I Bought My First Milling Machine!

A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.
Img_1921.jpg


I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.
Img_7597_zpscb8b5dd7.jpg


Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544
 
That is a really nice Millrite you have there. Good job on the refurb and update with the VFD. I have one almost exactly like it and have thoroughly enjoyed using it for the past ten years.

The spindle speeds are usually shown on a placard riveted to the side of the motor mount. I think the slowest speed on mine is 250 RPM which is really fast for drilling steel. I have a VFD and use the two slowest pulley grooves most of the time. But to get max speed, which is over 3000 rpm, requires using the upper grooves.

I can post a pic of the spindle speed placard if you like. Even though I have a VFD, the placard gives me a point of reference. With the vfd set at 60HZ, I know I should be turning RPM's close to the speeds posted on the placard. You will need to change the pulleys to get the full potential out of your machine since it has such a wide operating RPM range. The motor will stall if your not careful with large drills with the VFD turned down. This may being too cautious but I don't use a setting less than 30HZ for this reason. Since you have a tach If you have a chance, please post what your spindle speed is on the slowest pulley setting with the VFD at 30HZ. Since I don't have a tach on mine, I would be interested to know the slowest usable RPM.

Thanks for sharing your build.
 
A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.
Img_1921.jpg


I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.
Img_7597_zpscb8b5dd7.jpg


Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544
 
Last edited:
Thanks Will! That's a big help.

I think I have my start up speed set for 4 or 5 seconds. It gives me a soft start and a few seconds to react when I realize I forgot to release the spindle lock .


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Nice mill Will! Say being that's the bedroom shop you were building earlier does the bed still fit? Just razzing ya ! :encourage: I have learned quickly how this hobby not only causes empty wallet syndrome it also causes all extra space to be filled.
 
A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.
Img_1921.jpg


I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.
Img_7597_zpscb8b5dd7.jpg


Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544
 
You have a nice shop there! My wife just saw your setup and said she wished my shop was as clean and orderly. I then told her yours was in a bedroom and she told me to forget that idea because she hates when I track chips into the house.
 
Thanks @wildo , I am enjoying the ride!
-brino
 
brino said:
Thanks @wildo , I am enjoying the ride!
-brino
Click to expand...
Glad you've liked the updates, brino. The shop is in a good place now. The lathe is complete and operational. The mill is complete and operational. Really, at this point, the only thing stopping me from making stuff is having no tooling. I'm working on it, but this stuff is so expensive. I have a single 1/2" endmill and a full R8 collet set. Otherwise, I'm starting from complete scratch. It'll be a while, but hey- as long as that floor holds up, the machines aren't going anywhere. (That was a joke.)
 
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