Some upgrades to my mill.

[DeanB]

Working my way through upgrades to my RF-30. Bought it not new but pretty much unused for a 1997 vintage machine. Trammed the head to the table within 0.001" both x and y. Now to the upgrades. Added a VFD and new motor, decided hand turning the x was getting old so added a power feed on the x. Now working on the DRO. X axis on, Y axis scale arrived non-functional with a replacement on the way from the seller. Still deciding how best to mount the z. Still a work in progress but I did get to use the power feed and x axis of the DRO making spacers to mount the shield over the scale. Both worked great!.

 

[DavidR8]

Nice!
What power feed did you buy?


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[DeanB]

I ordered from MSC Direct. Value series 560 in-lbs torque. Seems to work pretty well. The only thing I'm not sure I like is that turning by hand if you don't use the power is pretty stiff now as it's driving the motor through the gear reduction.

 

[francist]

I spy with my little eye.... Is that an old liberty bell on the upper shelf there? Don’t see many of those anymore, I have one about the same size but not in as good shape.

-frank

 

[mikey]

I ordered from MSC Direct. Value series 560 in-lbs torque. Seems to work pretty well. The only thing I'm not sure I like is that turning by hand if you don't use the power is pretty stiff now as it's driving the motor through the gear reduction.

When an Align power feed is inactive the gears in the motor are disengaged and the hand wheel is free to turn. I would think yours should be the same.

 

[Aukai]

The one on my Grizzly has a neutral center point for the hand wheel to operate. Mikey might recognize that drive though....

 

[Larry$]

I've got a feed on the x & z There is no increase in resistance due to the feeds.

 

[Shotgun]

I made a tool to chuck in a battery drill. Turned down about an inch a 1.5" round of aluminum so that it would fit in the chuck. Drilled the other end to 1" so that it fit over the lead screw shaft. Then, milled three slot that fit over the three teeth on the crank. Now I have a power feed for the x and y axes.

For the z DRO, I used a screw made for plastic into faceplate at the top, and a piece of angle at the bottom that bolted to the screw going into the side of the depth indicator cover. A piece of bent aluminum from the back of the DRO pickup, to the screw holding the depth indicator (which I discarded).