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RF30 Basement Install

YotaBota said:
Out of curiosity - is there any way to tell if it's the gib or the dovetail that's goofed?
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i think it is the gib. @Dabbler previously discovered a taper from the bottom to the top of the gib. those two planes should be parallel in the vertical but converging in the horizontal direction.
 
Ya that's what I was wondering out loud several posts up. I've read where someone has ordered a part number xxx gib for their exact mill from the manufacturer & had very similar difficulties making it fit properly. Maybe the master setup changed from one year to the next. Or maybe there is some degree of shop floor 'fitting' (or lack thereof) that occurs when machines are assembled. In other words the machine 'works' but all bets off if you take it apart or replace the gib strip. That's the difference between interchangeable parts within tolerance and just 'parts'. Unfortunately we dont get to choose where they cut corners to make the machines affordable. I've seen some restorations where gibs were made from scratch & it doesn't look trivial.
 
Ok, so today I found out why folks didn't like these round column mills.

HEADSHIFT.JPG


I had carefully setup and counter drilled in preparation to drill a hole. I discovered the head was too low to install the drill bit. After adjusting the head height, this is how much the head had shifted. I had to completely relocate to where the hole needed to be drilled. So now the head is too high to perform any milling. Guess I had better do all the drilling before switching to milling. Belt changes to attain the proper RPM is a bit of a PITA as well.

Oh well.... it is what it is.

@johnnielsen suggested that pinning the column rack to the column would eliminate some of the shifting. I may give that a try.

Sorry for the crappy image.
 
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I’ve heard of people attaching laser pointers to the head shining on an opposite wall with a vertical line drawn on it. The further the wall, the more accurate. I don’t know how it compares to a using test dial though.
 
I'm going to bet a year from now Craig will have all sorts of tips on how he got this dialled in and made it work beautifully.
 
Johnwa said:
I’ve heard of people attaching laser pointers to the head shining on an opposite wall with a vertical line drawn on it. The further the wall, the more accurate. I don’t know how it compares to a using test dial though.
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Yes I've heard of that too and I would guess that it should be very accurate given how degrees and minutes work over distances. And should be easy too once you have the laser mounted. However the futher the wall gets the larger the laser dot gets therefore reducing your accuracy...I'm sure there's a happy medium somewhere.
 
A dial indicator against the spindle is easy and as accurate as the indicator. I do this all the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Johnwa said:
Maybe a rifle scope instead of a laser.
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Yes that would allow finer calibration but getting behind the scope to see that is mounted on the head might be a feat. "Excuse me while a do a bit of yoga so I can get behind my milling maching to take a shot" LOL
 
Hmmmm…… a line on the column and a fine laser sight attached to the quill might work.
 
Ouch..... I just released the quill lock and got it in chops with a rapid feed lever LOL. This thing has a pretty substantial quill retraction spring.
 
the laser idea works on the concept of minutes of angle and the larger the distance between the aimer and target the more precision is needed( or can be attained) i know you know this stuff cuz I've seen reloading equipment in your pics! :)
 
YYCHobbyMachinist said:
Love the tray.... I'm filling her with swarf as we speak:) One more hole to drill and I'll switch to an endmill.
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Good for you. Had an older family member when I was young who had a real green thumb. He owned the most beautiful evergreen trees, junipers and even cedars in Calgary. He was the envy of the neighbourhood. He'd toss his fine swarf in the base of the trees all the time. The bigger stuff he left in a can that had holes punched in the bottom. Whenever he would water, he'd put the can next to the evergreen and water through the rusting swarf. Turns out evergreen trees love iron.

Happy milling.
 
Apparently smokeless gun powder is a very good fertilizer. When ever I have some to dispose of I simply sprinkle it in the garden.
 
Well this is a dumb ass arrangement!!!!

DFDIAL.JPG


The set screw to adjust this down feed dial to zero is installed at 9 oclock on the dial as you face it. With zero set you can't get at it to tighten it up. All's that I can think of now is to drop the endmill down to match my zero.

That arrangement is going to have to be change.

Boy I miss DRO's. Lets see, 0.2 = 0.001 X 100 X 2, I have to go twice around the dial. That looks to be about where it should be..... I hope.
 
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I dont see the set screw you are talking about. My RF-45 had a very obvious thumbscrew sticking out of the dial ring. Loosen thumbscrew, rotate dial o zero or whatever, reset thumbscrew.

By chance is the knurled ring threaded so you loosen up, move the dial & tighten? That's kind of the other common way but its machine specific.
 
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