For Marc's viewers who may be interested, Stefan has a good video showing how he aligned his mill column using a steel-filled epoxy between the column flange and the base. Sort of a cast-in-place shim. Posted Aug 2016. Nice video, Marc. I like the poor man's DRO, although I'd definitely have to grind off those measuring blades (or keep a couple of spare units of blood on hand)!
"We can see... well a lot of crap at the back of the shop" LOL There's a guy in the facebook group that has one of those mills, but his is made by Myford. (At least that is what he told me).
Hi there from Canada, love your video, I know its a few years old but I just stumbled across it after watching some winkys workshop vids. This video is exactly what I was looking for, I am considering purchasing one of these as they seem a lot beefier to their price point equivalent square column mills, but with a few easy mods are very worth the price? In Canada I am looking at King Canada PDM-30 mill/drill. for $2699. or in a square column model Busy Bee Craftex model CX601, but for $3599. thanks for posting and love the humor, cheers.
On the protrusions from your calipers ripping your arm. I used a dremel cutoff wheel to blunt them. My cheap caliper stays on my mill. I'm rich, I have two of the cheap ones !! I like your cut washer to aid in getting back to zero, pretty simple and clever.
Hi Marc, I appreciate all your hard work and all the information you have presented. I really like the way that you did the DRO. I am trying to figure out how to do the same thing accurately for a small lathe (a G0768). Nice job.
Hi Marc, hope you are starting to feel better! glad to see a new video from you. by the way, do you put grease or Greece on the rack of your column?😇 Peter
IT IS GREAT TO SEE YOU BACK! THANK YOU!, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Marc. You can not imagine how much I needed this video! I have been trying to work out a "poor mans DRO" for my Drill Mill ever since I got the thing. I have seen other youtube videos on this subject. That said, I give THIS VIDEO 10 out of 5 STARS **********. One question, if I may: Roughly how long are the brass spacers? Knowing how good i am at colliding with inanimate objects, I plan on cutting off those inside caliper points all together. They look PAINFUL! I took your advice over a year ago on shimming the coulomb. I somehow managed to get it with in a few tenths of square with the table. (That was an all weekend en-devour). The modification to the quill lock is just the ticket! That is ON the to-do list STAT! That thing is madding. Thank you so much for posting this!
Not a "reply" but an addition: The greatest accomplishment with your "Poor mans D.R.O." vs the other that I've seen is: Your design retains the use of the depth stop. These can be very handy devices witch I'm not willing to give up. Now after viewing this video a 2nd time. I have decided to cut off all 4 points of the calipers, as both sides appear to be blood test appliances. OUCH!
The fixed jaw on my HF calipers work hardened nearly instantly even though, I was using a sharp cobalt drill. I tried the diamond grinder to no avail. So then I decided to cut it out as a slot using a dremel cutoff wheel. It works perfectly! and, It made removing the points a simple task.
Hello Marc, that was a terrific vidèo, very helpful and close to me. I have a Harbour freight mini mill on which I did many modification. one of the serious problem is that after many tests I came to yhe conclusion that the spindle is not parallel with the column. This has an effect, which is not mended by shimming, is that when I start a hole with a short center drill and I raise the head and put a regular length of drill bit in the same chuck the drill bit will land up away from the center bit's done position in three X direction. This would be the case affiliated to any mill at the mentioned problem. I bought a Rockwell of the 60s and did huge amount of work on it, it will take several videos to show those interesting problems. The small spring was a great idea I will use it. The Harbor freight will get a new fixed column. Looking forward to the continuations, thanks for this enjoyable and very useful posting. Old Bob
Great timing! My new to me wrong foo RF30 mill was missing the quill lock, and you have shown me exactly what is missing, along with a cool mod to go with! Very awesome thank you. I can see a DRO in my future as well now too thanks for sharing!
Great tips Marc. All mods would equally apply to the dovetail column version of these mills too. :-) A question, do you experience "quill drop" when feeding down using the "calibrated" Z axis handwheel? I believe this is due to the rack and pinion on the quill, the feeding is pushing the lower edge of therack, but every so often it frees up and drops to engage the top of the rack tooth. Mine does it and would like to devise a solution, wondering if you any ideas? As for crap in the background, you'd totally lose the machine in the foreground in my shed! Thanks, Ray
I bought one of those calipers with the exact same intention. I think I will go to the igagin dro in the end though because it will work better with the x and y dro's I want to do at a later date. Thanks for helping me understand why I always have a problem when trying to adjust z and I over shoot .
I've seen the digital calipers on sale for as little as $10 USD. For that price I'd cut the I.D. measuring ears off with a dremel tool... My luck is that usually if there is something sticking out it will get me eventually. If you pick the calipers up at Harbor Freight or similar, be sure to remove them from the box and make sure the measuring blades close completely by holding the caliper up to the light before purchase. When you get home, take a stone and deburr all the sharp edges. Glad to see you again too.
Mark, you are the go to guy on the mighty RF 30! it's helped me a bunch. My shop machines. Atlas 10-54 lathe, Atlas 7" shaper, LOBO brand RF 30. Champion blower and forge 21" Floor drill, and a Central (Taiwanese) 1/2" bench drill. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.
Excellent! Thanks for the idea of the poor mans DRO, that dropping backlash problem is so so annoying and seems to be no way to correct it. Your workaround is great.
Thanks very much. I have a small knee mill and will adapt your poor man's DRO idea to it. As always, keep up the great videos! Best regards from the other side of Canada (Victoria).
Nice mod Marc. Some years ago I integrated a dial indicator with a 1" range to the head of my machine. The indicator is clamped to a vertical bar with a long slot so I can move the indicator up and down where I need it and them lock it in place with a wing nut.
As an alternate to rounding off the ends of the sharp jaws, maybe use some small platic 'caps' to cover the tips. i.e. so that the calipers can still be used if necessary to measure ID's. Thanks for doing these videos. I recently bought a used mill very much like this one and definitely need to make some changes because I am not just lazy but also cheap.:)
Good to see you back ! I have the same model mill & the z axis control has been a challenge. I like your solution to mount a digital scale & will incorporate it ASAP. I made use of your previous idea to attach a laser for head alignment, and it has been very handy. Thank you !
I have a Pro-Cut 30 mill almost exactly like yours. I recently had to move it to a different location in the shop. I will use your "traming" method and install the "Cheap" DRO ! I thank you very much !!
thanks for jimmyscanal! enjoyed the vids. It really motivates me to leave alone the machines one in a while and trust the good old hand craftmanship. Loved your video as always cheers Teun
Jimmy is quite talented and a really nice guy. I have run across a few trolls in the last few years but the vast majority of people on the net are very nice. Thanks for writing and be safe, it's always great to hear from you, Marc
Good to see you in action Marc, thanks for the content for us "mill drill" types, a couple of good points that I hadn't considered regarding my Craftex , cheers!
I meant to add that I did not buy that type of mill because of the round co,umn. At vertical movement of the head it'll be out of position. What is the correction for that??? Downwards feeding is theoritically not good, there is too much backlash on the rack and the end I'll could pull itself into the work. Again I loved this great video and waiting for the next Thanks. Old Bob
Hi Enrique, you have a keen eye but it isn't a crack. When I turn the lock handle it blocs the light and that is why it goes from dark to light. thanks for watching and be safe, Marc
I did not know that digital calipers have a vernier in them. I did not count the times you said "vernier", but it was a lot... 8^) I know, picky, picky, but this is an educational channel.
Hi robert, I plan on producing more videos but for the moment I am concentrating on getting back into shape? That implies that I was in shape before the treatments, and well I wasn't. I have lost 20 pounds (Still 30 to go to get to my proper weight of 230 lbs). I am cycling a lot (with my e-bike) and gardening a lot as well. I feel great and am very thankful for all the well wishes and the excellent care that I have received. I will be travelling in August so I am guessing that the next video will be in September. Marc
marc lecuyer I have been concerned about your health. My mother was diagnosed with stage three cancer last October and while I have been sympathetic towards people who had been diagnosed with cancer, it has really become something that concerns me a great deal now. Best wishes with your weight loss and recovery.
Hi Derek, it is something that I do for fun as a retirement project (pass time). I am glad that the videos are helping and thanks for taking the time to write. You may want to check out my webpage, it's free and you will find all my RU-vid videos (over 100) a lot easier that searching here and there. Marc L'Ecuyer THATLAZYMACHINIST.COM
thank you for your response. I have continued to watch many of videos now. I have a question though. I am a cnc machinist apprentice. Your videos have already helped me alot. but will some or all the information have carryover me? Things like blue print reading and bench work certainly do. will learning about the hand operated machines help me though? Anyway thank you very much!
Hi Derek, when I was teaching machining (including cnc) I was convinced that learning manual machining helped produce better programmers because it développes a "feeling" for the material and the cutting action. I may be a little old school, but I still believe that someone who knows manual machining will produce better parts on a numerical control machine. (Sorry for the tardy answer)
great fixes, it's the little problems like these that aggravate and cause me to loose train of thought in the middle of an action, I will put a handle on the Y axes stop so I don't have to go find a wrench, well done vid THANX!
