It's been a while since I updated this.
I After getting it on the floor, I used a couple of Harbor Freight hardwood dollies to move it easier.
It still needs to go against the back wall.
I used
the rafter
trick, just moving the piece of 4x4 as needed.
Looking past the handy dandy rope slung
overhead storage, you can see the short 4x4 laying across the trusses.
A few weeks later, I started working on the stand. I had some 4" square tube that is 1/4" wall, so it got elected for the job. The orange saw is a steel cutter from Harbor Freight. Unfortunatly, they no longer carry it. It's a shame because it made short work of cutting all the tube. If you decide to try this with a steel cutting blade in a regular circular saw, dress for the occasion. Those chips are hot, fast and sharp! It should work, though.
I used a scrap piece of steel as a fence. The saw is bulky and it's hard to see where you're cutting.
A wire cup wheel got rid of most of the rust. My older Craftsman angle grinder had a switch problem. This HF one is a weak piece of crap. I wound up buying a Milwaukee for $59. Money well spent! I think it will outlive 10 HF grinders, and has way more power.
Rattle can Rustoleum hammered black (charcoal) looks better than the rust.
My Lincoln 225 AC welder has extended leads.
I painted as soon as the pieces were brushed in an attempt to stave off the inevitable Florida rust.
Then wire brushed and painted the welds.
Unistrut was used for the bracing. Hopefully it will come in handy for mounting various stuff in the future.
1/8" 6013 is plenty good enough for this.
The idea was to have the tubing flat on the wooden floor and use the levelers on the upper section. I later decided the wooden shed was a bad idea for a high speed cnc mill. I put off the project until I was able to use the concrete floored garage.
The repacement motor appears to have been removed in a hurry.<GRIN>
Replacing the motor was good customer relations and was cheap for the company as this appears to be a new take off motor. I imagine they have many laying around from motor upgrades. I intend to save the original one for a spare. You never know with these Chinese motors.
With the new motor installed, the mill finally gets used.
First chips, even if it is as a drill press.
The completed stand with my wife and I for comarison. The head isn't all the way up. The table is belt buckle high, to me. 37 1/2" from the floor.
That's a six foot step ladder. The old motor is on the floor to the right, next to the box with the handles.
I After getting it on the floor, I used a couple of Harbor Freight hardwood dollies to move it easier.
It still needs to go against the back wall.
A few weeks later, I started working on the stand. I had some 4" square tube that is 1/4" wall, so it got elected for the job. The orange saw is a steel cutter from Harbor Freight. Unfortunatly, they no longer carry it. It's a shame because it made short work of cutting all the tube. If you decide to try this with a steel cutting blade in a regular circular saw, dress for the occasion. Those chips are hot, fast and sharp! It should work, though.
I used a scrap piece of steel as a fence. The saw is bulky and it's hard to see where you're cutting.
A wire cup wheel got rid of most of the rust. My older Craftsman angle grinder had a switch problem. This HF one is a weak piece of crap. I wound up buying a Milwaukee for $59. Money well spent! I think it will outlive 10 HF grinders, and has way more power.
Rattle can Rustoleum hammered black (charcoal) looks better than the rust.
My Lincoln 225 AC welder has extended leads.
I painted as soon as the pieces were brushed in an attempt to stave off the inevitable Florida rust.
Then wire brushed and painted the welds.
Unistrut was used for the bracing. Hopefully it will come in handy for mounting various stuff in the future.
1/8" 6013 is plenty good enough for this.
The idea was to have the tubing flat on the wooden floor and use the levelers on the upper section. I later decided the wooden shed was a bad idea for a high speed cnc mill. I put off the project until I was able to use the concrete floored garage.
Fast
forward to 2015.
I now have the garage available. I moved the mill and stand in.
I was worried that the previous levelers might move under vibration and allow the mill to fall off the lower stand. I wound up removing them and welding the stand in one piece.
I had bought some nifty leveling castors to mount under the stand. After drilling a couple of holes in that 1/4" steel with a hand held drill motor, I hit on the idea of using the mill as a drill press.
Since I bought this mill last year I have not had a chance to use it. I plugged it in when I got it and ran through the gears to make sure it worked. It has been unused until now. I wired for 220, and again ran through the gears, no problem. The R-8 drill chuck adapter was installed in the spindle when I got it with the chuck in the box. In this time the chuck mounting taper rusted. I used an emery strip to dress this with the mill running in low range and the fastest gear. Maybe two minutes of this and the motor smoked like it was on fire! I immediately turned it off and unplugged it. I removed the capacitor covers and the motor terminal cover. My first thought was maybe it was wired for 120, but the diagram is for reversing, not voltage change, so I was baffled. Is it normal for the new motor to burn off varnish from the windings? I plugged it back in and tested forward and reverse for just a few seconds. It worked as it always did, but I was afraid to run it.
I emailed Charter Oaks Automation and explained the problem. This was on a Sunday afternoon. I also posted to cnczone.com.
OK, good news. I tried it again with the capacitors laying out. I watched as it ran, and the start cap got hot and started spewing a little oil. Maybe just a bad cap, or maybe something is cooking it. I think it is supposed to drop out of the circuit at speed. Maybe a bad centrifugal switch? I didn't know.
I was able to remove the motor. It is supposed to lift right off. When I removed the mounting bolts, the motor sprang up 1/4"! It would not lift off, so I tied a rope sling and used my engine hoist to help with the lift. A few pumps on the handle and the motor popped free and jumped up. I put it on a work table and examined the shaft and the mating female shaft. They seemed OK, but the key was bent and had a huge gouge in it. Apparently, the silicone they tried to hold it with didn't, and it slipped down at an angle. No worries! They just pulled the motor in place with the bolts! It was in a bind, but would still turn. Maybe the extra work it had to do was too much for the start cap. I put the motor back on without the key and it slipped right down into place as it should. It being Sunday evening, I straightened the key on my 20 ton press instead of buying a new one. I filed off the gouge and glued it to the motor shaft with hardening permatex gasket sealer I had laying around. I'll wait until it sets before reinstalling it. I have several 143 mfd start caps. I think one of them will be close enough to replace the original 150 mfd.
Paul Litwinovich from Charter Oaks responded to my email early the next morning. He offered to replace the motor (-shipping). Now bear in mind, this is a couple of months past their warrantee. You can't ask for better than that. Paul has been great to deal with from the word go.
The new motor arrived in a timely manor and seemingly well packed. I installed it today and all seems good. Paul bettered his original offer since he was not aware of the key-way problem in my original email. He knocked the shipping down to $20 and sent a couple of new shaft keys. He advised me to lightly coat the motor shaft in grease to make it easier to remove in the future, which I did. Since I am 61 and had shoulder surgery a few years ago, I didn't just throw the 50 pound motor on by hand. I saw where someone else had rigged a sling from a motor hoist, so that's what I did. Three chain drops with long bolts to help level it. It slipped right in. If you do this, be sure to think about how to remove the sling once the motor is in place.
I now have the garage available. I moved the mill and stand in.
I was worried that the previous levelers might move under vibration and allow the mill to fall off the lower stand. I wound up removing them and welding the stand in one piece.
I had bought some nifty leveling castors to mount under the stand. After drilling a couple of holes in that 1/4" steel with a hand held drill motor, I hit on the idea of using the mill as a drill press.
Since I bought this mill last year I have not had a chance to use it. I plugged it in when I got it and ran through the gears to make sure it worked. It has been unused until now. I wired for 220, and again ran through the gears, no problem. The R-8 drill chuck adapter was installed in the spindle when I got it with the chuck in the box. In this time the chuck mounting taper rusted. I used an emery strip to dress this with the mill running in low range and the fastest gear. Maybe two minutes of this and the motor smoked like it was on fire! I immediately turned it off and unplugged it. I removed the capacitor covers and the motor terminal cover. My first thought was maybe it was wired for 120, but the diagram is for reversing, not voltage change, so I was baffled. Is it normal for the new motor to burn off varnish from the windings? I plugged it back in and tested forward and reverse for just a few seconds. It worked as it always did, but I was afraid to run it.
I emailed Charter Oaks Automation and explained the problem. This was on a Sunday afternoon. I also posted to cnczone.com.
OK, good news. I tried it again with the capacitors laying out. I watched as it ran, and the start cap got hot and started spewing a little oil. Maybe just a bad cap, or maybe something is cooking it. I think it is supposed to drop out of the circuit at speed. Maybe a bad centrifugal switch? I didn't know.
I was able to remove the motor. It is supposed to lift right off. When I removed the mounting bolts, the motor sprang up 1/4"! It would not lift off, so I tied a rope sling and used my engine hoist to help with the lift. A few pumps on the handle and the motor popped free and jumped up. I put it on a work table and examined the shaft and the mating female shaft. They seemed OK, but the key was bent and had a huge gouge in it. Apparently, the silicone they tried to hold it with didn't, and it slipped down at an angle. No worries! They just pulled the motor in place with the bolts! It was in a bind, but would still turn. Maybe the extra work it had to do was too much for the start cap. I put the motor back on without the key and it slipped right down into place as it should. It being Sunday evening, I straightened the key on my 20 ton press instead of buying a new one. I filed off the gouge and glued it to the motor shaft with hardening permatex gasket sealer I had laying around. I'll wait until it sets before reinstalling it. I have several 143 mfd start caps. I think one of them will be close enough to replace the original 150 mfd.
Paul Litwinovich from Charter Oaks responded to my email early the next morning. He offered to replace the motor (-shipping). Now bear in mind, this is a couple of months past their warrantee. You can't ask for better than that. Paul has been great to deal with from the word go.
The new motor arrived in a timely manor and seemingly well packed. I installed it today and all seems good. Paul bettered his original offer since he was not aware of the key-way problem in my original email. He knocked the shipping down to $20 and sent a couple of new shaft keys. He advised me to lightly coat the motor shaft in grease to make it easier to remove in the future, which I did. Since I am 61 and had shoulder surgery a few years ago, I didn't just throw the 50 pound motor on by hand. I saw where someone else had rigged a sling from a motor hoist, so that's what I did. Three chain drops with long bolts to help level it. It slipped right in. If you do this, be sure to think about how to remove the sling once the motor is in place.
The repacement motor appears to have been removed in a hurry.<GRIN>
Replacing the motor was good customer relations and was cheap for the company as this appears to be a new take off motor. I imagine they have many laying around from motor upgrades. I intend to save the original one for a spare. You never know with these Chinese motors.
With the new motor installed, the mill finally gets used.
First chips, even if it is as a drill press.
The completed stand with my wife and I for comarison. The head isn't all the way up. The table is belt buckle high, to me. 37 1/2" from the floor.
That's a six foot step ladder. The old motor is on the floor to the right, next to the box with the handles.