Re: Mill recommendations needed for new CNC Project

> If I was to convert a Knee Mill. I'm thinking of controlling the Knee
> movement and leaving the spindle alone. On manual machines, I do most
> of any drilling operations using the Knee, except when I need to to a
> lot of pecking.
> Any thoughts on this?
> I'd like to see some examples of how others have handled a Knee
> conversion.
>
> Tom M

I converted a Jet knee mill and made the table the Z axis. I think it is
great. For many operation I like having the quill free to operate by
hand. When I change a tool I simply lower the quill until the tool
touches the work and set Z zero. I often do tapping jobs by hand.

I use the Tormach tool holder system and have a neat way to quick change
them. I installed a set of bellville washers under the drawbar to get
about 600 pounds on the drawbar. I made a simple bridge over the top of
the drawbar at the correct height to press down on the drawbar when the
quill is pressed all the way up. To change a tool I simply press the
quill up, switch tools and release the quill handle. It takes less than
5 seconds.

There are photos of my Jet conversion on my web page, plsntcov.8m.com
but I have not put any photos up of the tool changer. I will when I find
that 'round to it'

ron ginger