Install a Power Feed on your Z Axis | Milling Machine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- I install a Z Axis power feed on my Bridgeport Clone Milling Machine.
Where did I buy it: aikrondro.com
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I'm glad you didn't crash into that bottle jack. Nice video, thanks.
Thanks Eric, that was there on purpose. Merry Christmas
I truly enjoy the warmth and tenderness of how gentle. Machinist can be with a machine
Thank you.
You are still more active on the videos than your neighbor Don! I miss his videos. I have never owned a mill that didn't have power feeds on every axis. It just seems like they all should to me. I have been spoiled. :-)😁
I plan on seeing Don in June. Yes they should and they will be soon. Thank you Brian, Merry Christmas.
The dial holder (a.k.a. dial bushing) on my PM935-TV was super tight as well. Yuchol showed me a photo from a Bridgeport book showing one with a hole for a hook spanner. So I just drilled a hole in the part and it popped free with a hook spanner and a couple taps of a brass mallet.
Nice to see you doing some videos. This one was a good one.
Thank you Kimber, Merry Christmas.
Randy, Great to see you’re still working hard everyday around the homestead. Nice installation 👍👍😎👍👍
Never ending. Thank you Joel, Merry Christmas.
Going to stick with my drill. Looking forward to lathe dro. Glad our back good video.
Ciao Randy!! Nice work!! I was near to buy that type of Power feed for my old mini mill, after i bought the new milling machine and spent a little more money to have the original Power feed! I am happy, only the minimum velocity It Is not so slow and so to have more slow, i close a little the brake ( stop handle nut) of the X axis and i obtain a low velocity 💪 Ciao Randy, take care!! Alberto
For a simple job it sure got complicated. I'm glad you were doing it and not me. What a great addition to your mill. Well done Randy.🔩⚒🔧
Yeah a little bit Randy but fun. Meet Christmas.
Good job, love mine on the Bridgeport.
The Inheritance Machining guy is a good watch. His mechanical drawing skills blow me away.
Thank you Bam. I like him also. Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the plug Randy. Now you have the Z axis set for luxury feed and everything is Randy Richard right. I know I got tired of cranking that thing up and down and I added the Y and Z power feed. I seldom have use for the Y feed but it is there if I need it.
Hi Randy. Watched your install & the mods you had to make, & most Important was the shim adjustments. Excellent video. Thanks
Thank you Ted, I hope it helped.
Good job, looking forward to the upcoming installs.
Thank you Lee, Merry Christmas
Great to see you Randy. This video will help me a lot, just need to remember where I put my old Milwaukee angle drill. LOL wishing you and the family a Merry Christmas
The worked great for years but time to upgrade. Take care Gary.
Hello Randy,
A great addition to your mill. enjoyable viewing, thank you.
Take care.
Paul,,
Thank you Paul, Merry Christmas
Good one Randy ! That's going be very helpful for anyone, adding a power feed. Bummer on that poorly drilled screw hole. Must of been the last one drilled on a Friday afternoon.. Great solution on the fix. Very well detailed and presented 👍
Were getting wet here today, I'm sure your getting it too. ATB....Dean
Thanks Dean the install had a few hitches but all worked out. Merry Christmas
@@RRINTHESHOP All wet here in the Bay Area. We definitely need it.
Those kits are one size fits all, but only the ones they could test it on. Your solution was the best way to go and you've got all machines to do it.
@@kurtarmbrust I think so, I was prepared for this sort of thing. Not my first rodeo. Merry Christmas Kurt.
Brings back memories installing mine, only I had a fraction of your knowledge when doing it (still do). I ditched the spring ejecting knee crank. It is a pain in the ass when your are trying to do fine adjustments looking at the indicator and it keeps disengaging. I just take the handle off like everyone else. Merry Christmas.
Yeah I took the spring action off and I just remove the handle. Thanks Barry, Merry Christmas.
Randy add a little water to the Anchor Lube makes it work even better
Thanks Bill. Merry Christmas
I love working with 304 stainless. It machines so nice and clean. It’s a little harder on the inserts /tooling but man does it look amazing. I’m getting geared up to do the Z axis on mine here soon so I’m here learning from your experience. Thanks Randy !
304 is easy to machine. Thanks for stopping in Jason.
Well that certainly was not plug n play was it. But they didn't know who they were messing with. Good job with all those modifications to make it function properly. Thanks for the video.
How many things are. All worked out well. Thank you Jim Merry Christmas.
@@RRINTHESHOP Merry Christmas to you and your family. I know you've had lots going on but it sure is nice to see you back in the shop. You are a fan favorite my friend.
Randy,
when i saw the title of your video i was gonna give you some guff about being tired of flipping off the hand crank when spinning it up or down.. mine loves to do that. yeah i feel ya about that chinesium stuff.. it won't be long before we'll have winnie the pooh telling us what to do if the current trends continue. i make a concerted effort to avoid buying chinesium, but in this economy it's getting tougher all the time..
Thanks Mike. Even the more expensive units are made in China. Merry Christmas
Afternoon Randy! Merry Christmas to you and your lovely wife 😘
Nice install Randy, I got a similar rig for my mill/drill and it took substantial work to adapt it, including changing the thrust assembly from one side to another, and various adaptations due to shaft size differences. Not impossible but just a bit of work, and I love the results. Enjoyed seeing you in the shop again, looks like you need a sub drive soon, too many people missing out on these fine videos you produce, cheers!
Thanks Randy, I could not find any good info on setting the backlash on one of these. Many tubers showed how they did it and they were all half-assed. The instructions sent with these Units are useless. The one I got, "Best Line" says made in Taiwan, but I'm convinced it's a Chinese knock-off. I had to mill 50thou off the boss on the ring gear just to get the gears to engage without continuously skipping. (no shims) Taiwan companies just don't ship any thing that far out of spec (in my experience.) Subscribed.
Thank you John, I am glad this helped. Mine have been working great no problems so far.
@@RRINTHESHOP The pinion gear was set too low. Beware of Chinese knockoff folks.
Thanks for showing that DRO. (Was just looking at there website) Looks like good product and price point. I'm going to ask Santa for one...
👍👍
They seem to be nice units. Thanks Dean.
Great job Randy. I always learn a lot when I watch your videos. Something I ponder a lot about is why doesn't anyone use a brush to apply Anchor Lube? I have 2 bottles I bought from Stan a few years ago to support the Bash but I rarely use it because of the waste and mess. So, I have been thinking about pouring some in a cup and using a brush when drilling.
Thanks Terry. I use it with a brush, mix it with a bit of water to thin, works great. I use it on Stainless and currently I am using it on a 30mm tap in tough steel. I was the only lube that worked well in the tapping. Happy Thanksgiving.
Great upgrade! Looks like a nice unit.
Yes it is nice, Works well. Thanks John, Merry Christmas.
The big reason I installed a power feed on the Z and stopped using the Milwaukee Drill was the possible injury when you bottom the knee-the drill doesn’t stop until you release the trigger! Gets your attention real quick and threatens the health of your wrists. The variable speeds is a plus also. I have found I use the knee Z a lot more since the change.
For sure Bruce. Thanks and Merry Christmas.
I still use a battery drill and adapter but can't justify the expense of adding the powerfeed. On a technical note, the knee on a Bridgeport type mill is technically labeled the "W" axis since it is parallel with the quill which is the "Z" axis
Yep Technically. But common usage is Z so that is the what I used. Thanks for the correction. Merry Christmas.
a fight but worth it. Looking forward to the DRO on the Logan
I have the same tool, use my Dewalt 20v drill and works great
Nice 👍
Nice install Randy.
Thanks Bill, Merry Christmas.
Randy, something about the installation of the new extension shaft bothers me. On mine there was provisions for a pin which went through the new extension shaft and the outer end of the original one. Say if sometime you lock the knee and forget to unlock it before you try to go down I believe you will unscrew the new extension shaft from the original one. In the way you did it there is just a tightly screwed connection between them. I am thinking if that happens you will be screwing the new extension shaft outward against the body of the power feed and force it outward. I may be wrong about this but the one I installed did have a roll pin connecting them but I did have to hand drill the two rods. Not fun as I recall. Just a thought and thanks for sharing the video.
Glenn, the drawings in the instructions do show a pin. I chose to not to since the original there were no pins and was quite tight to remove and has never became loose. The new parts and quite tight also and are a bit difficult to get loose. If I have any issues I will pin. Thanks for the comment.
Great discussion/demonstration/install…upgrade
Thank you Chuck, Merry Christmas
Nice work making the parts and everything fitted up nice .
Thank you Michael, Merry Christmas
Nice score Randy. One step closer to CNC.
Thank you. Oh yeah. Merry Christmas.
Happy holidays Randy. Add-ons always seem to have some issue or another but in the end you have a nice addition to the mill and it's hard to argue with that. Hard to get cranky when you don't have to crank anymore.
Worked out well John, well worth the effort. Thanks John, Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the video Randy. Something I’ve been wanting to do for years on my Mighty Comet mill in my home shop. I’ve always just worried it couldn’t handle the weight that of the knee. My mill is a big box ways Y axis.
All of the Z drive units I found have larger motors and higher torque rating than the X and Y. If you can crank it by hand these units will work. Thanks for the comment. Merry Christmas
Hi Randy
Just wondering if you're feeling better and over your shingles. I still include you in my prayers.
With the limited camera view is there a chance while reaching over to grab the power feed handle you could inadvertently push in the manual handle and be in for a big surprise 😲
Have a Jesus filled day everyone
Greg in Michigan
Doing well I think I am over the shingles. Thank you. The manual crank handle is far from the power unit handle, it is just camera angle. Merry Christmas
Randy, if you are drilling a metric hole do you have to use a metric drill to turn the drill at metric speed?
Thanks for the video Randy! I'm thinking about doing that on the Y of my Jet Mill/Drill it will involve similar machining as there is no kit that I've found for the Y. BTW I cut my first dovetail with the RR DT cutter last week! I was scared to start in steel but did it anyway and it came out great! Thanks!
Thanks Scott, good deal with the DTC. Well worth it. Merry Christmas
Hola una pregunta?veo que el emplame del eje va solo roscado sin ninguna otra sujeccion .no se desenrosca?
Not yet. Been working fine. Thanks.
Thanks for the video thumbs up Always. VERY Interested DRO head I'm getting ready to put.DRO on my Lathe and Milling machine. I've been trying to read up on all the affordable options. I would really be interested in your point of view thank you
Is there anything besides friction that keeps the extention shaft fixed to the original shaft? Perhaps another feature of the design captures it but it wasn't clear to me.
It is threaded on and compressed against the inner race of the bearing. Thanks AZ.
good video randy
Thank you Tr Merry Christmas
Randy, nice work ! i think that you only got 18 tho with that large shim was because half of it was under the collar.. you were probably binding on the collar to begin with.. Joe
Yes, the gear needs to bind/press tight against the inner race of the bearing and not the housing. The spacer/shim allows this to happen. Thank you Joe for stopping in and Merry Christmas.
@@RRINTHESHOP glad to see you in the shop ! Merry Christmas buddy !! Joe
Hi Randy, given that you've had this installed for around a year, I'm wondering how it's holding up over time. Any issues worth noting?
Regards Preso.
I have no problems so far Mark. Thanks for stopping by.
Is your next X axis power unit going to interfere with this one? I am going to do the same with my Vertical/Horizontal Mill. I am thinking I will be running into even more modifications as the drive shaft on the knee at least on my G0757 is a hexagonal rather than the round style. How many inch pounds of drive does your model have? That seems to be the biggest difference I find in all the look alikes and I am not sure how truthful each seller is!
Y axis is next, on Saturday. A bit of interference but I work it out. The Z axis is 650 in#'s. The Y is 450 in#'s. Thank you Douglas.
Two nice experiences: Number one: To see You "up in the saddle". Number two: Your work and success with the project. Watching You in the past, receiving Your products, You'll never be forgotten.
Chinese and Chinesium.... Making any product the Chinese quickly make a handbook, manual etc. But when the product is developed further they don't update the manual. Buy one Chinese machine and tell that the manual is correct! That won't happen.
Bearings being totally free from lub, set screws demolished by worned out alan keys....
Haha, having battery drills next. I do the same, really handy. The second one could be set up for deburring...
Time 29:55. "Erasing" the poor inner threads? Looks like. Difficult to do thread chasing and complete the threads I suppose.
Time 33:32. No lub..... Just remember. Italy, Ansaldobreda, delivered trams without lub as well!
Time 38:07. "The knocker" I think? I love my RR knocker.
Time 42:30, test running. It works beautifully. Having both motorized and manual running.
I made some mini machine interfaces much easier, hooking on to the hand crank (!) but can't have both automatic and manual active at the same time. Maybe send You some pics, for fun.
Cheers Randy!
Thank you Stefan. Yes the knocker in action. Everyone should have one they are great. Merry Christmas.
@@RRINTHESHOP I fully agree!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You and everybody around.
Yeepers, your going to love both the Z & Y. One day we see where you add CNC functions as well?? :)> Well have to start calling you "this old Randy" hehe (@@)! Santa came early,,,nice install Randy. Merry Christmas from TX. PS. I am after a BP with tilting head this week. Hope it's as good as the ad :)> Bear.
Thank you Bear. I hope you are doing well. You will enjoy using a BP. No CNC conversion might as well get a real cnc then. Merry Christmas.
Sold out from under me yesterday. Never sent back his address. But there will always be another one come alone :)>
It's to bad you had those issues with the poor quality of that unit - I had similar issues when installing a PRC made unit on my first mill - just over a year ago I bought a new Acer knee mill - they recommend Aclass power feeds made in Tiawan - I have them on all 3 axis - they cost about $500 each but it was worth it - way way better in all aspects compared to the china junk... Just an FYI for anyone considering adding power drives
I need one for my knee mill.
For sure, worth it. Thank you James, Merry Christmas.
Which model power feed did you put on the knee? I understand they need to be more powerful than ones for the X or Y axis.
Link in the description, look at there website, they only offer one z model and yes it is about 3 times the torque as a x or y axis. Thanks Merry Christmas. www.aikrondro.com/product/alsgs-al-510s-power-feed-for-milling-machines-with-largest-torque/
Do you have a DRO on the Z axis and if so did this interfere with it?
I do it is mounted on the other side. Thanks and Merry Christmas Douglas.
Thanks for the video man, help me
Thank you, I am glad it helped.
Is that the AL - 510S?
The z-axis is AL-510S Y-axis is AL-310S Thanks.
The life of a knock off owner. Gotta redo the shoddy manufacturing to add simple upgrade.
I'm in the midst of a weeks, (months) long install of a Taiwanese knock off mill, myself.
Do all the work in area prep, get the heavy azz cast iron in place, then spend weeks getting the mill to a usable state.
I got 1 of the same power feeds for the Y, but can't mount it like a door knob hanger due to clearance issues.
They make a horizontal mounting kit, but it's kinda cheesy; def NOT designed by or w/ the same mind set as the p-feed, itself.
The mount bracket is a pinch clamp that uses the end of the table; the bolts end up in the coolant trough. Even optimizing bolt length doesn't get them out of the way of T-slot nuts, so everything has to come in from the opposite end.
The inside of the coolant trough is rough casting, so you know the bolts move as they're tightened.
Clean up the casting for a good mate, then discover they were counting on the roughness to give the bracket a certain amount of undocumented angle.
Without the angle? The gears don't mesh. Can't drop the unit lower without re-machining the bracket, so it's a bunch of machining or hang it at an angle...
Angle the effer, machine it later, if it bugs me. Likely redesign the entire mount, to be like it should have been; NOT filling up the coolant trough w/ fasteners.
Good thing we like our hobbies, cause we get to practice our hobbies to get the equipment installed so we can practice our hobbies.
If you want to hear how I had to make a driven pulley for my lathe spindle before it would work, but I needed a lathe to make the pulley.
Sorry have I got egg on my face. I misspelled the website.
No problem I do it all the time. Thanks Douglas.
Order a replacement brass gear while parts are available. If there is a problem the brass gear is what fails.
It would not surprise me. I will have to look into it. Thanks. Merry Christmas
Nice shirt!
For Harold. Thank you and Merry Christmas Danny.
Better to be "inactive" than to publish whether or not you have anything new to say. When you post, it's welcome.
Thank you Peter, I hope you are doing well, Merry Christmas
i watched for the moustache
Thank you.
Actually.... I want to install a Z drive on mine, the moustache was simply a bonus. LOL. (This is the same person, other account above is my business, nice video my friend.)
@@RRINTHESHOP
Why companies paid toolmakers and machinists to crank a knee up and down all day for decades when knee power feeds were available is beyond my comprehension. The companies must have wanted to get less work out of them in a workday!?!?
Yep really. Thanks for stopping in. Merry Christmas.