Countershaft for horizontal mill

[Shawn]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions gentlemen. I have decided to try something a little different and use a teeter totter type setup on the bottom of the countershaft. In my head it makes good sense and if it works I will be able to lock down the whole unit with a single T-handled bolt. Worst thing that can come of it is a bit of angle grinder work to cut it off? I did get the motor mount drilled and threaded for the motor and welded to the post tonight. If I don't fall asleep on the couch I might get a bit more done later. 

[Shawn]

Well I got the jackshaft mounted and the mill running and learned a few things along the way. The taper on my mill is a MT2 and probably not as ridged as it could be. I was getting some vibration in the cutter and tried just about everything to sort it out. The outside of the spindle was running true within 0.0005 but the inside was a bit less than perfect. I had a MT2 tapered reamer so I lightly reamed the taper and then read that you should never tighten the bolt that clamps the arbour and spacers down unless the overarm is installed and holding the arbour. Makes sense and I'm guessing both myself and the previous owner managed to damage the taper slightly by tightening the cutter down first then putting the connecting plate on between the overarm and the arbour. Seems to be running much more true now. I have to make the countershaft assembly a bit more rigid laterally but that will be a simple set of adjustable feet to give it more side to side stability. Will get that done and a coat of paint on tomorrow. Overall I'm pretty happy with the mill and the speeds I'm getting, it now sounds like it's cutting and not burning up cutters anymore. I've started to design an outboard support that will clamp to the table and overarm/arbour connector plate. It's my understanding from what I have read that this will be a big improvement in overal rigidity. I can't find my little handheld rpm guage (even though I just found it the other day!!) when I do I'll figure out exactly what rpm I arrived at with this setup. 



 

Cheers
Shawn

[DaveH]

Great job   nicely done
 
DaveH

[Highpower]

Looking good Shawn.   

You might want to consider trying some link belts to reduce any vibration and smooth things up even more. They are much more flexible than standard v-belts and prevents the belt whipping motion between pulleys.

[Shawn]

Thanks guys, I've heard both good and bad regarding the link belts and so far it seems to be running quite smoothly. I never have used this mill much though so I don't have a lot to compare it too. Last night I starting thinking about converting this mill into a CNC lathe ?. I could buy a small 3 jaw Chuck with a MT2 shank and build a rack style tool holder, get the hieght set and lock off the knee.... This just never ends does it?

[stevec]

Shawn, just a vote of yes for the link belts. I've got some in use and am impressed. I've no reversible operations so I don't know how well  they function the "other way"

Steve

[f350ca]

I found about 12 feet of it at the local shopping centre (dump) The stuff I found is a little heavier and assembles with rivets. When the belts on my table saw failed (prematurely, they only lasted about 30 years) I tired the link belt. Maybe not a fair test, they run as a matched pair and are really short, but I could not get them to stop slipping under heavy load.