Power knee?

tailstock4 said:
I use Servo power feeds on two vertical mills I have now. The 200 type is on the knee as per Servo’s recommendation – especially on the larger mill. Through the years I’ve mostly run Servo, but I have had an Align power feed which worked fine. The biggest difference between Servo and any of the others I’ve tried is that Servo is a little smoother throughout its operating range and seems to have a little more torque at really slow speeds.

One thing that makes Servo more expensive is the need for a special hardware mounting package for each mounting situation. You can save a little money if you make your own. It isn’t too hard.

Here are pictures of the mills with the power feeds. By the way, I don't think you'll regret putting one on the knee whatever size mill you have.

View attachment 469982 View attachment 469983 View attachment 469984
Click to expand...
Nice shop!!!
Servo brand is for rich people or professionals.
 
Very clever! Is the handle the up/down switch?
 
A couple of years ago, I decided that hand cranking was not fun any longer, and came up with a way to use a battery drill to power the knee up/down. Instead of trying to mill 9 radial grooves, I clicked the "easy" button, and used a set of nine #6 socket head screws. This first photo shows the resulting coupler.
HPIM0160.JPG

I'd originally added a largish disk (originally a timing belt pulley), intending to use it for fine tuning. I've since taken the disk off, so that I can store the drill-and-coupler assembly more conveniently nearby. HPIM0742.JPG

Both the drill-powered lifter and original hand crank are stored where they're easy to access. The last photo shows the drill-power knee lift in its use position.
HPIM0743.JPG
 
AlfromNH said:
Very clever! Is the handle the up/down switch?
Click to expand...

The up/down switch is a 115V toggle switch that is mounted near the other electrical controls. The handle seen in the photo is used to adjust tension or disengage the clutch assembly. It is removed during normal operation. I've attached a photo of the components I fabricated for the complete assembly.
DSCN0861_01.JPG
 
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