My pleasure, gives me the opportunity to pay forward the kindness shown to me by other forum members!
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My first mill is a First mill
- Thread starter PaulL
- Start date
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I get where you're coming from, there's got to be a reasonable compromise. That said, I picked up a bag of 100 for $5.74 at my local Acklands Grainger without getting the attitude some other unnamed places give. It looks like they have locations splattered all over the map, two in Halifax even!
I don't need a bag of 100 but it's better than buying a bubble pack of four of unknown origin & quality at CTC for $3.95 (if they actually carried them in M6 x 1).
Since I have a bag full I also built a couple of them into my mill dolly and whenever I need to design in a dog point screw they're there on the shelf.
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Former Member
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Fastenal, Brafasco, Bolts+ just name a few (Grainger falls in in with McMasterCarr) are seller that have considerable markup think 200% and up, they have realized in Canada they have an extremely captive market and have no problem in gouging. Why do I know, they buy from some of the same suppliers I do, thoiugh I am not as big as account as they are, I know the difference in pricing in some cases $0.05 distributor vs $0.50 reseller per pc.
So all I can say judge accordingly, convenience or cost. For me thats the difference between making money or starving.
Shop wisely, you'll be surprised at the savings that can be found.
So all I can say judge accordingly, convenience or cost. For me thats the difference between making money or starving.
Shop wisely, you'll be surprised at the savings that can be found.
So I got to doing a bit of milling last night, and the power feed was klunking something awful. It started a few days ago, when engaging the power feed. Last night, it was hanging up with the handwheel. Fine, I thought, probably the spring isn't returning the drive propertly or something; I can check it out. Plus the unit's electric cords are pretty perrished, so I'll replace those.
Here's the patient on the table:
We'll make some careful incisions, and...
The lift mechansim has a fair bit of slop, which might be enough to be having it hang up laterally when engaging. I don't see any particular wear arount its hinge, so I expect the problem is in the central spring and transmission column. It's mess, and there's a bunch of grit in the grease. I've cleaned that up some, but I'm hesitant to pop the roll pin that hold the clutch wheel at the top of the stack. I'll likely repack it and try it like that.
Next was to break it down far enough to get to the electrics: Of course all the wires are coming in under the motor, and everything appears to run on line voltage. So there's a ridiculously tight rat's nest of 18 and 20ga wires in there, all bundled carefully with zip ties:
The power comes in at the front of this next image, and the limit shut-off at the back. Of course the power cable can *almost* come out easily - two of the three conductors go to a murette or a ground screw. And the third one goes to a 2 post connector (the white wire below), and I'm going to have to find the right fitting to crimp on the new wire to get it back in the block. Days of delay for a 2 cent part. Yay.
The control cabling requires the same connector fittings, and that cable is just as perished, and is also running mains current through. So I'll make sure to orde 20 cents worth of the little crimpers.
Of course, I have no idea if I'll be able to fit all the wires back into the box when I'm done ;-)
And looking very quickly, I could just replace the unit for $210, including free shipping: https://www.vevor.ca/power-feed-c_1...110v-5-8-shaft-variable-speeds-p_010206704752
Nobody (um, everybody) warned me that machining is a costly hobby ;-)
Here's the patient on the table:
We'll make some careful incisions, and...
The lift mechansim has a fair bit of slop, which might be enough to be having it hang up laterally when engaging. I don't see any particular wear arount its hinge, so I expect the problem is in the central spring and transmission column. It's mess, and there's a bunch of grit in the grease. I've cleaned that up some, but I'm hesitant to pop the roll pin that hold the clutch wheel at the top of the stack. I'll likely repack it and try it like that.
Next was to break it down far enough to get to the electrics: Of course all the wires are coming in under the motor, and everything appears to run on line voltage. So there's a ridiculously tight rat's nest of 18 and 20ga wires in there, all bundled carefully with zip ties:
The power comes in at the front of this next image, and the limit shut-off at the back. Of course the power cable can *almost* come out easily - two of the three conductors go to a murette or a ground screw. And the third one goes to a 2 post connector (the white wire below), and I'm going to have to find the right fitting to crimp on the new wire to get it back in the block. Days of delay for a 2 cent part. Yay.
The control cabling requires the same connector fittings, and that cable is just as perished, and is also running mains current through. So I'll make sure to orde 20 cents worth of the little crimpers.
Of course, I have no idea if I'll be able to fit all the wires back into the box when I'm done ;-)
And looking very quickly, I could just replace the unit for $210, including free shipping: https://www.vevor.ca/power-feed-c_1...110v-5-8-shaft-variable-speeds-p_010206704752
Nobody (um, everybody) warned me that machining is a costly hobby ;-)
All absolutely hilariously written. Too funny.
But ya, too sad too. Glad you can laugh at it!
I have not yet pulled the trigger on an X-Axis feed for my mill. If you do go that way, I'll be interested to follow how it goes.
Check this out....
I bought the cheapest Y axis power feed I could find for my milling machine.
I paid $160 tax in from Vevor Canada. https://vevor.ca/products/power-feed-y-axis-135lbs-200rpm-torque-for-bridgeport-type-milling-machine-110v?_pos=1&_sid=4b4240a60&_ss=r The kit was very complete and installed with no issues. It seems to work fine so far. Less than half the price I paid for...
canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
Hah! That looks like deja-vu all over again! That looks exactly like the drive on my First and it had the same black greasy mess inside and the same 35 year old decayed wires, no Marettes though. I was able to make connections at the soldered joints in most cases although I confess I spliced/shrink sleeved a couple of the places where the wires were too buried to safely get at the solder joint so I side-stepped identifying the connector crimps. Oh, line voltage for mine is 110V.
Looks like you're doing it right and taking plenty of pictures as you go, good idea, experience with mine says go back and take more. There's just so much stuffed in the packege!
I've got to update my First thread, I describe the re-work in my draft.
I replaced the cables with material rated for German railroad application and subbed the strain reliefs because mine were too tired. The cables have thinner/less bulky insulation (better insulation, higher voltage rating) but the same conductor area. I also replaced the neon power lamp because it was all blackened inside and replaced the oil tight cap over the full speed override button. The cap was in the same state as yous. All the electrical materials came from Digikey except the push button boot which I had in an APM Hexseal sample pack. The P/N might be C1231/42, if so, Digikey stocks them.
Of course replacing the cables opened another can or worms at the limit switch.....that was a compressed, ridiculously tight rat's nest of wires with residue of the same old brown varnish/cutting oil etc. In the end I also had to replace the coil spring inside. More Grainger. I had to buy a lifetime supply of spring stock (for peanuts) to get the right size but it worked out fine, I was lucky to find the spring size off the shelf. Need some spring? LOL! I also made a proper gasket for the cover.
If you'd like a rundown of the part numbers I ordered let me know. Oh, if you decide to turf the Align power feed, let's talk about spare parts.
D
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And package one of two just arrived:
I negotiated for the long one being magnetic, and got a decent deal ($365 including LCD DRO head, including shipping), and then all three scales showed up magnetic! I must not have talked it down quite low enough.
Now I'm just waiting for the display unit to show up!
I negotiated for the long one being magnetic, and got a decent deal ($365 including LCD DRO head, including shipping), and then all three scales showed up magnetic! I must not have talked it down quite low enough.
Now I'm just waiting for the display unit to show up!
I am totally convinced that magnetic is actually lower cost to make. But since it's newer, they can charge more. And they prolly have old stock on the older technology. Therefore, you prolly got a decent price. 365 is very good.
My two boxes arrived the same day. Your second box will prolly be there today.
Sorry for the multiple posts @PaulL , brain isn't really going yet. Or maybe it just doesn't go anymore!
When you say you negotiated, did you start high and work them down or did you start with a low sale price and add features? I got a lot of questions on my method (started low and added features) but I always thought the other approach ought to work too. Just curious which way worked for you.
When you say you negotiated, did you start high and work them down or did you start with a low sale price and add features? I got a lot of questions on my method (started low and added features) but I always thought the other approach ought to work too. Just curious which way worked for you.
What browser are you using? I can't reproduce this effect in MacOS Chrome or on my android phone or on my chromebook.
I started on features - requesting prices for the various DRO head choices, shipping, etc. Did this with 3 vendors, waiting a while between. Only once did I need to share another vendor's price to have them stabilize at about the same place. Then I went for the longest scale, requesting pricing for magnetic at both 1um and 5um resolutions. Rolled it back to 5um, and got a price I could accept. The presented order text said optical though, and I called them on it, and all three axes arrived magnetic. I was only expecting the longest to be magnetic, and this speaks to your thoughts about cost of goods vs recency, @Susquatch.
Paul
I am using Chrome on an Android. Never saw that before. I could check other browsers and the app later.
Does it look like your file name?
I've been seeing this with @PaulL 's image posts for quite some time now. I'm running Win10 and Chrome.
That's the text I see when I long-press on android. And when I inspect the image in a full-scale browser, I see that the text is the thing Google appears to have created to hand the image to the BBS when I use copy-and-paste of the image instead of uploading. So in some sense it's the "filename".
And digging into generate html for the page, I see that blot of text as the image title, with the source as a proxy to Google's image hosting service.
No idea yet how to not have it just make a big mess on the image, but I'll poke at it as I post more pictures.
The fact that @YYCHM sees it too gives me some better understanding. Try uploading instead of cut and paste or drag N drop.
Except that cut-and-paste is way more convenient... I'll work on it!
I can see that. I only have upload on my phone so I don't know the difference.
Like the man sings: Two out of three ain't bad:
I made up a little locking stud to sit in the nubbin on the side of the mill that probably held something similar in the past.
X was very straightforward. Had a little block of aluminium lying around that made a good standoff. The angle bracket came with the "kit". Just needed trimming and tapping. I probably need an second point of contact instead of that one cap screw holding it together, but I'll assure myself I'm happy with the setup before putting another hole in the y-slide.
Y was a little trickier, but easier to make up. Just a little extender for the bracket, a bunch of threaded holes and cap screws. The holes under the X-slide were already there, 1/4-20, so I grabbed my (only?!) 1/4-20 screw to hold it in place. I'll drill another hole there once I'm satisfied, and trade the screw for a proper cap screw.
Z I'm still thinking about. A lot of plumbing and faired surfaces all around getting in the way. Probably still easy, but I've had enough for tonight.
I made up a little locking stud to sit in the nubbin on the side of the mill that probably held something similar in the past.
X was very straightforward. Had a little block of aluminium lying around that made a good standoff. The angle bracket came with the "kit". Just needed trimming and tapping. I probably need an second point of contact instead of that one cap screw holding it together, but I'll assure myself I'm happy with the setup before putting another hole in the y-slide.
Y was a little trickier, but easier to make up. Just a little extender for the bracket, a bunch of threaded holes and cap screws. The holes under the X-slide were already there, 1/4-20, so I grabbed my (only?!) 1/4-20 screw to hold it in place. I'll drill another hole there once I'm satisfied, and trade the screw for a proper cap screw.
Z I'm still thinking about. A lot of plumbing and faired surfaces all around getting in the way. Probably still easy, but I've had enough for tonight.