G0705

[Flenser]

I'm considering the G0705 as a second mill. I need to be talked out of it My reasons to buy a second mill are...

1. Lets me keep the ZX45 disassembled while I work on the conversion. Right now, I have to be careful to not do anything that might leave me without a mill for more than a day or so.

2. Simplifies the ZX45 conversion.

3. I like turning the hand wheels, and still want a manual mill.

OK, I'm looking at the G0705 because...

1. Has greater cross travel than the ZX45.

2. It's cheap, even has a stand included.

3. It has a nice quiet belt drive (max RPM could be better, though)

4. It's in stock.

5. Since it will remain manual, the round column is not as much of an issue. Or is it?

Is there a different mill that might be a better choice? I was actually close to just buying another ZX45, but this seems like a much better deal.

[gd.marsh]

Flenser,

I own a round column mill (G1006/7) & it has served me well as a manual mill.

I've added a power head lift with a pneumatic clamping system, which makes the up / down movement MUCH less hassle.

I'm sure there's others who will disagree with me, but though I have found the power to be adequate & I liked the price, I do find myself cursing the round column & the 3 pulley belt system frequently.
A 3ph motor & VFD would help the speed changes but would add another $400-$500 to the price.

I purchased mine because Grizzly was out of stock on the G0484.
If I had it to do over again I would not buy a round column mill ..

gd.marsh

[Bubba]

Flenser,
I got my RF31 back about 1999 and for the most part have been very happy with it. It now sports a VFD and 3PH motor which will give me speeds up to about 3700 rpm. Also made a power lift for it because the manual crank was a PITA. I have also cnc'd it and it is a workhorse for me. Back then, a 45 was just to far out of reach for me pricewise. If I were to to it over today and it was going to be my only mill, most definitely I would look at a 45 type of machine or something else maybe.

[mattmark]

Hey Jeff,

I can only comment based on the fact that I only have a single mill.

I agree, if you have work coming in, it's hard to work on your conversion unless you're super fast at tearing down and putting your mill back together again.

I don't know about round mills, but the mechanism seems similar to my drill press which would probably drive me nuts.

For the cost: the travel, weight, belt drive/RPMs, etc are hard to beat in Grizzly's lineup. To match the price on a square column, you'll have to give up something - what's the most critical part that you're looking at?

Matt

[Flenser]

The two things I really like about the G0705 are more cross travel and especially the belt drive. Right now I can't run the ZX45 after about 10PM without keeping someone awake.

If I went with another ZX45, it would be the G0484, or maybe another one from Bolton. I could maybe live with an SX3, but I think I lack the skill set to get quality work from one of those right out of the box. The 45 is big and pretty forgiving of improper tool setups...

I'm half talked out of the G0705, though. I was sort of hoping there was a known way to index the column so it wouldn't lose position. It sounds like that's not the case, though.

Thanks for the info guys..

Jeff

[arizonavideo]

I have three mills right now, a Weiss WMD30L and a IH RF-45 clone and a RF-31 which is a round column mill.

I like all of them but the little 400 LB Weiss is just a great smaller bench top mill. It is quick to setup for a cut with no belts to change or that darn belt cover of the 31 falling on my hand for the 100 time....

There is a few things, like drilling in the end of long stock, that the swing head on the Rf-31 is the best tool but if you have a good drill press you won't miss that function much.

The motor is kind of small on the Weiss, it is more like a long travel X3 with about the same size head. You cant hog metal like the RF-45 but most of my cutting is lighter stuff and it does just fine.

I use the Rf-31 for about a year and it really is a fine machine being fairly quite and has a good top speed but the belt speed changes and the head adjustments can be a real PIA after a while.

Have you looked at the Weiss WMD20?

[Flenser]

I thought all the WMD20 and clones were pretty much unavailable before mid summer. It would definitely be my first choice.

[Flenser]

Oh yea, and I have a crappy little wobbly drill press that's somewhere between useless and in the way. I justified not getting a better one by thinking I could use the big G0521 we have at work ("whenever I need it"). In reality, though, it's too inconvenient to have a drill press 30 miles away. Maybe I should get the G0705 and just call it a big drill press...

[Flenser]

Doh! The drill press thing got to me. I went ahead and ordered a G0705. The drill press I had been considering wasn't much cheaper, so if milling becomes too much of a hassle, I can just say it's an expensive drill press

[Flenser]

Well, it's here and it's running. I thought I would give my impressions in case someone else is interested in this machine.

I ordered it on Tuesday morning, Grizzly shipped it the same day, and UPS delivered it on Friday. I had it delivered to work where there's a forklift, and more importantly a dumpster. Once it was out of the crate it was light enough for my cheap engine hoist to lift off the back of my truck. I brought it home on Saturday and had it setup in under 2 hours. I was surprised by having the thing level just sitting on the floor. It's not perfect, but you can't tell without a precession level, and that's as close as I need it. Unfortunately, the power wire was too short to reach the breaker box or any 220V receptacle, and I had family obligations that forced me to wait until today to hook it up.

During the first power on test the motor was so loud I thought there was something wrong. This was with no belts, so the spindle wasn't even spinning. I get a LOUD 60Hz hum in both forward and reverse. It's a good bit louder than the ZX45's gear head. It's your basic 220V setup, I've wired 100 motors like this over the years, and this one runs smooth and strong as expected. I have no idea why it's so loud. If I can't figure it out, I'll probably replace it. Sheesh, it's almost as loud as my circular saw.

After a 20 minute break in period, I mounted an end mill and faced a piece of aluminum and then cut some mild steel with a roughing end mill. No surprises other than this being my first test with a roughing end mill. The rumors are true, I was able to cut a 3/16" steel plate mounted on edge at 1" depth like it was aluminum. Very cool. From the marks on the faced aluminum I will need to tram the column. It's not off by much, but I can feel the lines left by the end mill, and I know that doesn't happen with the same end mill on the ZX45.

Some other notes..

Notice in pic 2, there are no oil ports for the x-axis ways. It looks to me like the G0704 is the same. Any advise on how to keep them lubed?? Just squirting oil at the edges as shown in Grizzly's manual doesn't look very effective.

When I changed belt speeds, I mashed the crap out of my fingers with the belt cover. My fingers were still throbbing while I was removing it. I dunno if it's safe to have the belts exposed while it's running, but at least my fingers won't get mashed there again. Also, pic 3 shows what might be the dumbest configuration of adjustment bolts I've ever seen. The wrench for the column lock bolts hits the motor lock bolt. It's inevitable, I'm going to mash my finger there sometime really soon.

I have the gauges to mount on the quill and the y-axis, and I ordered a gauge for the x-axis. I should have a 3-axis DRO setup before the end of the week. Work got in the way, or I would have all the mounting brackets made and holes drilled today. Since there's not much point in CNCing this thing, a DRO seems to make since.

After making a bunch of stuff for work and then setting up the G0705, the shop looks like a bomb went off in the middle (pic 4). It will probably take a day or two to put things back in order. After that, I'll start CNCing the ZX45 in earnest.

[arizonavideo]

The motor should not make much of a racket. If you can hear lots of 60hz hum it will not last long.

I would suspect that the start winding is not disengaging. Is the motor a 220v/110v type?

If so then you may be hooked to the 110V taps.

With forward and reverse you end up with a lot of wires I would triple check them and perhaps some of the labels might be wrong.

I have a old RF-31 too and the best thing about it is the motor is a made in Taiwan model and is much quieter than the almost exact same type that is made in China.

[Flenser]

Yes, it's a 220V/110V motor. I would think running 220V to the 110V taps would more or less double RPM. I haven't put a tach on it, but the spindle speeds seemed pretty close to what I expected.

There does seem to be something wrong, though. If that's what it's "supposed" to sound like, I will be glad when it dies and I can replace it.