Lubricant

I can tell you right now the first question everyone will ask is:

What milling machine do you have?

There is a world of difference between a Bridgeport and a Chinese import. Mike

David,

As asked elsewhere, what kind of machine?

However, I am going to guess that this is a mill/drill along the lines of a Rong Fu 31 - mostly because I read exactly the same thing and had the same reaction/question.

Way oil is going to be preferred - Mobil Vactra 2 is likely to be the recommendation. The spindle on the 31 is more mysterious. The Yahoo mill/drill group seems to suggest that it is pre-lubed and that's it. Scares the willies out of me, so please report back if you get a good answer to how to protect those bearings.

Again, assuming that you have a 31 or similar mill/drill, you might want to go out of your way to get way oil on the screws themselves, not just at the dial and way oil ports (near each dial and on the front and back of the longitudinal table). You can see/access the longitudinal screw/nut by "looking" under the dials and slightly up toward the center of table - hope that makes sense. You will _not_ have to hoist the machine to do this unless you have a very unforgiving bench mounting; on a stand, it's in plain view. For the transverse screw, lift up the back way cover, and there it is, at least on my machine.

I will do you a big favor and leave this to the experts :)

Enjoy the machine!

Bill

Unless there are posts to the contrary, start with 30 or so motor oil instead of WD 40. Any oil beats no oil, but I suspect you will agree that Way Oil is worth the little bit of time it takes to order it.

Someone else suggested chainsaw bar/chain oil as a substitute for way oil, so you might try that while you are waiting.

Bill

I don't understand how your comment relates to my question regarding the type of lubricant to use.

The machine is a manual vertical mill. Are you saying the model of mill effects the type of lubricant used ?

The manual does not specify a specific lubricant, my assumption would be that fitters and machinists would use some sort of generic lubricant for this application.

mj wrote:

Saw an ad in th' local (Shelton, WA) paper for an Enco 9"x20" bench top lathe very reasonably priced. Actually, it's a steal. Went and checked it out this am. Retired guy bought it new three years ago, and about $1k worth of tooling, to build model steam engines. Wasn't as easy or as much fun as anticipated so now he's into stained glass stuff.

Saw it run, checked out th' tooling, and it's not a bad little lathe. $500.00 for it, tooling, accesories, plus a horizontal metal cutting bandsaw! Prolly at least $2,300.00 worth of equipment, damn near all brandy new too.

If anyone's interested, ping me... dunno how long it'll last.

This is th' lathe, no cabinet tho:

th' saw looks similar to this: He put beefier wheels and a stronger handle on it.

Snarl... add 67 after my name and pull th' pin to reply

PS Insert usual legal disclaimers here.

Mike is very correct to ask the question. I have yet to see much difference in opion on the ways, but spindles range in requirements and punishment for failing to meet them.

To give you a good answer, folks will need to know "make and model". My answer was based on the assumption of a 31-ish mill/drill.

Bill

Bill,

You are right, I think the machine is a 31. The booklet has specs for 31 and 25 but the 25 has smaller motor.

My specialty is RF and data communications equipment and have no previous experience with a milling machine.

I bought the machine to enable milling slots in small runs (usually 1-5 off) of enclosures for prototypes of our products. (small aluminum end plates 2mm thick and small ABS plastic enclosures)

So far I have wiped the grease off the table using degreaser and sprayed some CRC on it.

I can see a small hole in the winder as you mention and also see grease on the threads used for winding the table.

Do I put that machine oil on the table (sliding part) and the winders and leave the grease on the threads ?

Thanks > David wrote:

David, to be a little more blunt than the other replies, who are being kind:

WD40 is closer to being a 'degreaser' than it is a 'lubricant'.

Order some Vactra #2 Way Lube,

is as good a supplier as any for this, apply it liberally and often.

If your machine is made in China, be sure to clean the casting sand and other spooge out of any moving parts before you fire it up the first time. That includes the miserable crap they apply where greases are supposed to be - put Mobil 1 synthetic grease there.

Make sure your machine spins smoothly across the whole range of speeds with no workpiece mounted.

Then get some chunks of known metal (6061 aluminum and 12L14 steel are good choices) and start turning them into chips. You will learn enough from that to know what to Google for. Have Fun!

David,

I'm really not too terribly far ahead of you - in years using machines yes, but in hours on a machine, no.

Two things spring to mind: never hold endmills in a drill chuck, and learn about clamps and your vise. You have found a great source of help in this group.

When you say "winders", do you mean the ball oil ports near the dials? If so, I think that's pretty much the idea unless we hear otherwise. As far as oiling the table itself, by all means, put some oil on the ways anywhere there is metal/metal contact; a small brush is probably your best bet.

Bill

Bill,

Good thing you told me about the end mills (slot drills), I would have put then straight into the chuck. I think there is an Arbour that came with the machine, I'll see if I can use this with the slot drills I have.

To change the chuck over to the arbour I assume you loosen off the bolt up in the motor pulley and give the shaft a tap ? (this is my interpretation of the pseudo English instructions that came with the machine). When I put the chuck on, I just tapped it on the tapered shaft with a rubber mallet. I assume this is wrong and I should have loosened the nut on top of the tapper, press the chuck onto it and then tightened the nut ?

If this is how it should be done, do I need to loosen the belts first ?

Thanks heaps for all the assistance, I appreciate it.

Bill Schwab wrote:

David,

Happy to help. **IF** I understand what a slot drill is, you will want to mount it in either an R8 collet, an ER collet, or anything else folks here tell you is ok.

You will find two nuts - it's the small/top one, _not_ the 2+ incher. You might need to hold the big one (an adjustable slot wrench works for this) as a poor man's spindle lock.

But yes, loosen the nut on top :) The nut is part of the draw bar. To avoid injury (still trying to forget how I learned this!!!), loosen the draw bar so that it turns freely, but back off only a couple of turns, not all the way. Now tap with the mallet (lightly at first) to dislodge the arbor. Try to turn a little and tap (perhaps even with the palm of your hand once it's loose) as you go. The idea is to release the arbor a little at a time rather than in one big movement that can hurt you or the table. Note that you still need to be careful once you fully release the drawbar, but it will hopefully be fully released vs. breaking away unexpectedly.

Try rubber and then brass if it's really stubborn. Confession: the first time out, I had to resort to an ordinary hammer after furious pounding w/ a rubber mallet. As I suspected, the "real" hammer did the job with the **GENTLEST** of taps; don't over do it. In general, the draw bar does not need to be very tight, so if you are having to whack like a madman every time, stop overtightening the thing. Mine comes loose w/ a rubber mallet.

Not sure I follow. IF I follow, the taper was in the machine, and I would have preferred that you remove it as above, and then mount the chuck on the taper. To do that, make sure the female and male tapers are clean, then twist them together until they are about as stuck as you can get them by hand. Turn the whatever it's called on the chuck to retract the jaws into the body(!!), then put the chuck down on a piece of wood on your floor, and use a mallet (preferably a dead blow) to whack the arbor into the chuck; one really good shot should do it. If you have only a metal hammer, use wood or something to cushion the blow to the arbor; better yet, buy a dead blow hammer. Some recommend putting things in the freezer, but given the advice above, I got mine to stick on the first try.

Having been through that exercise, you see a big reason why chucks and transverse loads do not mix.

Not until you want to change speed. The drawbar fits inside the spindle, so the pulleys and belts are blissfully uninvolved.

Back to the collets, I strongly recommend an ER (probably 32) collet set, if you can at all afford it. Rather than type like a madman, I will refer you to

with the following search:

ER 32 collet chuck group:rec.crafts.metalworking

Long story short, it is a great way to the business end of a colleted endmill and a chucked bit at about the same distance from the spindle and therefore from the work. It also allows you to change tools quickly, and closer to the work than you can w/ R8 collets. Since round column mill-drills are not forgiving about moving the head, it is a welcome edge. Note that R8 collets are much cheaper than ER.

Ask around here about endmill holders before you buy anything.

You're welcome.

Bill

Bill,

The slot drill I think is also called a 2-fluted end mill ?

It has straight side and a small diameter thread at the top (around 5mm).

I found a tapered "thingy" with the unit that I presume is the cutting toll arbor. It has a long thin taper, a flange near 1 end with 2 slots cut in it and a large threaded hole in one end (maybe about 10-12mm diameter).

If this is correct, I suppose the Collect acts as an adapter to screw into this thread and holed the smaller diameter mill bit.

It looks like the entire tappered fitting in the machine now would need to come out in order to get this one in. (tie. not just the drill chuck).

Does this sound right ? I like to know I'm on the right track before I start hitting things with hammers.

Thanks aga> David,

earlier it was posted that WD-40 was more like a degreaser and that is correct ,but another good choice to get is Lucas Oil gear lube it sticks to parts alot better than oil and been around for years .

David,

Probably, but I am not sure whether they are one in the same, or whether one is a specialized form of the other. Whatever it is, if you put transverse loads on it, don't hold it in a chuck.

You're losing me a bit. Try

and scroll down to Collets and Adaptors - anything look familiar? Note the two collets and the endmill adpator have a common structure on the top (facing away from you in the pictures). That's the part that goes in spindle. Here's a boring head:

Again, note the job-specific stuff on one end and the R8 shank on the other.

When you say straight side and threads, are you talking about the R8 shank or the "business end"?

I think that's right. The collet goes in the spindle, and as the draw bar pulls it up, it squeezes the endmill to hold it.

It sounds as though your machine shipped with an arbor in the spindle, which makes sense to protect the drawbar. If there is an adaptor of some sort in there, you will need to remove it to mount other tools. Sorry to be vague, but I do not want to say yes too easily and end up giving you bad info.

When in doubt, try to find a picture on the web, or post one and give us a link. A picture is worth a thousand words, it might also save you a thousand dollars ;)

Bill

That sorta sounds like a MT3 collet. Do you know what your spindle taper is? Likely it's R8 or MT3.

Yes, the drill chuck arbor is but one of the possible items that are used in the spindle. The others include things like collets (most common), slitting saw, flycutter, and boring head.

Yes, do as others have mentioned - back of the uppermost nut a few turns, pop it with a soft hammer, and remove the drill chuck arbor. Once you do that a lot of the above will make more sense.

Rex B

If it were local to me, I'd be there. And I don't need another lathe, much less a 9x20. Still... :)

People still read ads in newspapers? ;-)

snipped-for-privacy@tripp> Saw an ad in th' local (Shelton, WA) paper for an Enco 9"x20" bench

Tell me about it! Had to muster up every possible ounce of reason to walk away from it yesterday. Heh, I was gonna take my ElCamino but th' battery was dead, so I took th' car. If th' truck would've started, that baby would be here right now . Somebody's gonna get a real nice deal.

Snarl

Heh, our local rag comes out once a week and it doesn't take very long to read either. Ads like this are actually fairly commonplace, but I did do a double take when I saw th' price! Good deals to be found on th' gas station bulletin board too .

Snarl... it's too windy for smoke signals