My adventures with my RF-30

In this thread I will document my adventures in getting this mill from the dealer to up and running in my garage. I have another thread here that documents some of the early research and mills I looked at.

I just bought an RF-30 clone. It was originally sold by Rutland Tool, which I remember as a local SoCal company in the 80's. I bought it at a machinery dealer in Pomona, Wheeler Machinery. Nice people, very reasonable to deal with. I was pleasantly surprised. I got the mill and a 5" Kurt vise for $975 out the door. After the sale I asked if I could get a t-shirt, too, and they said yes.

1. LOADING
They loaded it with a forklift into my truck. I have a Chevy 1500 so the 600lb weight was no problem. The put a 2x4 between the quill and the column and picked it up with a forklift. It balanced really well and the 2x4 held the weight just fine.


Once in the truck they pushed it to the back with the forks.


I tied it down with just two straps wrapped around the column. It didn't move at all.

 

I put my X travel DRO on the back of the table as you did. I don't like it. The reader get crunched against the column, bending the end brackets, and costing me about 3/4" of travel. I'm trying to figure out how to move it to the front in a way that it can live with the power feed stop switch.

Have you had any problems with it living back there.

 

I put my X travel DRO on the back of the table as you did. I don't like it. The reader get crunched against the column, bending the end brackets, and costing me about 3/4" of travel. I'm trying to figure out how to move it to the front in a way that it can live with the power feed stop switch.

Have you had any problems with it living back there.

It does limit travel. It also gets squished by the chip cover, which is not really as flexible as it could be. Mine is really just plastic sheet. I may move the vise so I don't need to move the table back as far.
I have a motor feed on my x-axis, too. I just live with it and try to keep it in mind whenever I make anything.

 

Here is a picture of the knurled fine feed locking sleeve on mine. Screw the sleeve in towards the head to engage the fine feed and screw out to disengage. I found the dials on the X and Y to be accurate. Not so on the Z axis. One rotation of the Z fine feed on mine is supposed to be .090. In reality it varies around .085 give or take. Never the same and not consistent.

View attachment 342277

Hello Mickri, mine looks very similar and I am having trouble after assembly with it traveling downward. It slips pass 2" or so and sometimes it does not engage with the shaft that turns the quill. Not sure if I assembled it the correct way or in the correct order. Do you have any advice on assembling the fine feed? Here are some pics of mine, the worm gear does not match the one depicted on the Rong Fu-30 manual:

 

I have not had mine apart. So can't help on the assembly. Also I have never been able to find a manual for mine. Found some that are close but still a little different.

This guy may be able to help you out. http://scotthull.us/dp/shop/index.html. He rebuilt his excel mill drill. His website is still up but doesn't appear to have been updated in 20 years.

 

Thank you Mike.
I found a few minutes ago the manual for mine (attached). This matches the worm gear (page 14) and other components.
I will try to reach out to your recommendation.

 

Thanks for attaching that manual It is just like my Excel. Got it downloaded and save on my computer.

 

Here is mine:
View attachment 349330
I attached mine with nuts and bolts to the cover I made. You can see them in the upper right and lower right (barely). I made a speed chart and used a magnet to attach it. The hole if for lubing the shaft. It came in handy for making sure the wire cleared the spindle.

Would you mind sharing that speed chart?

 

Would you mind sharing that speed chart?

Not at all! I've attached it. PM me if that doesn't work and I'll email it to you.