CX601 Milling Machine

[Stuart]

By ek Eric

I could not get a 15 inch TV in the WS only got room for me a lathe , bench top mill , and bench.

But it's ok as I need to sit to work balancing on crutches is not to easy and wind the handles.

Here I sit iPad in hand Linds is watching a soap

F1 naw MotoGP is my thing

Stuart

[sshire]

Brian
If you think not counting turns is a big deal, wait until you do a bolt hole circle. True magic!
I use SDM point memory a great deal. DROPROS has a nice video about them on their website.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYdhfQ_T3kA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYdhfQ_T3kA</a>

[Brian Rupnow]

This video shows the modification I made to the handle which raises and lowers the head of my bench-top milling machine.---Brian
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tNdf5aJUA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tNdf5aJUA</a>

[sshire]

That is excellent. Major improvement. Motor??

[Brian Rupnow]

No Stan, it doesn't need a motor. It is very easy to turn, due to the mechanical advantage from the different sized sprockets. i don't have to worry about power supply, limit switches, nor anything else. It is a very easy and worthwhile conversion.---Brian

[sshire]

Need? What does that have to do with anything?
Until I had a DRO, I didn't think I needed one. I can't imagine not having it.
I'm sure your head lift is no strain.
Unlike the Brigeport. The Z crank is fairly easy to turn but, at 10 cranks/inch...the powered Z has saved my shoulder.

[Brian Rupnow]

I'm down to the point of having only one thing left to do, and that is complete the bracket to hold the big rubber sheet between the saddle and the column, yet still let the table move back and forth in the X axis. I purchased a sheet of .015" brass shim stock to make the "sliding seal" portion that rides against the back of the X axis guard angle, as shown in an earlier post. I hope to do that tomorrow morning. My original plan was to fit everything, then disassemble it all to move it into my machine shop. I am now rethinking that, and may move everything just as it is on my heavy duty machinery moving cart. I may hire two great big healthy fellows to help me---not so much to help me move the thing, as to steady it while I pull the cart. It has to go through the doorway from my garage into the office, then through a second door from my office into my machine shop. Clearance is not an issue, and both transoms are very low. I don't want to end up like the poor fellow on one of the forums who upset his brand new lathe and crushed his foot in the bargain.

[Brian Rupnow]

I'm finished!!! The big rubber seal is back in place between the saddle and the column, and the piece of .015" brass seals tightly against the edge of the table but still lets it go back and forth. I have modified the "machinery cart" by welding up a handle to pull it with.--I found that while it has no problem supporting the machinery, it is almost impossible to steer the damn thing with a load on it, even with two steerable casters and two fixed casters. This way, the pivotting handle will let me steer and pull, while a couple of strong fellows can steady the machine. I have checked and the cart does fit through all my doorways. (barely). The machine will be bolted to the cart for the duration of the move.

[Brian Rupnow]

And so, my friends, with the grace of God, the help of a neighbour, and lots of "huffery and puffery", the mill made it's way from my garage, through my office, and into my machine shop this morning. Nothing was dropped or broken, no fingers were crushed, and best of all, it fits into the hole in the wall I had prepared for it. Obviously, there will be some serious rearranging of the shop vac, belt sander, and chest of tooling drawers that were in there with the old smaller mill, but I will make that up as I go along. Thanks to everyone who has followed this long winded thread, and if anyone learned something on my journey, then that is the greatest reward of all. This thread is now ended.---Brian

[philjoe5]

Very nicely done Brian.  Lot's of interesting ideas and designs here.  Thanks for sharing your work

Cheers,
Phil

[sshire]

Thanks for a very interesting thread. Most fascinating for me was following the processes that you use to solve design challenges.
I'm sure that others with the same (or similar) mills will find this invaluable.

[Brian Rupnow]

Today I have to add a new chapter to this story. This mill has a high speed/lo speed selector knob, which gives the same effect as putting  a lathe into "back gear". About a month ago, during heavy drilling with a 1" diameter drill, in "lo speed" the  selector knob jumped out of gear. I said "Oh Dear" or something to that effect and clicked the selector back into "lo-speed". That fixed things for a little while, but the mill kept doing that repeatedly on any heavy drilling jobs I had from that point on. Yesterday, during a heavy drilling job, the lathe went "crunch" and I totally lost the "lo speed" function. I'm sure I have stripped the teeth off a gear in the head of the machine. I called Busy-Bee head office in Toronto this morning, and they do stock spare parts for this mill, which was purchased in 2015. Sometime this week I will pull the top off the mill, and try to find what I need to replace. If I find that it is too complex to fix in my shop, the entire head of the mill can be stripped from the column by removing two bolts, and I can take it down to Busy Bee for repair. The high speed function still works correctly, but I need that "lo-speed" function more than you would think. I really like this mill, and it has given me excellent service since I bought it.---Brian

[Brian Rupnow]

 This is a picture of my mill with the top cover removed. Don't let the sprocket and chain fool you--that is a modification I made so I wouldn't have to reach up so high to raise/lower the head. (I have a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder that can't be repaired). Unfortunately I don't have access to the back of the mill, so I will have to remove the motor and the motor-mount plate and go in through the top.---Brian

[Brian Rupnow]

So--Here we are with the head off the mill, setting on a small framework made of 2" x 8" lumber. So far this is pretty easy. There is one major bolt that holds the head to the vertical slider mechanism, and it is accessible from the front side of the machine. There is also one fairly major stud and nut combination which, when loosened allows the head to tilt left or tight to tram the mill head. The entire head pivots on that first major bolt. The entire head which unbolts is extremely heavy. I made sure that the head assembly was only a fraction of an inch above the wood framework before removing the pivot bolt and stud , because I didn't want to have to lift it when it came free. There is an inspection plate on the back side of the head, which I can now access to see whats happening in there. I will swing the entire head and wooden support frame around to give me clearance to remove that inspection panel and look inside.

[Brian Rupnow]

This picture shows the gear selector moved over to "low range" and the gear has moved so the damaged gear meshes with another gear to give "low range". --It hasn't moved all the way into position because of the damaged teeth. I think my next stunt will be to remove the motor and hopefully the damaged gear will come out with the motor. This will give me a chance to check the teeth on the gear which the damaged gear meshes with.