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Care and feeding of KBC bench mill

Gentlemen,

We have not yet managed to get the mill/drill through the door and into the back room. Things have become complicated because the seals have ruptured on the tilt cylinders on my forklift.

It is now sitting on a pallet on the front porch. Meanwhile, somebody just up and gave us an industrial work bench. It was like "pennies from heaven".

It is not a massive huge heavy welded plate table. It's made of stamped steel. But on the other hand it's not some flimsy Harbor Freight product, either.

But my question is: Provided it's capable of supporting the weight of the mill (650 lbs.) (it is) is it otherwise suitable? In other words, should I be worried about vibration or anything like that? The table is a nice size. It's heavy enough to be sturdy but not so heavy that we can't load and unload it by hand.

Stated another way, should I be worried about using a table that weighs less than the mill itself?

Otherwise, the next issue is: How to get it on top of the table?

First, can the X-Y axis table simply be removed from the ways? If so I'd like to clean and lubricate it. Can somebody enlighten me as what to use to oil / grease it?

Also, the mill head and motor sit atop a round column. It has a hand crank that enables you to lower and raise it. Can you crank the thing all the way to the top and then dismount the head from the base?

This would reduce the weight. But is it easier to lift the thing as a unit to the table? Or dismount the head and then re-mount it onto the base?

I don't know the height of the table top. But it's probably about

36".

Thanks for any guidance.

Vernon

Reply to
Vernon
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At Unitrode we used a shop crane to set up an RF-31 mill/drill on its stand in a small room. You have to be careful not to let the weight swing forward of the crane's wheels because once it starts to tip the unbalance gets worse very fast.

My Clausing mill at home is under a beam. The separated pieces are all light enough to carry but I still used a block and tackle to assemble it. The head is too heavy to safely align onto the column with one hand while the other installs a bolt. I think it would be very difficult to muscle the mill/drill's head back onto the column, plus some of the guys would be adding their weight to the table.

Add a couple hundred pounds to the 650 for a rotary table and large work piece on the mill and the vise sitting beside it. I'd probably jam some 4x4 supports directly under the mill with a heavy shelf for the vise etc connecting them. If it vibrates enough to shift you're doing something very wrong.

Jim Wilkins

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

A mill does not need the heavy mass of the table as much as a lathe does but you still should be sizing it for more than the weight of the mill itself. A vice sitting on a rotary table adds a LOT of weight.

You want the width and the depth to be significant in relation to the center of gravity. Picture a vice and rotary table working full offset to one side. A 24" wide stand is going to be getting close to tipping over.

Rigidity is another issue: you don't want any side sway. We have been building all our equipment stands from 2" square x .120 wall steel tube. Full welds at each joint, the stands are absolutely rigid with 1000 pounds on them. Basic test is to mount the equipment, give it a solid hip check. If it wiggles, it's not strong enough. If it starts to lift/tip, base is not wide enough.

We have a mill/drill sitting on a 24" table which I find way too low. But I think the 36" high table will set it pretty high unless you are a full 6' tall.

Vern> Gentlemen,

Reply to
RoyJ

Bought an engine hoist (under 200 bucks) to move my 500 lb mill around, handy gadget for the JD riding mower, too.

Put it on a power tool stand rated at 1000; that rides on a mobile base. Total cost less than what I would have had to pay someone to mve it for me.. /mark

Reply to
Mark F

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