Low-cost powerfeed for minimils

Brilliant! None of the commercially available units, even the smallest, will not fit on mini-mills, such as my Centec. For one thing, they are so big that it would reduce the X axis travel and for another, some of these seem to weigh as much as the mill. I've given up on finding the original equipment mechanical unit. Your elegant solution is it. I'm finally going to have two-axis powerfeed on my mill. Maybe on my Burke also.

Welcome to the hobby.

Boris

Nicely done.

Greetings Keith, Your power feed idea is a great one. And your implementation is damn good, especially since it's the first one. Thanks for posting and the web site. Cheers, Eric

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you found my idea useful.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Thanks!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Thanks!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

According to Keith Marshall :

Neat project.

I might redo the control panel in part to allow for adding a second set of switches and knobs for the Y-axis -- whether you ever actually add it or not.

Thanks for keeping the web page *simple*. Far too many web sites are cluttered with JavaScript, Flash, and every other bell and whistle that the writer can find.

Enjoy, DoN.

Thanks!

Good idea I hadn't considered!

I'm glad you noticed! I suppose there's a place for all the fancy stuff but I've always gone for the more simple approach. :-)

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

It would appear that someone has just filled the spot in a niche market. Perhaps it would be best to jump on this now and make and sell these as fast as you can before the Chinese copy it.

Ya might make a few bucks, or more than a few.

Gunner

"If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're around."

"Democrat. In the dictionary it's right after demobilize and right before demode` (out of fashion).

-Buddy Jordan 2001

Damned clever solution to use the cordless and its torque-limiter!

Nick

Nice bit of lateral thinking! - question - what stops the torque reaction of the motor twisting the motor in the sliding coupling blocks you have fitted each end? - or isnt it an issue?

Andrew VK3BFA.

Well the thought did cross my mind but when you figure in all the time it took to make it I couldn't do much better on price than this one:

I'm sure I could do them quicker and more cheaply if I made several at a time but it still probably wouldn't be all the profitable unless I went into it in a very big way. :-/

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Thanks!

It's definitely an issue. My first thought was to make the rear mount clamp around the motor and slide on three posts like the ones it's now mounted to but that didn't work quite as well in the real world as it did in my mind.

I abandoned that idea and went with what you see in the pictures when it hit me that the engagement lever would keep it from turning. The front end of the motor/gearbox/clutch assembly is held together by two screws. I welded a piece of 1/4" key stock to a large washer to make the lever and drilled 2 holes in the washer to match the spacing of the screws in the front of the clutch and that holds it all together. The lever comes through the slot in the bottom of the case and that's what keeps it from turning.

I'm slightly concerned that the lever will wear down the sides of the slot in the aluminum case over the years but if it does I'll cut a matching slot in a piece of steel and rivet it to the bottom of the case.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

According to Keith Marshall :

Did you notice this line in that web page?

====================================================================== "This kit has a 16 TPI feed screw and does not fit Micro-Mark mini mills." ======================================================================

Of course, the *other* web page:

says:

====================================================================== "This kit fits any mini mill with an extended X-axis feed screw. Look under the left side of the table to see if the X-axis feed screw has a 2 1/2" long unthreaded extension with a slot in the end. If so, you can use this power feed kit." ======================================================================

This describes the one which you fitted yours to, does it not?

$30.00 difference to get one with a leadscrew. Interesting.

Enjoy, DoN.

Thanks - blatantly obvious when its pointed out - again, a Lovely piece of lateral thinking - now, if I can find ANY of the dead el cheapo cordless drills I have collected over the years...

Andrew VK3BFA.