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

don't get me wrong, I would have been totally happy with a round column mill compared with the drill press I was using as a "mill", but I also had a lot of frustration working within the quill travel to avoid losing my zeroes. Doing that also forces you to mill with the quill extended a long way, which isn't ideal. I had pretty much settled on saving up for a PM-30V when my Grizzly came up on CL within a couple of hours drive. Rented a drop deck trailer, rolled it onto the trailer (it was on a dolly) and then rolled it off when I got home. The biggest drama was choosing between listening to nuthin' but Country or the dragging safety chains for the 1 1/2h trip home (I couldn't figure out how to change the radio station) :)

Aaron - mine also has a cabinet underneath - I use it to store the angle vise, right angle plate and other bits'n'pieces I don't use much.
 
Not to sidetrack the thread but to solve the problem of losing position I'm going to do this modification:

www.hobby-machinist.com

RF-30 Clone Head Alignment Guide

Here is my latest mod to my Grizzly G1006 / RF-30 clone mill. Like everyone, I was annoyed by having to plan ahead so much in setting the head height so I could complete all the operations I had planned within the available travel of the quill. I searched online and YT many times for ideas and...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
UPDATE:

I went to go look at it. I think the seller (guy worked on industrial scales, so I think he knows a little about machines) got it from some sort of auction. He never used it and said it was from some guy who was a contractor who he didn't think used it much. It was dirty, and had lots of chips under the table when I moved the table to inspect the Y axis screw. The grease seemed old, but all the parts moves freely. The fine feed worked well. He said the missing electrical cover fell off on the freeway when he was bringing it home. The belts were very loose and one had a rip in it.

I took a dial indicator and moved the quill down and could move it back and forth and right and left 0.003"-0.005". I took a picture of the quill. I saw what looked like rub marks, but I couldn't really tell if they were from the old grease or something else. Maybe someone with more knowledge can tell me what they see.
IMG_20201019_154446729.jpg IMG_20201019_154437456.jpg

I offered $800. He just said no. I said, "thanks, if you change your mind let me know." He's asking $1,000. No tooling, no vise. There were a couple of other machines like this one for sale at the same time that were a bit more ($1,250, I think), but they had stands and vises and some tooling. They were gone before this one. He said I was the first one to come look at it, but he's had lots of tire kickers. This has been listed for about a month. I think it's a decent machine, but I'm concerned about the runout on the quill. If this is not a concern and you all think this is a good deal, let me know. The seller has a forklift he can load it with, too. That's no help when I get it home, though. Ha! But, I'm in no hurry.

I was able to get some measurements, though.
 
Did you lock the quill before performing your deflection test? If not, that explains your numbers. His price is probably fair for your area.

I have moved mine so many times... so many. I use a hoist if I need to take it off the stand for ceiling clearance, but the best way is to leave it on the stand (factory chitty cheet metal stand with undersized casters) and wheel it up a ramp into a uhaul truck. I've done all of it solo, but the ramp is spooky alone and the engine hoist is ludicrous to run without a good helper. It's not bad, but you really need to respect its 700 pound weight.
 
ARC-170 said:
UPDATE:

I went to go look at it. I think the seller (guy worked on industrial scales, so I think he knows a little about machines) got it from some sort of auction. He never used it and said it was from some guy who was a contractor who he didn't think used it much. It was dirty, and had lots of chips under the table when I moved the table to inspect the Y axis screw. The grease seemed old, but all the parts moves freely. The fine feed worked well. He said the missing electrical cover fell off on the freeway when he was bringing it home. The belts were very loose and one had a rip in it.

I took a dial indicator and moved the quill down and could move it back and forth and right and left 0.003"-0.005". I took a picture of the quill. I saw what looked like rub marks, but I couldn't really tell if they were from the old grease or something else. Maybe someone with more knowledge can tell me what they see.
View attachment 341195 View attachment 341196

I offered $800. He just said no. I said, "thanks, if you change your mind let me know." He's asking $1,000. No tooling, no vise. There were a couple of other machines like this one for sale at the same time that were a bit more ($1,250, I think), but they had stands and vises and some tooling. They were gone before this one. He said I was the first one to come look at it, but he's had lots of tire kickers. This has been listed for about a month. I think it's a decent machine, but I'm concerned about the runout on the quill. If this is not a concern and you all think this is a good deal, let me know. The seller has a forklift he can load it with, too. That's no help when I get it home, though. Ha! But, I'm in no hurry.

I was able to get some measurements, though.
Click to expand...

If I were looking and came across that mill for a grand I’d jump on it.
The runout is almost guaranteed to be on account of not locking the quill.


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If I'm reading between the lines correctly, the seller has no idea how many owners this mill has gone through, he just bought a bunch of tools and is selling the mill right now with no tooling, as is,, but that does not mean it's a bad deal. $800 is a sweet deal from where I'm standing. a $1000 is not bad either.

Ideally you are looking for a mill that is sold by the owner, who is willing to cut or drill right in front of you or let you machine a piece of aluminum and get a feel of the machine but unfortunately for that to happen you will need to wait for god knows how long.

Let me ask you something, if Tomorrow you find out it is sold, will you be extremely disappointed? if you will, then the $200 difference is not going to make you any richer or poorer, call him and close the deal.
 
pontiac428 said:
Did you lock the quill before performing your deflection test? If not, that explains your numbers. His price is probably fair for your area.
Click to expand...

No, I didn't! Doh! Seems that amount of deflection is not so bad now.
 
Ken from ontario said:
If I'm reading between the lines correctly, the seller has no idea how many owners this mill has gone through, he just bought a bunch of tools and is selling the mill right now with no tooling, as is,, but that does not mean it's a bad deal. $800 is a sweet deal from where I'm standing. a $1000 is not bad either.

Ideally you are looking for a mill that is sold by the owner, who is willing to cut or drill right in front of you or let you machine a piece of aluminum and get a feel of the machine but unfortunately for that to happen you will need to wait for god knows how long.

Let me ask you something, if Tomorrow you find out it is sold, will you be extremely disappointed? if you will, then the $200 difference is not going to make you any richer or poorer, call him and close the deal.
Click to expand...

He was not very forthcoming with information about where he got it or previous owners. He only mentioned something about getting it at a sale and wanting to keep it, but he was getting rid of stuff.

I will not be too disappointed, since these come up for sale often enough. I was looking at some old files and found my notes from two years ago when I bought my current mill. The RF's were going for $800 to $1400. So this one might be priced ok. I'm just surprised people don't counter when you make them an offer, or at least offer some justification for the price. Maybe I should ask whey they think that's a fair price. I'll think about it for a few days and call him and see where he stands.

I would still need to buy a vise and make a stand. Shars has a 6" for about $150. Is that the right size? A local welder quoted me $220 for a stand. I have R8 tooling on my current mill so I don't need much else. About $1400 total.

For comparison a brand new Grizzly G0704 (comes with stand) would be about $1900 delivered. A G0705 (an RF clone) would be about $2300. I'd still need a vise, though.

I like the idea of used; it's cheaper and I get satisfaction out of bringing an old machine back to its former glory.
 
ARC-170 said:
He was not very forthcoming with information about where he got it or previous owners. He only mentioned something about getting it at a sale and wanting to keep it, but he was getting rid of stuff.

I will not be too disappointed, since these come up for sale often enough. I was looking at some old files and found my notes from two years ago when I bought my current mill. The RF's were going for $800 to $1400. So this one might be priced ok. I'm just surprised people don't counter when you make them an offer, or at least offer some justification for the price. Maybe I should ask whey they think that's a fair price. I'll think about it for a few days and call him and see where he stands.

I would still need to buy a vise and make a stand. Shars has a 6" for about $150. Is that the right size? A local welder quoted me $220 for a stand. I have R8 tooling on my current mill so I don't need much else. About $1400 total.

For comparison a brand new Grizzly G0704 (comes with stand) would be about $1900 delivered. A G0705 (an RF clone) would be about $2300. I'd still need a vise, though.

I like the idea of used; it's cheaper and I get satisfaction out of bringing an old machine back to its former glory.
Click to expand...

In my opinion a 6” vise is too large for these mills because they simply take up too much space.
I have a 4” Glacern on my RF30 and it’s the perfect size. It fits well on the table and doesn’t take away any Y-axis travel.
I would not go too inexpensive on a vise as it’s a foundation for accurate work. Inexpensive vises tend not to be machined well so the movable jaw might lift causing the work to lift off the base.


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