# Finally powered up the mill and threw some chips today



## WhyW8 (Aug 6, 2022)

Bought my mill RF 30 clone, about three weeks ago and today was the first time operating it.  Did not make anything, just cleaned/ trued up some steel plate, allowing me to focus on the general set up and operation processes, check out the DRO and get myself familiar with the mill.  Slow and Safe... baby steps

The past few weeks I have been busy getting the mill set up the way I want it.  Built a riser to install between the mill base and floor stand, raising the working height of the table 10".  Made up some brackets and mounted the linear scales/DRO..  It is amazing how long some of the simplest things take to fabricate and set up.  Now that I have the mill set up with the DRO I will slowly work towards fabricating a more clinical looking Z axis one piece mounting bracket.  

I still have to fabricate some parts for the auto feed that I got with the mill, as some items in a normal kit were not included.


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## Boswell (Aug 6, 2022)

looks great!


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## Manual Mac (Aug 7, 2022)

It’s a clean machine!
just curious, with the risor you built, how high is the top of the table now?


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## DavidR8 (Aug 7, 2022)

Looks good!


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## WhyW8 (Aug 7, 2022)

Thanks guys..

The top of the table is now at 43" -- the original 33" was way too low for me as I like to stand rather than sit while working.  I do not like to hunch down or slump over when I'm working on things.  I have a work bench in my garage that is 40" tall, while this height is not great for very heavy items it works well for me for most bench top tasks.  on a further note, my Logan lathe is 46" high at spindle centerline.


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## Steve-F (Aug 8, 2022)

Gees, that would be at my chin level!!!  Looks great!


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## Weldingrod1 (Aug 8, 2022)

I'm the same way: both mill and lathe are -significantly- raised to match happy working height.

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk


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## Manual Mac (Aug 8, 2022)

i raised my SB9 to a spindle center height of 45” a couple yrs ago. 
shoulda done it yrs ago, it’s about right for me now at 5’-8.5” tall.
mill table at 38”, I’ll be building a new stand couple inches higher as time permits, but OK for now.
In reality, my “To-Do” list is so long since I retired, don’t think that will happen.
Somehow i keep acquiring more projects than I have time for.
But I’m sure none of you folks have that problem. ;-) …..:
Cheers, MM


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## WhyW8 (Aug 8, 2022)

Yeah, I'm 5'-10"  and those higher work level help me fight the back/should fatigue.    -- I know about those To-Do items, my problem is when I go to tackle one it lead to "I should sort this out, move this, repair this, clean this" and the next thing I know I've spent a couple of hours and still have not completed the task I started out to do...


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## wachuko (Aug 9, 2022)

That came out great, and you have additional storage area under it.

DRO is so great to have.  A must in my newbie book…


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## WhyW8 (Aug 9, 2022)

wachuko said:


> That came out great, and you have additional storage area under it.
> 
> DRO is so great to have.  A must in my newbie book…


Thanks. I have not worked out what I'm going to store there, but space is limited in my little garage so I'm sure it will come in handy.

 Yeah, me being new to all this machining work the DRO will surely help me with the learning curve.

As a newbie -I turned three steel knobs yesterday to use on my table locks for the mill, first time knurling...  Man  there is just something very satisfying in making your own stuff, it's addicting..  The down side is all this has kept me from getting any work done on my hotrod.


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## WhyW8 (Aug 9, 2022)

Speaking of chips -- I threw together a Way cover using some old 23 mil woven HDPE fabric that I've been hauling around for 20+ years.  Made it wider that the stock section that would have come with mill.  
Should do the trick, time will tell.


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