HF mini mill air spring conversion

Hi-
I'm trying to decide between this approach and the LMS kit since I have limited clearance above the bench where my mill is mounted. For those with the LMS kit installed, how much extra height is required at the top of the mill?
Thanks /James
 
This is also what I've been wanting to do with my mill but didn't care for the extra height created by the kit from LMS. How long of shock did you use? As you stated it is 40lbs and does that mean you have it compressed when you install it? I also like the upper bracket to alow for extra adjustment. Great setup and Thanks for sharing the info. I know that AutoZone also sells the shocks as well but don't know the cost. John
 
The LMS kit has the longer rack, which gets the head all the way to the top of the column. The spring assy sticks 13 3/8" above the top of the column when the head is all the way to the top.

Bill
 
The air spring I used was from Enco. Open it is 17.19 in and compressed 6.18. It was installed uncompressed. Using my adjustment bracket the spindle gets within 1 1/2 in. from the table and on the top end within 1/2 in of the top of the column. Both of those would change with length of adjustment bracket and or length of air spring. It has been working well for me.
 
@RB72 and @Bill: thanks for the info.

RB72: It looks like you have iGaging DRO's installed. No interference problems with your air spring mod? Did you have to do anything different with the Z-axis DRO mount to accommodate the air spring location?
 
I did not remove the old torsion spring so I just needed to make sure there was clearance between it and the scale. I just left it there as a backup in case the z axis dro went bad so I could continue to work. I mocked it up before I attached everything to make sure there were no issues.
 
darkzero said:
Yup, look like typical gas shocks. I wonder why they call them air springs or are these different & have an actual spring inside them? I was looking into installing some on my mill. Do they make a great improvement?
Click to expand...
The name gas spring is a generic engineering term. I have seen them referred to as gas springs when used to operate a air rifle. Turns out compressed gas is considered a spring. I can't really say it matters what its called as long as they work. I think the first name we learn for something seems to be accepted as correct.
 
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