Older Rong-Fu Mill Drill Question

Howdy,

In a few days I will be looking at a mill drill for consideration of purchase, an older 2HP RF-30, and am hoping someone might have some experience with those. It is an actual "Rong Fu 30" , not rebranded like they all seem to be nowadays, and I am wondering about the general quality of such a machine compared to the more recent iterations of the design.

Anyone ever encountered one of these before?

Also, it is on it's second owner, and has seen some active use. Being a complete neophyte to milling machines, is there anything I should be looking for in terms of wear which wouldn't require me to make measurements which are probably beyond my capabilities?

Thanks for any help,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken
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For the RF type and most benchtop mills, getting a model with a square column will be easier to use than a model with a round column.

But if the price is good, settle for a round column model, and maybe a better one will happen to come along later.

I don't own one, but an older model, possibly made in Taiwan, is likely to be a better made machine than the newer ones made in China.

WB ......... metalworking projects

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Reply to
Wild_Bill

Thanks Bill, I certainly will check to see if it is made in Taiwan. I would wait for a square column or a dovetail version, but there as rare as hen's teeth up here, and likely get snatched up pretty quickly.

I think most guys who are going to build a shop are able to get a full knee mill, but right now I'm looking for a bargain to at least have something to play with for awhile, and grow out of at a later date.

Thanks again,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

Jon, to try to respond to your question: I own an Enco round-column mill drill, have used it little and read up on them quite a bit. I am not aware of any inherent weaknesses or wear points on these. I can'r remember anyone ever having claimed to have worn one out, or even found one in that condition. Usually the poor condition examples have been due to rust, not wear. So try all the controls, check it for signs of crashes, table gouges etc. If everything seems to work, and the price is right, you will probably have a usable machine you can sell later for what you paid. The trump card on these deals is the included (or not) tooling of course.

Reply to
RB

What Jon said. These mills are enough of a pain to use that they rarely get worn out, they are either broken or rusty.

The biggest problem > J>>> For the RF type and most benchtop mills, getting a model with a

Reply to
RoyJ

Thanks, RB, I appreciate your experience. I am interested in what you mean by "crashes," though; what is this and what are signs to look for concerning it?

Thanks,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

By crash that means when you crank in too much feed and/or too much depth of cut, or maybe your setup isn't secure. With a powerful machine, something has to give. Usually the workpiece is ruined, often the setup is knocked loose, sometimes the tooling can break, but occasionally there can be damage to the machine.

Not speaking from experience on this, but gouges in the table are the most obvious signs.

Reply to
RB

Light Tool Supply had written this in response to

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:

Hello I have a manual for the RF-30 Milling machine I can send you in pdf form if you like. Please email me for free copy

snipped-for-privacy@lighttoolsupply.com

Michael Elson President Light Tool Supply

100 Bayview Dr Suite 1029 Sunny Isles Beach FL 33160 800-526-4956 ext. 107
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Reply to
Light Tool Supply

Reply to
joyful4429

Reply to
joyful4429

I bought one from MSC for the company shop around 2000. The Z axis adjustability wasn't as good as the scale indicated. I couldn't position it closer than 0.005" because tightening the lock screws shifted the spindle, and took precision jobs home to my antique Atlas Clausing mill. The Z axis was slightly tilted and the tee slots weren't quite parallel to the X axis travel, so I had to make a custom non-parallel alignment key for the milling vise, by filing the key blank to fit snugly in the tee slot and milling steps on its top to match the slot on the vise. I could work to 0.005" on it but not

0.001".

I bought it to make relay rack control panels, for which it served well.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

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