Another part fatigue failure on 3-1/2 year-old chinese mill

[yota]

nothing critical, just annoying, like the dissolving "rubber" ways protector I just replaced. the gear change levers on this mill are plastic with a steel bushing insert. they are held in place on the gear shafts with roll pins. I hadn't noticed the cracks in both levers until I went to change out the little OEM digital readout on the quill. in order to replace it, I needed to remove the metal faceplate and for that of course I had to remove the gearshift levers. I was going to call the distributer and ask them to send me replacements, but when I removed them, I realized that when they were installed at the factory, the roll pin holes were drilled thru the gear shafts extremely crooked on 2 axis and I would never be able to drill the new levers to match this mess.

my theory is that they installed the levers last, after everything was assembled and used a hand drill with a short bit to drill the roll pin holes. new ones would probably just fail again anyway as they are made from dung. besides, we make things right? the RH lever came off easily but the LH one fell completely apart when removed. did my usual cold gun blue on the parts and used a couple of ball knobs I had in a bin. they're a little large for these short levers but oh well. I used set screws (need to change them to shorter ones) I had instead of drilling more holes thru the gear shafts.

 

[Radials]

Looks like a lifetime fix to me.

 

[extropic]

BAD OEM implementation. Very nice fix.

You should push the Report button and ask Staff to move this thread to the Precision Matthews Forum.

 

[yota]

BAD OEM implementation. Very nice fix.

You should push the Report button and ask Staff to move this thread to the Precision Matthews Forum.

nah, my own fault for not ponying up for the Taiwanese model. or a Bridgeport. how about this, never mind the pile of casting debris that was left on the shelf. check out the jagged gaping void where my quill was supposed to go thru a nice casting. wish I'd never looked in there.

or the fact that the entire casting was so badly done that they slathered a layer of "body filler" (more like flour and water mix, or drywall mud) over the entire machine before painting. even places I put double stick tape to line up my DRO scales, the tape pulled off the "paint" because paint doesn't hold over fake body filler. or everywhere I've drilled a hole or bumped against the cast iron, I have a void now where this crap flaked off. but I *****ed about that issue when I first got the machine. the machine does what I need it to do as far as removing metal though. ah, I feel better now.

 

[talvare]

I know the Chinese have the capability to produce high quality products, so it seems to me that there really isn't much excuse for producing such poor quality like this example. I know that products are built to a price point, so I can see the reasoning for reducing certain features or using things like lower precision bearings, etc. But, really, how difficult or expensive is it to completely fill the casting mold. I've personally seen several examples of this type of Chinese quality as well as many photos of others. This is why I much prefer buying old American or European machinery rather than mainland China products.

Ted

 

[yota]

I know the Chinese have the capability to produce high quality products, so it seems to me that there really isn't much excuse for producing such poor quality like this example. I know that products are built to a price point, so I can see the reasoning for reducing certain features or using things like lower precision bearings, etc. But, really, how difficult or expensive is it to completely fill the casting mold. I've personally seen several examples of this type of Chinese quality as well as many photos of others. This is why I much prefer buying old American or European machinery rather than mainland China products.

Ted

I have top notch equipment from the US, Canada (old chain saws and toolboxes) Japan, GB, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Italy, some nice tools from South Korea, Brazil, probably more. I should have known better. I do like the large gearhead mill design though. big mass with a small footprint. my 2 main reasons for not getting a Bridgeport were, they are so damn big and never having had a mill at the time, I really wouldn't have known what to look for and dreaded ending up with a worn out one. I should a just got one though. It'll be great. not like my skill level demands top quality. or maybe I should have bought the original Rong Fu version.

to be honest, I let the many fans of the Distributer/Importer convince me that his reputation would protect me from this as he has a great reputation for getting good product from the chinese. I have no doubt he is at the top of the heap for chinese machinery, but I chose to buy the lower tier product he sells. not that it was inexpensive mind you.

 

[yota]

speaking of chinese manufacturing. if you do any kind of fishing, you've probably heard of Mud Hole Rod & Tackle Supply. they are located in Oviedo Florida. the owner of Mud Hole also owns a fairly large site development company. I was building a downtown development project in Oviedo and we hired his site clearing company, so I had the un-pleasure of his company at the weekly jobsite meetings for months. I asked him once about almost everything they sell being made in china. he did say that they can reproduce any level of quality you are willing to pay for, but the quality will plummet after the first delivery if you don't keep all over them. he said he pretty much had to use china to compete. he also told me that if he needed a die made to produce a new lure, if would cost him 50K to have it made in the US and he could get the same die made in china for 5K.

 

[nobog]

They can do it, here is a pic of my Honda Mini Trail (converted to a Kawasaki ) - note the swing arm - it's a thing of beauty really, tolerances are right on, aligns perfectly, threads good, welds nice, surface finish was beautiful, included axle and swing arm pivot - and - $220.

On the other hand - my Eastwood bench top bandsaw (Chinese) was almost unusable out of the box, spent hours getting that thing right.

 

[gard]

Nice job on the handles, it would have been an interesting measuring and fixturing job to replicate the angles of the original holes.
I have seen missing areas of cast iron in hidden areas on old US made tools also.

 

[yota]

Nice job on the handles, it would have been an interesting measuring and fixturing job to replicate the angles of the original holes.
I have seen missing areas of cast iron in hidden areas on old US made tools also.

probably not where the quill goes thru though..