New (to me anyway) HF 33686 - my first mill

[Tomzo]

Well the Craigslist Gods bestowed upon me this HF 33686 column mill - my first. I had used a huge Bridgeport in my youth working summers in my dad's factory so I have some experience. Came with a bunch of R8 collets, a bunch of tooling that is barely used, a so-so vise, and some other miscellaneous tooling. I have read all about the issues with Z axis control with these column mills but this is a lot more mill than I could fit into my shop space any other way.

I was wondering if moving to the use of ER32 collets instead of the R8 collets would be a good idea or not. The way I see it the process of changing these out may be simpler than dealing with the drawbar every time. Of course, my inexperience here leaves me without much to go on. Does anyone have any experience along these lines?

Also, does anyone have any advice on a not too spendy DRO for a mill of this class?

Thanks in advance

Tom

 

[dtsh]

Nice score. I have one of these and while there are some limitations due to the round column, they're still quite capable machines.
I don't think I would bother with ER collets, R8 will do much the same and not require an additional tool or Z height. I have ER40 for my lathe, but on the mill I just use them for work holding. Maybe I'm just used to it, but the drawbar doesn't seem like it's any more hassle than a collet wrench. You can get a spline wrench to hold the spindle while you loosen the drawbar, but I haven't found it necessary.
No DRO, so can't comment on that.

 

[Garryloy]

I have a Touch DRO with iGaging scales on my mill like yours. It is awsome and probably the lowest cost DRO available. I bought the kit form and built it myself. It really makes the mill a pleasure to use. I had to do some tinkering to get the noise bugs out, but now it is solid, dependable, and accurate. Lots of supporting information available on this forum.

 

[jwmay]

I recently bought an ER chuck for my Grizzly copy of your machine. IMO, I prefer the R8. You have to make a wrench for a back up, and the nut wrench is fiddly and frustrating. Ymmv.
If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a set of R8 collets, and then get any additional tooling with a short straight 1/2 or 3/4" shank. Then I'd buy endmills with the same shank size. Then I'd buy screw machine drill bits. That way switching from end mill to drill bit to boring head would require no collet change and only 1-2 inches of clearance.

 

[Steve-F]

Ah Ha!! That's where it went! I was watching that on CL too:<) Did you get his lathe also? I'm on the look out too for one, but on a tighter budget

 

[epanzella]

I have the same machine. I have a set of r8's but hardly use them since I got an ER32 set. I made a wrench that has the draw bar splines on one end and an open end for grabbing the ER32 flats on the other end. I really like the 33686, particularly since I added the bells and whistles. I started with a head indexing system that allows me to raise and lower the head with impunity. Other mods include a powered head lift, power X feed, a DRO, and a VFD. It still has the limitations of a mill drill as far as monster cuts go. It'll do most everything a Bridgeport will do but it just does it slower. Lots of luck with your new machine!

 

[Tomzo]

Ah Ha!! That's where it went! I was watching that on CL too:<) Did you get his lathe also? I'm on the look out too for one, but on a tighter budget

I did not get the lathe as I had bought an 8x16 from Amazon after weeks and weeks of scanning CL for a lathe. He sold both within a few hours of posting the ad. Super nice guy - came over and lifted the mill right onto my bench.

 

[Tomzo]

I have the same machine. I have a set of r8's but hardly use them since I got an ER32 set. I made a wrench that has the draw bar splines on one end and an open end for grabbing the ER32 flats on the other end. I really like the 33686, particularly since I added the bells and whistles. I started with a head indexing system that allows me to raise and lower the head with impunity. Other mods include a powered head lift, power X feed, a DRO, and a VFD. It still has the limitations of a mill drill as far as monster cuts go. It'll do most everything a Bridgeport will do but it just does it slower. Lots of luck with your new machine!

Nice! These are all things that I am considering as I go forward with this mill. If you don't mind me asking, I have seen several methods of head indexing systems - which method did you use? Also, which powered head lift system did you use?

I definitely want to get a VFD installed, but need to get an electrician to help me out with a subpanel so I can add a 240V circuit in my garage. The prospect of changing belts all the time is not all that attractive to me and once I have 240V the VFDs are fairly cheap.

 

[Manual Mac]

I also have an RF31 clone machine, a Grizzly G1007.
I have R8 and ER32 collets for it. I have found I use the R8 collets much more on it.
I also have ER32 chuck with MT2 taper for my 6” rotary table, & one with MT3 taper for my SB9 lathe. I have draw bars for them. All were purchased cheap on line, and are plenty accurate for me.
My DRO is is a cheap IGaging set that works great for me, & leaves $$ left over for beer.
Of course, YMMV.
Cheers, Manny

 

[Tomzo]

I like the price on the iGaging DROs for sure but one of the things I was planning to have a DRO help me out with is setting bolt circles and it seems to me that with three independent displays they could not coordinate the calculations to guide me to the correct spots. I see that Little Machine Shop has a bolt circle calculator that can output the XY coordinates that (I presume - forgive my ignorance) could be used to do about the same thing. Am I on track on that point?