MEW 226 – Living with a RF-25 Mill/Drill Article

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

I read this on-line with interest as I have a very similar machine in Warco's "Economy" machine, purchased 2 or 3 years ago, and went through similar hoops!

When SWMBO saw the size of the packing case being unloaded she thought I was mad getting such a 'huge' machine, but helped push the machine in it's packing case around the house on a stack barrow to the workshop door. I then removed the motor and then the head and belt guards to reduce weight and we are able to get the barrow and machine into the workshop. When the packing case was stripped off I was amazed, I didn't know you could make plywood that poor in quality, it couldn't be reused, it had done extremely well just to get as far as to me!

The base, table and column was still too heavy to lift, but a quick call to Warco gave me the instructions on removing the table. The base and column was then able to be lifted by my daughter and me onto the bench, just, and the machine could then be rebuilt, all bits able to be lifted by myself. Breaking it down into manageable parts meant no lifting tackle was required to get it onto the bench.

However, as the machine was on a 600mm deep reinforced bench there wasn't enough space to fit the motor in it's original position. So a bracket was made and the motor mounted to the right of the machine. This bracket was a bit insubstantial and a much more robust bracket was later made which steadied up motor movement and reduced vibration.. The position of the motor meant the large downfeed handles had to be shortened to miss the motor connection box, plus the pulley guards had to have the back cut off, and a new shorter belt to the motor fitted. I now have a selection of three belts available so all speeds can be selected without the handles hitting the motor, or the motor hitting the wall behind. The 3 belts were bought on line which even with postage was cheaper than my local supplier charged for 1 belt, and was still under a tenner!

The two socket head bolts that secure the intermediate pulley are a pain as the allen keys are too short, I must do something about that. But the bolts that secure the head are no trouble and I now have a dedicated socket and racket handle for them which works well..

The drawbar is a concern as I don't like hitting it, even with a a white metal hammer, to remove the collets, thinking of the quill bearings, but I am looking at Tom's Techniques solution of using a air impact tool permanently mounted above the drawbar head.

The column base I have shimmed to ensure that the head was properly 'trammed' to the table, quite an easy job if the bolts are only slackened off a couple of turns, the back shims if required can be slipped in, and a wee bottle jack can be placed under the quill to gently lift the front to fit front shims.

The instruction book was written in a form of Chinese/English that made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but fortunately Mr. Grizzly in the USA came up trumps with one that did. Considering how long Warco had been selling this – 30 years they told me – I thought a decent manual would have been available. Axminster Tools were selling off a X-axis power feed cheap, so that bought and fitted. I have also fitted DRO's to all axis's, the Z axis is a stand alone but the X and Y bars are displayed on a LCD Display from Arc that is very good and clear.

I have drilled one table recess to drain coolant, will do the other, but the drain pipes need improving. I try not to use coolant unless absolutely necessary.

All in all I am very pleased with the machine for what it is, a means of keeping the head in register whilst raising/lowering would be nice and may be a project I will do, it's on my "to do" list!

In essence, Inchanga's experience in 20 years of owning his machine is very similar to my 3 years!  I have noted his use of the space under the head for lighting, could be also used for fitting a permanent position for the coolant head.

Chris

Edited By ChrisH on 21/02/2015 14:06:37

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

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