Craftex milling machine

[Chicken lights]

You’re welcome!! Glad I could be some help.

Good to hear you got it home safely!

 

[trlvn]

You can oil the bottom of the table with way oil. In bigger mills there is lubrication reservoir and I put in sae 30 non detergent oil in it so it goes nice through little tubes.

Spindle probably has an oilier cup - use same as for drill press column... after all you have a ... drill press. Its to lubricate the movement of the spindle housing when drilling holes. There may be additional cups for bearings.

for column you can use heavier oil so it sticks.

You mean a Gits cup oiler or similar? I've been all over the mill and I don't see anything like that. If I look up under the table, I can see the screw and nut so it wouldn't be hard to get some oil on those.

Perhaps I should pull the table off before I go to far. I do see bits of swarf and trash here and there. Maybe I should take this opportunity to clean everything up and get lube on the full length of the slides.

I can also see the spindle action as the original cover was removed to mount the DRO. I guess I can just squirt some oil on the visible bits.

Craig

 

[trlvn]

after all you have a ... drill press

Albeit 700 pounds of 'drill press'!

Craig

 

[trlvn]

Well, the good news is that I got my 240 V extension cord made up and powered up the mill/drill for the first time. No drama; no magic smoke. Everything runs quiet and smooth. I did notice that the pulley grooves had rust--at least where the belt wasn't sitting. I think this machine sat idle for at least a couple of years. Maybe longer.

The bad news is that DRO scale for the X axis was bent. This style has uses a thin metal rod with tiny teeth down one side. The company, Shooting Star Technology, is still around and can supply a replacement for USD $100 plus $35 shipping. Ouch. They said that perhaps I could straighten the existing scale to be usable. I fooled with it for a while this afternoon and I'm close. Unfortunately, two spots are giving me trouble. There seems to be a kink in one spot that may be just too much. I'm going to have another go at it but I'm not confident I can salvage it.

I think I have a line on some more collets and a drill chuck. Going to see tomorrow.

How big a vise do people normally put on an 8 X 29 machine? 4 inch? I know a good quality vise is important but I want to keep my marriage, too!

Craig

 

[PeterT]

That's too bad about the bent DRO scale. Yes its kind of a special ground 'rack' rod that Shooting Star employed. If you cant resolve the kink that might be a problem because its also probably not great for the encoder head either. I assumed they still employed the same rod but just upgraded the readout box. Maybe that's not the case anymore. I had SS system on my RF-45 & it worked quite well. The nice thing is you just cut to length. But that was long before the low priced Chinese systems came along. I don't know what to say. 165CDN would put a good dent in a Chinese system that people are having reasonably good luck with. If its a common table size you stand a chance of selling it again if you ever upgrade the mill.

I installed the shooting star scale on the front of table (not knowing better). But when I upgraded to different DRO I put it on the rear face under protective angle channel & under a rubber apron. I think its a better spot as long as it doesn't limit movement.

 

[PeterT]

In case you have grief with your power feed casting & lead screw alignment, this is a mod I did on my RF-45 a while back. Same principle.
https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/mill-power-feed-mount-improvement.753/#post-7105

You could fit a 4 or 5" vice on the table no problem. The issue isn't so much the jaw width. Its that typical mill vises gets proportionately thicker & robs vertical height. A 6" might be 3-4" off the table before you have a part clamped. YouTube Stefan uses a 4 or 5"" Chinese 'precision vise' knockoff (meaning something that looks more like a grinding vise) which is actually quite well suited to the bench mills. They are very accurate, & reasonably priced. The import cast iron mill vises are kind of hit & miss quality wise so check carefully or they become expensive door stops. Lots of discussions here on the forum.

 

[trlvn]

@PeterT Thanks for sharing your experience. Looks like you and the previous owner of my mill mounted the SS scale exactly the same way. At this point, there isn't much left to lose on the bent scale so I'm going to try tapping it. Right now, it binds a little in the encoder head at one spot and stops dead at the other. I'm hoping that a lot of light taps may chase out the kink without damaging the teeth or flattening the round rod. :fingers crossed:

That is a very cool mod to the power feed, as well. I haven't reconnected and tested mine yet.

I did some searching last night regarding a vise. So many choices and so few first hand reports of quality or lack thereof. I don't think I have to rush into buying one. I have two clamping kits and a couple of drill press vises that I can get by with for now. I'll keep an eye out for sales.

Craig

 

[trlvn]

So I've made some progress on my mill in the last week. As I mentioned above, the mill did not come with a vise. Back in April, I had bought a vise through an online auction that was in pretty tough shape:

At the time, I couldn't get the movable jaw removed and therefore couldn't get the base off. The locking collar (left end, above) would not move. I decided I had little to lose and applied some brute force whereupon everything came apart easily! After some clean up and using my mill to make some soft aluminum jaws, it now looks like:

Still need a proper handle and a non-marring set screw for the collar. And it is a bit of a weird vise. It is 4 inches wide but the jaws are not quite an inch high. I will get something better at some point.

I also got some collets and other bits for the machine. A fellow (way up in Orillia) was selling a lot of stuff. He'd already sold the machines but still had two garages piled high with all sorts of machinist stuff. To keep the peace at home, I had to say "No" to an awful lot of tempting stuff!

Also, I got the needed replacement parts for the X axis of the DRO. Shooting Star Technologies shipped me the scale promptly. Not sure how the previous owner had made it work. I had to futz around a lot to get the scale and head properly aligned, including elongating some holes in a mounting bracket and making my own stand-offs for the scale. Sorry, it was done after I took the above picture.

BTW, the Z axis DRO isn't perfect. If I feed downward and lock the quill, the DRO will jump 5-10 thous when I turn on the power. I think the head is binding and then is released by the vibration when running. This only seems to happen when feeding down. The position readout doesn't change if I'm adjusting the quill upwards.

Also on the hit parade is the power feed. It works...but just at max speed. I'm hoping the Rapid Switch is just stuck. Does anyone have an Align power feed? I don't feel any action when I press on the rapid switch.

Craig

 

[Brent H]

Hey Craig,
Do you know if the Orilla guy is still selling things? I am only 15 minutes from there.

Your fast feed button might be gummed up and stuck. It should click on and release when you let it go.

 

[trlvn]

Hey Craig,
Do you know if the Orilla guy is still selling things? I am only 15 minutes from there.

Your fast feed button might be gummed up and stuck. It should click on and release when you let it go.

The ad is still up and given the mountain of stuff, I expect he'll be selling for some time:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1444790433

I checked the power feed. It wasn't gummed up--the little bracket was bent so the button was always depressed. With a bit of coaxing, I bent it back (straight-ish) and all is well. I'll take an easy win any time I stumble across one!

BTW, I see now that the housing for the Z axis read head runs into the spindle lock handle near the end of its travel. Still need to figure out why it is binding earlier in the path.

Craig

 

[Chicken lights]

So I've made some progress on my mill in the last week. As I mentioned above, the mill did not come with a vise. Back in April, I had bought a vise through an online auction that was in pretty tough shape:

View attachment 5685

At the time, I couldn't get the movable jaw removed and therefore couldn't get the base off. The locking collar (left end, above) would not move. I decided I had little to lose and applied some brute force whereupon everything came apart easily! After some clean up and using my mill to make some soft aluminum jaws, it now looks like:

View attachment 5684

Still need a proper handle and a non-marring set screw for the collar. And it is a bit of a weird vise. It is 4 inches wide but the jaws are not quite an inch high. I will get something better at some point.

I also got some collets and other bits for the machine. A fellow (way up in Orillia) was selling a lot of stuff. He'd already sold the machines but still had two garages piled high with all sorts of machinist stuff. To keep the peace at home, I had to say "No" to an awful lot of tempting stuff!

Also, I got the needed replacement parts for the X axis of the DRO. Shooting Star Technologies shipped me the scale promptly. Not sure how the previous owner had made it work. I had to futz around a lot to get the scale and head properly aligned, including elongating some holes in a mounting bracket and making my own stand-offs for the scale. Sorry, it was done after I took the above picture.

BTW, the Z axis DRO isn't perfect. If I feed downward and lock the quill, the DRO will jump 5-10 thous when I turn on the power. I think the head is binding and then is released by the vibration when running. This only seems to happen when feeding down. The position readout doesn't change if I'm adjusting the quill upwards.

Also on the hit parade is the power feed. It works...but just at max speed. I'm hoping the Rapid Switch is just stuck. Does anyone have an Align power feed? I don't feel any action when I press on the rapid switch.

Craig

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-hand-tool/h...ss/1450321703?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

I’m not sure if you saw that ad yet

 

[trlvn]

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-hand-tool/h...ss/1450321703?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

I’m not sure if you saw that ad yet

Thanks, I know John. He organizes the Tools of the Trades antique tool shows twice a year.

http://ontarioantiquetools.com

He generally wants top dollar for his stuff. I'm going to use the little vise I've got now and keep looking for a reasonably priced upgrade.

Criag

 

[Janger]

Believe that's part of the DRO.

Craig

That's a Shooting Star brand DRO. A Guy in BC makes them. I have one in the cupboard I really need to attach to my lathe...

It's rack and pinion style mechanism under that plastic cover. Craig I hope it isn't bent. It would be better to re-mount it on the back of the table so you don't drop some heavy part on it.

 

[trlvn]

...It would be better to re-mount it on the back of the table so you don't drop some heavy part on it.

I got the replacement part and I've remounted it on the front of the table. I think I'd have to disassemble a lot of the X-Y carriage to be able to drill mounting holes on the back. Plus the read head has to protrude past the scale a bit which could put it at risk of being squashed against the column if I moved the table all the way in.

Craig

 

[Janger]

I got the replacement part and I've remounted it on the front of the table. I think I'd have to disassemble a lot of the X-Y carriage to be able to drill mounting holes on the back. Plus the read head has to protrude past the scale a bit which could put it at risk of being squashed against the column if I moved the table all the way in.

Craig

I’ve seen some guys put a piece of angle in to protect it from above.

 

[trlvn]

I’ve seen some guys put a piece of angle in to protect it from above.

I may well do something like that. I'm thinking now that I may have to remount the Z axis scale.

Craig