Finito
July 29th, 2009Whew
More
Trying to rotate the head into position. The seller said to loosen the 4 nuts in the front, but when I do that, it only moves about 5 degrees and then runs into a hard stop.
Whew
More
Trying to rotate the head into position. The seller said to loosen the 4 nuts in the front, but when I do that, it only moves about 5 degrees and then runs into a hard stop.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:49 AM
The Head’s on upside down! Send it Back! Send it Back!
July 29th, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Also, make sure you’re not watching CSI or the Dollhouse or any other distracting program while milling.
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You seen “The Dollhouse”? Josh Whedon project on Fox.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Congratulations. That is a nice looking piece of steel, not that I really know what nice mills are supposed to look like…
July 29th, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Finally! I was beginning to wonder if this milling machine was real or only mythical. Looks pretty real to me, congratulations!
Here’s a thread on lathe tool sharpening that might be of interest:
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=35818
How’d the unloading and placement of the mill go?
July 29th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Steve,
When rotating the head, try to “help it along”, don’t depend entirely on the worm/gear. You might have to loosen it a bit more than you think necessary, and wiggle it a bit in addition.
Read everything you can on tramming, there’s a number of different opinions on the ‘best’ way to do it.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:20 AM
AWESOME!!
Congratulations! And best of luck (and safety) to you.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Worm gear? Is that the little nut under the head? I thought you just rotated it by hand. Mike is fooling with it, and he got it to move by turning that nut.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Steve,
If you look closely, you’ll see a bolt head on the RH side of the head (as viewed from the front, with the head in its proper, upright position). Get a ratchet and socket and wind on that bolt head, it should be 3/4″ if your machine is a B’Port clone. There’s a worm as part of that bolt head that engages with a worm gear to rotate the head.
But, you probably have figured it out by now. 🙂
July 29th, 2009 at 12:25 PM
the nut drives the worm gear.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
There is a large nut that you turn with a wrench to rotate the head. The four bolts in front are for locking it down. You couldn’t turn it by hand- it’s too heavy. Check the manual.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Great looking machine Steve. Jealous here. I want a one-piece high scope mount for a 30mm tube to fit a 1913 Picatinny rail, in stainless if you please.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Yup, there’s a worm gear to rotate the head. You couldn’t really rotate it by hand – it weighs something like 200 pounds. The idea is to kinda lift the head in the direction you want to turn, and then crank the worm gear at the same time.
I will say, you might want to move it farther out, to give you more room around the table – remember, it moves something like 15-18″ off center at max table travel in either X direction.
July 29th, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Congrats Steve. That is a fine looking piece of machinery. Gotta love new toys. Obviously, I haven’t been anticipating this as much as you have, but am glad it finally arrived. Loved the books and recipe forum, and enjoyed hearing your interview on KQ92 here in Minnesota.