Thinking of joining the RF-30 club, but I got some questions...

[ARC-170]

Thanks, everyone!

The Smithy BX-288 seller never returned my message. If it's an RF-40, then it's probably too big anyway. And, it sounds like it's not as easy to modify, buy parts for, etc...

I need to go look at the RF-30 and see it in person. I looked at one a long time ago and I remember thinking it was huge, but I didn't take any measurements. 6. How much width do I need on either side for it? I have an area that's 66" wide and I'd like to know if it would fit there.

The biggest mill I could put in place of my LMS 3990 is either a PM-25 or a Grizzly G0704.

An RF-25 might fit as well. I'll have to keep my eyes out for one.

And, there's always just making what I have work. My vise only opens to 3", and I've had to modify a few designs to be smaller to fit. LMS sells a 5", but my machine is not listed as compatible, which makes me think it's too big. vise. I could also clamp the part directly to the table as well.

 

[mickri]

Measured my RF 30 clone for you. My table is 29" wide. On mine the distance from having the table all the way to one side to moving it all the way to the other side is 60 inches. That includes the 3 1/2" handles on each wheel.

You see all kinds of contraptions that people have come up with to keep the head aligned. I use a dial indicator on a magnetic base. Quick and simple to use.

 

[ARC-170]

7. DIMENSIONS
Mike Chuck: Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. Could you take a few more measurements when convenient? No hurry, nearest 1/4" is fine. I have another idea for where to put this, but I need some dimensions:


Base Width:
Overall Width:
Base Depth:
Handle Protrusion:
Overall depth:
Overall Height:

 

[mickri]

Here are the dimensions.
Base Width 15 1/4"
Base Depth 23 1/2"
Overall Width 43 3/4"
Handle Protrusion 9"
Overall Depth 32 1/4" This was hard to measure. Might be off by an inch or two.
Overall Height 42 1/2"

Name is Chuck, My forum name mickri are just some letters that have meaning to me.

 

[ARC-170]

Here are the dimensions.
Base Width 15 1/4"
Base Depth 23 1/2"
Overall Width 43 3/4"
Handle Protrusion 9"
Overall Depth 32 1/4" This was hard to measure. Might be off by an inch or two.
Overall Height 42 1/2"

Name is Chuck, My forum name mickri are just some letters that have meaning to me.

Chuck:
My apologies, thanks for correcting me. I thought it was odd that you listed a chuck on your signature; it didn't occur to me that it was a name. Thanks so much for the measurements, it helped me draw the machine in AutoCAD to see if it would fit such that it would be out of the way of my wife when she gets out of the minivan.

 

[ARC-170]

8. CHIP COLLAR
The place I'm thinking of putting this machine requires that I make something that will keep chips in front of the machine and not allow any chips to be flung behind the machine. I sketched up something I thought might work, but thought I'd see what you RF owners think.

I drew this in Photoshop and it's very rough. It's a flat piece of metal or wood that is mounted to a collar that goes around the column. It is behind the column. I'm not sure how high it needs to be, but that this was a good start.



Here is a sketch of just the collar and flat piece:

 

[DavidR8]

The place I'm thinking of putting this machine requires that I make something that will keep chips in front of the machine and not allow any chips to be flung behind the machine. I sketched up something I thought might work, but thought I'd see what you RF owners think.

I drew this in Photoshop and it's very rough. It's a flat piece of metal or wood that is mounted to a collar that goes around the column. It is behind the column. I'm not sure how high it needs to be, but that this was a good start.

View attachment 341061

Here is a sketch of just the collar and flat piece:

View attachment 341062

Makes sense to me. I might have to do something similar


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pontiac428]

Put up a shower curtain between your mill and her car. If you don't want to ruin your favorite little mermaid shower curtain, you can buy industrial curtain panels on eBay or Amazon. Soft barriers are nice in tight space like that.

 

[mickri]

I do not take big cuts. I have found that my machine likes cuts no bigger than .020. Occasionally I might take a .030 cut but anything over that is not good. Speed is usually 400 rpm. This is for steel. I use 3/8 and 1/2 end mills most of the time. I have not machined anything other than steel so far. I do not find chips getting flung all over the place. 90% or more of the chips seem to fall on the vise and table. I very rarely find chips to the back or off the sides of the mill. I do find a small amount of chips on the garage floor in front of the mill. That is my experience with chips.

 

[Ken from ontario]

although lots of great work has been and is still being done on round column mills, if you can keep looking and wait for either a dovetail column bench mill or a small knee mill I would do that. I've had to deal with the re-zeroing of the work from a round column type "mill" and the constant work arounds with short/ long drills, this that and the other and really don't miss them. Keep saving and keep looking and I think you'll end up with a far better mill. You also know already that tooling up a mill, even if you already have a smaller one, is going to be a chunk of change, so keep that in mind when you're looking too.

Your advice in general makes perfect sense but the problem OP and many other users of small machines have(including myself) is, lack of shop space. I always wished I had a full size knee mill, but I compromised and got a mini mill, now that I see these round column RF-30s, I have found out I could shoehorn it in my shop so now if I ever dream of buying a better mill, I can only picture an RF-30.