Tips For Owners Of Rong Fu Rf-20, Rf-25, Rf-30, Rf-31 Mill/drills

[DavidR8]

The previous owner of my grizzly round column mill built a shackle that attaches through a hole in the column cap. It's worked great as a lifting point on my machine.

The cap on mine is secured with a set screw. I would not want to trust that to bear the weight of the machine.

 

[Buffalo21]

my RF-31 seems to work fine, of course I’m only using the head assembly and that’s attached to a 1940 era Bridgeport

 

[jwmay]

I'll post a picture this evening. The cap on the Grizzly is threaded on, and it's lifted my machine about 6 times so far. That doesn't mean it's safe though. I'll take a couple pictures when I get home.

Sidebar: I wondered if something like that could be done. Swapping out the bottom half for a knee. Thank you for answering that. And also that is really cool!

 

[mickri]

The cap on mine is also held on by a set screw. I could drill a couple of holes through the cap and the column or maybe just the column for some lifting eyes. Looking for ideas.

 

[DavidR8]

I was thinking that a 5/8 hole through the column and a Grade 8 bolt and nut would work.

 

[epanzella]

My RF 30 clone (HF) had a cap held on by a setscrew. When I took the cap off the top of the column appeared to be solid. Suspecting that the factory would need a quick and easy way to move these machines I poked around the top with a lite hammer and a pick. I found two threaded holes that were pugged with some filler. I made an eye and bolted it on.

 

[jwmay]

Here's the set up. It's been pretty handy.

 

[hman]

my RF-31 seems to work fine, of course I’m only using the head assembly and that’s attached to a 1940 era Bridgeport

Awwww ... that cheating

Well, not really. It sounds like a worthwhile mod for a Rong-Fu ... IF you can locate a Bridgeport column/table.

 

[Buffalo21]

I bought the mill for $500, the table and the knee were checked by a machine company, but when the they got to the M-Head, it was toast, someone had split the casting, trying to press a bearing into it. I paid the bill for the table and knee repairs, planning on a newer Bridgeport head, I had the RF-31, as a stop gap measure I made the pivot joint, joined the two. It has worked flawlessly, very solid, smooth and I gained a R-8 spindle over the M-Heads BS-7, along with 12 speeds. I’ve never found a replacement head, either in the condition I wanted/needed or that the seller did not believe it was made out of solid gold. As I also have a Jet JVM-836 and a Rockwell 21-100 vertical mills, the need or desire to find another replacement head is rather low on my list of thing I need to do.

 

[tbirdrv]

My RF 30 clone (HF) had a cap held on by a setscrew. When I took the cap off the top of the column appeared to be solid. Suspecting that the factory would need a quick and easy way to move these machines I poked around the top with a lite hammer and a pick. I found two threaded holes that were pugged with some filler. I made an eye and bolted it on.

Can someone please tell me what size and pitch threads they found inside the column? I'm going to pick up a used, new-to-me, RF30 clone and would like to have the proper bolts in hand, in case the column has these holes, to make it easier to lift into the truck. Thanks, Tony