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Glad you were able to reduce the backlash in that worm gear. I've adjusted similar in machines where the worm screw could be biased along its axis but way of a set screw at the end of the shaft that you would tighten until you got the backlash down to a minimum.
Always appreciate a good comment. I thought of making an accentric adjust, but after thinking about it, the play in the fine quill would have gone, But .. then the main down feed would have not lined up correctly, & it would have affected the main virtical shaft & the quill crossfeed. I found it was 100% better & safer the way I modified it.
Gday Woody. Thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated. Easy one to do. If I can suggest that you check for excess dia. Movement when refitting the wheel that controls spindle movement.
Hi RB.. Thanks for your comment. This backlash upgrade has worked out really well. I am in process of making the Lathe Stop, which is turning out very well. Lots of milling involved
when you run out of adjustment using that engagement method you can move the pinion in or out to engage on the wall of the curved driven gear. Are the old R8 spindles on these mills hollow where a drawbar would be used on the MT3 spindle ?
Hi there. My Rf30, has always had a 3MT from new. I have made R8 insert mandrels for Bridgeports, but never delved into R8 for for RF30. It has got a certain sized tube or hollow inside the spindle to accommodate the draw bar of which I have used different draw bars up to about 13mm or 1/2", where you can feel the threads touching as the drawbar goes down. Hope this answers your question.
Ted, I have an RF-30 exactly like yours. The back lash you've eliminated, while good, isn't the core problem. The problem still is that there is back lash between the rack gear and the quill. If you want to eliminate that you need to make some eccentric bushings for the cross shaft. I've got a set and I'll send you a photo tomorrow. The ones I have were made by the late Heinz Kegler. What is even better than getting the back lash out is to install a digital caliper. On your mill you only have to drill for two 4/5mm screws to mount it and you don't have to modify the caliper at all. If your RF-30 is just like mine you will make a terrifying discovery... the front plastic cover mounting screws on the head and the pinch bolts to lock the head to the round column aren't metric. They are British Standard Whitworth. Here is a picture of the caliper mounted: i.postimg.cc/0QmfzFZW/IMG-0149.jpg Will send more detail if needed. Cheers from NC/usa
Thanks for your comments. I pulled the shaft out & checked the Rack, & checked the side bushes etc & found them nice & snug. The cross shaft to the Virtical appeared to have minimal backlash. The only section that had the excess backlash was the fine Virtical wheel, That’s why I modified it this way. Send what you think will help, I'm always open to suggestions. Also I have a 3 axis DRO that I will be fitting, I just needed to get everything else back to or close to Specifications.
@@TedRoza Ted, here is a detail photo of the mount I made for the mill. The main body of the caliper is clamped in a block attached to the quill with 2 screws. The trick item is the block attached to the angle aluminum attached to the head of the machine with stand-offs using the existing two side screw holes used for the plastic front cover. The block has a dowel pin that the OD measuring sliding jaw contacts. The ID sliding jaw contacts the adjustable flat head screw so the is zero backlash between the caliper OD and ID jaws. This mounting allows for the small amount of rotational wiggle of the quill in its mounting. This set-up allows accurate feed of the quill in steps of 0.001" /0.025mm . If the quill moves vertically when you lock it, it will show. You can take a cut, pull the quill up to take a measurement and then come back down to where you were previously. i.postimg.cc/G2Rv7Qk9/IMG-0148-B.jpg Cheers from NC/USA
The trick for making a flat surface to mount the caliper clamping block is easy. Put a lathe tool in the vice and crank the table back and forth like a planer to make a flat on the lower quill clamp. It is cast iron and very soft and easy to cut, drill, and tap.
Exactly what I did to mine- had about 1/2 a rev of play - elongated the top hole and got the play down to less than 1/4 rev
G'day. Thanks for your comments. It is greatly appreciated. I'm glad it worked for you. It's these small adjustments which makes life better
Nice modification.
Worked out great.
Good idea.
Thanks for sharing.
Take care, Ed.
G'day Ed. Thanks for your comments.
Great Idea. I'll be sure to follow your steps. Thanks for a great video.
G'day Glen Thanks for watching. Hope it all works well for you Call out anytime 😊
Glad you were able to reduce the backlash in that worm gear. I've adjusted similar in machines where the worm screw could be biased along its axis but way of a set screw at the end of the shaft that you would tighten until you got the backlash down to a minimum.
Always appreciate a good comment.
I thought of making an accentric adjust, but after thinking about it, the play in the fine quill would have gone, But .. then the main down feed would have not lined up correctly, & it would have affected the main virtical shaft & the quill crossfeed. I found it was 100% better & safer the way I modified it.
Nice. That wasn't too complicated. And with good results.
Thanks Rusty, Always a pleasure hearing from you. I tried to make it as simple as possible, and getting the best results at the same time.
Great idea. 😃😃
G'day Masi. Glad you liked it. If you try it, let me know how you went
Nice job I have the same endmill with the same problem,I'm going to give it a go. Smart idea
Gday Woody. Thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated. Easy one to do.
If I can suggest that you check for excess dia. Movement when refitting the wheel that controls spindle movement.
Hi Ted. Simple and very effective good up grade
Hi RB.. Thanks for your comment. This backlash upgrade has worked out really well. I am in process of making the Lathe Stop, which is turning out very well. Lots of milling involved
when you run out of adjustment using that engagement method you can move the pinion in or out to engage on the wall of the curved driven gear.
Are the old R8 spindles on these mills hollow where a drawbar would be used on the MT3 spindle ?
Hi there. My Rf30, has always had a 3MT from new. I have made R8 insert mandrels for Bridgeports, but never delved into R8 for for RF30. It has got a certain sized tube or hollow inside the spindle to accommodate the draw bar of which I have used different draw bars up to about 13mm or 1/2", where you can feel the threads touching as the drawbar goes down. Hope this answers your question.
Ted, I have an RF-30 exactly like yours. The back lash you've eliminated, while good, isn't the core problem. The problem still is that there is back lash between the rack gear and the quill. If you want to eliminate that you need to make some eccentric bushings for the cross shaft. I've got a set and I'll send you a photo tomorrow. The ones I have were made by the late Heinz Kegler.
What is even better than getting the back lash out is to install a digital caliper. On your mill you only have to drill for two 4/5mm screws to mount it and you don't have to modify the caliper at all. If your RF-30 is just like mine you will make a terrifying discovery... the front plastic cover mounting screws on the head and the pinch bolts to lock the head to the round column aren't metric. They are British Standard Whitworth.
Here is a picture of the caliper mounted: i.postimg.cc/0QmfzFZW/IMG-0149.jpg
Will send more detail if needed.
Cheers from NC/usa
Thanks for your comments. I pulled the shaft out & checked the Rack, & checked the side bushes etc & found them nice & snug. The cross shaft to the Virtical appeared to have minimal backlash. The only section that had the excess backlash was the fine Virtical wheel, That’s why I modified it this way. Send what you think will help, I'm always open to suggestions.
Also I have a 3 axis DRO that I will be fitting, I just needed to get everything else back to or close to Specifications.
@@TedRoza Ted, here is a detail photo of the mount I made for the mill. The main body of the caliper is clamped in a block attached to the quill with 2 screws. The trick item is the block attached to the angle aluminum attached to the head of the machine with stand-offs using the existing two side screw holes used for the plastic front cover. The block has a dowel pin that the OD measuring sliding jaw contacts. The ID sliding jaw contacts the adjustable flat head screw so the is zero backlash between the caliper OD and ID jaws. This mounting allows for the small amount of rotational wiggle of the quill in its mounting. This set-up allows accurate feed of the quill in steps of 0.001" /0.025mm . If the quill moves vertically when you lock it, it will show. You can take a cut, pull the quill up to take a measurement and then come back down to where you were previously.
i.postimg.cc/G2Rv7Qk9/IMG-0148-B.jpg
Cheers from NC/USA
The trick for making a flat surface to mount the caliper clamping block is easy. Put a lathe tool in the vice and crank the table back and forth like a planer to make a flat on the lower quill clamp. It is cast iron and very soft and easy to cut, drill, and tap.