RF-45 Downfeed Lock Knob

[henryarnold]

Sorry for the confusion I caused by fixing the error in my post. If there is any consensus on whether mistakes should stay or be fixed, I'll be glad to go with what people think is best.

[EdK]

Henry,

There's a time during which one can edit their post. It's been set to 24 hours so go ahead and edit to your hearts content during that time.

Ed

[Rickabilly]

The beauty of Asian Machine tools is that you an improve them as much as you like, and end up with a truly beautiful and very competant machine, depending on the skill and effort applied the machines can be every bit as good as high end European tools without the massive initial outlay, considering that hobbyists are working metal for fun anyway it seems to be an ideal set of circumstances to me, of course this depends on getting a good square, defect free, rigid casting in the first place so if one intends to do serious upgrades to an Asian tool they should be very critical of the particular machine before taking delivery.

Oh and that is a really nice Knob you've made there!

Best regards
Rick

[EdK]

(06-11-2012, 09:03 AM)Rickabilly Wrote: The beauty of Asian Machine tools is that you an improve them as much as you like, and end up with a truly beautiful and very competant machine, depending on the skill and effort applied the machines can be every bit as good as high end European tools without the massive initial outlay, considering that hobbyists are working metal for fun anyway it seems to be an ideal set of circumstances to me, of course this depends on getting a good square, defect free, rigid casting in the first place so if one intends to do serious upgrades to an Asian tool they should be very critical of the particular machine before taking delivery.

Oh and that is a really nice Knob you've made there!

Best regards
Rick

Nice post Rick.

Ed

[NevadaBlue]

Pretty knobs are always nice.

Now I know what to use my boring head for. Actually I want to attempt a taper cut on the lathe with a center mounted in the bar to make the offset, but first I should use it for something like this.

The plastic knob on my Grizzly mill is not this pretty for sure.

[stevec]

And it's a pretty knob for sure.

[Highpower]

(07-24-2012, 07:15 PM)NevadaBlue Wrote: Pretty knobs are always nice.

Now I know what to use my boring head for. Actually I want to attempt a taper cut on the lathe with a center mounted in the bar to make the offset, but first I should use it for something like this.

I see what you did there....

Don't forget to post the pictures Ken. Of your project that is.

[toolingjim]

Nice work there. I did similar on my milldrill but used a 3/4" end mill for the finger scallops. I also added a thin plastic thrust washer under the knob when I noticed the metal knob was getting scraped up when I tightened it. By the way, I also built a quick adjusting handle at the same time to replace the three spoke handle that I wounded awhile ago. Worked out pretty well too.

[PixMan]

(06-03-2012, 10:32 AM)Highpower Wrote: I've done the same thing to make quill locking pins for my mill. The cutouts almost appear to be straight cut rather than an arc. But I was cutting a larger radius.....



Math isn't my strong point so don't confuse me with facts Henry.

I just thought your cutouts would have had a wider arc than they do at that size radius. Which just goes to prove - "Be cool, stay in school!"

Willie,

If you ever again need to do bores that size again, I suggest you consider putting the boring bar in the holes at the end of the moving slide of the boring head rather than cranking the slide out so far. You'd get more reach and the boring head would retain more rigidity.

That's a high quality boring bar, BTW. I've got a cheap Chinese knock-off and it's not nearly as smooth as a Criterion. I have used the 3" head with boring bars sticking out the side to bore holes of over 12" (in medium density fiberboard.)

[Highpower]

Yeah, I know you are right Ken. The problem is I don't have the proper boring bars for that. Mine has a threaded shank so I can't run it in reverse to use my standard (import) bars. In hindsight, I should have bought a one-piece boring head.

I also had a Taiwanese boring head that I bought new. It was ok, but it had a rather course adjustment to it. I think I used it twice before deciding to get the Criterion. I recently donated the the import head and a R-8 shank to someone else with a home shop who had a boring head on their wish list but couldn't swing it. (No pun intended...)

Hopefully they will get some use out of it, and maybe pass it along when they can afford to upgrade.