Rutland RF-30 Fine Feed Travel Issues

[MOUCHRA]

Hello,

My name is Roger and I am very new to machining. I enjoy welding and restoring/repairing cars.
I have worked for the engineering department of an oil refinery for the last 30 years.

I was given a Rutland RF-30 as a gift, and it is fairly well taken care of. The previous owner disassembled the fine feed for it and put it back together, but it is not working properly as it used to (he mentioned).
I disassembled it myself and have a manual with the parts drawing for a Rong Fu-30 but the assembly for the fine feed does not match mine. The Rong Fu Part 107 (page attached for worm gear) does not match mine. Mine does not have a knob to adjust and allow the fine thread to work but a screw and the shape of the worm gear is different. I tried several assembly options and order of assembly with no luck. The fine feed is either hard to turn or stops at 2" and it starts slipping, not sure if there is a specific drawing or way to assemble this. I would greatly appreciate any help from these forum members. I have a attached a couple of pics of the fine feed assembly for my machine as well.
Thank you.

 

[brino]

@MOUCHRA ,

I found a reference to another Rutland owner here.......

In this thread:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/my-adventures-with-my-rf-30.87976/

I just bought an RF-30 clone. It was originally sold by Rutland Tool

I have NOT been thru the entire thread looking for an attached manual, but perhaps @ARC-170 will see the reference and join in here.

Brian

 

[mikey]

Roger, it appears that your version of this mill is an older one. Mine matches the pdf breakdown you posted and is very different from what I can see in the pics of yours. Best bet is to search for a IPB of the older machines and see if you can sort this out.

 

[MOUCHRA]

Hello mikey,
Thank you for your response. I found the manual that matches mine a few minutes ago. I will read and continue to reach out. I am thinking that maybe something is worn or installed incorrectly.

 

[mikey]

I can sorta see how the mechanism might work but that large spring is not shown in the IPB. I wonder if it doesn't sit on the opposite side of that gear (part 36?) in the pic. That gear should interface with the worm gear on the end of the fine feed shaft and the spring would push the gear away from the worm and keep it disengaged until the screw on the end of the feed handle (#119) pushes part 36 in far enough (collapsing the spring in the process) for the worm to engage.

Clearly, not all the parts you have are shown in your pics. Maybe if you showed everything we could sort things out?

 

[MOUCHRA]

Mikey,

Thanks for your response.
You are correct the spring is nowhere in the diagram. This drawing looked so much more like my machine unlike the one for the RF-30 specially because of part (32) worm gear. I will take it apart again and take more photographs so you can take a closer look if possible. The gears (32) and (47) do interface. There does not appear to be enough space inside part (33) shaft cover for the spring to push the gear away from the worm, I tried that assembly suggestion as well. I will show everything I have once I take it apart. Thank you for your help. I am still looking for the correct manual for this Rutland RF-30 model 891680 23 speed.

 

[mikey]

Yeah, you need to sort this out because part of what makes the mill functional is that fine down feed. It is what allows you to set your depth of cut with some degree of precision so it needs to work properly. At some point, you should also consider a quill DRO to assist with this function but that can come later.

 

[MOUCHRA]

I just found old ENCO Models 91000-91034 manual and it has the fine feed disengagement spring (S3) in front of the gear (33) on page 17. According to this manual on page 20 my machine is either model 91033 or 91034 since it is only 220V 3 Phase 2 Speed. I do not know exactly what the spindle taper number is/means, that will determine my model.

 

[tweinke]

Just a thought and I may be totally out in left field, does the spring possibly go out board of the collar. I guess what I am trying to say is the spring the last piece on the shaft before the course feed handle goes on?

 

[mikey]

I just found old ENCO Models 91000-91034 manual and it has the fine feed disengagement spring (S3) in front of the gear (33) on page 17.

This helps. It shows the spring "S3" on the opposite side of what this new manual calls the" clutch", which is what I was alluding to in post #5. Do you have all the parts shown in the IPB?