HF Mill Back Together Again

[JohnWold]

Looks great.

I would like to repaint mine. Did you strip the red paint off first?

One of the things I've done that was a nice improvement is to balance the heavy cast iron v-belt pulley above the spindle.
I think this is a step that is skipped at the factory to save time.
Basically, I pulled it off, mounted it on an arbor and used the bed of my lathe to see which part of the pulley rolled to the bottom. Then drilled a little off the meat of the low side till things evened out.

 

[JohnWold]

I have a very similar vice, mounted in the same position. This has worked well for me.
But, Y axis travel is at a premium and I gained almost an inch by milling the lip off the back of the vice.
This part kept running into the column, limiting travel.
I've been happy with the vice, but it was fairly inexpensive so I didn't feel bad about altering it and am happy with the results.

 

[wayback machine]

I would like to repaint mine. Did you strip the red paint off first?

No, I did not - They have so much filler under that paint, that it would have been a nightmare, I think.
The castings are pretty rough in some spots, and that's why they used it.
Basically, I ground it down from the edges (where it will chip off, if you don't) and primed where the filler and iron was exposed.
Paint is just brushed Rustoleum gray, mixed with Penetrol and thinner, until it would flow out the brush marks, done with good foam brushes.
I used 2 coats on most pieces, and it flowed out nice enough mostly, so that it looks sprayed.

I did grind off quite a bit of casting flash - The factory didn't care much for de-burring, easier to just trowel on filler, I guess.

2 really good ideas here - Trimming off the rear of the vise, and balancing the spindle pulley - I like them both, and they're now on the to-do list :~)

 

[JFL4066]

Welcome to the HF 40939 club! LOL.

X axis feed
VFD drive on a 2HP 3 phase motor
Speed sensor for actual spindle rpm
Touch DRO with magnetic scales
All geometry scraped
One shot oiler and lines
Delta/Rockwell Light Gray color

Great machine with a satisfactory work envelop. I will be adding a 5-6" column spacer to make up for the 6" mill vise next.

 

[Weldingrod1]

I cut the back tab off my vice years ago and have never regretted it! A big upgrade for a small mill!!

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk

 

[JFL4066]

I cut the back tab off my vice years ago and have never regretted it! A big upgrade for a small mill!!

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk

Yikes! I thought about doing that too. I will need get another vise.

 

[JFL4066]

Looks great.

I would like to repaint mine. Did you strip the red paint off first?

One of the things I've done that was a nice improvement is to balance the heavy cast iron v-belt pulley above the spindle.
I think this is a step that is skipped at the factory to save time.
Basically, I pulled it off, mounted it on an arbor and used the bed of my lathe to see which part of the pulley rolled to the bottom. Then drilled a little off the meat of the low side till things evened out.

I very rarely strip the paint. The imports have a ton of filler on them plus paint. I just grind out chips and fill with body filler. Prime and paint.
Good call on the large pulley balance, I do not detect any vibration at 3000 rpm. But I may just check it any way.

 

[Splat]

That's a nice mill there! I don't have room for a BP sized mill and so far my Johannson B12 (precursor to Clausing 8520) has done everything I needed to do.... except drilling holes in bigger workpieces. The arbor/chuck takes up a lot of vertical real estate. Never thought I'd really need a drill press after getting my mill but yes, it's inevitable. Oh man, I wanna see that column spacer when you install it. I would love to rig something up for my mill.

 

[wayback machine]

Never thought I'd really need a drill press after getting my mill but yes, it's inevitable.

Yes, it's really best to have both - Put a decent x-y table or vise on the drill press.

 

[JFL4066]

That's a nice mill there! I don't have room for a BP sized mill and so far my Johannson B12 (precursor to Clausing 8520) has done everything I needed to do.... except drilling holes in bigger workpieces. The arbor/chuck takes up a lot of vertical real estate. Never thought I'd really need a drill press after getting my mill but yes, it's inevitable. Oh man, I wanna see that column spacer when you install it. I would love to rig something up for my mill.

Thx. I use those annular cutters for drilling holes larger than 3/4". Very fast and efficient. I bought a R8 to Weldon Shank Arbor for them. Only takes up about 2" height and the cutter comes in 1" or 2" in length.