Looking at the great write ups on the double a frame alignment fixtures on here I wondered if the split clamp on the column is necessary. I can see it maintains the ability to swing the head but I can’t think of anything I would need to that for. Famous last words I know. My column is filled, solid or plugged so I can’t look down through it from the top but I assume it goes all the way through the column base. My thought was to fab a clamp frame to attach to that base with close tolerance bearings for the lower A frame and use a wider sleeved hinge to join the upper and lower A arms. Still thinking about fine adjustment to tune the alignment. Silly idea? I’m retired with more time than money and ha e a pretty complete setup for metal fabrication- welders, plasma, oxy-acet, cutoff saws, 4x6 bandsaw, grinders, forge and anvil. What I don’t ha s is a slitting saw to cut that column clamp. I’m in no hurry to start- hasn’t been an issue for me yet but I am shopping for screw length bits and there is that no money thing again.
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Question re RF30 alignment
- Thread starter OldFatMan
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
- Messages
- 5,240
There truly is a million ways to do this.
Another guy removed is column and drilled and pinned the rack gear that is used to raise and lower the head, to the column. Then fitted adjustable bushings to the head to take out the play as the head tracked along the rack. Said when all was done he was below .001 misalignment when raising and lowering the head.
A member here made an arm that attached to the base and one to the top of the head and had a ground shaft with a pillow block bearing as the guide. He sounded like it worked great for him too.
I have a precision cnc guide and bearing that is more that long enough I'm thinking of adapting. But truth be told, with the proper tooling and some forethought and planning I've not had a problem.
Another guy removed is column and drilled and pinned the rack gear that is used to raise and lower the head, to the column. Then fitted adjustable bushings to the head to take out the play as the head tracked along the rack. Said when all was done he was below .001 misalignment when raising and lowering the head.
A member here made an arm that attached to the base and one to the top of the head and had a ground shaft with a pillow block bearing as the guide. He sounded like it worked great for him too.
I have a precision cnc guide and bearing that is more that long enough I'm thinking of adapting. But truth be told, with the proper tooling and some forethought and planning I've not had a problem.
I don't really see the need for a slitting saw for this, any way at all of cutting the clamp in half should be fine. If the bore of the clamp is sized accurately, the cut ends of the clamp halves will never meet, so no issue.
Rob
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
- Messages
- 5,240
I agree 100%. I’ve not made a split collar this size, but I made one smaller for my screw press. And the challenge for me was how to hold, drill and tap for the bolts. The part I did on my bandsaw as it’s not super critical.
Attachments
I'm assuming you have thought of this but just in case not, you should spot face and drill the bolt holes before splitting the collar. Tap drill all the way and clearance drill as far as the expected cut line. After that, you can align the lower half holes with the piece in a vise using the tap drill as a guide and then tap the holes.
Rob