Just Picked Up A Kent 4vk

[JimDawson]

It's done. \

Adhering to the hobby machinist creed, why buy it when you can make it at 10 times the cost? Pretty sure this part is available from Acer for a couple hundred bucks, but what fun is that? Turning a hundred bucks worth of aluminum into a pile of chips is just too much fun.

OK, the final operations. I flipped it over and took a light skin pass on the top just to flatten it out, then pocketing the face 0.201 deep. This will leave 0.150 for the face thickness. 3/8 solid carbide, 2 flute end mill. 3000 RPM, 10 IPM, .125 DOC, and a 40% stepover.



The final pocket pass, about 61 minutes run time.



And the pocketing is finished, including the tach and switch mount holes. Same end mill and conditions as above. I again proved that the sign is important in entering the work height, the switch and tach pockets start at -0.201 in the Z axis, I entered 0.201 which means that it took three air passes before it started cutting metal. Not very efficient, but the run time per pass was reasonably short and I'm not in that big of a hurry. If I had to make another one I would fix that.



And the final operation; rounding over the edges. For this I'm using a Harbor Freight, 0.062 radius, carbide router bit. 0.031 DOC per pass, 3000 RPM, 10 IPM. I modify the bearing type router bits by removing the bearing then mill off the bearing stud so it will cut flush. Don't get to greedy with the cut using a 1/4 shank router bit in a mill and keep it chucked up as short as possible..



The nearly finished part, ready for deburr and a little filing in the tach hole to remove the corner radius so the tach will go in the hole.



And ready for installation...



Don't have the M6 cap screws yet, Guess I'll just have to hold it in place..

 

[alloy]

That looks great. Thank you.

I have the legend plate for the on/off switch. It came in yesterday. The cap screws are in my vehicle.

 

[Silverbullet]

Great job . Plus if you come across a motor for the other head you'll be in like flint for 50 years. Looks good even if you don't paint it , I think it's the perfect show off that your a true machinist. Yupp way to go.

 

[alloy]

If I run across a motor really cheap I'll pick it up and might put the head back together, but doubt if I'll use the original head. I like that new one is R8 and that great Super E motor would be hard to let go of and go back to the manual speed changer.

But Jim and I have lots of spare parts now. He has a project that he can use the old head to design the parts head needs to build for his mill. Getting this mill was a win win for both of us.

And when I get the mill home and into service I can sell my Bridgeport and that gives me cash for the next score I run across

Hmm....... The question is can I bring myself to actually sell a tool??? Especially one that I rebuilt from the ground up.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Hmm....... The question is can I bring myself to actually sell a tool??? Especially one that I rebuilt from the ground up.

that all depends on what you can get with the money. Mortgage payment = no tool sale. CNC lathe = tool sale

 

[alloy]

My household money is separate so that's all covered. All of this is done with money from my business or money made from wheeling and dealing.

So if I can bring myself to sell the Bridgeport I can spend it on any new toy I find.

And I'm sure I can find something eventually

 

[alloy]

We got the mill pretty much done and we moved it to my place from Jim's.

I rented a drop deck trailer and we put skids under the mill and when we got it to my place I used a come along to pull it off the trailer.

I rotated the head up and it just clears my garage door by about 3/4". I plan on painting it so it's in the middle of the garage for now.

The X axis scale for the DRO is bad, so I'm going for a new 3 axis DRO for it, and have to get the power draw bar set up.

When it's all done I'll sell my Bridgeport. My GF says she was shocked, couldn't believe I would want to sell a tool, specially one I rebuilt from the ground up. But when I sell it there will be more money for new scores

 

[coolidge]

That thing is a beast and it came out really nice congrats!

 

[alloy]

Thanks. Not done with it yet, but pretty happy with my investment in it.

By the time I get a DRO on it I'll be in it for $2300.

 

[alloy]

Got the painting done today. Took longer than I had hoped, a failed in tank fuel pump I had to replace on my daily driver set me back a week.

It's amazing what a little elbow grease and a few cans of paint will do to a machine. The name plates had a dingy brown paint on them, so I decided to give them a little bit of color to make them stand out some.

I'm going to drop by my local bearing supplier tomorrow after work and pick up a couple of bearings for the head. Took one off and it feels good, but I can shake it and hear it rattle. So better to replace them now than later when they seize.

All I have left to do now before I put it into service and sell my Bridgeport is get a DRO on it.