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Ooooohhh...I used to work in a shop that had one of those Maho MH900-E machines. Incredible capability for an "open" machine. I would *love* to have one! The milling machine I worked on most there was a Deckel FP3NC, with a Grundig Dialog 4 control. It was slow by CNC standards, having (if I recall correctly) a 4000 rpm spindle and topped out at about the same 100 inches per minute feed/rapid rates. The Maho was dropped on the floor about 3 years after the Deckel and it was SO much faster, heavier, more powerful in every way.
I'm aware of just how rare it is to find any machine at all where you are, especially at a "home shop affordable" price. Obviously that Maho wouldn't be for the home shop machinist unless he or she hit the lottery. The effort you are putting into yours will make it, for that area, an "heirloom quality" machine which will outlive you. And if the trend there continues, the Kondia could provide for your family long into the future. ;)
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The following 2 users Like f350ca's post:
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As long as your still having fun thats all that matters.
Free advice is worth exactly what you payed for it.
Greg
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Thanks Greg - some days are more fun than others...
Hunting American dentists since 2015.
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Amen
Free advice is worth exactly what you payed for it.
Greg
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I went to check the requirements for the locking handles for the knee, as I wanted to place an order for the indexable ones. The reason being is the the original ones stick out quite far, so that the handles don't hit the column. The knee locks that press on the gibb have an angled brass slug, which I had assumed went into the hole before the handle screws is (as does the saddle lock). I soon discovered that these have a head that is larger than the thread and go in from the gib side only!
So the engine hoist will get a work out once more, as I lift the knee off. Looking on the bright side, I am glad I discovered this before the table had gone back on...
As Greg says - all part of the fun, fun, fun 
Hunting American dentists since 2015.
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Oh man, that really SUCKS.
Such a tiny little detail, I wouldn't. You'd see me finding a way to either turn off the shoulder on the brass shoes, make new ones, find handles with the brass already in the end of the screws or modify screws to have it.
Taking the knee off again would be a last resort for the difference it makes.
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To be perfectly honest, it is the quickest and simplest approach. Whilst you are planning the above I will have done the following:
1. lifted the saddle off (just sitting on top of the knee)
2. swing the ram so the head is out of the way
3. moved the engine hoist into position and secured the lifting sling
4. removed the four bolts holding the pedestal to the base
5. lift the knee high enough so that the slugs can be installed
reverse these steps, crack a cold beer and tick off another task
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Are we having fun yet?
Free advice is worth exactly what you payed for it.
Greg
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I'm beside myself with joy Greg
Issues like this I can live with. It is when things break that I stop having fun. Mind you, I should have not missed this, as I have the large print of the mill on my white board.
When I was putting the head on, I made a stand that took one of the home made NTMB30 holders and allowed the head to stand on the knee and be positioned so it could be bolted onto the knuckle. It all went well and we put the backgear assembly on, and the belt housing and motor. Only then did I looked in the parts box and find the insert that covered the slot in the knuckle in which the T-bolts that hold the head rotate in. My friend did not look too happy with me when I said it all had to come off. We were just about to remove the motor when I remembered the stand I made (it had been removed and already forgotten!) and we were able to simply slide the head forward, put the insert in and put the head back on. I need to look in the parts box more closely first Perhaps the excitement got the better of me.
So - yes, I am enjoying this project, having fun and learning lots too.
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I was thinking about this taking the knee off thing to get those brass shoes in there.
Back for the short time I had worked for a machine tool company that did some rebuilding, they did scrape and reassemble Bridgeport machines. When they reassembled a machine, the very first two parts that went together were the knee to the base. When they did that, the base was "lying on its back" and they spread liberal amounts of way lube and then slide the knee casting onto the base's dovetails. Once on, they inserted the gib and would do the final scraping and adjustment of the gib to assure a smooth sliding fit, no play.
Only when those three pieces, base, knee and gib (with gib tension screws adjusted) were fully assembled did they then add the knee elevation screw and nut assembly and the gearing. Then they would stand the machine up, add the saddle, adjust that and so on. They did this so they would always know that the mating slides actually slid together without any slop.
I don't expect you to go through all that trouble, just an FYI of my limited experience.
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