# RF30 head alignment guide



## David_R8 (Oct 24, 2020)

I started building the head alignment guide for my RF mill today. 
This is inspired by an excellent idea and execution over on Hobby-Machinist.com

RF-30 Clone Head Alignment Guide
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...ent-Guide.84270/&share_type=t&link_source=app

I sourced a piece of 6” diameter 6061 yesterday and today I faced both sides in the 4-jaw. 
I hoped to bore it out but got too cold and hungry [emoji39] 








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## YYCHM (Oct 24, 2020)

No heat in that new shop?


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## David_R8 (Oct 24, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> No heat in that new shop?



Not yet, I just haven’t connected it. 


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## trlvn (Oct 25, 2020)

On the Youtube channel Blondihacks, she was showing the basics of trepanning.  Might allow you to save turning a lot of good material into chips?

Craig


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## David_R8 (Oct 25, 2020)

Major progress today. 
Bored it to size. 






Fitted it up in the mill with a parallel on it face underneath so that the scribed centre line cleared a pair of 1-2-3 blocks on the vise. Using these as references I levelled the ring. 
















I marked the centre of the ring rim and drew a vertical line amd extended it across the top as a reference for the end mill. 






Used a center finder and my DRO to find the centre of the thickness and bored the countersink holes for the 1/2-20 cap screws that will hold the two halves together. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






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## YYCHM (Oct 25, 2020)

What are you using for a boring bar?


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## David_R8 (Oct 25, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> What are you using for a boring bar?


I did it in three stages:
1) used a 3" hole saw to remove the majority
2) ground a 3/8"HSS blank so that it had side clearance and put it in my boring bar tool holder. Ran that in straight taking 1/8" DOC at a time. Feed rate was .0027/rev. Slow going but 1/8" better than I could do with the boring bar.









3) used my SCLCR boring bar to make the finish passes.


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## David_R8 (Nov 13, 2020)

Took today off to run errands and get in a little shop time.

Finished the collar for the mill.






Made up the four plugs for the stabilizer tubes. All set to be TIG welded on.







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## turner (Nov 14, 2020)

I am watching.


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## David_R8 (Nov 17, 2020)

More progress. 
TIGed the bungs into the pipes. 






Cut the brackets and TIGed the pipes onto them. 

















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## David_R8 (Nov 21, 2020)

Finished assembling the parts yesterday. 
Works very well. 

















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## YotaBota (Nov 21, 2020)

Interesting set up (in a good way).
Are you sure someones race car isn't missing some suspension parts.


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## David_R8 (Nov 21, 2020)

YotaBota said:


> Interesting set up (in a good way).
> Are you sure someones race car isn't missing some suspension parts.



Let’s just say that my Formula 3000 bid took a hit 


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## CalgaryPT (Nov 21, 2020)

That's great work David. I wanted to do something similar for my drill press, but my machining skills aren't to your level. I guess I kind of cheated when I got my ironworker and started punching everything instead. I hardly ever use the DP now. 

Your solution is elegant. I often wonder why there isn't a commercial product that does this, or at least manufacturers who provide a support collar out of the box. From a marketing perspective, it would allow them to boast about less runout.

But after viewing the pics I've developed an unquenchable desire to go watch "Days of Thunder" again. How odd....


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## David_R8 (Nov 21, 2020)

CalgaryPT said:


> That's great work David. I wanted to do something similar for my drill press, but my machining skills aren't to your level. I guess I kind of cheated when I got my ironworker and started punching everything instead. I hardly ever use the DP now.
> 
> Your solution is elegant. I often wonder why there isn't a commercial product that does this, or at least manufacturers who provide a support collar out of the box. From a marketing perspective, it would allow them to boast about less runout.
> 
> But after viewing the pics I've developed an unquenchable desire to go watch "Days of Thunder" again. How odd....



Thanks Pete, I appreciate the positive feedback. 
I cannot take any credit for the design, it’s a semi-faithful copy of a design I saw on Hobby-Machinists.com. 
It is more elegant than any design I’ve seen. And was dead cheap to build. 
I had the angle iron and aluminum plate. 
$30 for the aluminum round for the column collar. 
$25 for the iron pipe
$13 for the heim joints
$10 for the hardware 
All in, $80 


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## francist (Nov 21, 2020)

Hmmm, for a drill press I’m wondering if it wouldn’t actually be simpler. On a drill press (mine anyway and like the one David _used_ to own) the rack slews with the table so there’d be no need for a collar. Heim linkages from either side of the table to either side of the head should do it. Or am I under-thinking that?


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## David_R8 (Nov 21, 2020)

francist said:


> Hmmm, for a drill press I’m wondering if it wouldn’t actually be simpler. On a drill press (mine anyway and like the one David _used_ to own) the rack slews with the table so there’d be no need for a collar. Heim linkages from either side of the table to either side of the head should do it. Or am I under-thinking that?



I miss that press [emoji26]
I think that there needs to be means for the arms to adjust to raising and lowering the table. 
Because the table doesn’t have near the same mass or forces acting on it I could see a somewhat simpler setup working well. 


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## kevin.decelles (Nov 21, 2020)

Sometimes I read/look at something 50 times and I just don't get it.  This is one of those times.  I read the link you sent, and I went over your pictures many times -- drawing a blank.

What alignment issue/challenge are you trying to solve and how does this help (how do you use it)?  

I have a standup drill press, with a round column, so this should be making sense, but it isn't.  Please enlighten me!


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## YYCHM (Nov 21, 2020)

kevin.decelles said:


> Sometimes I read/look at something 50 times and I just don't get it.  This is one of those times.  I read the link you sent, and I went over your pictures many times -- drawing a blank.
> 
> What alignment issue/challenge are you trying to solve and how does this help (how do you use it)?
> 
> I have a standup drill press, with a round column, so this should be making sense, but it isn't.  Please enlighten me!



https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/the-ultimate-round-column-mill-fix.2517/


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## David_R8 (Nov 21, 2020)

kevin.decelles said:


> Sometimes I read/look at something 50 times and I just don't get it. This is one of those times. I read the link you sent, and I went over your pictures many times -- drawing a blank.
> 
> What alignment issue/challenge are you trying to solve and how does this help (how do you use it)?
> 
> I have a standup drill press, with a round column, so this should be making sense, but it isn't. Please enlighten me!



If you have to raise the head on a round column mill it’s impossible to maintain X-Y position because the head is free to rotate around the column just like the table on a drill press when it’s raised or lowered. 
This setup prevents the head from rotating as it’s raised or lowered. 


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## francist (Nov 21, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> I think that there needs to be means for the arms to adjust to raising and lowering the table.


Agreed. I was imagining the 4 tie rods as you have but minus the collar. The lower two rods tie onto the sides of the table, the upper two rods tie onto the sides of the head. They’re still linked at the rear to give the freedom in Z. Or am I missing something else about how yours works?


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## CalgaryPT (Nov 21, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> I miss that press [emoji26]
> I think that there needs to be means for the arms to adjust to raising and lowering the table.
> Because the table doesn’t have near the same mass or forces acting on it I could see a somewhat simpler setup working well.
> 
> ...


Maybe, in the case of a floor mounted drill press, securing the head via the motor mount might make more sense. As the head is the large mass introducing the vibration in the first place, and in my case the base is anchored to the concrete floor, this could be a different approach worth some investigation. Certainly attaching the motor mount to the wall is simpler than machining a split bearing (for me at least).

As an annoying colleague of mine used to say, "I need to noodle on that for a while."

Since I retired, I miss some people more than others. He was an other.


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## PeterT (Nov 21, 2020)

I haven't thought this through & no real idea if the components could be retrofitted like this. But it would be nice if one could machine a round to square adapter insert. The idea is remove the round post, install the adapters into the base, the head & table collar. Hopefully secure it with existing lock screws or maybe it would be pinned. Then install mill a square column that matches the insert ID square. Its not a dovetail but if it was close fitting might be decently accurate. I drew this with a 4" diameter post and a 2.5" square column just as a guess. Not sure how the crank handle / lifting rack would be retrofitted.


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## kevin.decelles (Nov 22, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> If you have to raise the head on a round column mill it’s impossible to maintain X-Y position because the head is free to rotate around the column just like the table on a drill press when it’s raised or lowered.
> This setup prevents the head from rotating as it’s raised or lowered.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



All clear. When I looked at the pics the first dozen times my eyes told my brain that there were heim joints on both ends, I couldn’t reconcile how that would stop anything from moving

Funny how the mind works. 


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## David_R8 (Nov 22, 2020)

Mark Winquist of Winky's Workshop 'swapped' in a square column for his drill press. Frankly I thinks it would be easier to build what I did...


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## PeterT (Nov 22, 2020)

Aha, I figured someone must have been down this 'square' path already. 
Your remedy looks good, David. It should add a lot of stability to head movement.


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## David_R8 (Nov 22, 2020)

PeterT said:


> Aha, I figured someone must have been down this 'square' path already.
> Your remedy looks good, David. It should add a lot of stability to head movement.


Thanks Peter!


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## YYCHM (Nov 22, 2020)

Here is a classic case of round column mill gotcha……...






I was playing around with drilling holes to see how the mill behaved at 30 HZ and ran into this when I switched to Deming bits.  My goal was to drill the hole to 1".  No choice here, something has to move and raising the head isn't going to save the day.


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## David_R8 (Nov 22, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> Here is a classic case of round column mill gotcha……...
> 
> View attachment 11804
> 
> I was playing around with drilling holes to see how the mill behaved at 30 HZ and ran into this when I switched to Deming bits. My goal was to drill the hole to 1". No choice here, something has to move and raising the head isn't going to save the day.



Is it at maximum height?


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## YYCHM (Nov 22, 2020)

David_R8 said:


> Is it at maximum height?



Nope.  If I do that then I can't reach stuff in the vise with standard end mills.


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## John Conroy (Nov 22, 2020)

You could put the drill bit in a 1/2" collet.


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