Searchng for Handwheels

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mickri

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My Ecel mill/drill was missing one handwheel for the Y axis and the crank to raise and lower the head. I have been searching online and none of the usual sources, Grizzly, McMaster Carr, Ebay, etc, have replacements for the handwheel that can be made to fit. The shaft on the crank is 17mm with a flat and the shaft on the Y axis is 19mm. The problem is not having enough material on the backside of the handwheel to cut slots (probably wrong terminology) to mate up to the fittings on the shafts. See attached photo's. I have found two possible solutions for the crank handle. One is to use a 7.75" pulley that I can get from Surplus Center. This pulley would be ugly but could be made to fit. I would like a bigger pulley but the bore sizes on the bigger pulleys are too big. I could always make a bushing. The other possible solution is to use a speed handle for a vise. This would require a bushing. A 3/4 coupler nut would work for the bushing. This would look the best IMHO.
What do you guys think of my crank solutions? And any ideas on where to find a handwheel for the Y axis.
Thanks
Chuck

7.75+O.D.+5+8+BORE+1+GROOVE+PULLEY_M.jpg

speed handle.jpg

IMG_3402.JPG

IMG_3404.JPG
 
Looks like you need someone who has a dividing head or rotary table.
Or this may be the reason you've been looking for to acquire one.
There might be a HM in your area who has one and time to make them for you or even better walk you through making your own.
I don't suppose there is any temptation to visit me in Minnesota this time of year..............
You can make these. No reason to purchase them. I'm also wondering if a "lovejoy coupling" could be found in the appropriate configurati0n and adapted to work.

Daryl
MN
 
Squaw Valley, CA is not as cold as Minn., but it comes close sometimes, because it is about 6,000 feet above sea level... Summer nights at nearby Truckee, CA are often the coldest reporting station in the 48 contiguous states, and can be below freezing in any month of the year.
 
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Have you called Enco? They have parts to fit an RF-31 and it looks like the parts may interchange.
 
I replaced the phenolic handwheels on my PM45 with cast iron handwheels made by Flair. I purchased them from Grizzly since they had the best price on them at the time but you can find them on ebay & from other vendors.

The Flair handwheels are machine to fit though. On my RF45 style mill, the table axis shafts are 17mm so you can get a bolt on solution from Grizzly. Not sure about the 19mm shaft though.

You can see how I machined them in post # 148 http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/my-pm45m-pdf.9885/page-5#post-265352

Img_0858.jpg
 
Bob, You got the wrong Squaw Valley. I live about 45 miles east of Fresno 10 miles south of the 180 which goes to Kings Canyon National Park. Elevation 1850 feet. As we like to say we are above the fog and below the snow. So I am not going to MN anytime soon.

Darkzero, Thanks for the link. That is exactly what I have to do. I read in another thread, forget which forum, where the poster had the same machine as I have and tried to use the plastic handwheels from Griz. They did not have enough material behind the spokes to make the cuts. The pictures in Griz's catalog looks like there is enough material. To be on the safe side I emailed Griz about both their plastic and cast iron handles asking for the dimensions. I got a polite but very curt reply that they didn't have the time to determine whether their handwheels would fit on a competitor's machine and that there would be a restocking fee. I emailed them back again asking just for the measurements and got another curt reply that just restated what was in their catalog. I was going to buy a fair amount of stuff from Griz but if this is any indication of their customer service I will spend my $$$ elsewhere. I was going to use their 8" cast iron handwheel for the crank and a 6" plastic for the Y axis. What did you do with your old plastic handwheels?

Daryl, Funny you should ask. My mill/drill came with a Walter 16" rotary table. It would not even fit on the table and was so heavy, well over 200 lbs, I could barely move it. No way could I pick it up. I just sold it to a local machine shop. The guy they had come get it picked it up like it was no big deal. I am shopping around for a 6" rotary table among other things.

Chuck
 
mickri said:
Darkzero, Thanks for the link. That is exactly what I have to do. I read in another thread, forget which forum, where the poster had the same machine as I have and tried to use the plastic handwheels from Griz. They did not have enough material behind the spokes to make the cuts. The pictures in Griz's catalog looks like there is enough material. To be on the safe side I emailed Griz about both their plastic and cast iron handles asking for the dimensions. I got a polite but very curt reply that they didn't have the time to determine whether their handwheels would fit on a competitor's machine and that there would be a restocking fee. I emailed them back again asking just for the measurements and got another curt reply that just restated what was in their catalog. I was going to buy a fair amount of stuff from Griz but if this is any indication of their customer service I will spend my $$$ elsewhere. I was going to use their 8" cast iron handwheel for the crank and a 6" plastic for the Y axis. What did you do with your old plastic handwheels?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I never was a fan of Grizzly for similar & other reasons. I buy from them only when I have to which is not very often. Flair is just one manufacturer that makes machine handwheels, there are many others. But they do make various styles & they list their dimensions on their site so you'll know if they will work for you or not. http://flairamerica.net/products/machine-parts/handwheels/. Kipp is another http://www.kippusa.com/us/en/Products/Handwheels.html. Mcmaster carries a bunch too.

I still have my original handwheels but I don't want to part with them. But I do have a extra pair that have chips in them that I would let go. To be honest though if I were in your shoes, I would go the route of getting some nice metal handwheels. I hated my stock handwheels.
 
I went to the flair website when I read your post. Both their plastic and cast iron handwheels would work for me. I just checked the Kipp website and their handwheels won't work. They are flat on back side. I might send Griz another email and ask them if their handwheels are made by Flair.
 
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