Hey, Casting Guys!

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by kanton Dougal, You wrote: "Regarding a head spacer. I don't like that approach as it unnecessarily increases the bending loads on the column and jibs. I think it's better to trim back the bulk of the pivot hardware in front of the column to provide extra Y travel while keeping the spindle centred over the table." You may have a good point but it is not clear to me. Could you provide some pictures or diagrams about what you mean here? Thanks

The further the spindle is from the column, the more bending load is placed on the column and the more the jibs will bind instead of sliding.
Basically to not lose stiffness or cause more binding a head spacer would need to be paired with a column support and longer jibs.

[BobWarfield]

Ray, this is a cool thread you started here!

Love that channel brace, Dougal. It's easy to do and it has to be effective at improving the mill's performance. I've got a big IH, but I keep wishing for a smaller mill to play with too. So many cool projects people are doing with them.

fish, which FEA software are you using? I keep wishing I had some. Does anyone know of something cost effective for someone that just wants to try it out?

Cheers,

BW

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by BobWarfield Ray, this is a cool thread you started here! Love that channel brace, Dougal. It's easy to do and it has to be effective at improving the mill's performance.

Thanks.
With the brace I have about 0.1mm deflection at the bed with 50kg downward force. I'm very happy with the rigidity increase. I didn't measure deflection before, I just watched it.

Once I've learnt enough on this machine I hope to build something bigger and more meaningful. But I plan to keep this one for all the little jobs.