Vevor milling table -- can't get no precision! 

Having seen this video, Vevor emailed me: "I noticed that you created a vevor milling table, can you feature these product links?" US milling table s.vevor.com/bfQPkv CA milling table s.vevor.com/bfQPkJ I bought the table myself, but I did get the mini lathe in a previous video for free, and they were ok with that video as well, even though I was quite critical of various aspects of it.

Matthias is slowly turning into This Old Tony

“How did I ever get in without a metal lathe?” Had me chuckling. If I recall, Mathias once successfully adjusted a morse taper with an angle grinder!

I love that the "and I am going to fix it" is implied at this point

Matthias, the genius software engineer, the carpenter, the RU-vidr and now, the machinist!!!

Matthias never fails to amaze me with his insightful and meticulous logic to show us not only the "root cause" of engineering/physics/math-based designs and how to resolve them. I have seen several people on YT showing off the same x-y table and recognizing most of the issues he has shown here but none have done such "analytical" investigations with simple DIY solutions any DIY'er can follow

This goes to show that for some products you really get what you pay for.

I've been asking myself for years how you ever got on without a metal lathe. 🤣🤣 You can take advantage of that slop in the lead screw nut mounting holes. If you pivot the nut a bit you can eliminate some of the backlash. It's a kudge, but it works.

I have been following your videos for some years now and must tell you are AMAZING!

Really enjoying the new metal based content and watching you problem solving and learning as you go. It can be an addiction trying to find accuracy in tools at a lower price point

Chines machine should be bought in all technical schools......they are great to learn how to fix the hundreds of issues they bring from the factory.

Matthias - I like this “Fix Cheap Tools” series

Retired CNC tech here. Cut a section off the bent lead screw. Take the lose nut with the lead screw section in it. Put it on a wood fixture. Melt some Babbitt metal and cast a busing/bearing in the nut. Twist the stub out of your cast bushing. Take a clean section of your trash lead screw and some valve fringing compound. Lap the working surface of your cast bushing. Then clean it out well with naphtha and a tooth brush. Pack your lead screw with a stiff grease and assemble. You’ll cut your lash in half. This is how early machine tools were made in the 19th century. And bearings were made in the Ford T and A’s engines. Do it right you’ll never do it again. Second point. Those are not thrust bearings on the spindle. Just pillow bearings. True your casting surfaces by putting brass washers into contact. Make a couple on your lathe. Cover them with valve grinding compound and lap the contact surfaces in. Pull it apart and remove the brass washers. Clean everything with naphtha and a brush. Be sure those open bearings are clean. Get yourself two cupped spring steel washers. Any industrial supply like MSC or Grainger will have them. About 0.050 inch should be right. Pack those bearings with a stiff grease. Put the spring washers between the back bearing and the inner end cap, and between the outer end cap and the outer bearing. I’m contact with the surfaces you previously lapped. Cups toward the bearings. Then torque the spindle nut. You may need to replace that cheesy acorn nut with a pair of thin profile nuts. Work it back and forth with your indicator as in the video, torquing as you go. Find the best compromise between free nothing and consistency. Then lock the two spindle nuts together. A little blue locktite helps. Best you can do. Fox out

Your bodging of literally EVERYTHING in wood to a high standard is what made you unique and famous :-) and you know it. And we love(d) it.

Very balanced view of what you should expect and how to deal with some of the bottom of the barrel 'machinist' tools out there. A lot of satisfaction can come from tuning up bad products if you take it in stride and realize that's part of the cost of paying so little.

It is a joy watching how you approach, troubleshoot and improve issues like these, Matthias :)

For years now, I've enjoyed watching your problem-solving genius. You're truly an inspiration, Matthias. Thanks for the great content.

Bravo Matthias! I am so happy that you got this lathe... because you are gonna teach us so much!! Enjoy it!

Thank you Matthias for reinforcing my belief in used tools and machinery.

I love watching him fix/improve cheap products. Also agreed, love that you have a metal lathe now.

I really like how this video amplifies the types of errors that can be in even the highest quality spindles/leadscrews. I've watched some of Robin Renzetti's videos about making components for high end spindle rebuilds, and this video really helps me understand why he takes the great care he does for certain components (like lapping the locking nuts flat and parallel).

Your videos always amaze me! Thank you!!!

Very interesting. I don't follow all the details about why this surface does that, etc., but it is fascinating seeing you modify and attempt to improve the precision of your tools. Thanks for sharing.

I've seen a lot of videos of people using this milling table. ugh! you had so many issues. you are the master of making things work!!!

Buying Chinese equipment is a good way to acquire a long term project. Keep buying them and you will never run out of them!! Great for your channel and for RU-vid! Can't beat the Chinese I tell you...

MW, we need more people like you in the world. thx

Thank you for going over this unit in detail, I previously considered buying one!

Thank you for another great video Mathias👍 I always learn things from you🙂

You are the best person on You Tube that gets things that are cheaply made and tries to make it better! I am like most... I don't have unlimited money. Now I know not to buy one of these now because I do not have the tools to make it like it ought to be. I appreciate your candidacy with all you videos. LONG TIME WATCHER

Great to see you diving in to machining, it took a lot of restraint for me not to buy a Chinese import lathe and mill, I tried to look for second hand lathe and mill and couldn’t find any, so I bought my lathe( Chinese import) from a uk company that basically spruced it up and made it far more precise than what it came from the factory. I wasn’t gonna buy an import mill so I waiting. Finally got my hands on a old round column mill for a very reasonable price and I was and still very glad I waited and got my hands on it, it’s not perfect but it’s 100 times better than anything I could have got and afforded. I love machining and learning everything that goes with it. Woodworking is very forgiven when mistakes are made, not the case with machining. So it’s a learning curve and a great challenge, a lot of room for learning. I hope you enjoy your new toys and you adventure in precision engineering, unfortunately that’s not something we get on Chinese imports, but that’s something that you can certainly work on to achieve. Great seeing you get in about it.

I love this kind of videos

Paid to fiddle around in the shop. You are living my dream. Keep up the good work

Brilliant. Very enjoyable presentation of what you did to improve the machine.

I’m so glad you are going through the pain of tuning and setting up these low end metal working tools for your viewers. My very limited experience with high end metal working tools has steered away from these low end tools.

the wise bending and checking is amazing, very useful, thanks!

Loved this! Great explanation Matthius

The man who used to do his “precision” machining with an angle grinder has become the precision machinist persona at whom he once scoffed. Welcome to quality workmanship. Wait until you get a good lathe, one that doesn’t sound like dragging a steel garbage can on asphalt!

Wow, Vevor is not showing good QC. That's unfortunate since they are bringing a lot of industrial machinery to people that couldn't afford it before. Great work on the lead screw and finding all of the issues.

I have that same unit. The best and most important fix is to surface grind the gibs on both x and y. Mine were both junk pieces of steel. Grinding them flat and parallel (with a true surface grinder) made a huge improvement in the ease and accuracy of travel...

Nice one Matthias! Super interesting and highly revealing!

I love this kind of videos!

This video showcases how the mind of a genius works. “Then I realized…” Brilliant!

This was very educational regarding Vevor product quality. Thank you so much! I had considered buying a few things from them but now I have written them off completely. That milling table was the worst excuse of a tool I think I have ever seen.

"How did I ever get on without a metal lathe?" I wondered the the same thing. And then I got a 3D printer. *wow*. Just...wow.

Thanks for this review! I was considering purchasing one, but now I'll need to reconsider.

Hey there, love your videos. I've done 3 reviews on this mill table... actually 2 but another is in process now. All three came to the same conclusion. The table castings and machine were okay but the lead screws were junk. In the first video I did I replaced the lead screws with 3/4"-10 threaded rod and made dials. In the second video (and second table) I tried to keep the original lead screws and installed DROs. Yes it works but they wobble. In the third video (in process) I replace the screws with 3/8"-16 thread rod and increase the X-axis travel by about 3 inches. In hindsight i should have used 1/2"-13 and not 3/8" but it works. This video will hopefully be out tomorrow.

Oh boy when you got to use wooden surfaces as a reference to mill cast metal, you now that you are dealing with third tier metallurgy right there !

Makes my eyes water watching a wood guy venturing into metal.

That last sentence sounded as foreboding and exciting as any I've heard 😉

Thank you Matthias - the man who taught us to bring metalwork precision to woodwork. China produces hundreds of thousands of tons of badly made and badly packaged junk every year. Buyers send it back for refund or - even worse, a replacement, which is just as badly made as the one sent back! It's true that the branded version of this milling table will cost 3 - 4 times more and still be made in china, but like the iphone it will be made under strict western company supervision. The Chinese can produce quality.

As with many offshore machinery tools... they're just a kit in a box, waiting to be semi-perfected! :D If you run into a bent shaft like that, a couple of V-blocks, an arbor press and a dial indicator is the way to go. Bump, turn, read, repeat!

I love this channel

Nice work! I too have had a Vevor adventure and fixed something brand new.

If everyone was as determined as Matthius, all products would be awesome!

Great video, I really love your closing comment, cheers!

A perfect project for you to get started with the metal lathe!

I have this same table. I was pretty happy with it, because my expectations were zero.

I love this - This came borked, so he fixed the work they should have done at manufacture! However, i don't see it this way at all - not all tools come perfect, and most tools need some sort of adjustment and handling before they can be used for their intended use, so this video is actually showing that "Before you use your tools, check to make sure they are working correctly first" - A valuable lesson.

I have a vevor bandsaw, and it was an absolute nightmare setting up. Nothing from the factory was remotely accurate. But once i got it set up, it works quite well!

I also do not know how I got on without my metal lathe and milling machines. They are so useful for making tools, jigs and parts for wood working.

I predict that in the future we will get a video “I made my own precise mill!”

I would say you got along surprisingly well without a lathe. I surprised you didn’t get one sooner!

I have one of those and had similar issues. What I did on the lead screw nut was 3D print a sleeve for it. Since the table is for light use, that seems to remove the play. Also, I stoned the ways, and trammed the table by making it parallel with the base. A pain, but it works well now.

Good deductive work, Sherlock!

Yes, that is amazing why you haven't bought a lathe years ago! Specially a guy like you!

Matthias veering into machine tools and precision. Amazing. Next thing you know he'll be scraping and all sorts :)

Thanks for sharing 👍

I know it was cheap, so we can't expect too much from it... But this level of carelessness is just insulting! I almost bought a vevor lathe but changed my mind after seeing a lot of videos about the quality of vevor tools and machines...

Amazing video ❤

I bought one of those tables a year ago with the idea that it would only be good as a raw casting, I did end up re-machining all of the important surfaces and re-scraping the ways as I am using it as a sort-of precision slide. The lead screws are not very nice, but functional enough for the purpose.

It was entertaining, I shall watch more.

Love the wooden model!

Such an interesting video! On my recent trip to China I couldn't help but notice various chinese brands of home air conditioners and also automobiles, many of which I was told are well respected, quality brands, that exist there but non existent outside China. What we see here in North America are generally low cost imports, and the quality reflects that.

The detective work was as good as the rest of the video!!!

I bought one of these last summer, but due to medical issues never got to it. Time to check mine out!

5:50 the term is "chilled", when casting, iron if it cools down too quick, it chills and hardens in that particular spot. This used to be a big issue before carbide tools were a thing. It also indicates that they run very little machining margin for their castings.

If you can swing it, would love another table analyzed. Comparing the cost and quality is amazing to me. My mill has a very worn table but I work around it.

I just love the paleolithic approach Mathias gives to machining.

Great video, Matthias ! In a similar situation with a vevor lathe cross slide, I cut a new leadscrew and new nut. :- (

I would love to see a series of Matthias buying cheap tools and showing what it would take to get them close to the quality of the more expensive ones

That is one of those units you buy as a kit/project. I think the only way you are going to get accuracy out of it is to mill a screw and make a bronze nut for it. Its easier than it sounds and you can remove all the slop.

Life of a DIY mechanist. Most machines from china are treated as assembled kits. Rough casting in need of finish machining. Have you heard of “metal scraping” to Finish in a machine? Adam Booth, Keith Rucker and Keith Fenner. Mr Pete 222 also May more answers . You’re on the right path. Thanks for sharing

I was taught at school and during my apprenticeship that you NEVER leave a chuck key in the lathe. It doesn't live there. In your hand or in the rest. NEVER the chuck. Good video and sorry you couldn't get the precision you desired.

Pretty nice that a mill table in this price range comes with a split lead screw nut. Fancy! 😂

Sometimes there are products/tools that is better buying good quality used ones even if they need repair, than new cheap ones. My dad has a small metal workshop, the lathe and milling machine were bought used, they needed repairs/rebuilt but at least we got good stuff.

I have the exact same compound table Mathias. Bought it 2yrs ago. But mine wasn’t damaged….thank God🙏 The one I received is accurate within 2-3 thousandths in the X & Y axis. With that much error in your table, I think they should send you a replacement and see how that goes. Unless they’ve changed there manufacturing methods, you should have a more accurate table. Just my opinion🤷‍♂️That table is made for precision….if dropped and damaged I would request a replacement table. Metal doesn’t just break but also bends in other area’s that causes all sorts of problems.

You can make it much more accurate by purchasing a DRO - digital read-out and installing it on both axis. That way you do not rely on cranking the handle but on a digital scale. Vevor does carry a DRO kit in their store and they might be willing to sponsor a video of you installing it on this table ;-)

man i agree once you change your chuck out and get more tooling you will be looking to get a mill i know your trying the drill press route but i have been there done that and power accuracy and variable axis all come in to play great save on the vevor though👍👍

I'm glad that you were able to make these discrepancies known. for a machined item that was ridicules!! I'm not an engineer, but I can appreciate the extent you went thru to make that atrocity even workable. the only thing that would justify that kind of aborted craftsmanship if it were at a give away price. to compensake one's ego to have to "Machine the thing to make it work. well done Matthias! I sincerly hope they watch this video.

It might be a good idea to cut a few thin washers that are a few thousandths thicker on one side, that way that can be spun and sorta tuned against each other, or even against a surface with a known slant. If you still have that broken leadscrew nut, it might be possible to braze it back together with brass and then screw it up to the existing one with a spacer between them to take up some of the backlash.

Seeing as you now have a leadscrew nut split longitudinally, use the half with the most meat on the thread and put it up against the leadscrew so that there is no or very little play against the thread and bolt it down. Then make a block out or hard wood, or metal if you have some, and place it against the leadscrew on the opposite side to the half nut and use it to push the leadscrew tight against the nut so that all the play is taken up. Unless you are trying to force a half inch cut it should make everything more accurate for what you want to use it for. On older lathes they used a half nut on the lead screw for moving the carriage along the bed. HTH

Me 2 I'ma huge fan of your work:-)

That is Hilarious! Great you got it working at the end. Your bending reminded me of me having to bend several rods and the lead screw straight on my cheap CNC machine. You might have succeeded the bending without / with less weakening the material, these cuts look quite deep.

Wow, and I wanted to buy this product for my drill press.I guess I will be making my own.

Looking forward to your new channel… Metal Gears

Matthias, it's great to see you finally making your way into precision metalworking! I've often thought that if you had a lathe and a mill, you'd rule the world. Honestly, you can completely ignore the handwheel dials if you install digital readouts for each axis. iGaging linear scales would be a good, inexpensive solution. I use them on my lathe, and they've been plenty accurate and repeatable for my needs.

❤ Love this

I have 3 of them. Modifications to Screws, nuts, and bushings for screws. And full screws for the x and y it just about takes 2 to make 1 and the Unsupported screws don't help it's why i made them full screws and took the table endplates for x and y put a bushing for the screw in them and added it to the other as well and made better Gibbs is how i got mine working. I have 2 tables that have cave of a hole in them. They did nothing to help me beyond sending me a replacement one that was as bad if not worse then the 1st. Then when i complained about the same issues, i got $40 and that was it. I am out $250, for 2 got one for free as a replacement and only got 1 useable one after sever modifications. This is more of a project if you buy one. Good video on you, hope you have better luck.

Great Job!!! Winky's workshop Channel has a video called ; improving the lenght of the vevor mill table and one changing both lead screw, but he used RH threads..i have same table but i will change to Acme 5/8-8 LH, but have to chamge dials to Inches..keep posting!!

You can straighten any shaft in your lathe. Chuck the bent end in the three jaw, then put a DTi on the end. Rotate the shaft around to find where it goes high and tap it down a little, check the run out with the Dti again and repeat until the runout is .001 or less.