A great tip for any of you that have a Grizzly G0516 three-in-one machine or the little Grizzly G8689 mini mill. I guess it would work on a HF mini mill also. I have always disliked the lack of distance between the spindle and the table of my G8689 mini mill. I can call mine the mini mill now because I bought the standalone base and table and separated it from the G0516 three in one machine. This gave me a bigger table and made the machine much more easier to operate. Then I bought a rotary table for the mill and soon found that the spindle to table distance was lacking big time.
Last week I was trying to drill piece that I had chucked up in the RT and lacked sufficient space for the drill bit. I removed the upward stop for the Z axis thinking I could gain some more travel only to find I ran out of rack that lifts the mill head. After looking for a solution I decided if I could get another piece of the rack and add it above present rack, I could gain about 2 or 3 inches of Z axis range.
I remembered that Little Machine Shop carries some parts for the Grizzly and HF mini mills so I went to their web site and there it was: a 14 Z rack to replace the 8.75 one that my mill was born with.. I order one (part # 1486 for $19.95 and a couple of the m6X12 screws, part # 1563 ) They came Friday on the big brown truck and were installed in less than 10 minuets.
I gained about 3 inches of z-axis range and life is good. I can maybe live with this small mill now
Mel
Last week I was trying to drill piece that I had chucked up in the RT and lacked sufficient space for the drill bit. I removed the upward stop for the Z axis thinking I could gain some more travel only to find I ran out of rack that lifts the mill head. After looking for a solution I decided if I could get another piece of the rack and add it above present rack, I could gain about 2 or 3 inches of Z axis range.
I remembered that Little Machine Shop carries some parts for the Grizzly and HF mini mills so I went to their web site and there it was: a 14 Z rack to replace the 8.75 one that my mill was born with.. I order one (part # 1486 for $19.95 and a couple of the m6X12 screws, part # 1563 ) They came Friday on the big brown truck and were installed in less than 10 minuets.
I gained about 3 inches of z-axis range and life is good. I can maybe live with this small mill now
Mel
