Seeking Purchase Advice on Rong Fu RF-45N2F

[plappo]

Howdy,

New member. Thrilled to find this forum. Please let me know if there is a better place to post this.

I am looking for a bench-top sized mill. I will primarily be using it to make aluminum adapter plates. But once I get into this who knows. I do not have the space for a used Bridgeport as I could get one for half the price. Sigh. I have no immediate plan, but the more I read here, the more I think CNC in inevitable for the coolness factor alone.

1. is $2950 delivered a good price on a Rong Fu RF-45N2F?

It's $1000 more that the Chinese counterparts. If I eventually go CNC I will probably be tossing out 1/4 of the parts for new ones. Are there other aspects of the Rong Fu that make it worth the extra $1000? Maybe the casting or milling quality?

2. is there advantage to getting the RF-45N2F or the plain RF-45? The 45N2F is currently cheaper when usually it is more expensive.

I don't think I want anything smaller than this size. I am open to suggestions of other machines as well.

Thank you. I am pulling my hair out trying to decide whether to pull this trigger or not.

[rwskinner]

I have one. Pretty nice machine. It has thicker castings and a different Z than most since it uses a rack and pinion. Column has another bolt and a nice thick web/wall around the base where the column bolts to it. Thicker table and more webbing there as well. You have to be a little more creative when converting it.

look at skinnerranch.net and scroll down to the RongFu rf45 pages.

Richard

[plappo]

rwskinner. Thank you. I have searched for hours to find details and photos of a genuine Rong Fu and have come up with very little. Your site has 10x more than I have found anywhere else.

Your machine is very impressive.

I'm thinking more and more I might as well go with the Rong Fu. I'm sure the performance as a manual machine before I get to CNC it will be worth it (or at least I'll keep telling myself that.)

[rwskinner]

Here is another one as well. Nice job here....

RF-45 Dovetail Mill - ImageEvent

[LUCKY13]

Some of the listings I see on this mill show it as a 3 phase motor with a variable inverter already installed. Some show other motors/setups. The 3 phase makes for a great setup and is worth extra money, just be sure what your getting and if you need a VFD to run it yuo need to know. It also shows a optional two speed motor for the same setup, this wopuld also be worth extra funds. 3 phase has more power, is smoother
and more effeicant so this a good thing even though it may seem need extra work to get it the right power it needs. If it has a built in inverter find out if it will run off 220 single phase or not. Even if a VDF is needed its still a good thing to have the three phase setup.

Most claim the castings of these mills are better than most, I have even seen some info claiming they where hand scraped ( IDK if it was for sure this model). IMHO its worth going for this mill if yuo can afford it.


Still I would also consider mills like the IH clone mill which is a very heavy machine with good castings and a lot more travel and table size. It all depends on what size machine you want/need. The Rong-Fu is probably a little better casting than the IH clone, with the IH clone being very good, but a bigger mill (about 300lbs diff maybe). Mainly its more travel on the all axis, it will be a little deeper than the Rong-Fu, with alot more sideways room need ( in the x axis). I thinkk it may have more Z axis also but its not so much that head room is a problem. Either machine would make a great CNC conversion, take pretty close to the same parts (longer ballscrews for the IH clone).



The Bridgeport taking more room than a benchtop may not be so. It all depends on what bench yuo use for the benchtop, and how much overhead room you have ( the BP will be taller). If going CNC the benchtop is probably a better choice though, depending on what jobs you wish to do. It is a lot harder to move a BP around compaired to a benchtop, and it cost a lot more to CNC. But by the time yuo enclose a benchtop for CNC there is not much diff in room needed, all though the bechtop would be more contained.


Alot comes down to what you need/want, but you want go wrong with a Rong-FU, IH Clone, or a BP.


Jess

[Flexo!]

1. is $2950 delivered a good price on a Rong Fu RF-45N2F?

That's quite a good price! I was quoted $2400 from a Taiwanese machine supplier (not rong fu).

The NF2 on the name suggests automatic quill feed. Usually found on Knee mills. Good for manual drilling, not much use in CNC. Wouldn't be too hard to disable though.

[rwskinner]

I actually had a hard time finding the N2F version in 3 phase.

I finally gave up and figured I would be spending money on something that would only get used at first then be removed when CNC'd. I ended up the plain jane 3 phase one and saved some cash.

Richard