A cheap DIY power feed for mill

[RaisedByWolves]

$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.

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.

Man, thats cheap enough I might buy one for my mill at work.

Fun fact:

If you open the back cover on these there is a spare part inside. I disremember what it was, shear pin? Fuse? something minor, but it surprised me that it was included.

 

[Eddyde]

Man, thats cheap enough I might buy one for my mill at work.

Fun fact:

If you open the back cover on these there is a spare part inside. I disremember what it was, shear pin? Fuse? something minor, but it surp

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.

I put that same Vevor power feed on my mill almost a year ago. It is surprisingly well made for the price, the housing is cast aluminum, the drive gears looked machined not sintered. Functionally it works well, forward & reverse via shift lever and a full speed return button.
The only slight issue is the speed control is only electronic, no gear reduction, and the potentiometers full range is only like half a turn. That could make adjusting to a very low feed rate a little wonky. So far this hasn't been an issue for me but I've been thinking I might try swapping out the factory one with a multi-turn pot for more precise speed control.

 

[matthewsx]

Sounds like a great deal with the extra 3 jaw chuck And indexing head.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I put that same Vevor power feed on my mill almost a year ago. It is surprisingly well made for the price, the housing is cast aluminum, the drive gears looked machined not sintered. Functionally it works well, forward & reverse via shift lever and a full speed return button.
The only slight issue is the speed control is only electronic, no gear reduction, and the potentiometers full range is only like half a turn. That could make adjusting to a very low feed rate a little wonky. So far this hasn't been an issue for me but I've been thinking I might try swapping out the factory one with a multi-turn pot for more precise speed control.

Read up on that, you may need to add a resistor if you change out the pot.

 

[rjs44032]

Read up on that, you may need to add a resistor if you change out the pot.

Hi Folks. Just got one of the Vevor AL-310s power feeds from Santa.

Couple installation thoughts I can pass along: First the loose bearing race bothered me so I made an extending bushing/shim just long enough to reach beyond the edge of the 20mm lobe on the leadscrew. This way the spacers push against the race and lock it in. Second, I was able to fix the jam-nut problem by using a normal sized nut and turning half of it down to 0.615". So half of it fit inside the handle.

I haven't used it but tested it and it seems to work fine. Time will tell how it holds up but seems to be pretty good for the pricing. Let me know if any questions regarding install on BP.

Best Regards,
Bob