newbie with milling machine

That looks like a RF-45, the infamous Rong Fu square-column mill-drill. It's said to be the best of the mill drills in that the head can be moved up and down (if you have to drill using a longer drill bit, for example) without losing the location.

No milling machine comes with instructions. There are a lot of publications you can subscribe to which have articles or series of articles on how to use a milling machine. The machine should come with basic instructions on lubrication, belt changing etc. Hopefully you bought yours from a reputable source where you can obtain parts.

Rong Fu is a Taiwanese manufacturer. I have owned an RF machine and found it to be of above average quality for the cost.

South Africa is a long ways away from most of us. Good to hear from you!

Grant Erw> Hi all,

Thanks Grant, At least it does not look like I bought a 'dud' Jason Johannesburg South Africa

publications

Yup, a client of mine has one. It has one great big problem, just about the lowest spindle speed range I've ever seen. It was obviously designed as a heavy-duty drill press, not really a mill. My Bridgeport only goes to

2950 RPM, and that is a major drawback, so I have some high speed spindles that can be mounted to the quill. I find I am moving toward smaller end mills, and the speed requirement goes way up on them.

Supposedly, MIT has a metalworking shop course online, and a few other universities do, too.

You might like to pick up a copy of "Milling A complete course" by Harold Hall ISBN 1-85486-232-4

Assumes complete beginner and is based on a series of useful projects which move very very simple through to quite tough, so its very practical and not a theoretical "teach yourself milling in an hour" type.

It's also cheep! Mine came from Amazon. Just waiting for the mill to arrive.

Steve

Thanks all for responding, one more question, please, I have to build some kind of tabel for the mill, how high should the mill table be from the ground or should it be level with say my chest? Any other advise on the table?

I think it's a personal preference, but in order to not have to stoop when operating the handwheels, you should lower the table as far as it will go and then plan your table height so that the handwheels will be at about hip level in that position. You may want to compromise on the height so that you can easily reach the quill handle. Perhaps start out with a somewhat lower table and then block the mill-drill up as experience dictates.

You'll also want some way of leveling the table. 1" threaded rod about 4" long slipped into a hole in some heavy angle stock, with a nut and washer on either side (lower one for leveling and upper one to secure it) makes a serviceable leveling foot.

The ability to comfortably reach the operating controls, hand wheels, quill handle, power switch, etc. are your preference. Some people seem to like to be slightly stooped over when running their equipment.

Here's a good start>

Try these sites:

That should get you going in the right direction.

-Mike

Nice stand at

some questions from what I've seen

a) Is it good to put the stand/table on castors, I.E. do they support the weight and do they lock the table solid with no movement? b) Would it be better to build a table instead of a stand, seeing that you get more work surface, place to put tools etc, while milling?

Thanks for all the help

I don't see a problem with putting one of these machines on a rolling stand, given that the structure is built stoutly enough. You don't want to induce warping to the base of the machine when it is moved from place to place. If you put it on a stand with four casters, it will rarely, if ever, sit firmly on all four casters, so the structure needs to be able to resist racking and warping. The casters that I used are rated for 300 lbs. each and have polyurethane wheels. They get a flat spot after a while and don't roll well which helps keep it in place. Consider this when you are thinking about how big to make the table, it has a center of gravity that is going to be somewhere just under the base of the machine, and needs some width and depth to the table to ensure stability. Since it gets moved around a lot, it doesn't always sit level. This may cause problems with a stand that isn't sturdy enough, but I have not noticed any differences in machine performance. I would encourage you to build a enclosed style stand, with drawers/shelves on roller glides. Make sure that the drawers have side and center glides, you will probably end up overloading them to the point that the drawer will sag and rub if you don't. If you haven't thought about what type of accesories/attachments you will be storing, here's a partial list of what I have.

6" Enco vise, R8 collet rack, bor>