One more project to work on

[MarkBall2]

Welp, Cutter sufficiently chastised me into starting a new thread about my new to me Enco GL-30B benchtop mill. That said, I guess I'll be posting more pictures & the rebuild process here. This way, if it dies down, I can drag it out of the basement.

The original thread is here: Should be a new thread this evening.

Now going to the other thread, you can see how I came about obtaining this Mill. I had been searching for some time for a mill & had resigned myself into purchasing one. I had gotten my lathe last year see here for free.

Well planning on purchasing one & actually getting it done are two different things sometimes, when out of the blue, I get a Private Message from 1800Miner asking me if I'm interested in this old Enco mill he has sitting around, he just wants it gone, no charge, no shipping, come & get it.

Me being a cheap bastard, I said to myself............ "Self, how fast can you get most of the way to Bakersfield California????" Self replied, "We ain't there yet?????"

Anyway, I got the message on Saturday, called right away, but he was at work. Received a call back later that evening & we made a deal on when to come pick it up. Sunday, drove 400 miles one way, loaded it in the back of the truck & we headed back down the road. Got home Sunday about midnight.

Monday morning, I had some errands to run, got those done, then unloaded the mill onto my welding table. Found a few things wrong with it, started taking it apart to clean it up.

The best part about all this is the mill doesn't have much wear on it. The table has a few small, I repeat, SMALL dings on them from where an endmill contacted the table & dinged one of the Tee slots. Other than no handles (I'll either make or order replacements) & bearings being about shot in the motor, this machine is in fantastic shape.

The motor will go to the motor shop next month to replace bearings/see if it works. If it doesn't Miner gave me a spare 1.5 hp 3 phase motor I can use. Worst case scenerio, I have a 1hp single phase motor I can temporarily mount. After the motor is mounted (either 2hp or 1.5hp) I'll be getting a VFD to power the 3 phase motors. It's about as cheap to get this as a new single phase motor.

Tooling costs are gonna eat my paychecks up though. The spindle is an R-8, the table slides but the bearings are rough. So I pulled the table off, cleaned all the parts up as best I can. I was thinking of doing some electrolysis of the table, but I think it just needs degreased & put back together. So that's my plan for now.

Anyway, look at the other thread of unloading & some parts scattered about.

Pics of today:

1 & 2 Had to build handles for the quill feed. I made the balls on the lathe.

3 & 4 Headstock handle to raise & lower the headstock. I milled the slot on the lathe, have to bend the handle then weld it onto the head. I have a friend with a 50 ton press & press break, we can bend it exactly how I want it.

5 Mill had a broken motor mount, I welded it up. More pictures to come.

[MarkBall2]

Second set of pictures from today

1 the bottom of the motor mount. It was cracked also, so I just welded it up while I had it off. I'm thinking of making it a bit stronger with a piece of flat bar welded to the backside. That 3 phase motor is heavy.

2, 3 & 5 This is the quill shaft. Notice the bend in it. I'm thinking I can straighten it on the press, mainly because of the location of the bend. That & I have to wait til Sat before I can play with my friend's press. (that's on the list too)

4 The manual I downloaded from Enco. Figured someone else might need it, so download it if you want.

All in all, I'm at a standstill until this Sat when I can use the press. Then a bit of welding, maybe some more machining for handles? I don't know for sure, just depends on how busy I get. I have to get busy on my Vertical Cabinet Smoker also.

[platypus20]

Mark,

The true benefit of R8 tooling is the abundant availability from almost everywhere. From new to used, from MSC to CDCO, the selection is huge, with pricing from sky high to dirt cheap. When a friend of mine bought his mill/drill, he bought one of the LMS mill starter kits, that had a vise, end mills, collets, and hold downs (not a recommendation, just stating possibilities). None of the stuff was great, but none of it was garbage either, it was enough to get him going. With careful planning you should be able to be up and running soon, you don't need everything at once.


jack

[MarkBall2]

I agree Jack. With Willy I basically purchased up to $100 per paycheck, until I had what I needed to accomplish the job.

Major expenses for Miner is going to be Power & things to do basic stuff, like end mill holders, handles, a vise/hold down kit & a stand. Eventually I plan on having some sort of rotary table so I can cut curved slots.

But, these things can wait a while. We have a few higher priority things to get paid for first.

[platypus20]

Mark,

With a mill/drill, I found it was easier and gave more headroom, if I used R8 collets, instead of end mill holders. YMMV, Collets also offered a wider range of end mills to use, like 1/4" shanked end mills, as I haven't seen a 1/4" end mill holder.



jack




This comment is a personal observation, not a reason to start a end mill holder vs collet debate.

[MarkBall2]

I've been reading late into the evening & the collets are the way to go it seems. And they aren't that expensive either.

I have a 1/4" end mill holder, but it's MT3 for the lathe. I don't have a 5/8" end mill holder for the lathe though, so I can't use my 5/8" end mill. Soon enough, Miner will be up & running.

[Lu47Dan]

Mark, the collets are the way to go on that as you have a finite amount of room under the quill.
I bought a set of MT2 collets from CDCO, and they should be here tomorrow, they have a nice set of R8 collets on the site for reasonable money.
Have fun and if it does not stop raining here soon you may beat me to making chips also.
Dan.

[MarkBall2]

Dan, once I have a steady paycheck again, I'll order a set. After I get power to it first.

Jack, the pulley came in today. It fits the shaft, I have to broach the keyway a bit wider to match the motor shaft. But first I need to see if it will run, if it does, new bearings are going in it.

My buddy Bret come by today, he was VERY interested in Miner. He builds guitars & I may be doing some work for him once I get it running. We shot the breeze for most of the morning, so didn't get much done this morning. It's always a pleasure to chat with him. He has a table frame I need to go pick up, it will be much cheaper than building one of my own.

I got the table cleaned up & put back together. I had to replace one bearing on the left side, cost $14.95. I also machined some spacers to fit the 4 prong shaft. I figure I can mill those on the lathe with the milling attachment, then bore the back side for a press fit of the handwheel.

I need to order handwheels, I'm figuring 5" for the table & a 4" for the fine downfeed. I won't order them right away, so I'll be watching E-Bay for a screaming deal.

Other than "piddlin" all day long, I didn't do much. Didn't take any pictures, but this weekend, I'll take a bunch. Hopefully Monday I'll be teaching a new class & I have to teach class tomorrow morning at the college, so I'll update after I attempt to straighten the quill shaft. If it won't straighten, I can use it the way it is, once Miner is running, I'll build a new one.

[MarkBall2]

List of tasks to accomplish:

1. Straighten Quill Shaft.
2. Bend handle for raising/lowering headstock.
3. Weld handle for headstock.
4. Mill 4 prong adapters.
5. Order Handwheels.
6. Get motor checked, possibly new bearings if the motor is salvagable.
7. Order VFD to get power to Miner.
8. Order a 5" vise. Not sure if I want a pivoting one or just a flat base one.
9. Order R-8 collets, have the drawbar already.
10. Order Parallels & precision angles.
11. Order 6" rotary table.

I know there are other things I need to get, but I'll get them along the way. The first 4 tasks are inexpensive & can be accomplished fairly quick. I'll wait to order parts/spend money when I have it in my pocket. I hate buying on credit, so I just don't.

[platypus20]

Mark,

If you haven't done it, lay a straight edge on the table and let it over hang the end, the measure from the bottom of the straight edge to the center line of the table lead screw. Make sure the handle you order fit so that they will not interfere anything long on the table. A friend, put handle on his mill that stuck up 3/8" higher than the top of the table, he then had to redo them.


jack