First, unlike my mini-mill, I did not see a whole lot of protective "glop" slathered everywhere - rather, it is mainly visible on the X-axis scale at the front of the machine. Should I be cleaning it out of the T-slots of the table as well? Is there anywhere else that I have missed that needs to have it cleaned off?
Also, although I see the warning printed on the head about changing the spindle speed only when the machine is stopped, I don't seem to be able to get the right-hand gear shift (2, 3, 1) completely in gear when it's stopped, even with partially rotating the spindle by hand as I am moving the lever. Is that normal (and do you need to start the motor running to get the gears completely meshed)?
It looks like the black screw-in handle at the front, lower right of the head is a quill lock. I was hoping that there might be a spindle lock to make it easier to handle the drawbar, but I can't seem to find one - am I missing it somehow, or is there no spindle lock? Also, I haven't yet found any Y-axis locking handles, but I haven't done an exhaustive search yet.
My mill was not heavily covered in cosmoline (or whatever they use) like my lathes. My table & Z column dovetails/ways were covered with a brown waxy type paper which is commonly for machines tools to come wrapped in. I'm glad & the painted surfaces don't really require to be covered in cosmoline so clean up was easier. My lathes were heavily covered in cosmoline so clean up was much more time consuming. But I don't mind if it had been covered heavily as I wouldn't want any rust. I have seen cases where new machines arrived with rust. The only area that I discovered that has a considerable amount of more cosmoline is the machined top surface of the base under the table. I did not bother to clean off all the cosmoline found under the chip guard for the Y axis, it would rarely be seen so it's better left there IMO for protection but that's the user's preference.
With most any gearhead machines, switching gears is not always perfectly smooth. If you don't feel a proper gear change when moving the lever, as you are doing, turn the spindle by hand a bit until you feel that it meshes properly. It should be very smooth when it meshes properly, at least my mill is. NEVER EVER attempt to make a gear change with the spindle under power on a gearhead machine. The only exception is the like the gearbox on my lathe. The geabox changes can be changed with slightly faster rotation (as when the spindle is coming to a near stop) but never under full spindle speed.
If you feel it's not as smooth as it should be, it may get better after a break in & oil change. Not sure if yours was filled by Matt or the factory. I think Gary mentioned that his batch was overfilled so be sure to check the oil level before any real use. Mine was filled at the factory with who knows what oil (and coming from Matt as well), it was very dark compared to Mobil DTE that I normally use. Run each speed for 10 mins or so in forward & reverse. Then change the oil. Some will recommend changing the oil after many more hours of use but I prefer to put in an oil that I know what it is "sooner than later" & to flush out any debris or shaving left over from the manufacturing process if any. Also be sure to check for head temperature during break it. It should never get warmer than warm to the hand. In the rare case if you feel that it gets pretty hot then something may definitely be wrong & I would contact Matt for advice before running any further. Mine ran much quieter & smooth after break in & oil change. YMMV.
If you have the power downfeed model, your quill lock should be on the right side of the head towards the front. If you have the non-PDF model, the quill lock handle should be on the face/front of the head. Some RF-45 clones have the quill lock on the left side. You are correct, there is no easy accessible spindle lock. I rarely ever need a spindle lock though changing the R8s. It's not necessary to tighten the heck out of the drawbar, a firm tug on the wrench should be more than efficient. As long as the R8 taper seats well with your arbor/collet, the taper should have a good enough seat. Loosening the drawbar is the same way for me, an abrupt tug is all that is needed to loosen the draw bar. Putting the head in a lower gear helps loosening & tightening.
But in the case where you do need something to hold the spindle to loosen the draw bar, there are a few options that I will mention (but there's more). You can make a simple spline wrench for the top of the spindle. I just bought one on ebay
here. Not the greatest made but it's cheap & does the job well. Just remember to treat it like your chuck key, never take your hand off of it until you set down on the table or whatever.
Another option, if you have the same style drawbar that came with my mill, it's designed so you don't need a spindle lock. Unlike conventional drawbars, mine has two nuts, one dynamic/adjustable & one that is fixed with the drawbar. The dynamic nut is used to tighten the drawbar. While the drawbar is tightened with an R8 arbor in the spindle, the fixed nut on top allows to to use a wrench to hold the drawbar/spindle while you use a second wrench on the dynamic nut to loosed the arbor. You can see what I mean in
post #22 of this thread where I made a replacement drawbar in the same style. Pic 6 of that post shows a glimpse of the spline/spindle wrench I mentioned.
Another option is to get a product called
Spindle-Lock. It's looks to be a nice product, comes in different colors, & makes locking the spindle easy. But IMHO it's a bit overpriced, well at least more than what I'm willing to pay & I'm not afraid to spend money on tools. Says it bolts right on with no modifications needed. One could easy make it into a project & make their own. If you do or get this, please post pics!
Another more complex solution is to make a powerdraw but i won't get into that.
Axis locks are normally placed on the gibs. The Y-axis locks are on the right side, if you look under the table you will see the two leaf screws, those are for locking the Y-axis. You can see mine in
post #35.
Ok, that ended up being much longer than I anticipated, I'm tired, beer time.
