RF45 CNC solutions!!

[pete from TN]

Hey everyone,
This is PetefromTn here. I have been for quite a while working on building my RF45 CNC milling machine. I have learned a great deal about CNC and these machines in particular in that time. As some of you know I have recently had a Medical setback and surgery that has made it difficult for me to work in my chosen profession as a Professional high end Cabinet builder/designer. The lung surgery and wood dust just do not play well together. SO I have been trying to find a way to help to pay the bills around here and I thought why not do it with something you love right!!

So that has been the impetus for me to design a series of products that I am gonna sell to make the sturdy RF45 milling machines we all love even better than they already are. I have been working for months on these designs and I have been in close contact with a high quality Professional CNC machine shop to help me design and build the prototypes you will see here. These products are for sale NOW and I am anxious and proud to finally present them to all of you nice folks on the Zone. I am starting this thread to give you guys a glimpse at the first of many products I will be offering, most are already well into the prototype phase for these machines. I hope to become the goto shop for all of your RF45 CNC solutions!!

Anyways, The first product I am offering is a set of parts that are sorely lacking on these machines. That is of course the guards to keep chips off of the important bits. I have designed these guards to specifically fit the RF45/RF31 and clones machines. For the most part they are bolt on, of course as we all know that none of these machines are made in the same factory or for that manner in the same part of china. These Guards are all CNC laser cut, CNC laser engraved, and CNC bent on mega bucks machines in a high end job shop. The material is very heavy gauge Stainless steel sheet that is .050 thick and is quite rigid. The guards are all brushed stainless steel and will never rot or rust and should be impervious to whatever type of coolant you decide to use. I have made a set of prototype guards for my machine and I have another set that is going to a friend who will test them on his machine but we have already determined the dimensions on it.

I have made a short video of the prototype guards for the mill and have been running them for a little while now on my mill. They are REALLY sweet and keep the chips off the limits, and my belt drive and Y motor are really enjoying not getting covered in chips every time I run the machine. If you are using your mill in a full enclosure and running full flood coolant as I am this is a MUST have product.

These guards are designed to fit a standard RF45/31 table which is 31.5" in length and has the tee slot running the full length of the front edge of the table. That is how they secure to the table edge. There is a length of some 3m high strength double sided tape running the length of the table guard as well as the telescoping guard on the back of the table. This is to keep the coolant and chips from getting between the guard and table. The rear guard uses the factory fasteners to bolt it on and the front guards will be sent with the fasteners to secure them on. The mounting holes on the back edge of the table seem to be different on some of these machines from my research here so I have chosen to not put holes in the metal sheet there to make sure you can fit them properly to your machine. This allows you to put the guard at any height you choose on the back edge of the table. The rest of the holes are already laser cut out. I have made a photobucket account for the business and to show you what I have ready for sale. SO basically if you see it there it is available for purchase.


I have tried to make these products to meet two criteria. One is that they must seriously improve the basic machine, and two is that they are reasonably affordable. I try to ask myself if I was to see these products, would I want to buy them? So basically if you see them here I feel like they are both a good value and a great product that is ready for prime time.

The guard system comes complete with the lower table/Y axis ballscrew cover, the table edge limit cover, and the telescoping guard cover to go between the table and column. I can sell the complete set ready to bolt on for $300.00 each set plus shipping. These sets again will be made by professional machinists on high end equipment right here in Tennessee. These are a fine addition to your CNC conversion on what is a great little milling machine. They will protect your precious ballscrews and nuts and make cleaning up the machine after use a trivial matter. I cannot tell you how much nicer it is to run my mill since I have these guards on there. It is just so much easier to clean and KEEP clean.

Again, these products are just the first of several that I am working on for the RF45/RF31 machines. I am also currently working on a set of these to fit the larger IH machines. If anyone here would like to work with me on the sets for the IH mills, please give a shout and I will get in contact with you to verify some specific measurements that will make it possible to get that sweet machine clad in stainless steel too...

If you are interested in hearing more about this product or wish to purchase a set of these nice guards you can reach me by Email at PetefromTn@Gmail.com or call me directly at 865-363-9218


Anyways, thanks for all the help and ideas I have gotten from many of you kind folks on this forum and with any luck I will be able to offer some really cool stuff for your CNC adventures with these nice mills. Thanks and peace to all of you...

PetefromTN

be sure to watch the video of these items working on my mill at this link location:


RF45 CNC solutions pictures by matospeter - Photobucket

[Ekkekke]

Those are looking really good! Now I almost want to rotate my X axis servo so that Y cover would fit.. I think you should offer those also without that X cover since all of us doesn't use limit switches..

[pete from TN]

Hey man thanks for the kind words, Yeah I figure that MOST people will be able to use them as designed because the way the machine comes is with that setup for the X table limit even with a power feed unit. If you are interested in a set I can give ya a price for it sans the X axis table edge guard. They really make a nice difference in the machine and keep things really clean and chip free. Peace

Pete

[Ekkekke]

Not sure if it will fit, I think it would hit my Y motor mounting plate since it has that slope. By the way my table is "800mm" = 798mm = ~31.42", not 32.5".

[pete from TN]

Thanks for pointing that out man.... yeah they are 31.5 not 32.5" I made it to fit the RF45 and RF31 style mills out there. The 32.5 was a typo.... If you do not think it will fit that is fine. If you have some specific needs give me a call and we can probably make you what you need for your machine. As I said Most of the people doing these machine conversions do not have anything that would make this not fit. Thanks and peace

Pete

[kiramunch@sympa]

Hi Pete. Nice job you've done there. I have an IH clone and if you require any info/measurements etc., I'd be happy to help you out.

Pete

[pete from TN]

Hey thanks for the offer. I am actually in contact already with a fellow that has two IH mills. We are hopefully gonna be getting the dimensions and details sorted out for the IH machine's guards kit. If I need any information from you to verify our dimensions I will contact you. If you are interested in a set for your machine I will give you a discount for your efforts. I think the IH kit will need to be slightly more expensive than the RF45 kit simply due to the fact that the Machine needs a lot more stainless to cover things up and this stainless steel sheet we are using is NOT CHEAP!! It is excellent quality heavy gauge material that is literally .050 or so thick. It is self supporting even before I bend it... Peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

Made a new video about my Sheetmetal way covers and guards. Thought I would post it here to see if anyone would enjoy it. It shows the guards and the machine jogging again but with some better music... peace

Pete

YouTube - RF45 CNC stainless guards

[wildwhl]

Very nice Pete.

Well done.

WW