Jet Mill power feed
- Thread starter jacks2000
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whateg01
Well-known member
All the ones I've seen for those smaller tables stick out to the left side instead of hanging down. I was always going to add one to my old mill but ended up selling it and buying a Bridgeport clone before I got to it. There are a lot of diy versions too. I'd guess that they've been around long enough that most any with decent reviews would work fine. They aren't rocket science. They all have a lot of plastic inside, which is probably just as well as you'd hate to have it keep on trucking after it crashed. I'm not sure that's the reason for the plastic heard, though.
For the RF-31 style mill/drill, the Align AL-500D is a good one, made in Taiwan. If you buy the Align, be sure to ask the vendor what color they have. They used to only come in green but I've seen the white ones online too if that matters to you.
The ALSGS AL-310S is the China equivalent. They come only in white. I've had one for 9 yrs now & it hasn't gave me any problems. But if you get the ALSGS one, make sure you get the one for mill/drills that comes with the mounting bracket & gear drive.
For your model mill it will stick out horizontally instead of hanging down as mentioned above. The AL-310S is also available for knee mills & the last I remember they don't really have a separate p/n for the mill/drill application as they use the same p/n motor unit for other applications.
There are other rebrands too but they'll look basically the same.
What you want will look like this, note the mounting bracket & drive gear.
The ALSGS AL-310S is the China equivalent. They come only in white. I've had one for 9 yrs now & it hasn't gave me any problems. But if you get the ALSGS one, make sure you get the one for mill/drills that comes with the mounting bracket & gear drive.
For your model mill it will stick out horizontally instead of hanging down as mentioned above. The AL-310S is also available for knee mills & the last I remember they don't really have a separate p/n for the mill/drill application as they use the same p/n motor unit for other applications.
There are other rebrands too but they'll look basically the same.
What you want will look like this, note the mounting bracket & drive gear.
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I designed a DIY stepper motor power feed for my RF-31 that is about 50% complete at this time. I wanted more capability than the commercial units, and so far I only have spent about $100 on the motor, driver, and pulse generator speed control. I expect the total cost to be about $150. It has loads of torque at low speed, no gearbox, keeps the crank handle, is compact, and has an auto-reverse feature. It uses a limit switch assembly that my DRO read head mounts onto. (DIY TouchDRO is fantastic--best mod ever!)
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whateg01
Well-known member
Is there a way to disengage the stepper and belt drive from the leadscrew? Having to backdrive the stepper might make it more difficult to move the axis manually.
Dave
Good question Dave. This was a big concern when I designed it. I bought the stepper motor and driver first so I could experimentally determine if a clutch was necessary. It turned out that the driver has an "enable" input that allows the motor to freewheel instead of locked at zero speed. Also, I was concerned that the magnetic detent feel from the motor would interfere with manually using an edge finder. It is not significant enough to worry about, so I decided to eliminate the clutch. The ultimate in simplicity.