My first knee mill

[jwmay]

Came out ok I think.

 

[jwmay]

It'll probably be a while until I figure out the parts to make so that I can use this power feed. But I've got the power feed!

 

[38super]

Mind a rapid traverse, end mills at risk

 

[jwmay]

I sat in front of the mill today, trying to suss out how to mount the dro and power feed. Didn't get very far, but an aluminum handwheel casting arrived in the mail today. It'll have to be machined and then I'm down to the dial, which theoretically I can make. I'm so happy to have this handwheel. What a stroke of luck that someone had thought to make up a batch of these, and just have them sitting around waiting for me to find the thread where he mentioned it years ago. Awesome!

 

[jwmay]

Prepping for power feed. Not having much luck finding motivation through the week. Saturdays are family days, and Sundays are... well sometimes I can get something done. So this was all I accomplished. If you don't count breaking a tooth off my slitting saw blade, drilling out the stuck bolt in the slitting saw arbor, fiddling with clamps interminably, remembering I have a vise right over there, mounting a vise, setting up the bandsaw for vertical use, searching for suitable material, searching for that stupid allen wrench again, chasing off a stray cat, grocery shopping, attempting to draw my parts with fusion. Anyways, at least something got done. Ha!

 

[38super]

thin slitting saws have a bad habit of wrinkling, causing a bind and a tooth pop. Lube and slow feed/speed. think of the lost tooth as an interrupted cut.

 

[jwmay]

X axis works. As with everything I do, it's far from perfect. But it works. I'll have to trim off some extra eventually. The brackets couldn't be mirror images because of the factory power feed coolant tray having bolts in it that the other side didn't. So it is what it is. But it works, and that's the most important thing about having a DRO I suppose. In another reality, I would use these first brackets to get valuable measurements that would help me make a less novice looking install. But in this reality, this is pretty much as far as it goes.

 

[jwmay]

Well I haven't worked on the old girl in over a month. But today I gently eased her into the shop. Maybe it's ok to keep both mills...it sure seems like the space isn't an issue. Plus what if something catastrophic were to happen to one of them? I might need the other one for repair work. That devil on my shoulder is working overtime today it seems.

 

[Alcap]

You have a very nice shop

 

[brino]

@jwmay

Hi, I just found this thread.

You have made great progress.
It is wonderful to see this mill being so well cared for!

It sure looks like there's room for two mills.......you really should keep both.....



Have you made any chips with it yet?

What DRO did you choose? Any feedback on it?

Thanks,
-brino