I am working on my mill/drill again, here and there. Its a Jet JMD 18, and I was curious if anyone has ever drilled the front of the base below the bearing support for the Y feed screw to allow adjusting the feed nut back lash? I was thinking of drilling a 1/2" hole just below the bearing support, and then making a long "allen wrench" (think its 4mm) out of a piece of 5/16" rod drilling the end and pressing in a piece of 4mm hex, then tack welding it, and welding a nut to the opposite end.
When I built my stand I thought the adjustment screw was lower than what it really is and planned on drilling it as mentioned. Upon looking at it closer, I see the adjustment screw isnt lower than the support. So the "wrench" would be at an angle with the plan Im proposing. Maybe use a ball hex head for this? I understand it will not be a pleasant task. I didnt want to leave the base open because I am going to use it for storage. There is a drawer under the base.
If I cant drill it I may have to cut a access door in the base and just screw a plate to it to keep the chips out of the drawer. This wont be great either because I will have to take stuff out of the drawer to get to the access plate. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I understand it wont need adjustment often, but want to make it as easy as possible. Thanks guys