Husky A1S - 8x30... Just purchased my first mill.

Looks like my enco too. Sure made plenty with many dealers. I love the size for my shop and my being in a wheelchair it's perfect. I'm planning on making a riser tho , I'm thinking 4-5" , doubleboost on YouTube added 9" and his is rock solid and he really uses it ALOT. He just upgraded to vfd motor complete set up. And yes welcome to the site , there are no wrong questions on here. We help don't put off.. I have a favor could you give me a rough diameter on the swivel of the turret . I'm looking to buy metal for when I ever get out of pain to raise the head. YUPP be safe enjoy
 
The Grizzly G1004 mill did not include the X axis power feed. The G1008 was the model with the X axis power feed. This model also included one-shot lubrication pump and coolant pump.

The previous owner installed the DRO, a CBX3 unit from Shooting Star, one of the lower priced units. Works well, just bare bones. It does not retain settings on power off, so always starts up with all axis at "0". Also no bolt circle calcs. I can enter a measurement or use "Centre" to get half the distance between edges, a feature I use often.

The one-shot lubrication pump had a cracked lens so the previous owner stopped using it. The remnant of the oil had solidified in the bottom. I was able to clean this out and happy to find it was able to pump with clean fresh oil.

I found one source of this size of pump in China, but decided to fix my unit. I replaced the lens with a piece of acrylic, reusing the O ring. The top was cracked on all 4 corners so I replaced with a thick piece of acrylic. I decided not to bother with fill hole. It will take me a long time before I need to refill and will just remove the screws.

I do wonder when the pump stopped operating for the previous owner and what, if anything he was using for lubrication. He was not good at keeping things clean. A number of marks on the ways of the knee from swarf getting under the table.

Finding a one-shot lubrication pump is easy. Installing the tubing will take some time. I was relieved my tubing was not blocked, so once I had clean fresh oil I was able to lubricate the ways.

Mill_manual_lube_pump_cleaned_fixed_7543.jpg


This style of machine does not have screws in the head for tramming, so nudge-and-fudge needed. Takes time, but only needed perhaps once. In my case needing due to transportation.

I have been happy with the mill. It has some constraints. I did not like the speeds, 450 rpm then 910 rpm, nothing in between.

I removed the auxiliary pulley and flipped the motor pulley upside down, so now I have only 3 speeds, but more useful for my needs, 560, 860 and 1200. I will eventually upgrade to 3 phase motor and VFD to get more speeds. I am using a link belt, just easier to be able to adjust the length as I needed. Runs quite and smooth.

I use the mill for metal and wood projects. For wood projects the 7 1/2in distance from quill centreline to base is a constraint. I wish I had more Y axis travel.

I would love a Bridgeport, but would not be able to get one into my shop easily due to height constraints.

I have a keyed Jacobs Super Chuck I use on the metal lathe, and a keyless chuck from Shars I use on the mill.
 
What do you guys think of this chuck? $96 on ebay... $200+ new w/o arbor. The arbor on this chuck is 3/4". To me it looks dirty but in good shape... it looks like it hasn't had much use to my eyes.

View attachment 252805
Ball Bearing - Taper Mount
■ Ball Bearing Construction Maximizes Gripping Force and Drilling Accuracy
■ Jaws Center-Ground for Straightness and Alignment
■ One-Piece Sleeve Eliminates Crack Between Driving Teeth Often Found in Other Designs
■ Through-Hardened Sleeve Teeth Plus Hardened Nose and Keyholes Provide Outstanding Wear Resistance
■ Fluted Sleeve Standard
■ Each Chuck 100% Inspected for Performance and Precision
■ T.I.R. 0.003"

Model: 14N
Min Capacity: 0.040 in
Max Capacity: 0.500 in
Closed Length: 3.88 in
Open Length: 2.97 in
Sleeve dia: 2.97 in
Weight: 2.44 lb
Try looking on more eBay sellers that seems high to me , should run half or less of that price.
 
I was just looking at a set of the Shars collets on ebay last night and realized I had no idea what to look for as far as quality tooling that I would not regret purchasing later. The recommendations are very helpful! Thanks for the tip on using a collet to hold a drill chuck for quick tool changing... something I hadn't thought of but it makes a lot of sense.

Looks a lot like my Grizzly G0730.

I use ER40 collets in an ER40-R8 chuck on mine.
Straight R8 collets will buy you another 2" of nose height--always welcome on the 6*26 not so necessary on the 8*30.
I have a R8-1/2" keyless drill chuck on mine, too. About $120 new.
 
Ck this chuck out ,14N mt3 $40. $5.95 ship. 16282617628 type this number in search on eBay there's one to bid on for $9.95 #352245582333
 
Thank you SilverBullet. The chuck I was looking at had a 3/4" straight arbor on it. I was looking at the price on some of the Jacobs arbors and thought $97 was a pretty good deal for the set. I have since found on the Shars website that I can pickup a 3/4" straight arbor with a 2JT taper for $5 - $10 making the original 14N chuck look not as appealing. I have bids on a Rohn and a Albretch chucks that end in a little over an hour. When I loose the bids on those I will probably put a bid in on the Jacobs chuck you linked to. Thank you for the heads up!

I have a nice old Jacob chuck for my lathe (Probably a 14N) that I really like. I have read a couple posts leading me to believe that the higher end keyless chucks maintain a better concentricity than keyed chucks???? I am torn between getting a keyless or keyed chuck. Knowing how much nicer the Jacobs for my lathe is than the Chinese chuck on my Chinese drill press is... it makes sense to me to buy a nice chuck for my Mill. I think I will get a fair amount of use from a chuck on my mill?

On the Shars website they have many different collet sets. Is there any real advantage to getting a larger set of collets with a 1/32" increment than a smaller set with a 1/16" increment? I figure a good chuck would be sufficient for all the off sized and metric drill bits? Shars has a set of R8 collets 1/8" - 3/4" by 1/16" increments plus a 1" collet for $58. This seems like it might a good fit for me. Is there much need for a 7/8" collet? I assume I will be using these collets mainly for holding end mills and most end mills have a standard shank size???

I am also looking at the Shars 3/16" to 3/4" tin coated end mill set to get me started... but I am open to recommendations?

I know everyones tooling needs will be different but it is helpful to know what others find they use a lot?

Are the ER40 collets just quicker to change than R8 collets since you can change them from the bottom of the quill without having to loosen the draw bar on the top of the quill?
 
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Finding a one-shot lubrication pump is easy. Installing the tubing will take some time. I was relieved my tubing was not blocked, so once I had clean fresh oil I was able to lubricate the ways.

View attachment 252806

In researching the Husky 8 x 30 I came across a post about the one shot lube on his Grizzly. I recall him saying that he had to over lube his ways before any lube made it to the spindle... something you might want to keep an eye on.

I don't know if I am going to be up for a one-shot retrofit... seems like it would be a fair amount of work!

I do like link belts, I have them for several of my machines. I feel like my table saws run smoother with them... but that might just be my imagination. One of the belts on the Husky looks original and pretty tired. Both will probably be replaced with a link belt.

Most of my larger wood working machines are 3ph. I have a rotary converter I built 20+ years ago. I have been slowly swapping everything to VFD's... since they have gotten so inexpensive lately and are so much nicer to work with. A 3ph motor and VFD does sound like a really nice upgrade!
 
The Grizzly one-shot lubrication is only for the ways on the knee. The quill has a separate manual lubrication point. Grizzly even provided the plastic oil can. I have this oil can.

The oiler is on the left of the quill handle in this picture. A Gits style oiler. Flip the top up then apply some oil.

This picture shows my link belt with the auxiliary pulley removed.

I have two magnetic hooks on the side of the casting to hold the wrench for the spindle (19mm) and clamping nuts (17mm).

Mill_head_scales_for_rotation_7948.jpg
 
I must have remembered the model or even the manufacture incorrectly. The oiler not lubing the spindle just stuck out in my mind as something concerning.

She made it home in good shape!
DSC04986-1.jpg


I got 1 shot before the battery in my camera died. I will have to add more pictures later.
 
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