A Jet knee mill conversion

[Ron Ginger]

I have been working on a Jet knee mill for the last couple months. Its now running, and I finally had time to post a few photos on my web page- see plsntcov.8m.com

The mill is an older one, about 1987 I think. It is in excellent shape, still shows lots of scraping marks on the ways, no detectable wear anywhere. It has a table of 30"x8". Thats not suite a Bridgeport, but my shop is on the second floor, and the mill is almost exactly above my bed. I just wasnt sure I wanted a 2000 pound Bridgeport up there.

I started this conversion with servos and G320s. These were some surplus servos I had, and they have an integral brake. I had it runing for a while, but then one of the brakes locked up and the motor overheated. After some thought- detailed on my web page- I switched to steppers.

For the Z axis I am driving the knee- I like that a lot.

I will be describing this machine as part of my seminar at the Cabin Fever Expo, Jan 20.

Here is a linked photo of the completed machine

 

[Amnz]

Hi Ron,
  Nice work!  You're always busy with something!

I remember your trip and was following it as you posted your whereabouts and adventures as you traveled.
THAT was great too! You made it feel like we were there.

Best wishes,
John (bloy)

P.S.  Nice glide-out tool tray!

[Chaoticone]

Hats off to Ron. Good job.

Brett