Setup and Continuing Saga of the Charter Oak 12Z

Nels said:
Thank you so much for relating your setup experiences with this product.

Our members want to see what's involved.
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Hello Nels, didn't think you visited down here. :))

And given the number of views this thread has had, I tend to agree with your statement about wanting to see this thing. I was starting to worry that I might be taking up too much space with this thread and thought about stopping. It's not too big?
 
darkzero said:
Hey Bill, do the handles on your new wheels swivel (rotate) or are they fixed?
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They swivel. And FYI for those interested, IIRC I bought these from Griz to put on Blue but they were just a 'bit' too big IMO (5" diameter). They are heavy, nicely chromed, and balanced very well (as discovered when spinning them on the lathe). The pilot holes were off almost 1/8" though compared to the center of the wheel. Fixed that with a center cutting endmill. :))


So with no home for the new handwheels, I just had to buy a bigger machine to have something to put them on...:lmao:
 
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wrmiller19 said:
They swivel. And FYI for those interested, IIRC I bought these from Griz to put on Blue but they were just a 'bit' too big IMO (5" diameter). They are heavy, nicely chromed, and balanced very well (as discovered when spinning them on the lathe). The pilot holes were off almost 1/8" though compared to the center of the wheel. Fixed that with a center cutting endmill. :))


So with no home for the new handwheels, I just had to buy a bigger machine to have something to put them on...:lmao:
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EXCELLENT logic IMO... :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
wrmiller19 said:
I have a spare! :roflmao:
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I was already hot under the collar frustrated trying to dial in my Kurt vice when that happened so I was like :cussing:...:cussing::cussing: ...I considered clamping the broken hand wheel in the Kurt and grinding it to chips...instead I took a time out on the front porch to cool off. My brother had my Kurt dialed in when I returned. :rofl:
 
wrmiller19 said:
They swivel. And FYI for those interested, IIRC I bought these from Griz to put on Blue but they were just a 'bit' too big IMO (5" diameter). They are heavy, nicely chromed, and balanced very well (as discovered when spinning them on the lathe). The pilot holes were off almost 1/8" though compared to the center of the wheel. Fixed that with a center cutting endmill. :))


So with no home for the new handwheels, I just had to buy a bigger machine to have something to put them on...:lmao:
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I like the wavy teeth feature that my stock handwheels have, just don't like the handwheels all that much. These have larger teeth but should be ok. Thanks for the info Bill, I think I will order a set for the mill & see how I like them.
 
So walked out to the shop this morning with my coffee and was looking at that plastic handwheel for the quill feed and said hmmmm... :thinking:

I'm no artist, but it's functional and I like the feel of it better than that plastic thingie. I guess that was justification enough. :lmao:

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I even managed to make it so the brass handle swivels.

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Nice. My quill feed wheel is aluminum but I'm going to replace it too anyway.
 
Well, my belt-drive conversion arrived today (thanks David) and it's pretty impressive. Especially heft wise. :)

Everything was packed so precisely and wrapped in miles of bubble wrap. Nothing was going to hurt this stuff in transit. I unwrapped what appears to be a wrench of sorts before I took the pic. (update: I just heard from David and the red wrench is to hold the spindle during cutter/collet changes. Cool)


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This is the kit laid out on my computer desk.

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Just a little bigger than the belt-drive kit for my PM25... :lmao:

Now the fun starts: I have to figure out how to take the motor and top plate off the head, drain the head and remove all the gears and shifter components and then get this bolted up. Instructions are minimal, and primarily focused on the install and alignment of the belt drive, not the removal of the gears and stuff. But I will go slow and try not to break anything as I'm removing it. Interestingly, the gears run in a oil bath but the spindle bearings are greased. Probably a nightmare (read expensive) to run the spindle bearings in an oil bath for a mill in this price range.

Wish me luck... :bitingnails:

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