Power drive for head of Rung Fu 45 Mill drill

[Howardd]

I want to use a gear motor (Mcmaster Carr P/N 6660N17) to raise and lower the head of my Rung Fu 45 mill drill
I’m considering two designs:

Removing the handle and coupling the motor directly to the shaft, supporting the motor with a bracket attached to the top of the column.
Or
Removing the handle, mounting the motor on the top of the column and connecting the. motor to the shaft with a belt and pulleys.

Any comments on these two approaches or alternate methods would be appreciated/

Thanks

Howard

 

[hman]

I added a powered head lift to my RF-30 clone in 2016. Details on post #8189, near the bottom of the page:

Potd - Project Of The Day- What Did You Do In Your Shop Today?

Yesterday was a busy one for me, a friend came by with a project for me. He wanted to replace the bolt on his high pressure air rifle. The original bolt is pot cast metal. For the replacement bolt, started with a Hex brass rod, turned down a shank and allowed the knob enough material to turn...

www.hobby-machinist.com

<IGNORE the text in the box with the link! Must be some kind of leftover from somebody else's text. The link gets you to my post>
As you can see, I went with the first of the two options you mention, with a simple "homebrew" coupling on a crank shaft extension, to fit the shaft already on the gearhead. It's been 3 years now, and the installation continues to work well.

 

[Jbthomp31]

If you are familiar with Stefan Gotteswinter on YouTube he did his with a gear motor and belt drive on the fine feed quill handle. I am planning on doing the same to my rf45 clone machine myself (If I ever get the time lol)

 

[Jbthomp31]

Never mind I see you’re wanting to power the whole head not the quill. Lol disregard my last message.

 

[T Bredehoft]

I saw one of these modifications where the power was a Battery operated drill motor, geared down. They also attached a 1" diameter shaft with bearing mounted on it to keep the head from wandering. (shaft secured top and bottom. )

 

[hman]

I used a "big dish" satellite antenna positioner motor to raise/lower the head of my RF-30 clone. These motors, like big dishes, are obsolete and may be hard to find nowadays. But they do have the advantage of having internal limit switches. Here's a link to my post (#8188):

Potd - Project Of The Day- What Did You Do In Your Shop Today?

Spike strip?

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[Asm109]

If you have $900 to spend on a lift motor (price of mcmaster item), then sell the Rong Fu, kick in the $900 and buy a bridgeport clone.