Looking for my perfect size hobby mill....

dabear3428 said:
not sure on the G0704 but on the G0758 i flipped the Z dove tail slide and got about 4" more Z travel.
the extreme up position gives me like 14" from spindle and table vs the 8-3/4 of the stock mill (I don't do work at the extreme but nice for tool changes) i have closer to 12" for working.
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I considered doing this to my PM25 while I had the head off and was gutting it for the belt drive. But then I got thinking (I was an engineer and sometimes do too much of this) that gravity causes a twisting load between the head mount and the dovetails of the column. I saw some wear marks on the head mount and column that supported my suspicions so I came to the conclusion that I want the majority of the bearing surface between these to parts to be where the highest load would be. At the bottom.

I may have overthunk it, but I left it alone. Pulling all that gearing crap out of the head reduced the weight a bit so I figured that would reduce the loading on the column/head mount and I just bought jobber length drills to help with my inadequacies in Z length. :D
 
wrmiller said:
I considered doing this to my PM25 while I had the head off and was gutting it for the belt drive. But then I got thinking (I was an engineer and sometimes do too much of this) that gravity causes a twisting load between the head mount and the dovetails of the column. I saw some wear marks on the head mount and column that supported my suspicions so I came to the conclusion that I want the majority of the bearing surface between these to parts to be where the highest load would be. At the bottom.

I may have overthunk it, but I left it alone. Pulling all that gearing crap out of the head reduced the weight a bit so I figured that would reduce the loading on the column/head mount and I just bought jobber length drills to help with my inadequacies in Z length. :D
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well the PM25 has a world of Z, the G0758 has 8-1/4" stock where the PM25 has 13" stock, so my priorities are going to be different than yours, the gravity loading is as you say, but the real loading is down force from using the quil to force the bit thru the material which would be up force on this component, this reverses the situation. my real concern is that i'm creating more stress on the 2 bolts tieing the head to the Z slide (in your case 4 bolts) and of course the unsupported ways at the extreme up position but as i stated i only use that for tool changes. this leaves my G0758 with about 12" of spindle to table clearance to work with, worlds better than 8-1/4". also there is a mod to add 2 more bolts in the head to slide joint, but they would be a pain to work with, it is already hard to work on with just the stock 2. so far i have not experienced any issues with this mod but time will tell and i have some plans to mitigate them if they crop up not to mention no parts were modified and all of this can be reversed in an hour, which i may do when i get a bigger mill and can shift anything that needs spindle to table clearance to it.

also if you do it standing up your X becomes your Z so...........
 
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dabear3428 said:
well the PM25 has a world of Z, the G0758 has 8-1/4" stock where the PM25 has 13" stock, so my priorities are going to be different than yours, the gravity loading is as you say, but the real loading is down force from using the quil to force the bit thru the material which would be up force on this component, this reverses the situation. my real concern is that i'm creating more stress on the 2 bolts tieing the head to the Z slide (in your case 4 bolts) and of course the unsupported ways at the extreme up position but as i stated i only use that for tool changes. this leaves my G0758 with about 12" of spindle to table clearance to work with, worlds better than 8-1/4". also there is a mod to add 2 more bolts in the head to slide joint, but they would be a pain to work with, it is already hard to work on with just the stock 2. so far i have not experienced any issues with this mod but time will tell and i have some plans to mitigate them if they crop up not to mention no parts were modified and all of this can be reversed in an hour, which i may do when i get a bigger mill and can shift anything that needs spindle to table clearance to it.

also if you do it standing up your X becomes your Z so...........
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Apologies. For some reason I translated your post to 'G0704'. *oops*

I do this more, the older I get. Again, sorry about that.
 
wrmiller said:
Apologies. For some reason I translated your post to 'G0704'. *oops*

I do this more, the older I get. Again, sorry about that.
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not happening here i'm 39 and holding I was 29 and holding but my wife does not want to be in her 20s again and not allowing me to be younger than her lol.
 
@dabear3428 @wrmiller @matthewsx @Larry$ @wachuko @verbotenwhisky @Aukai @Nesse1 @Aaron_W @Ischgl99

Hello..

If you all don't mind - I'd like to put this thread to Sleep/Bed "temporarily" while I get some hands on time with this very temporary G0704 mill, I'd like to wake this thread back up when its time to pick my perfect size hobby Mill and finally bring closure to this thread with all the trials and tribulations it took to get there...

Now that I have my beginner mill that will help give me some reference for a final Mill purchase, It would be great to come back here with a little better understanding in a couple months and, tie up any loose ends, pick the right Mill and put a proper end to this thread that others may find useful.

Ill look for a G0704 thread to help keep this thread from getting off topic.

Many thanks, Mike...
 
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Maybe....

You picked a great thread title since so many are asking the same question you are.

Generally, threads here go on as long as someone wants to comment, or until someone new discovers an old thread and revives it.

Just start a new thread about the G0704.

John
 
matthewsx said:
Maybe....

You picked a great thread title since so many are asking the same question you are.

Generally, threads here go on as long as someone wants to comment, or until someone new discovers an old thread and revives it.

Just start a new thread about the G0704.

John
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@Mr Mike

Yeah, posting a thread on any forum is a little like having a child. You can try to guide its journey through its lifetime but ultimately, it has a life of its own (unless you're a Mod, in which case the child analogy breaks down; obviously Mods can do things to a thread that would be to say, problematic at the least, were you to attempt to do them to your offspring :grin:).

If the constant forum notifications of your 'child's' chatter are bothersome, you can ignore threads; although I don't know if you can ignore your own threads.
 
Mr Mike said:
@dabear3428 @wrmiller @matthewsx @Larry$ @wachuko @verbotenwhisky @Aukai @Nesse1 @Aaron_W @Ischgl99

Hello..

If you all don't mind - I'd like to put this thread to Sleep/Bed "temporarily" while I get some hands on time with this very temporary G0704 mill, I'd like to wake this thread back up when its time to pick my perfect size hobby Mill and finally bring closure to this thread with all the trials and tribulations it took to get there...

Now that I have my beginner mill that will help give me some reference for a final Mill purchase, It would be great to come back here with a little better understanding in a couple months and, tie up any loose ends, pick the right Mill and put a proper end to this thread that others may find useful.

Ill look for a G0704 thread to help keep this thread from getting off topic.

Many thanks, Mike...
Click to expand...
no problem, done!
 
Mr Mike said:
Hello..

If you all don't mind - I'd like to put this thread to Sleep/Bed "temporarily" while I get some hands on time with this very temporary G0704 mill, I'd like to wake this thread back up when its time to pick my perfect size hobby Mill and finally bring closure to this thread with all the trials and tribulations it took to get there...

Now that I have my beginner mill that will help give me some reference for a final Mill purchase, It would be great to come back here with a little better understanding in a couple months and, tie up any loose ends, pick the right Mill and put a proper end to this thread that others may find useful.

Ill look for a G0704 thread to help keep this thread from getting off topic.

Many thanks, Mike...
Click to expand...

As a parting shot for those who think the 932 and 940 are too big....

Working Mill.jpg
 
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