Small vertical mill tip

[deverett]

I have owned an Emco FB2 vertical mill for quite a number of years. One of my initial worries was the potential wear on the vertical leadscrew with the continued raising and lowering of the head.

I take some of the strain off this leadscrew by helping to raise the head with my left hand under the head, while winding the leadscrew with my right hand.

Some may say that this is unnecessary as gravity will prevent backlash in the vertical head, but it is something that I have become accustomed to doing and it just comes automatically now.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[rake60]

Good tip Dave!

Anything that can be done to relieve a little stress on machines can add years
to their life. The common attitude is: "It was designed to do that!"
Yes it was, but it was also designed to be manufactured in a "cost effective" manner.
That would translate into helping it out a little won't hurt!

Rick

 

[Tin Falcon]

Good point rick just because a machine will handle a .250 roughing cut does not mean yo should make it a common pratice. When I was learning to use my shaper and grind tools for it I was experimenting a bit and found it would do IIRC a .200 DOC but then I backed off to where the machine seemed happy . Why sterss a 50 year old machine.
Tin

 

[DICKEYBIRD]

Hi Dave, that I'll bet that Emco is a really sweet mill!

I concocted a compound pulley/steel cable counter weight system for my X-3 soon after I got it. The head weighs around 70-80 lbs. and the feed is only .050"/rev so it got tiresome very quickly cranking the head up & down. A couple of auto brake rotors and some other scrap for the weight has it very close to a perfect balance.

An unexpected bonus feature is that the slots in the vented brake disc are great for storing often used mill tools.