FINALLY Arrived

[chris mabbott]

A test question…

I’m going to install a cooling fan in the electric cabinet, the age old question….. Do we have the fan blowing air INTO the cabinet or drawing air through the cabinet ??? 😆

[david pierce]

Chris,
My first recommendation for your drill chucks would be a 1/2″ or 3/8″ capacity Jacobs Ball Bearing key type chuck. This is the best holding and most accurate key chuck I have found. For smaller drill bits I would recommend a Super Number 30 (0-1/8 capacity) Albrecht keyless chuck. These chucks are expensive but they are well made and get the job done. If you want to go to a less expensive alternitive there is a knockoff of the Jacobs Ball Bearing Chuck called a KING that is almost as good and cost less money. There are also knockoffs of the Albrecht such as CHUMPOWER that are pretty good chucks.
Years ago I used to design circuits and ran into heat problems with the cabinets. The conventional wisdom was to mount the exhaust fan on the upper side of the cabinet but I found that there was too much residual heat in the cabinets which caused components to fail. I solved the problem by mounting the fans on the top of the cabinets and put the vent filters at the bottom in line with the exhaust fans. My rationale was to use the heat to help remove itself and prevent the fan from fighting against the rising hot air. Putting the fans on top of the cabinet as opposed to the bottom helped channel the air flow. After doing this the component failure rate due to overheating was reduced to zero. A second advantage was preventing debris from falling into the moving fans and then blowing them around the inside of the cabinets.
david

[david pierce]

Chris,
The black plastic knob in the center of the quil handle is to engage the worm feed on the spindle. This will allow you to use a boreing head and boreing bar if the precision of the job should require it. The brushed chrome knob in the front will feed the spindle up and down when the worm is engaged.
Also, check out a company called HARVEY’S. They make minature endmills for micromachining. Once you are up and running you may have a use for extremely small end mill cutters.
david

[david pierce]

Chris,
What does your mill weigh?
david

[chris mabbott]

Thanks David, that’s just the info I was hoping for, yes sir, Jacob is definitely synonymous with the word chuck
Harvey’s have some great stuff, but not good for my wallet 😆

The mill weighs about 185 kilos..

I pulled the vice apart that I purchased with the mill for a clean/lube, like the mill, it was full of grit and dirty black oil. When I separated the bottom index swivel plate from the actual vice, the swivel stub was sheared completely in half. That was on Sunday evening. I contacted Arceurotrade on Monday regarding the little problem, and this morning they told me that they had sent me a new vice that was shipped also today. Now THAT is good service I inquired how they wanted me to ship the old one back to them and they told me to keep it, no problem.
So I am a very happy customer..

[david pierce]

Chris,
When you start cutting metal on your mill you will appreciate the mass and power of the machine. The machine should do what you expect it to do which is to push a cutter through the metal without the cutting force distorting the machine. Had you purchased a small hobby class machine with an extruded aluminum bed, this would cause difficulties with heavier side loads and harder tougher materials. My first machine was a Unimat that I purchased in 1971, which I still have, but the machine was too light duty and underpowered to do the work I wanted to do on it. Every time I took a cut with it in either the lathe or mill configuration, I would see the ways bend under the cutter load. Every once in a blue moon I will have something that the Unimat can do better than a larger machine, but it is not often. Any cutter larger than a dental drill causes problems. I think you should be happy with your mill.
david

[chris mabbott]

I dare say that you’re right Big D, I think it should do what I have planned with no probs, fingers crossed..

OK back to the show…

I replaced the electronic package tonight and when I was about to bolt on the digital readout, I noticed that the exposed circuit board was directly facing the high speed rotating belt! 😯 Really, it could whip anything into that circuit board, dirt, grease/oil, bits of belt fiber etc.

Not sure why I didn’t notice that in the beginning, but I did now. So rather than leave it exposed, I cut a piece of wood that tightly fits into the space, just to act as a guard to keep out whatever may fly inside… I might cut a piece of 3mm brass sheet and try to drill a few holes to mount it?
This is what it looks like for now anyhow.. Not the best but….

[chris mabbott]

AT LAST Up and running

I let it run for about 15 mins on low speed for everything to bed in. This brushless motor is nice and quite, at 300 rpm I had a hard time hearing it run. At 750 there was a slight increase in motor noise but hardly anything.

Now I just have to finish bolting the brass around the perimeter and drill a few hole in the top sheet. Then my first project will be to correctly size the T-bolts that are too large for the table slots..

I had a daft bat moment when I first connected the electronics, all was lit up, but no rotation? I took everything apart and re-checked my wiring, it was fine, but I re-made two ends that I wasn’t happy with…. apparently for nothing, as the problem was the safety interlock switch on the chip guard! I hadn’t installed the plastic screen yet and it suddenly dawned on me… So I turned the bar to the closed position and off she took 😆

[arutha]

Nice one Chris, looking forward to seeing what you can churn out on this mill now it is in proper working condition.
Paul

[chris mabbott]

Me too Paul my brother 😆

[Author]

Posts