A cheap DIY power feed for mill

[RaisedByWolves]

Looks like a solid build and certainly functional. However, I would miss the forward-reverse action of the shift lever on a traditional power feed, also the rapid return button is nice to have.

Hello, my name is Eric and I have a problem.

I’m addicted to making things just like other things when I’m used to using similar tools of different styles.

It makes life hard sometimes, but I have to be me.

I’m working on making the power feed for my mini mill function and have the same form factor as the Bridgeport’s I’ve ran for over 3 decades.

It’s my sickness but it’s comforting to know I’m not alone.

Hello, good night everybody.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I’ve been watching this channel for a couple of years and I think he’s great. Part of what his channel is about is making things at home instead of buying. He does sometimes say In his videos that he probably could have bought the item for less than the time/parts/materials, but as a hobbyist this is what we do and that he enjoys the challenge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is common, it’s called the hobby tax.

Sure you could have it cheaper/faster and if you’re in business that’s fine.

But for a hobby you get the Joy of accomplishment X Joy of ownership = Pride and satisfaction/happiness.

Unless it turns out like ****.

 

[Shotgun]

This is common, it’s called the hobby tax.

Sure you could have it cheaper/faster and if you’re in business that’s fine.

But for a hobby you get the Joy of accomplishment X Joy of ownership = Pride and satisfaction/happiness.

Unless it turns out like ****.

I'm on board with that, and willingly pay that tax quite often. Got no problem with it.

What bothered me was trying to justify the build by saying he can't afford the $900 power feed, when they're all over for less than $150.
C'mon man. You mock yourself when you do that. Almost across the board, none of what we do makes sense from a fiscal perspective, so just accept it, and enjoy spending time making big pieces of metal into small pieces of metal.
And there are tons of videos like that. Saw one the other night where a guy made a wood chipper out of a grinder and a stack of 7" skil-saw blades. It would be a great idea if we were stuck in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but as it stands, he spend more on the saw blades than what a Harbor Freight chipper would cost.
To top it all off, this build (and most of the others I've seen him do), was very well executed.

 

[DavidR8]

I'm on board with that, and willingly pay that tax quite often. Got no problem with it.

What bothered me was trying to justify the build by saying he can't afford the $900 power feed, when they're all over for less than $150.
C'mon man. You mock yourself when you do that. Almost across the board, none of what we do makes sense from a fiscal perspective, so just accept it, and enjoy spending time making big pieces of metal into small pieces of metal.
And there are tons of videos like that. Saw one the other night where a guy made a wood chipper out of a grinder and a stack of 7" skil-saw blades. It would be a great idea if we were stuck in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but as it stands, he spend more on the saw blades than what a Harbor Freight chipper would cost.
To top it all off, this build (and most of the others I've seen him do), was very well executed.

He's in Australia so everything is more expensive than in the US or Canada and his mill needs a smaller than normal power feed. The prices he showed are accurate.

 

[Geswearf]

and enjoy spending time making big pieces of metal into small pieces of metal.

Isn't there a saying that the best way to make a small fortune in (insert your preferred activity here) is to start with a large fortune?

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I'm on board with that, and willingly pay that tax quite often. Got no problem with it.

What bothered me was trying to justify the build by saying he can't afford the $900 power feed, when they're all over for less than $150.
C'mon man. You mock yourself when you do that. Almost across the board, none of what we do makes sense from a fiscal perspective, so just accept it, and enjoy spending time making big pieces of metal into small pieces of metal.
And there are tons of videos like that. Saw one the other night where a guy made a wood chipper out of a grinder and a stack of 7" skil-saw blades. It would be a great idea if we were stuck in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but as it stands, he spend more on the saw blades than what a Harbor Freight chipper would cost.
To top it all off, this build (and most of the others I've seen him do), was very well executed.

I particularly don’t care for his content, but that is a ME issue. Something about his speech patterns and presentation are off putting to me.

Kinda like that screechy “Scotty” car guy but in a different way.

I am also curious as to where you find $150 power feed for these machines.

Link?

And yeah, aussies and canooks get hammered over these things.

 

[Shotgun]

Maybe I spoke too soon. I paid $173 for mine 2 yrs ago to go on a Rong-Fu clone. Since then, selection has dropped and the prices have skyrocketed. The best price is from Shar's at ~$275.

Still not $895, though.

Shars X Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Powerfeed Power Feeder R] | eBay

Shars Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Table Feed New. Product application The power feed is connected to the lead screw via a 3 jaw chuck coupler with teeth on the outer ring, particularly JET milling machine.

www.ebay.com

 

[DavidR8]

Maybe I spoke too soon. I paid $173 for mine 2 yrs ago to go on a Rong-Fu clone. Since then, selection has dropped and the prices have skyrocketed. The best price is from Shar's at ~$275.

Still not $895, though.

Shars X Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Powerfeed Power Feeder R] | eBay

Shars Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Table Feed New. Product application The power feed is connected to the lead screw via a 3 jaw chuck coupler with teeth on the outer ring, particularly JET milling machine.

www.ebay.com

$275USD is $416AUD and that's before shipping. And that PF is too large for his mill.
The LMS version is the one that fits his mill and it's $400 USD which is $600AUD
I have zero reason to dispute his AUD pricing.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Maybe I spoke too soon. I paid $173 for mine 2 yrs ago to go on a Rong-Fu clone. Since then, selection has dropped and the prices have skyrocketed. The best price is from Shar's at ~$275.

Still not $895, though.

Shars X Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Powerfeed Power Feeder R] | eBay

Shars Power Feed Table Milling Reversible Mill/Drill Table Feed New. Product application The power feed is connected to the lead screw via a 3 jaw chuck coupler with teeth on the outer ring, particularly JET milling machine.

www.ebay.com

Gotcha, I don't like that style.

I paid $425 for the little Micro Mark unit I got for my mini mill.

Im going to tear it all apart and modify it how I want and could have done that with cheaper units, but I trust if they put their name on it there's good components used.

 

[Winegrower]

Here's the least expensive power feed I've found:

VEVOR X-Axis Power Feed for Milling Machine, 450 in-lb Torque, 0-200RPM Adjustable Rotate Speed 120V Power Table Feed Mill Feeder, for Bridgeport Some Knee Type Mills with a 5/8" End Shaft Diameter | VEVOR US

Discover VEVOR X-Axis Power Feed for Milling Machine, 450 in-lb Torque, 0-200RPM Adjustable Rotate Speed 120V Power Table Feed Mill Feeder, for Bridgeport Some Knee Type Mills with a 5/8" End Shaft Diameter, Compact & Versatile and Sturdy & Stable at lowest price, 2days delivery, 30days returns.

www.vevor.com

I've purchased a few other Vevor products like a sauna heater, an ultrasonic cleaner and a bathroom towel heater, and all have been very well executed in design and manufacturing. I've gotten two of these power feeds for about $125, free shipping, and adapted them to moving the head and table of my Rockwell EFI drill press. They work great and I recommend them. Same crummy instructions as the expensive brands.

The first power feed of the classical design like these came on my mill 15 years ago, and broke maybe 10 years ago. I took it apart and was stunned at the mess of parts inside, threw it away and bought a $400 replacement that has been working fine since. I added a Z axis drive, and installed a couple other X drives for friends. Eventually I learned how they actually work, which is a combination of clever and appalling design, but once understood works OK.

A tricky part of the design is to prevent over travel of the internal switching, a roll pin protrudes from the case under the forward/reverse handle and rides in a routed groove in the back of the handle hub. If the handle is rotated just a bit farther than that limit, it can mechanically disconnect internally or even break an internal bracket. I learned this when trying to make the handle work 90 degrees clockwise from normal to be up/down instead of left/right.