Picked up an RF-30/HF T2119 today

I have an Enco RF-30 made in Taiwan in '88. Well used and abused, but has pretty much been able to do everything I've wanted to do.

And this after reading many threads of those who bag on the round column and those who love it enough to keep it. The keepers all had tips for getting around the problems of clearance that would make you change height. The best was to get a complete set of R8's so I don't have to use a drill chuck which eats up a lot of height variance. I also notice that almost nobody used their swivel base, so when I upgraded for the huge 6" Palmgren vise that came with the mill I just got the 5" Shars without the swivel and never missed the swivel so far. And the smaller vise just seems to work better for me. Looking back if I could have found a nice vise like a used 5" Kurt I think it would have been worth it. I think 6" would cause more logistical probs for me.

Besides cleaning, lubing, adjusting and fixing past owners repair fails, the best investement was the igaging 3axis DRO. I would love to go the VFD/3ph motor and the other mod's would probably want to address the wear in the Y dovetail before that.
 
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