2016 POTD Thread Archive

It looks like your treadmill motor for your drill press conversion had the flywheel on the same side as the drive wheel, right? Mine are on opposite sides. The existing drive wheel is about 1" diameter aluminum, 1.5" wide, poly-v. It weighs about 5 ounces. Not much there to work with. I suppose I could mount something on the side of the flywheel, but there isn't any arbor left to grab onto so I would be drilling into the face of the flywheel, potentially throwing away the balance it currently enjoys. But with the fan on the drive wheel side (and an apparent press-fit) I wouldn't mind using the flywheel side. The nut for the flywheel came off easily, but the flywheel didn't. It just pulled the shaft within the housing. It wasn't until later that night that it occurred to me that the flywheel may be threaded on as well. I'll see how easily it comes off. That side has a right hand thread, so eliminating the flywheel and using a tap for the drive wheel threading (and having the benefit of a drive wheel that doesn't spin itself loose in use) would simplify things. It just seems like the weight of that flywheel is desirable as, you know, a flywheel. Perhaps I should just make up a new drive wheel for that side that incorporates a new flywheel.

So many decisions...
 
So I bit the bullet and bought a power feed for my mill's knee. Getting tired of all the cranking. I thought about the using a drill method but I would have to buy a drill, make an adapter. And then I would be wacking my knee into that protruding drill all the time. So I have an Excello mill. It is like a Bridgeport but its not. So I have found that everything I buy for this mill must be adapted. Here is what I had to do to make this work:
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So the shaft that came in the kit didn't fit. I had to bore out the I.D.
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The adapter in the kit of course didn't work and I am having to make one from scratch. This will bolt onto the knee and the power feed bolts to it.
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To be able to use my dial I had to shorten the length and increase the internal bore.
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I then had to make a lock down nut for the dial. I used Delrin. This was my first time cutting internal threads.
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I also had modify the crank sprocket, and make a sleeve for the crank to rotate on. So the parts on the left are the ones I had to make and the parts on the right are the ones I had to modify.
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Here it is finally installed.
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NCjeeper said:
I thought about the using a drill method but I would have to buy a drill, make an adapter.
Click to expand...
Tee-hee! Sounds like you went through a whole lot more work adapting the power feed you bought ... and I'll bet it was just a tad more expensive than a battery drill woulda been :)
NCjeeper said:
And then I would be wacking my knee into that protruding drill all the time.
Click to expand...
Well, I suppose that might be a factor ... but I thought the idea was to remove the drill when you weren't using it to move the knee.

Anyway, all kidding aside, that's a really fine looking job you did. Congrats!

PS - If you leave the crank in place (as shown in your last photo), will it spin when you use the power feed?
PS - Might you be able to rotate the power feed about 90º on its mount, so that the controls face upward? That might make it handier to use (unless it interferes with something else).
 
NCJeeper,

Nice work and very clear post too.

I also have an Excello (602) so, one day, I may ask how that power feed worked out.
 
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