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Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) 8 x 26 Knee Mill Upgrades
- Thread starter lesrhorer
- Start date
'Just a quick note. After two years of use, I am very happy with the upgrades I made, especially the drawbar. While inarguably the simplest upgrade, it has made a huge difference in how easy the mill is to use on a constant basis. The hardened cinch nut still looks almost new, while the old cinch nut was so soft its edges rolled over, rounding off the nut. As I mentioned previously, the roll pin actually fell out of the top nut, but since I welded the top nut in place, there is now zero concern of it coming loose. It seems very unlikely I would ever need to replace the cinch nut, but if for some reason I do, cutting off the top nut won't be a big issue. The taller cinch nut makes tightening and loosening the tools in the quill so much easier, it's almost silly.
The hinge restraint on my mill fell off, and then somehow got lost, so I decided to add a gas strut. The discussion around finding the right strut
can be found here.
can be found here.
A while back I decided I wanted to upgrade the AC power feed and switching system on my mill, since I am thinking of upgrading the motor, plus I am not really thrilled with the electrics in the first place. It has been a while since I created the design, but life has intruded along the way, so I only yesterday got back to finishing the build of the controller.
