Very useful. And thanks for not making a 30 minute video that could have been made in 2.5 minutes. You nailed it and just swung my vote on an Enco round column I was hesitating on. Going to pick it up today.
Thank you for helping to easily solve my alignment issue. I have a Ring Fu RF30, same color as your Jet, and I’m not ready to try the stabilization solution. This is easy and might be all I ever need to do for my hobby needs. Something funny is that I have an Atlas 618 as well and my mill sits to the left of it too.
This is fantastic. I've been wondering how to overcome this. I was surprised how many people were hating on my round column when I shared that I had just bought it. I upgraded from the central machinery micro mill, so no matter what, it's an upgrade. But so many people whine about it. I asked for advice on a table feed and all I got was "get a better mill, dont upgrade that one". 😂
Exelent solution to the problem. BTW, we’re using those machines for projects with not very tight tolerances. Usually within.003”. I never had a problem with re centering the had.
My feelings exactly. I just purchased a used 2007 Rong fu 31. I have been looking at a number of videos on “ the big problem with round column mills” and all the time people have put into making a guide system to mount on the side of the mill to “fix the big problem”. I consider the common sense method you show is the easiest and simple way to deal with the round column. Thanks for the video. Maybe some of these others might look at say. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
This is the first video I've seen with this method and how I have verified the head on mine for years. I've looked at all other modifications that have been machined, bolted, and welded on, and there is still deflection with the final product/end result. Save yourself a lot of time and aggravation, use a dial indicator with a magnetic base... just verify your quill is true to the table.. the four bolts holding the column to the base can be shimmed.
I think you're procedure is good except the use of the "hardstop" because there is no assurance that you won't bump the hardstop with enough force to move it a few thou and the indicator will still read zero. It would be better to just use the indicator zero without the hardstop.
When you think of all the negative energy expelled everytime an armchair expert says “ the trouble with round column mills is....’ then you and no doubt others demonstrate how very simple it is and no real issue at all. Ive just bought the same mill as yours from Axminster here in the uk, it should arrive in a few weeks and I,m like a kid at xmas . Regards Stuart Bell form England.
This is a good method, thanks. I've been using the laser method and that works pretty well. I have a future project to attach a pillow block to the side of the head and another pillow block to the side of the column casting, along with a rail between them (all acquired from 80/20). Once completed, this setup will render the mill a non-columner mill. Super easy to move up and down with confidence. Speedier too.
@@kennethtencza9209 you probably heard by now, but you mount a laser on the mill head and aim for a line on an opposing wall. The longer the distance, the more small moves are magnified.
Contemplating a Jet JMD15 round column mill drill but the round column kinda scares me. I’ve often heard people say they’re great drill presses but not great mills because the round column can allow the head to pivot while milling. Has that been an issue for you?
That has happened to me a couple times when trying to hog too much. High quality end mills are a must. It all comes down to time. If you need to get a lot jobs knocked out quick I would go heavier. .020 passes in steel is doable. .050+ cuts will strain it and possibly move the head. Sharp tools, slow feed and light cuts will make some nice looking parts. That said, a square column with power down feed would be pretty sweet.
On mine i use two different vises. a shorter one on one side and the larger milling vise on the other side of the table. I just check for parallel alignment on both before i start.
Mate, so glad I stumbled on your video. Sooooo many people spending hours and dollars making elaborate attachments and I thought to myself, why not just use a dial indicator and boom, here is your video doing exactly that. As a newbie some nice reassurance that I'm not a complete idiot and that there is hope for me yet. There's genius in simplicity. Thanks once again!
I hate to pop your bubble Steve but we all have indicators and have tried to do this but when you move the head up it's now out of reach and you would have to move the indicator and well that's a problem. This is the solution and like everything, it's simple and obvious once someone shows you a way, which this man generously did. So don't go patting yourself on your back until you post something that everyone appreciates.
The dial indicator is pointless when up against the hard stop. It won't tell you if you're pushing on the stop. Use the same method, but with the dial indicator alone.
I plan to pin the rack to the column. It eliminates the ability to swing it if you want, but swinging doesn't give you any more reach so it shouldn't be a big deal.
I acquired for free a very large, very heavy very well made Jet floor mount round column mill. I’ve been scratching my brain how to make it work quickly and accurately. man why didn’t I think of this! So much easier than what I’ve been thinking about doing! Awesome tip
Thanks for this. I will be picking up a similar machine in a few days. In thinking about dealing with the head movement issue I thought about mounting a small laser on the head, pointing downwards, with a fixed "target" on the base. Then as long as laser is pinpointed on the target head alignment should be ok. Am I correct? Would appreciate any thoughts on this idea.
I haven't tried using a pointer but I know it's a common method. Keep in mind that the wider the arc you measure will make it easier to achieve greater accuracy.
why do those round column mills have that feature? what does rotating the head do for you anyway? also can't you just use a carpenders square to aline the bit above the hole?
I set up a steel plate on top of my mill and have a laser pointer with a magnetic base that I aim at a line drawn on the wall. After moving the head, I just turn the head to point the laser where it used to point. My problem with moving the mill head up or down is that it changes the tramm. Had to make adjustable parallels so I could tramm the workpiece. Tramming the workpiece was much easier than tramming the mill... especially considering that I have to set the mill head to a special height to tramm it. I'm using one of those circular tripod tramming tables as it seems to work best. If I could afford to do it over, I would gladly get a mill with a dovetail column.
I think one of these machines are good for a mechanic or fabricator where within a few thou's are usually good enough. A pro level machinist would probably be better served with a different machine. For the general work I do this machine works good and it's a good match for my little lathe.
Ive tried that method and unless your opposing wall is a very long distance away, you wont get any real accuracy. My wall was 4m away and could move the mill at least 5 thou without it showing on the laser line. This method has to be one of the most accuarate Ive seen
You can get those cheap indicator stands at any machine tool store. I removed the fine adjustment arm and turned a solid one to take its place. It was a metric size, 13 mm if I remember, so I couldn't use a piece of standard round stock.
