Author Topic: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery  (Read 10337 times)

Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #30 on: January 11, 2019, 09:26:20 PM »
It's been a bit quiet over the holidays while I waited for some more parts to turn up.  So I mucked about a bit and did the following.

[1]  Changed the buttons a litte on the control panel.  I wanted a more overt STOP look to the red button and a different colour between the table power feed and coolant. Here's the result.  Of course I still need to sort out the labeling.  I also got the wiring for the eStop fully sorted out.  So that now it prevents the spindle and table power feed from running when triggerered.



[2] Made a "speed handle" for the mill vice.  Been wanting to do one of these for a while and I had made the hex holed part a while ago, just never gotten my "a" into "g" to finish it until now.  The tappered handle is 6061 ali and it feels really nice to hold.  The rest is all mild steel.




The fit on the vice hex is excellent.  A nice sliding fit, not tight and not sloppy. The handle spins freely but is not sloppy on the retaining "screw".


I might polish up the main parts edges but at the end of the day this is a functional tool that is going to get a bit dinged. So I'm not too fussed about going OTT on the finish.  I did have fun practicing draw filing on the front and back face to get a really nice smooth finish. That was more for learning than anything else.

Anyway, a nice and useful addition to the tools supporting the new mill.

Cheers,
J.
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #31 on: January 12, 2019, 07:54:47 PM »
Here are the drawings for the speed handle for anyone interested.  You will see from the drawings that I did the handle differently (i.e. only tapered for 25mm not the whole length).  This was so I could more easily mount the part in the collet chuck after cutting it from the stock bar.

Note this design is not mine or unique.  There are a number of people on the net who have done similar things and these types of handles are available commercially.

Cheers,
J.
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline ModelRod

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #32 on: May 20, 2022, 04:44:44 AM »
Hi - I know yours is an old posting, but here goes.
I am in Melbourne Australia, and have just acquired a Dah Lih mill the same as yours.   I am quite impressed with it - Seems to be very little wear on any of the ways.  Unfortunately some cosmetic damage (from a fork-lift I suspect) which I have fixed, but both the Y and one of the X axis hand wheels have been broken.   The X one has been replaced long ago probably, with a smaller hand wheel.  The damage to the y one is from its last shift.  I have rebuilt the Y one with bronze welding so far.

Mine is painted green, but may-be not original?
I have the original electrical drawing in the control box.   It is interesting that they used switchable 4- pole/8-pole motors to give the two speed ranges feeding in to the gearboxes.

Unfortunately I don't have the horizontal arbor support which yours has on the back of it.  It disappeared many years ago apparently.   I think I can assume that the horizontal arbor probably hasn't been used much.   For the last few years it has only been used with a surface cutting head for doing some surfacing work.   I will have to measure it all to make a new support at some stage.

Surprisingly, there are no marks anywhere where drills/mills/cutters have cut into the beds.

I have added a couple of LED work lights on goosenecks, and re-mounted the DRO slides etc. to make them a little less likely to be damaged, and run everything from the main power supply instead of batteries - they work with no problems with transformer type supply, but were useless with a switch mode supply I tried.  They are the older capacitance slides unfortunately which don't seem to be supported by later DRO controllers.  Mine are just readouts - the control/display panel has no other capabilities, like holes spaced around circles etc..  The DRO was sold by Hafco in Melbourne but that don't sell that type anymore.  I have seen the same as unbranded units on eBay., but i can't find any user manual on them.  I wanted to find the reverse direction setting but couldn't find any way that worked, so I re-did the mountings.   At some stage the whole lot should be replaced with the newer ones.

Do you know of any others of these machines?    I would love to track down some original user/maintenance documentation.




Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #33 on: May 20, 2022, 04:55:12 AM »
Unfortunately I never had any luck finding documentation.  The company is still in business but they only build CNC machines now.

If there is anything like photos/measurements of original handles etc you would like I can take and post them here.

Cheers. 
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline Batcountry

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #34 on: May 30, 2022, 11:17:28 AM »
Hello All,
My name is Scott and I’m in the U.S. I Joined this group through some digging on my unique milling machine, a 1979 Jet HVM-1PFB, which appears to have been manufactured by Dah-Lih, as it’s identical to the Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill in this thread! 
I do have a manual for it if it could help either of you!

I’m searching for some information on the mill myself; I cannot find the belt size for the vertical spindle anywhere.  Mine appears to have had an imperial B-35 belt fitted, but I suspect that this was a retrofit.  I imagine this would have come with a metric belt, but not 100% sure as the machine includes metric and imperial fasteners.   :shrug:

Here is my question: could either of you with one of these mills have a look and let me know what belt you’re running on the vertical spindle? 

In the process of cleaning/ repairing mine.  It appears to have been used heavily, but I’m pleased that everything is fairly serviceable.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Scott
« Last Edit: May 30, 2022, 11:21:30 AM by Batcountry »

Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #35 on: May 30, 2022, 09:23:44 PM »
The vertical spindle is running a B33 belt.  That is a B style (or classic) V belt with an internal dimension of 33”. I believe the external dimension is defined as +3” of the internal on a B style V belt.  So 36” in this case.

The exact belt on this machine is a:  Hi-Power II B33 V80

Cheers - James. 
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline Batcountry

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #36 on: May 31, 2022, 02:18:21 AM »
James-
Thanks so much!  I have no idea how a B-35 was running mine, because I bought an equivalent and it’s too long.  Anyway, if either of you are interested in the manual, let me know.  Im happy to convert it to a pdf at work  :ROFL:
Scott
PS- had planned to post some pics of mine, but I’m having a hell of a time.  So I’ll figure it out at some point

Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #37 on: May 31, 2022, 03:27:24 AM »
A B35?  That would be interesting as I have the head near full travel on a couple of gears and another 2” on it would be a challenge.
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline Grampaof4

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #38 on: June 16, 2022, 08:55:14 PM »
Hello All,
My name is Scott and I’m in the U.S. I Joined this group through some digging on my unique milling machine, a 1979 Jet HVM-1PFB, which appears to have been manufactured by Dah-Lih, as it’s identical to the Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill in this thread! 
I do have a manual for it if it could help either of you!

Hi Scott, Joco-
My name is Len, also in the US.  About a year ago I purchased (stole?) the exact same machine, 1979 Jet HVM-1PFB at an auction https://atlanticauctioncompany.hibid.com/lot/85136807/jet-hvm-1pfb-vertical-horizontal-milling-machine.  It is indeed identical to the Da-Lih.  I actually found this forum through my search for information on these machines.

It has its issues, a few I still need to work out before I start cutting with it.  But all things considered, I am pleased.

I would definitely be interested in a manual, if you would be willing to share. I have acquired a few photocopies of manuals to sister (similar) machines under different brand names, but they are very weak and not extremely helpful- Especially considering the parts list just references item numbers from a sketch.  I would certainly be willing to share these if anyone would like them.  I did locate a manual for sale, however I am reluctant to purchase partly because I am cheap, but mostly because I do not know if it will really give me the information I am looking for.

Has anyone found a source for parts for these old gals?

The three issues I currently need to work out are:
  • The vertical turret has rotational play when locked down. Even with everything tight, I can still rotate the head a few degrees. I really do not want to rip the whole head apart to try to figure out the problem, as it would be a big job and I don't think I can find replacement parts available anyway.  I am thinking some bearing shims on either side of the rotational shaft might be what I need.  Last ditch effort would be to tram it in and weld it in place.  Not likely I would need to rotate it anyway.  Not ready to go there yet, however.  ;)
  • The x axis has about 1/2" of movement in it as well.  I am hoping that I will find an adjustment similar to what Joco found on the Y axis.  The symptom is the same, so my hopes are high.
  • The rapid traverse on the autofeed is sticky.  When the lever is released, the table feed does not immediately return to regular speed.  It is possible that this is because the machine was drained of oil, and I have not filled any of the reservoirs yet.  I would prefer not to open up the gear box to investigate, especially without some sort of diagram to look at first.
I would be interested in any thoughts or experience you gentlemen might have with these.

I do not have a tail stock for the horizontal milling function, but I don't ever see myself using it anyway.  I have actually considered using the horizontal spindle for turning some small parts.


Offline Joco

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #39 on: June 16, 2022, 09:18:00 PM »
At some point i need to take the table off and do some checking and probably maintenance.  So a manual that actually has some diagrams would be nice.  Thumbs from me on sharing that if available.

Re the head movement, i hate to say it but i think you are going to have to take things off.  You will need to see what is worn so you can plan how to tack things. 

J.
James
Wellington - NZ

Offline Batcountry

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #40 on: July 31, 2022, 08:42:23 PM »
I will definitely share- I will run off a pdf when I get back to work in a month or so.  Looking forward to knowing others with the same machine!
Thanks
Scott

Offline Batcountry

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #41 on: August 04, 2022, 06:49:28 AM »
@Grampaof4
So on the vertical head rotation…. Mine had two problems.
1. I believe this occurred first; there is a steel flanged spindle with the worm gear that rotates the head, bolted to the head casting.  These bolts were loose on mine, resulting in play and some rotation, no matter how tight the bolt that secures the head from rotation.  I removed the head, and found this underlying problem.  So I removed the spindle, replaced the bolts and reassembled the spindle to the head with red loctite.



2. I believe this stemmed from problem #1 above…. The bolt that locks the head in at a certain angle had been over tightened.  And the way the arrangement works is the bolt secured a split ring with an internal taper, which comes up tight against another taper, as long as the spindle spacing is correct.  With the loose bolts, the effective spindle length was longer, rendering the clamping assembly ineffective.  Then over tightened probably many times.  I had to carefully spread the cast split ring apart before reassembly, but that was it! 

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #42 on: August 04, 2022, 11:54:41 AM »
Great to hear that you found the reason and Solution  :ThumbsUp:   :ThumbsUp:

Per       :cheers:

Offline Batcountry

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Re: Dah Lih DL-VHR-GIF mill - a journey of discovery
« Reply #43 on: September 29, 2022, 04:09:17 AM »
So if anyone needs a copy of the manual for this mill, PM me your email address and I’ll send you the pdf of it.  Finally got it scanned! 

 

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