Kondia FV-1 Head disassembly

[Mayhem]

Nothing wrong with the feed trip bracket Ken. I cannot see that giving me any issues.

[Mayhem]

OK - I got a few hours over the weekend to work on the mill.  First job was to replace the bearings in the motor, which was a simple task.  Whilst the motor was in bits, I clamped the base to the table of the shaper and made a flat where the motor lock fits.  For some reason, this part was all mangled but the shaper made quick work of that.  I borrowed a length of .750 brass hex from a friend and made a new bush for the locking mechanism.  I also made a stopper to keep crap out of the oil port for the back gears.

   
   

I got the feed gears installed and the worm gear assembly.  I put the quill back in, set the spring and then put the backgear assembly on.  Next was the belt housing and finally the motor.  This was followed by wiring the motor back up (yes, I just noticed the switch is on upside down!) and flicking the switch.  Thankfully there was no bang, nor did any of the magic smoke escape.  

   
   

So, having got the bare minimum done to get to this point, I pressed the start button and was greeted by a much nicer and much quieter sound that I had immediately prior to commencing the tear down.  I then engaged the back gear and all was good.

Next to go on was the feed trip bracket and plunger, and then the clutch.  I was all ready to test the quill feed when some interesting noises emerged from the contactors in the electronics box and the lights began to flicker.  I was soon plunged into darkness and noticed that one of the three neon phase indicators had gone out, indicating that I had lost a phase.  A quick check showed that it was the incoming power and nothing I had done.  So there wasn't anything to do but power down and call it a day.  We just got the third phase back a little while ago.  Oh well, I'll have to wait until next weekend to progress any further.

[PixMan]

That's such great news Darren! You must feel so much better about the whole thing now, having forward motion again.

So, overall what do you think you have remaining?

Knee elevation and it's lube all working? What's the status of the power feed? Looking at the head, can the quill feed stop screw be inserted into its home without removing the top and dropping it in from the top?

All of us are wishing you the very best as you wind down your summer and head into the cooler autumn.

[Mayhem]

Yes - very happy to have it running smoothly. The main remaining jobs are as follows:

1. Head: The micrometer screw and the associated feed trip parts can go on now. These feed in from the bottom and the reverse trip lever slots in the top. I still need to get the feeds working then and set the trip. The ruler goes on last and I already note that the holes don't line up!

2. Saddle: I've ordered new metered oilers for the saddle (and the knee ways and all nuts). Once these are in I can put the saddle back on and install the yoke. Then the table can go on and leadscrews fed back in.

3. General: there are still some parts to be painted, such as the side door on the column and the access panel at the back. There will be a few small parts made to finish it off, such as the table, saddle and knee locks, and stops and stop rod for the table feed etc.

4. DRO: Once the mill is up and running, I will stick the DRO on. Then there will be no stopping me

5. Coolant: If I want to run flood coolant, I need to buy a new pump and do the plumbing. This will wait until I decide I need it. The circuitry it there and there is a on/off button on the control, so it will be as simple as sticking the pump in the column, wiring it up and filling the sump with some coolant.

Given that I am waiting on replacement oilers, I have locked off the knee and am not cranking it at all until it is lubed.

[PixMan]

I haven't run coolant on my mill ever, and have no immediate plans to do so. I have a CoolMist lube unit and an air compressor, and the only job I ever had that had me on the verge of using it was the flycutting of wide aluminum plates. I ended up using a light coating of WD40 instead and just wiping it all up when done. Only when drilling or tapping do I use fluids, and both the cutting oil on drills and the tapping paste on taps would contaminate a coolant sump. I get away with it on the lathe because I can take the 8 screws off the cover and reach in with a hydrophyllic pad to skim the tramp oils off the coolant sump.

I think if I suddenly had to mill a lot of stainless steel a coolant system would be warranted. Until then, I like being able to vacuum up the relatively dry chips and be done.

The task I see which causes me the most consternation is that of the quill feed mechanism and settings. It's such a complicated little thing with so many little bits that all affect each other. If you miss a proper spacing, spring pressure or tension setting, it can all go pear shaped in a hurry. I do not envy you this task and wish you much success.

[Mayhem]

Thanks Ken - I've got a feeling that the trip is only going to work on the down feed, given the initial testing I did.

From looking at videos on the web and looking at the design of the system, the short plunger at the top of the quill travel should push the micrometer screw down, tripping the system.

At present, the reverse trip lever isn't acting as a pivot point and the plunger lifts the micrometer screw up. I believe that by working off the dimension on the drawing, that I drilled the hole in the wrong spot. This is something that I can fix once the mill is up and running.

How often would I feed up? I can see the need to feed down when boring.

[f350ca]

You must be relieved to finally be making progress. nice to hear something run the way to should.

I often feed up on a deep boring job. The longer bar you need flexes, so I cut going down then pull the direction plunger and let it do a spring pass on the way out. But don't ever recall using  the kick out on the up stroke.

[Mayhem]

Well I put the new metered oilers in and tested them.  I'm not getting oil to the outlets for the table ways, despite checking that the ports are clear.  I decided that as these face upwards, the path of least resistance is with the oilers for the saddle ways.  I'm hoping that once the saddle is on and the gib adjusted that oil will then flow upwards.  So, in order to do this, I needed to drill the roll pin holes for the yoke from 6mm to 8mm to accommodate the new yoke I bought.  

This necessitated some creativity, as the drill press table isn't exactly large and the saddle is heavy.  These are all the ingredients you need for disaster!  So, I moved the drill close to the mill, and then places a thick piece of wood across the knee and the drill table.  Using a level, I cranked the knee until it was at the same hight as the drill table.  Next I positioned the saddle, using a 6mm drill to locate the existing hole and then clamped the saddle down.  After checking the location again with the 6mm drill, I drilled the saddle with a 7.5mm drill before finishing with an 8mm drill.

   
   

I then noticed that the actual bolt holes are slightly off on the left-hand side of the yoke.  The M8 is very tight and I couldn't get the 8mm drill in the location hole as a result.  The M6 is more of a problem.  

   

I still need to pick up some 8mm roll pins (I'd like to buy less than a box of 500). and use them to locate the yoke.  I'll then check how far off the holes actually are.  That will determine my approach to that issue.  For a moment there it was looking closer to completion.

   

I then turned my attention to the quill feed and went from having feed but no trip activation, to not having feed, nor trip activation, and then to feed with weak trip activation.  Part of that was me adjusting the clutch the wrong way and because I was making slight adjustments I didn't realize until I'd gone about a turn and a half in the wrong direction 

Part of this may be due to the quill spring, which I have no idea what is going on with.  Before the evil noise induced tear-down, I had the spring adjusted perfectly, with the quill staying exactly where I positioned it.  I followed the Bridgeport setting instructions and it worked.  Not this time however!  The only thing I can think of is that the spindle that drives the quill was in a different position, either 90° or 270° off, as there is only 180° of adjustment of the spring.  The PAITA about this is that the motor, belt housing and back gear assembly all have to be removed, so that the two screws connecting the quill skirt to the quill can be undone.  Oh well, no point rushing things now.

[PixMan]

Perseverance.

You have much of it.

[Mayhem]

Thanks Ken - I'll have it sorted out eventually and I'll know it inside out as well.

I know some people may look at this thread and ask is it really worth it. Well for some it may not but for me it is. This is a hobby for me and I don't have a money tree that would enable me to walk into a shop and buy a brand new machine.

Simple fact is that machines are thin on the ground here. In the 2½ years since I bought this mill, this is the 3rd mill that I have seen for sale locally:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CNC-MILLING-M...1715213500?

So for $900 (including about $450 worth of tooling), I'm happy to plod along. The only other manual mill I've seen locally was advertised at $3900 and that add ran in the local paper for months...