Wanted: Mill Power Feed

[Marc Moreau]

[QUOTE = "TOBARApprentice, post: 24944, membre: 798"] Voici quelques photos montrant comment j'ai surmonté le problème de 4 boulons à 2 boulons. J'ai utilisé une plaque entretoise / adaptateur que j'ai usinée. J'ai tourné une douille pour m'assurer qu'elle était centrée sur la vis mère de l'axe X. C'était un mod relativement simple et a rendu le moulin tellement amusant à utiliser.

Envoyé depuis mon iPhone à l'aide de Tapatalk [/ QUOTE]
Nice job

 

[YotaBota]

TOBAR/ PeterT - thank you gentlemen, pictures and threads have helped immensely.
Mike

 

[Marc Moreau]

One picture is better than 1000 words.

 

[YotaBota]

Agree, pictures sure beat reading 8000 words.

TOBAR - pm sent.

 

[DPittman]

[QUOTE = "Marc Moreau, post: 24966, member: 1718"] [QUOTE = "TOBARApprentice, post: 24944, member: 798"] Here are some photos showing how I overcame the problem of 4 bolts to 2 bolts. I used a spacer / adapter plate that I machined. I turned a socket to make sure it was centered on the mother screw of the X axis. It was a relatively simple mod and made the mill so much fun to use.

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Nice job [/ QUOTE]
I'm curious what model of milling machine that is... is that fancy aluminum diamond plate a factory finish or is that your own touch?

 

[TOBARApprentice]

The Aluminum checkerplate was my addition. When I rebuilt the machine I tool it down to bare metal. Fun fact, that metal was covered by a lot of body fill which made the castings smooth. Another fun fact, I’m not a body man, and I hate doing body work so I decided to clad the machine with aluminum checkerplate. It’s a bit “tacky” but looks good and is in keeping with the industrial theme, lol.


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[trlvn]

I didn't notice this when it was first posted, but is that a Stanley No. 1 plane photo-bombing this picture?!?

Craig
(The No. 1 is a highly impractical, teeny, tiny, wood-working plane. It is also rare and quite collectable with pristine copies selling for as much as a good-condition milling machine!)

 

[thriller007]

I see there are power feeds even cheaper like this one https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B071HBBRRP/ref=dp_cerb_2 has anyone ever used something like it? It only has 135 lbs of torque in comparison. How much do you need on a small mill?

 

[YotaBota]

I'm still sitting on the fence but I'm looking at the ASONG. The thing I like is the handle for the traverse rather than the rotary switch on the cheaper ones and it's half the price of the ALIGN. Is the ALIGN worth the extra cost? don't know but I can't afford to buy one of each to find out and for my hobby use the ASONG could last my lifetime.

 

[PeterT]

Might depend on what you define as small mill. 13 lbs hanging on the end of the table might be getting up there. Also this PF is hang-down mode. Some smaller mills may have insufficient clearance to the base datum / chip pan for motion range. Just eyeballing I think it would look like this on an RF-45, but smaller yet mills might be tight & overkill. I've seen people make homebrew PF's with quite small gear drive motors, but I didn't pay attention t torque rating. (That would vary by rpm, therefore feed rate too).

 

[DPittman]

I'm still sitting on the fence but I'm looking at the ASONG. The thing I like is the handle for the traverse rather than the rotary switch on the cheaper ones and it's half the price of the ALIGN. Is the ALIGN worth the extra cost? don't know but I can't afford to buy one of each to find out and for my hobby use the ASONG could last my lifetime.

I just ordered the asong one from Amazon myself....$245 free shipping. I may have been able to get it a bit cheaper from elsewhere but I like Amazon customer service if needed.

 

[YotaBota]

Well I pulled the pin and ordered the ASONG from Amazon, in theory it will be here in a couple of weeks.
My mill is a baby BP with an 8x30 table and weighs about 900lbs so it should handle the extra weight of the PF.
Thanks to all for the help.

 

[DPittman]

Well I pulled the pin and ordered the ASONG from Amazon, in theory it will be here in a couple of weeks.
My mill is a baby BP with an 8x30 table and weighs about 900lbs so it should handle the extra weight of the PF.
Thanks to all for the help.

Your 8x30 mill is a teenager bridgeport, my 6x26 mill is a baby.

 

[YotaBota]

DP - okay kid! lol
TOBAR - how are you keeping the worm gear attached to the lead screw? The videos I've watched show on a BP the worm gear being held in place by the handle and nut. The handwheel on mine is held onto the leadscrew with a setscrew and yours looks the same as mine. What voodoo have you done to keep the worm gear in place?
Did the two outside holes of the mounting plate line up with existing end cap mounting holes?

 

[TOBARApprentice]

I’m a Jedi Master...... Just “Used The Force”. LOL. I’ll take some pics later today so you can see. Truthfully I don’t recall...... these days I’m not even sure of what day it is, or what I had for breakfast let alone the inner workings of the power feed on the X axis of my mill, lol.


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[YotaBota]

Please help us Obi Wan,,,, you're the only one who can,,, lol

 

[Dusty]

Might depend on what you define as small mill. 13 lbs hanging on the end of the table might be getting up there. Also this PF is hang-down mode. Some smaller mills may have insufficient clearance to the base datum / chip pan for motion range. Just eyeballing I think it would look like this on an RF-45, but smaller yet mills might be tight & overkill. I've seen people make homebrew PF's with quite small gear drive motors, but I didn't pay attention t torque rating. (That would vary by rpm, therefore feed rate too).

Hi list, have given up on the idea of installing a power feed on my Craftex mill/drill. Sent an inquiry to ALIGN in California, they didn't have any drawings or specific details on their horizontal AL-500D model. They also mentioned it would be too big for my mill. So I'm playing around with a stool on casters although I need to find a better support to take the weight of my lame leg. This should work although much depends on how my knee tolerates sitting in front of the mill/drill. Things we do to spend some time in the shop. Bill

 

[TOBARApprentice]

Sorry for the delay lads, here are the pics as promised. Turns out I drilled and tapped the shaft then screwed a bolt through. It holds everything in place and hides cleverly under the dial. Hope that this helps.

Cheers,

Derek.

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[YotaBota]

Sneaky you are,,,, hidden well the bolt be.
And that's the best Yoda I have. I want to keep the handwheel so I'll need to figure something out for that as well.
Thanks for the pics.

 

[TOBARApprentice]

There is at least 2 inches from the end of the shaft to where the collar (brass) ends. Turn a shaft, put it into the collar, pin it too and attach the handle. I left the handle off but at the other end of the lead screw it remains. Best of both worlds. I can move the x axis manually from the left and automatically from the right. The reason I left it off at the right was simply a space constraint issue..... “narrow the shop is, make concessions I must”

May the force be with you.....


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