Mill X-axis Powerfeed for G08689

[rleete]

Have you ever made a boneheaded move that actually turned out in your favor?

7 months ago, I was making the frame for the Mrpete222 vertical engine and snapped off an endmill. My fault, there was way too much chatter, and I didn't back off quickly enough. Well, that prompted me to completely readjust the entire mill, tram the head and tighten the gibs. I got it working much better than before (that experience thing really pays off!), but I still had excessive backlash on the x axis, while the y axis play is nearly imperceptible. That was the impetus for me to make the power feed. Mill in one direction, return under power. Rinse and repeat.

So, as I'm working on this project, I had to reassemble the table. Again, I noticed the extremely excessive backlash. Like nearly .1" of play. Well, it turns out that the leadscrew nut has 2 set screws holding it in place. I swear I didn't touch them when adjusting before. They were both backed out and the nut was just sliding around in the slot. I don't believe they've ever been tightened properly. I simply snugged them down, and now the mill is better than it's ever been.