get to know him.

I got back to the shop, and the dowell pins are offset 1/4 inch but the rest of the holes line up.... I figured I can machine it to fit pretty easy.

I have been stripping the machine down to service it and check it all before I put in service.... being without a manual or any practical use of these machines, I noticed some scraped ways on the top of the machine after pulling a cover off....... I thought to myself..... low and behold.... the top of this machine IS the OVERARM !!!:nutter:

Im laughing my ass off!!

So anyway- a manual is on its way from Tony in England... in the meantime I would love to post photos of the sympathetic restoration and service job to help others who end up with this exceptional mill. It is really well built and I am more impressed every day that I look at the parts, work and thought that went into this machine.

I would love to hear your thoughts - anyone who owns, runs, or are just a general fan of these impressive German machines....
 
Congrats Rick!
You'll be amazed how rigid these machines are. A lot of horizontal work doesn't require the overarm but if you've found one great.

What parts are you looking for? Tooling should be 40 taper, and the t-slot spacing might be the same as Deckel so tables and accessories will fit.

Adapting for different 40 taper tooling types should be just a matter of changing the drawbar. BT40 seems to be the cheapest and most plentiful on Ebay so you might want to look into that.

Chris
 
Hey Chris - thanks!

I have a little tooling that came w the machine to get me by... it had 3 horizontal arbors, some cutters, a good range of 40 Tooling (the draw bar was converted standard thread already).

You have me curious about the accessories for Deckel though!?? Might open up some more range... I'll have to investigate - let me know your thoughts....

........I did recently buy a 8" positioner w drive that I am trying to wire up as a production welding unit that I wanted to double the use for and put on the mill table as a powered axis ... should be fun!
 
Very very nice. Me and my Wells Index are envious over here.

Ha! At this point, maybe you shouldn't be... I get crazy when I start something, so I began w a simple clean with gasoline and rags... that turned into pulling the covers and the bellows, to seeing a spider washer that was loose with a broken tab in the x screw link at which point it looks like Im going deeper :skep: ... machine ran great already- super quiet. But the rapid feed on the knee labored- which Im confident is just the belt adjustment.. pulled the cover and it seems a little slack.

However, I would like to reach out to you guys on the 550 motor voltage issue.... I have 230V 1 phase service that I run my machines in conjunction with a Rotary Phase Converter. Over the years I can jump from my garage at home to a shop w zero effort. So I wanted to rewind the two motors to 230 3 phase and keep it the same as my other machines. I have been quoted about $500 per motor... ouch... further- the last rewinder told me because the controls are wired 24V it would be easier and cheaper to just use a transformer. One thing I am not is an electrician... always hated wires....

Specs for motors and existing set up I have are as follows:

Service in shop: 200amp panel 1 phase 230V
Rotary Phase Converter: Min/Max HP 1-3hp
Max total HP 7
60hz Max start KVA 13
1 Phase input 230V
3 Phase output 230V

Maho 600 Machine Tag: 550V 60hz Control: 24V 16A total
Maho 600 Spindle motor: 550Y Volt / 2.95hp 3.35amp 3 phase 60hz 1730 rpm (Brown Boveri - Germany)
Maho 600 Table Drive motor: 550Y Volt / 1 hp 1.40amp 3 phase 60hz 1680 rpm (Brown Boveri - Germany)
Coolant Motor - not concerned - cheaper to buy another if it fails

I was worried about toting a 300lb 20x20x20 transformer everywhere when I make moves just to have a new mill...- not withstanding having to bend conduit, wire new panels etc; wanted it to be as plug and play as possible like my other equipment is.

What are you guys doing in regards to step down voltage solutions at home and small shops?
What would you recommend in my case?

Thanks for any help and or input...
 
Ha! At this point, maybe you shouldn't be... I get crazy when I start something, so I began w a simple clean with gasoline and rags... that turned into pulling the covers and the bellows, to seeing a spider washer that was loose with a broken tab in the x screw link at which point it looks like Im going deeper :skep: ... machine ran great already- super quiet. But the rapid feed on the knee labored- which Im confident is just the belt adjustment.. pulled the cover and it seems a little slack.

However, I would like to reach out to you guys on the 550 motor voltage issue.... I have 230V 1 phase service that I run my machines in conjunction with a Rotary Phase Converter. Over the years I can jump from my garage at home to a shop w zero effort. So I wanted to rewind the two motors to 230 3 phase and keep it the same as my other machines. I have been quoted about $500 per motor... ouch... further- the last rewinder told me because the controls are wired 24V it would be easier and cheaper to just use a transformer. One thing I am not is an electrician... always hated wires....

Specs for motors and existing set up I have are as follows:

Service in shop: 200amp panel 1 phase 230V
Rotary Phase Converter: Min/Max HP 1-3hp
Max total HP 7
60hz Max start KVA 13
1 Phase input 230V
3 Phase output 230V

Maho 600 Machine Tag: 550V 60hz Control: 24V 16A total
Maho 600 Spindle motor: 550Y Volt / 2.95hp 3.35amp 3 phase 60hz 1730 rpm (Brown Boveri - Germany)
Maho 600 Table Drive motor: 550Y Volt / 1 hp 1.40amp 3 phase 60hz 1680 rpm (Brown Boveri - Germany)
Coolant Motor - not concerned - cheaper to buy another if it fails

I was worried about toting a 300lb 20x20x20 transformer everywhere when I make moves just to have a new mill...- not withstanding having to bend conduit, wire new panels etc; wanted it to be as plug and play as possible like my other equipment is.

What are you guys doing in regards to step down voltage solutions at home and small shops?
What would you recommend in my case?

Thanks for any help and or input...

Transformer is the way to go. I run one on my RPC for my Wilton Strands drill press and used to run one of my lathes off it as well.
 
I run my 575-v Aciera F5 off of 240-v single phase using a PhasePerfect to make 240-v three-phase and then use two dry-type 600-v-to-240-v stepdown transformers wired backward and in an open delta arrangement to make 575-v three phase for the Aciera. I used to use an RPC instead of the PhasePerfect, and the result was the same. It all worked fine with the RPC and still works fine with the PhasePerfect. The Aciera has separate feed and spindle motors. The motors and controls are all original except for some ice-cube control relays that died early on.

The 575-v delta is corner grounded and the grounded leg is unfused for safety. (In case of a short, you want the fuse on an ungrounded leg to blow and disconnect the power. You do not want to blow a fuse on the grounded leg and thereby become ungrounded.)

There is no avoiding hiring or being an electrician when setting up a system like this, so be smart and extremely careful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
As far as accessories, Deckel manuals have the saddle t-slot spacing at 45mm and table surfaces at 63mm. Check what your t-slot spacing is, it might be the same so tables and other accessories will fit. Hermle has the same spacing as well.
 
Thanks rklopp- good advice .... my neighbor has a good electrical business and has been over to look at it all- most likely I'll have him help bend the conduit , put in a new cut off box and wire it... I have no urge to cross my fingers and end up straightening my hair or see my scanty shop puff smoke some day...

With 2 stepdowns... you must have 200-400 lbs of additional equipment just to run one machine... in addition to the added footprint. I am hoping to find a solution that is portable from home garage to small shop year after year (I have bounced over 12 times in 30 yrs- its not cheap)...

My existing equipment is set up to do just this (ie 1 RPC for all equipment (mill, lathe, welder, tube bender, plasma, compressor etc....I have all cabinets on wheels, benches on wheels and machinery on leveling wheels). I can move a whole shop into a 2 car garage w one 40ft trailer in a day and be up and running by night time). Definitely not my first rodeo :willy_nilly:

Im still hoping with all this technology and our collective brain trust that there is a more compact, user friendly portable arrangement to convert 230/240-550ish adequately without building a new power plant next door ... ;) ... so far my best find was a 21x14x14 transformer (3ph 9kv 220-600 60hz) at 80lbs ...

Does anybody have any ideas on a more compact way to convert power? I thought of buying a horse and a treadmill (weight/footprint about same as transformer, plus multi purpose...)
 
Here’s my setup. Probably weighs 300 lb including the PhasePerfect.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My goodness rklopp ..... thats beautiful .... you obviously are a master of the wire.... do you think you can wrap that all up and send it to me in a medium USPS flat rate box?? HAHAHA! :D

Thanks for sending me the pics and information - Im starting to wrap my head around what you have done although its above my pay grade. I really would hate however to move and have to strip all this down in 3 months and rebuild it somewhere else, then strip it down and do it again... really looking for more of a "suitcase" type arrangement.
 
As far as accessories, Deckel manuals have the saddle t-slot spacing at 45mm and table surfaces at 63mm. Check what your t-slot spacing is, it might be the same so tables and other accessories will fit. Hermle has the same spacing as well.

Thanks Chris!!

Im going to measure the slots today and get back to you- would be fun if they are compatible! I spent yesterday tearing my Bridgeport table and knee down for a refresh ... a lot smoother now.... thumbs up for the Bridgeport and its easy strip down rebuild capabilities.... my Maho has me scratching my head :bawling:
 








 
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