PM-833T Shop Made Base

[ahazi]

Question: How to (properly) attach the PM-833T/TV to a shop made base?

I bought the chip tray from PM and I am building my own base with storage drawers. The tray has threaded (10mm) standoffs welded to the tray. Looks like the tray design was picked from the combined tray/base below (without coolant feed and drain.) It does not make sense to me to attach the mill only to the tray and attach the tray to my stand separately as it seems pretty flimsy. I am thinking of grinding out the standoffs and drill holes through the tray to allow 3/8" or 5/16" bolts for attaching to the 1/2" metal plate that is on top of my stand.

See below picture of the tray and the stand from PM. Looks like the standoffs have a rigid welded connection to the base.

1. Is my theory correct?
2. How did others solve the problem?
3. Other ideas?

Ariel

 

[parshal]

I have that stand with my 833. I don't think it's as flimsy as you think but, then again, I don't have just the tray. I'd personally want to keep the standoffs just to keep coolant/oil from draining down into whatever you have under it. My 1340 stand has no standoffs and I used caulking to keep it from dripping down into the storage area. The mill has large gaps on its base and I bet you'll have a tough time sealing it to the chip tray.

 

[mksj]

The trey is only made to be an interface between it and the base, based on what I have seen on other similar bench top mills. Usually the base/chip pan is flush and the mill sits flush with the base, one uses a oil resistant sealant to seal it. The standoffs look too small and not enough contact area for the base, so I would remove them and through bolt the mill through the pan and through the 1/2" plate and just seal with a polyurethane or motor silicone sealant. This is what I did with the 1340GT lathe, I initially used silicone sealant and it failed over time. You could tap the 1/2" plate or through bolt with a sealant/washer/nut. I had a BF-30 and that is what I did on it.

 

[7milesup]

I made my own stand and bent my own tray. I drilled down through the tray and into the cross members of my stand where the bolt locations were. Then, tapped the cross members of my home made stand and enlarged the bolt holes in the tray. I then proceeded to weld short sections of pipe onto the tray around the bolt holes. This way I could use 1/2" bolts to hold the mill down but if I decided to run coolant the welded on section of pipes would keep the fluid from running down around the bolts.

 

[7milesup]

Post number 15 in THIS THREAD will give you an idea of what I did.

 

[ahazi]

... I then proceeded to weld short sections of pipe onto the tray around the bolt holes. This way I could use 1/2" bolts to hold the mill down but if I decided to run coolant the welded on section of pipes would keep the fluid from running down around the bolts.

Thank you for the idea with the welded pipe around the holes, I will do the same. This will take away having to worry about sealing and a sealer failure over time.

I drilled and tapped the 1/2" plate for 7/16"-14 screws.

 

[ahazi]

...The standoffs look too small and not enough contact area for the base, so I would remove them and through bolt the mill through the pan and through the 1/2" plate and just seal with a polyurethane or motor silicone sealant. This is what I did with the 1340GT lathe, I initially used silicone sealant and it failed over time. You could tap the 1/2" plate or through bolt with a sealant/washer/nut. I had a BF-30 and that is what I did on it.

I agree Mark, it looked flimsy this is why I asked for ideas. I am almost sure that on the original base the threaded standoffs are welded to the frame of the base, you can't bolt a 900 lb mill to sheet metal...

 

[gmcblane]

I have no experience with this mill, but this is the internet so what does experience matter.

After looking at the manual and the diagrams I'm not sure those are standoffs.

It looks like the mill base rests directly on the pan. The threaded "standoffs" seem to line up with the threw holes in the base used for the mounting bolts.

Good luck




Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[ahazi]

After looking at the manual and the diagrams I'm not sure those are standoffs.

I have the actual chip tray in my hands... The standoffs are threaded (M10-1.5), the bottom of the tray is sealed so the long bolts (100 mm) provided cannot continue and are exactly at the length of the height of the base of the mill (4 inch) and also if the bolts needed to go through the tray you will not have a threaded standoff.

It looks like the mill base rests directly on the pan. The threaded "standoffs" seem to line up with the threw holes in the base used for the mounting bolts.

I drilled 3/16" pilot holes through the threaded standoffs and used a 25 mm hole saw from the back to cut the standoffs out. Today I will weld a short 1" ID pipe as was done by 7milesup. I will post some pictures in case someone else will have the same problem in the future. To secure the mill to the mounting plate, I am using 7/16", 5 inch long bolts that are threaded into a 1/2" steel plate.

 

[ahazi]

Pictures of modifying the chip tray with 1" ID welded pipe around the holes to block potential coolant leak.

Almost there... paint the stand and start using the mill.