Mill Power feed unit.

[alan ord 2Participant @alanord2]

Hi Taff, I have the same power feed fitted to my Chester Super Lux and have been very happy with it. Second best upgrade I have ever fitted to my mill after a DRO. Somebody mentioned a bevel gear drive, there are two variants. One with a bevel gear drive, used in conventional mill formats like a Bridgeport mounted at 90 dergrees to the horizontal. The second has a spur gear that is a direct inline drive onto the Super Lux lead screw spindle. Very easy to fit, especially after what you have been through with your mill refurb!!! Can’t remember the make but tomorrow I will take a photo of it fitted.

Alan

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

I used to have a Chester Super Lux and had the similar power feed and fitting to that shown in Taf’s initial post.

I never had any issues with it at all during the 8 years or so it was fitted.  It used a separate 110V transformer.

When I sold my mill (upgraded to a Bridgeport sized machine – Gates PBM 2000 with all axes power fed) I removed the power feed and it ended up on a friends Bridgeport equivalent where it is working quite happily on the Y axis mounted in a similar way to that shown in John Hinckley’s post #774700

Colin

[alan ord 2Participant @alanord2]

Forgot to mention that I bought a 220 / 240 volt version so no need for a transformer.

Alan

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

On Pete Said:

450 ft. lbs of torque. 🙂

😁indeed, yes inches!

🙂 Out of habit, it’s probably an easy enough mistake to make.

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

’Try Machine DRO with 3 axis screen. You cant drive a tablet and twiddle the dials/power feed simultaneously.’

The Touch DRO system just uses a tablet for the display. It still needs some sort of scales and an interface circuit to send the data.

Stuart

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Taf

You could make a power feed using a stepper motor. I have made one and it cost about £130.

Stuart

[RobinParticipant @robin]

I was determined to keep that tasty satin chrome dial. I also noticed a vast cavern below the table, which I filled with a double ball nut, the end stops for the power feed and a glass DRO scale 🙂

Robin

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

On Pete Said:

450 ft. lbs of torque. 🙂

😁indeed, yes inches!

🙂 Out of habit, it’s probably an easy enough mistake to make.

I did think of asking just how big your workshop was to fit that mill in it 😁

 

I’ve been having a price up, the touch DRO system is not much more than a basic chinese system (the Touch DRO interface module seems to have gone up a lot since I last looked!).

Either way,  it is well over 200 quid (even from Ali Express once tax is added) for a 3 axis unit and scales which is beyond me at the moment so probably worth saving a little more and getting that before the power feed.

I like that video That Not Done It Yet posted, I had seen a video a ages ago that had a load of examples of what you can do with that style of motor hence my thoughts of using a 24v (ie truck) wiper motor type unit with a PWM as readily available and  should be reasonably robust. A hunt on the web showed plenty that were just a shaft with a key way rather than the tapered wiper style mount. easy I thought but the total cost of parts ads up to not much less than the unit in discussion here which most that have / had it are saying it is a decent unit.

I’ll do a little saving (i.e. selling bits! – anyone need a DeWalt Radial arm saw?!) and see. However I am leaning towards a DRO first, especially as I cant even see the Y scale for the vice!

I’ll update what ever I do with thoughts on it.

Thanks again all 🍻

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

Taf, you say you priced up a 3 axis DRO. What’s the third axis for?  The column or the quill?   I’ve fitted a 2 axis to the table, can’t think of a reason to fit a scale to the column, I’ve just fitted a scale that looks like a tape measure.  Not sure that’s going to be that useful!

I fitted a separate, cheap (£20) single axis DRO to the quill.  Even that doesn’t get a lot of use, the ruler scale on the front of the head is plenty good enough for drilled holes.  Mainly used for when a boring head is being used.

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Taf,

The Touch-DRO system is a lot more than a basic chinese system.  Yuriys software is very good and in fact I use it on two of my machines.  I built my MSP430 based units around 8-10 years or so ago.  At that time he only provided wiring schematics, hints, Touch-DRO software for Android tablet and firmware for the TI MSP430 processor.

I already had an old tablet I could use.  The electronics box including the MSP430 only cost me around £20 all told.

His software and firmware can work with various different types of scales.  I elected to use magnetic scales from Machine-DRO.  They were a lot smaller than glass scales and their read-heads.  One big advantage of the magnetic scales is they can be cut to size and can even be stuck to the mill table or whatever machine you are using them on.

The later read-heads are a lot smaller than the ones I used.  I was able to fit 3 axis readout to my Cowells Mill and 2 axis to my Cowells lathe, both are small machines.

Having seen your excellent work modifying your mill I’m sure you could do a small amount of electronic assembly and soldering.  When I built mine I had not done any electronic stuff for around 50 years (Pre-teens).

The magnetic scales can be obtained with various resolutions, 1 micron, 5 micron and 10 micron with cost being highest for the 1 micron.  I appreciate the magnetic scales are more expensive than other options but they do fit very neatly, and you cannot break a magnetic scale unlike a glass one.

You could start of with a single scale on the X axis and add the others as and when.

Colin

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

I modified one of those to fit the Tom Senior Z drive. It was advertised as for a bridgeport. Full video of the work done below. May not be any help. The X axis I made from a Mondeo 2 speed wiper motor & variable speed controller. Which is in my playlist too somewhere.

Steve.

[alan ord 2Participant @alanord2]

Hi Taff, I typed out a long message and it got lost during the photo insert grr!!! Will try again. As you can see I have attached a few photographs of my mill with the unit fitted. It’s an ALSGS purchased from Axminster in 2020. One of the photo’s has a rule to give you some indication of the overhang. The entry door to the left was remounted to open out as I thought I may need to open the door at times if the table was fully extended to the left. As it happens I have never had to open the door for milling. Regarding a DRO I purchased a three axis DRO and to be honest I have never used the Z axis reading. I purchased a digital caliper and mounted it as shown. This gets used a lot during milling. So if I were you my first priority would be to buy a two axis DRO before a power feed. The DRO is so much more useful and convenient, makes milling a pleasure.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I have one of the horizontal ones that has been removed from my mill when stepper motors were fitted. It has the 110V transformer with it and that is probably what takes the weight up to 6kg. I can give it a check to make sure all the parts are with it and that it runs. You can have it for the cost of the postage if you want it.

Martin C

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

😲😁

Martin, if it’s working then I will gladly pay you for it + post, that’s fantastic, thank you! ps, I’ve only just noticed it but is that a Phantom in your pic?

 

Colin, I must admit that when I was looking into the touch DRO a while ago I did like the look of the interface, seems pretty well thought out and having the bonus of being able to have a visualisation of what you are trying to set up I expect will help remove some of the error, certainly with bolt patterns etc, I am unfortunately 1 of those people to whom a picture speaks more than a thousand words. I’ll see how my selling of some bits go but It will be the self build unit if I do go for it.

 

Steve, thanks for the info and vid, it all certainly works! I’ve had a look through your channel and it seems you are very much like me, use what you’ve got before anything else! 🍻

 

Alan, That is some extremely good info, thank you for taking the time to post it. It has made very clear the actual size of the unit, Not quite as protruding as I expected. Really appreciate it. 👍

Thank you all for takin the time to respond and advise.. it’s all sinking in!

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

1981

I’ll check out the drive.

Martin C

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

YouTube link to 1:09 long video showing it being tested.

https://youtu.be/fJSR-LWU2dc

Tested OK. The clunk at the end is the clutch springing into place after I had spun the pinion to get the clutch out of position. When the clutch is disconnected by putting the selector ;ever into the central position the X axis can be operated using a handwheel on the far end with little to no resistance from the drive unit. I can confirm it is 6kg with the transformer in the box.

Martin C

You can’t see it in the video but there is also an aluminium gear that mounts onto the end of the leadscrew with a 3 dog drive to match the handwheel drive.

 

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

Hi Martin,

That looks fantastic, I’ve replied to your message.

Thank you so much for sorting this, really appreciated!

Cheers 🍻

[alan ord 2]

On alan ord 2 Said:Regarding a DRO I purchased a three axis DRO and to be honest I have never used the Z axis reading.

 

I regretted buying a two- and not a three-axis DRO for my mill almost instantly. After around six months I fitted a separate z-axis DRO, but it is not integrated with the main display and has only very basic functions. A half function would be useful at the very least for when using a slitting saw. I often also prefer to use the head rather than the quill to take cuts in the z-axis.

[alan ord 2Participant @alanord2]

Bill what mill do you have? The reason I don’t use the z axis DRO reading is that the head of the Super Lux mill is huge and the control from the hand wheel (not the powered head, too inaccurate for fine adjustment) is clunky at best. If I had a Bridgeport with knee for height adjustment then it would be a different situation, the Bridgeport has much better control of the knee during movement.

Alan.

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

Other than for something like the round column mills, it’s generally accepted to either move the whole head on the rear dovetail column mills, or the knee on any mills with it for Z axis elevation changes. Then keep the spindle fully retracted and locked in place for the best rigidity, accuracy, surface finish and repeatability. How your using your own mill and for what projects or machining tasks has a great deal to do with having that third axis display on the dro or how important it just might be. Today, most of the cheaper off shore dro’s have very little price difference between a 2 or 3 axis for the display itself. Mostly the largest additional cost is adding the third scale and reader head. But my logic is that you certainly can’t use it anytime later if it’s not already there.

For my BP clone, I never use the spindle for Z axis elevation changes other than when drilling, reaming, tapping or single point boring type of work. For anything else, the knee is always used. But I did buy a 4 axis dro with scales and reader heads on the X,Y, spindle and knee that can also do internal summing to keep track of where the actual parts Z location moves to any time both Z axes might be used. Any dro has a vastly superior memory than my own happens to be. 😀

With one of those dovetail column mills, my preference would be to use the third axis for the head, and then possibly add one of the cheaper digital bar scales for the spindle if it’s thought it’s needed.

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

The points made above about the DRO are one of the reasons I was leaning towards the Touch DRO system, X & Y with Z on the column, so far I’ve only used the quill for drilling but the facility is there to add a scale to the quill which it will then sum to Z.

As has been said, the extra cost of having the facility to begin is pretty low but means that it would only cost a scale some time in the future. Certainly not a necessity for my machining skills but if it’s an option for not much outlay then why not?

 

[Robert Butler]

On Robert Butler Said:

How did you arrange the self eject function for tooling?

Robet Butler

 

Hi Robert,

The new collet chuck arrived today so I’ll be fitting the ‘self ejecting’ drawbar soon, I’ll put some pics up if you like.

Taf

[peterhodParticipant @peterhod]

Hi

I joined the forum as I saw been following your posts about your mill for a while. I have the RF40 mill drill the round column version of your mill. Same table and head.

I have one of those cheap horizontal drive units and it’s good. I was dubious about the mounting myself and just put it on so that I could use it to make a better mounting. 9 years later it’s still working fine. It has plenty of power I use a 50mm face  carbide face mill in mine. The only problem with mine is that it doesn’t feed slowly enough for small cutters but ok down to 6mm, maybe I’m expecting to much.

Here is my machine with 3 axis DRO.

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

Hi Peter,

Tanks for the info, it’s nice to know that it’s giving decent service.

I’ve taken Martin up on his offer for the PF unit so look forward to getting & fitting it. It also means that I will have a little more money to put towards the DRO not having to buy a new unit or the parts to build one.

🍻

[peterhodParticipant @peterhod]

I’ll be interested to see the self ejecting drawbar. I went down that route myself but had no success it would not eject. Mine is a 3 morse taper. Maybe the R8 ones eject better.

 

Peter

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