- Joined
- May 27, 2011
- Messages
- 49
ID plate says "Made in China NT". Pretty sure NT means Nation of Taiwan. Bought this used about 2009. Running an American Rotary phase converter and it runs beautifully. At top speed it does pull down the 3 phase motor upon start-up but regains the speed in seconds. Running at the lower milling speeds there's no drag. Phase converter is 3hp rated and mill motor is 1.5hp.
First problem was the spindle brake. It was apparently wore out. What to do? I pulled the top end apart to see what was what. The two pieces of the spindle brake seem to be a fiberous material that smelled a lot like World War 2 electrical equipment. Just smelled that way.
So the problem was quickly apparent and the solution quickly floated into my curious head.
The spindle brake is very much like an automotive brake with a fixed pin and an opposite cam-like part that spread the shoes apart into the drum. Very simple. But how to fix without spending $$$.
And here was the problem. Excessive wear. (improper use of the spindle brake)....
So the shoes needed to be spread wider in order to properly engage the drum. The solution was obvious to me. Wasn't it obvious to you?
The cam needed some help... some wider throw, as it were.....
And the fixed pivot needed some "space"....
It actually works much better as the brass offers more lubricity on the brake shoe material.
The mill was a bit too short for me so I made these. The nice thing about this setup is the table can be leveled, as perfectly leveled as humanly possible considering I didn't have a precision level.
The main complaint about this model mill was the spindle-to-table distance was insufficient so I watched Grizzly for a sale on their 8x36" column riser and dag nabbit it showed up for $230. It was a drop-in solution.
Tramming the mill table.
Running on 20 amp 220v circuit. Everything is 10 gauge wiring.
First problem was the spindle brake. It was apparently wore out. What to do? I pulled the top end apart to see what was what. The two pieces of the spindle brake seem to be a fiberous material that smelled a lot like World War 2 electrical equipment. Just smelled that way.
So the problem was quickly apparent and the solution quickly floated into my curious head.
The spindle brake is very much like an automotive brake with a fixed pin and an opposite cam-like part that spread the shoes apart into the drum. Very simple. But how to fix without spending $$$.
And here was the problem. Excessive wear. (improper use of the spindle brake)....
So the shoes needed to be spread wider in order to properly engage the drum. The solution was obvious to me. Wasn't it obvious to you?
The cam needed some help... some wider throw, as it were.....
And the fixed pivot needed some "space"....
It actually works much better as the brass offers more lubricity on the brake shoe material.
The mill was a bit too short for me so I made these. The nice thing about this setup is the table can be leveled, as perfectly leveled as humanly possible considering I didn't have a precision level.
The main complaint about this model mill was the spindle-to-table distance was insufficient so I watched Grizzly for a sale on their 8x36" column riser and dag nabbit it showed up for $230. It was a drop-in solution.
Tramming the mill table.
Running on 20 amp 220v circuit. Everything is 10 gauge wiring.
