- Joined
- Sep 8, 2019
- Messages
- 4,392
I just bought a PM-25MV with a DRO, and I am very happy with it. I am still trying to warm up to the x-axis power feed.
A friend and I took a whole day to (1) clean the shipping grease off the mill, and (2) install the power feed. I mistakenly assumed that we would successfully install the power feed in one day. The installation has been delayed because (1) I cracked the cast aluminum bracket by overtightening the steel mounting bolt, and (2) mounting the limit switch to the saddle requires some planning.
PM responded very quickly and shipped me out a new cast aluminum bracket, free of charge.
I was not aware that PM recommends drilling and tapping the saddle for the limit switch. The bolts provided are M8 X 1.25.
My buddy and I went down the wrong path for awhile when we tried to mount the limit switch to the table, even though we were both looking at both sets of instructions. My poor excuse for this mistake is that we had just finished mounting the two travel stops to the table (which requires grinding slide-in T-nuts to fit the dovetails on the front of the table). It is important to understand that the limit switch is mounted to the saddle.
The limit switch mounting plate that comes with the x-axis power feed kit is a flat carbon steel plate. It has four small tapped holes for the plastic limit switch to attach to it. The point here is that it would be very simple to fabricate any mounting plate that you would want. The mounting plate provided is too tall for a PM-25MV, and PM said that cutting off the extra material is an acceptable solution.
Here are the problems that I am still facing:
(1) the limit switch is so tall that the cord on the bottom is right up against the ways for the y-axis travel. Somebody posted here that this cord sometimes snags on the saddle, and
(2) the top of the limit switch would be about 1mm from the bottom of my table vise (this limit switch is almost too tall to be mounted), and
(3) in my opinion, the level of quality of the limit switch is not at the level of quality of either the milling machine or the x-axis power feed drive unit. I am reluctant to drill and tap a really nice mill to mount what appears to me to be an economy grade switch.
At least one person on this forum has posted that he routinely cuts off the limit switches and stays mindful of the situation. Like him, I would be at the helm while the spindle is going. PM says that it is too risky to use the x-axis power feed without the limit switch, but I feel like putting some red pinstriping on the table scale would keep me out of trouble. What could possibly go wrong? (sarcasm)
So I made this post to poll the forum as to whether or not it would be acceptable to cut off the limit switch, as well as clarify that one mounts the limit switch to the table which requires drilling and tapping the saddle and/or modifying the limit switch mounting plate.
Finally, one can fab a mounting plate that uses the existing threaded holes in the saddle (used for a zero indicator which gets taken off to make room for the limit switch), but this setup is quite clearly not so rigid. PM recommended to me that drilling and tapping the saddle is the preferred method.
So do you guys think that I should mount it or cut off and stay mindful?
A friend and I took a whole day to (1) clean the shipping grease off the mill, and (2) install the power feed. I mistakenly assumed that we would successfully install the power feed in one day. The installation has been delayed because (1) I cracked the cast aluminum bracket by overtightening the steel mounting bolt, and (2) mounting the limit switch to the saddle requires some planning.
PM responded very quickly and shipped me out a new cast aluminum bracket, free of charge.
I was not aware that PM recommends drilling and tapping the saddle for the limit switch. The bolts provided are M8 X 1.25.
My buddy and I went down the wrong path for awhile when we tried to mount the limit switch to the table, even though we were both looking at both sets of instructions. My poor excuse for this mistake is that we had just finished mounting the two travel stops to the table (which requires grinding slide-in T-nuts to fit the dovetails on the front of the table). It is important to understand that the limit switch is mounted to the saddle.
The limit switch mounting plate that comes with the x-axis power feed kit is a flat carbon steel plate. It has four small tapped holes for the plastic limit switch to attach to it. The point here is that it would be very simple to fabricate any mounting plate that you would want. The mounting plate provided is too tall for a PM-25MV, and PM said that cutting off the extra material is an acceptable solution.
Here are the problems that I am still facing:
(1) the limit switch is so tall that the cord on the bottom is right up against the ways for the y-axis travel. Somebody posted here that this cord sometimes snags on the saddle, and
(2) the top of the limit switch would be about 1mm from the bottom of my table vise (this limit switch is almost too tall to be mounted), and
(3) in my opinion, the level of quality of the limit switch is not at the level of quality of either the milling machine or the x-axis power feed drive unit. I am reluctant to drill and tap a really nice mill to mount what appears to me to be an economy grade switch.
At least one person on this forum has posted that he routinely cuts off the limit switches and stays mindful of the situation. Like him, I would be at the helm while the spindle is going. PM says that it is too risky to use the x-axis power feed without the limit switch, but I feel like putting some red pinstriping on the table scale would keep me out of trouble. What could possibly go wrong? (sarcasm)
So I made this post to poll the forum as to whether or not it would be acceptable to cut off the limit switch, as well as clarify that one mounts the limit switch to the table which requires drilling and tapping the saddle and/or modifying the limit switch mounting plate.
Finally, one can fab a mounting plate that uses the existing threaded holes in the saddle (used for a zero indicator which gets taken off to make room for the limit switch), but this setup is quite clearly not so rigid. PM recommended to me that drilling and tapping the saddle is the preferred method.
So do you guys think that I should mount it or cut off and stay mindful?
