Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

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wally318
Posts: 260
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:06 am
Location: Kelowna, British Columbia

Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by wally318 »

Hi all just about finished my new quill feed yesterday.

Its fully functional and gave it a test as to how smooth it functions and

feed length/backlash.

The main block is 6061 alum. with a 25T worm wheel.

It was beadblasted and a coat of alodine and a couple coats

of plain white where I work. The revolving handle is waiting

when I cross the border. The bridgeport dial will get satin chrome

along with all the handwheel handles.

I still need to make a plastic press in dust cover for the worm wheel.

The housing will get the almond paint along with the other parts on full tear

down in a few moths.

Now for the fine details. The mechanism turns/works very smoothly.

Feed is .094" per revolution and backlash is less than .001"

Part of the reason backlash is almost non-existant is that I did not include

a clutch in the design. Everything is quite rigid and controlled.

In place of a clutching mechanism-for lots of quicker feed drilling

there is a collar on the end of the worm shaft which also serves to talk out

potential backlash and a set screw under the front bushing.

Releasing both of those allows the worm/shaft to release quickly as well as access

for greasing. And can be installed just as quickly for fine feed again.

I've included a couple pics.
Attachments
P1030996.JPG
P1030997.JPG
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by spro »

Makes sense and good work!
Of course that is easy to say but it beats saying nothing. Your mill now has a more precise Z feed than new. It will be good to see it again.
JPar
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2015 10:54 pm
Location: Mayoville, MN

Re: Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by JPar »

Very nice!
johnfreese
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:10 am

Re: Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by johnfreese »

well done.
wally318
Posts: 260
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:06 am
Location: Kelowna, British Columbia

Re: Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by wally318 »

Thanks for the positive comments.
The main reason I posted this was to give
some inspiration to other users on this forum.
jmm03
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 12:22 pm

Re: Fine feed assembly for Rockwell milling machine

Post by jmm03 »

Hi Wally, I know this is a pretty old post but I have a 21-100 and I was wondering if you have any more detail on your fine feed mechanism, i'd like to make one for mine. Thanks, Jim
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