# CX601 Milling Machine



## Brian Rupnow (Jun 26, 2015)

This thread is going to be a continuation of my trials and tribulations with a new
square column benchtop milling machine from BusyBee Tools in Canada. I had started to cover this mill in my oscillating I.C. engine thread, but I was getting so far off the original thread title that I have opened up a new thread to deal only with the mill. I have upgraded from a smaller version of the same mill, which served me faithfully for six years, but was beginning to show it's age. This new milling machine has more than double the motor power that my previous mill had, and has a Y axis travel of 8 1/2" and an X axis of a whopping great 23 1/2"---(Even though all the brochure and manuals with it claim a 16 1/2" X travel.) The first thing I discovered when I got it home, was that although my old mill moved .002" in X or Y for every graduation on the dials, this new mill moves 0.0025" for each graduation.---Try doing that in your head!!! I have been thinking of a DRO set up for a couple of years now, but didn't want to spend the money. This new mill with it's Bastard travel per graduation has made the purchase of a DRO kit a necessity. I purchased a 2 axis DRO set-up with glass scales from DROPROS in California, and will be installing it on the mill and documenting it here. The second thing I have discovered, is that the R8 shank on the chuck which comes with the mill has a very deep, unusual slot in it, and consequently the "alignment pin" which protrudes inside the spindle was sticking out so far that standard North American R8 shanks wouldn't fit into the spindle. After much hair tearing and screaming at various BusyBee administrative staff, I took matters into my own hands and removed the offending pin with my nasty little cold chisel and Dremel tool.---This was on the advice of some senior forum members who have much, much more machining background than I do. Stay tuned, and I will take you with me on the adventure of installing DRO's, relocating the hard to reach head height adjusting handwheel, and various other modifications in an effort to "Make a silk purse from a sow's ear!!" At this point in time, It has cost me roughly $3500 (Canadian)for the mill, the stand it sets on, a new boring head, and a couple of R8 endmill holders, and a heavy duty "machinery transportation cart" to move the machine around from my garage, thru my office, and into my machine shop. The two axis DRO kit has cost $1000 so far, but I have yet to hear from the taxation and customs people who will want their pound of flesh as well.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2015)

I got up early this morning and modeled the base and column of the milling machine, and all the glass scales, reader heads, and brackets that came with the kit. They are shown here in their approximate positions. I have not modeled in any of the brackets which I will be fabricating.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 27, 2015)

It has been a long and much interrupted day, but I have sussed out all the mounts which I will fabricate. --I have to say that the credit for these mounts goes to a fellow over on another forum who has the same mill as me, and mounted the same scales as I am mounting, in Calgary, Canada. He was kind enough to post very clear pictures of his work, and I have used his pictures as a concept for the design of mine.--Thank you, Calgary. The mounts are going to be milled from aluminum. I am about 80 percent of the way there in terms of modeling everything. I still have to see exactly how the scale covers are going to be hung.--X axis is no problem, but the Y axis cover could get exciting.----Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2015)

This mornings challenge was to design the mounting brackets for the the guards which fit over the glass scales to keep the swarf and cutting oil away. The guard supplied for the X axis scale will have to be totally reconfigured.--In fact, it may be easier to brake up a new profile than to reconfigure the one that came in the kit. This guard will mount directly to the machined back side of the table. The guard for the Y axis will fit with no modifications at all, and the rear end will be supported by a "tab" coming off the rear glass scale mounting bar bracket. The front will be supported by a small bracket bolted to the top o the new large bracket which supports the front of the glass scale mounting bar.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2015)

The following drawings are going to be meaningless to anyone other than myself. However, I have to make them for myself to work from, and it doesn't cost me anything to post them. As you can expect, fitting metric based scales to a metric based milling machine, using British imperial units ends up giving some very strange and unusual dimensions. This matters very little to me---I have been jumping back and forth between the two measuring systems ever since Canada "went metric" in 1974. Why is everything dimensioned to three decimal places when much of it doesn't need anywhere near this degree of accuracy?---That is a setting on my CAD system, and as long as I know what is critical and what is not, it is MUCH easier to just leave the default dimension to three decimal places for everything. Most of these brackets are going to be fitted to a cast, painted surface on the mill, with an "unknown" radius right in the middle of everything.--All I can do, crude as it may sound, is make cardboard templates from the mill, transfer the template to the semi-finished bracket, and "take my best shot" at filing and fitting.---This isn't really as difficult as it sounds.


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## petertha (Jun 28, 2015)

Hi Brian. Thanks for the PM effort attempt. I've concluded there is something wonky about how links are imbedded (corrupted?) in private messages here. Maybe its a HMEM policy thing. I just see asterisks & link goes nowhere. But don't sweat it, it was more for side interest.

Your DRO retrofit project looks great. One suggestion (assuming your readout box facilitates) is do the Z-axis while you're at it. The wacky graduations you noticed on primary axis is usually consistent on the vertical-Z from what I've heard of many Asian machines. And of course bye-bye to similar backlash & other similar irritations.


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## petertha (Jun 28, 2015)

One more thought while you have the machine disassembled. Most of these type mills have some provisions for X-axis table stops, but generally not the Y-axis. I'm finding I really would like both, but now my ideas are somewhat working around the DRO assembly already in place. Give that some thought while you are knee deep in fixtures, drilling holes & tapping screws.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2015)

This machine has a built in digital Z axis readout, that can be reset at any point and changed from metric to imperial at the touch of a button. I did a thread a long time ago about adding y axis stops to my old CT129 mill, and they worked really great. I just don't remember how to find the thread.----The thread I was trying to refer you to was the h.o.b.b.y.-m.a.c.h.i.n.i.s.t.  forum. the post was by a fellow called bmw rider.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 28, 2015)

First DRO bracket and shame faced admission of Dumb-Assity!!! The first bracket is finished and the power of this new mill is just awesome!!!---The Dumb-Assity------Well----I don't have DRO's yet, so the drilling and counterboring of 6 holes required a great deal of calculating, counting, measuring, and twiddling dials----and Guess What! I have been trying to convince everyone for three weeks now that the table moved 0.150" for every full turn of the dial and .0025" for every graduation on the dial. I was only half right. It's true about the graduations on the dial being worth .0025" of table movement for each graduation.--I was stone-wrong about the amount of travel for one full turn of the dial. It isn't 0.150". It is 0.125". Of course, this still doesn't let me make the calculation for table travel in my head like the old mill with .002" movement per graduation did, but I feel really dumb about reporting the travel per full dial revolution wrongly. Sorry guys. Put it down to encroaching old age and too much new stuff at once.---Brian


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## petertha (Jun 28, 2015)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I have been trying to convince everyone for three weeks now that the table moved 0.150" for every full turn of the dial and .0025" for every graduation on the dial. I was only half right. It's true about the graduations on the dial being worth .0025" of table movement for each graduation.--I was stone-wrong about the amount of travel for one full turn of the dial. It isn't 0.150". It is 0.125".
> http://s307.photobucket.com/user/Br...w024/FIRST DRO BRKT. 001_zpskuftqtki.jpg.html


 
I was trying to figure that out but let it go. I thought maybe you had a metric but that didn't add up either. Sounds like you have an 8 TPI lead screw? 1 rotation advances 1/8 = 0.125" A 100 dial graduation would yield 0.00125". 50 grads yields, 0.0025". Neither are very nice round numbers to work with.

If they were sourcing Imperial lead screws, a 10 TPI would make life easier. 1 rotation advances 0.100", 100 dial grads would yield 0.001" exactly. I've always wondered about this, maybe some mechanical/strength reason. Oh well, DRO will make this a moot point.


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## bazmak (Jun 28, 2015)

If thats the case brian then its logical to make new dials,but dont think you will need them with the digital scales


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## AlbertdeWitte (Jun 29, 2015)

Hi Brian

Thanks for sharing. I have a similar machine and find your article very interesting, having thought about doing a mod on mine as well. I also need to do the Z axis at the same time. May I use your methods please

Regards

Albert


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 29, 2015)

Albert--that is why I post them--so others around the world can use the information.---Brian


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## dsage (Jun 29, 2015)

Hi Brian:

This may seem to be a silly comment but before you mount anything, have you checked to be sure the DRO's indicate a positive direction in the desired (conventional) direction of table movement? I only ask because my dro's, - which are not at all the same - are mounted in a similar fashion except the X unit is on the front of the machine. Which would make it read backwards to your's. And it reads properly. So I assume it may be backwards if mounted on the back. Of course it depends on a lot of things but worth a double check.


Sage


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## Swifty (Jun 29, 2015)

dsage said:


> Hi Brian:
> 
> This may seem to be a silly comment but before you mount anything, have you checked to be sure the DRO's indicate a positive direction in the desired (conventional) direction of table movement? I only ask because my dro's, - which are not at all the same - are mounted in a similar fashion except the X unit is on the front of the machine. Which would make it read backwards to your's. And it reads properly. So I assume it may be backwards if mounted on the back. Of course it depends on a lot of things but worth a double check.
> 
> ...



You may find that there is a DIP switch somewhere to fix this if it occurs.

Paul.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 29, 2015)

The instructions with my DRO's indicates that there is a setting in the electronic readout somewhere that lets you change the direction of "read".


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## dsage (Jun 29, 2015)

That's good. No such thing on mine and it had to be taken into account when I mounted them.

Sage


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## petertha (Jun 30, 2015)

When I was comparing DRO boxes, a lot of them including clones & knockoffs seemed to offer many standard features - flipping plus/minus direction regardless of encoder setup, imp/metric conversion, center finding between 2 same axis edge points, recalling stored settings, bolt circle type calcs, even compensation curves. Many boxes can be readily swapped for mill or lathe work so that DOC (depth of cut) on a mill is re-processed internally to yield more convenient 'diameter' on a lathe cross slide channel. 

I've heard of people successfully marrying scales of one brand with clone boxes of another. Don't try this without research, just saying it kind of infers there are probably some standards the encoder brands communicate positioning. Maybe this is related to cloning or maybe adopting some defined protocols? Anyway, I sure like DRO's. Makes amateur machining a lot more enjoyable.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 30, 2015)

Another one bites the dust!! I have one more bracket to build that doesn't fit against the curved surface of the milling machine. It is probably the most complex shape, but doesn't have to be fitted by trial and error to the cast mill surface.--And yes, after milling two brackets, I am finding those .0025" graduations to be just as hard as I had expected to work with. Its easy to take out the 1/8" increments, because they are one full dial turn. Then you have to divide whatever is left by .0025 and count graduations---and many of the graduations you want to hit fall somewhere between the graduation marks.--I did have a stroke of good luck, in that while rooting though my box of aluminum cut-offs I found sufficient stock to make all of the brackets.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2015)

Third bracket finished.--Why that little area that looks like some material is missing between the two bolted together brackets?---That my friends is an "oops"!!  It is only about 3/32" deep on the one corner. I just don't understand why, when I make an "oops" it's always on the part that will show the most on an assembled machine.--Probably repayment of some horrible thing I did earlier on in life.--Will leave it there to remind me to be humble. I have to hang up my machinsts hat now and put on my carpenters hat---Have to fix a piece of furniture that got dropped on one corner during a move. I had my painters hat on early this morning. Wife has threatened dreadful consequences if I keep getting up at 5:00 a.M. and running machines that wake her up. Paint brushes are very quiet----


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2015)

And that, boys and girls, is all of the brackets made!!! I haven't cut the contour on the two brackets that attach to the mill base yet. I'll save that for another day. The bracket on the right bolts to the face of the mill base, right beside the Y axis dial. The left side bolts to the side of the mill base, right in that nasty radiused area. The piece attached to the DRO angle bracket bolts to the carriage which fits between the mill table and the base. (The angle is facing the wrong way round in the picture.) The outstanding leg of the angle bolts to the underside of the  Y axis read head. The bar setting between my brackets is supplied by the DRO guys, and you will notice it has jack-screws at each end to level it perfectly and to make it parallel with the Y axis travel. The guard bolts to the two 1/4"-20 tapped holes just above the bar.


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## bazmak (Jul 1, 2015)

Great minds think alike Brian.I too prioritise jobs to suit my wife.Quiet jobs to not wake her,jobs to suit her when shes that way out,so as to keep her sweet
and the noisy jobs i want to do when shes not there


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 1, 2015)

--The scary part comes next---Drilling and tapping holes in my new mill. The folks who sell the DRO kit have an installation manual that goes on at great length about how important it is to have perfect, alignment, perfect parallelism between all components, no binding, etcetera. I am a bit freaked out by this, but will forge on bravely. There are about a zillion milling machines running around the world with "add on" DRO kits on them, so I should be able to make it work. As soon as I get the DRO kit up and running, I will do the modification to lower the head lifting handwheel. Then I have to disassemble everything and move it into my machine shop, then reassemble everything.--I can see all of this eating up a sizeable portion of July.---Brian


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## Swifty (Jul 2, 2015)

Happy wife equals happy life. I'm even happier when my wife is out with her friends, more machining time for me.

Paul.


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## petertha (Jul 2, 2015)

Hi Brian. The only advise I can offer from personal experience is to leave yourself some wiggle room designed in the brackets. The mill casting surface will be irregular, plus drilling & tapping holes is a non-precise exercise relative to alignment required. If the brackets were being mated to machined surface then simple slots would suffice. But in reality adjusting them is more of a 3D exercise. Any bending tension or non-alignment of scales/encoder is a bad thing.

Attaching a sketch from Newall just to show you their mounting hardware principle. All you need is one tapped hole 'pretty close'. Then the scale (or tube in case of Newall) can be tweaked & secured in all 3 dimensions. Got mine all within 0.001" of bed XYZ axis in no time. The base of green arrow represents the mounting bolt going into machine. Your scale & encoders may have something different or adjustability already integrated, but I just wanted to mention what to likely expect.

Drilling cast iron with hand drill can have its 'fun' moments. Fortunately I didn't hit any hard spots but many of my casting surfaces were tapered off-axis or weird positions. If you can utilize temporary drill & tapping guide type bushings, that pays dividends.


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## Niels Abildgaard (Jul 2, 2015)

I once tried to put a lathe on a very rough piece of granite.The best way was to put six blobs of Araldite on aproximate positions.put teflon baking foil over and let the six machined flats under lathe bed do the aligning.After curing lathe was adjusted by three shims less than .2 mm for cylindrical turning.
If the brackets here was kept in correct position while glue hardens a simple and stressfree solution maybee?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2015)

And this is, I think, what they call "Beyond the point of no return!!" The mill is drilled and tapped for my home made brackets, which in turn hold the "backing bar" supplied by the DRO company, and the glass scale mounts to it. The drilling and tapping was very straightforward. A LOT of measuring, some breath holding, and away we went. No broken taps, no holes in the wrong place, all went well. Next up is fitting the funky bracket that attaches to the reading head.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2015)

And Oh Heck, yeah, since we are in full pictorial mode, this is the Y axis guard bolted in place.


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## petertha (Jul 3, 2015)

Those scale protection enclosure covers look spanky.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 3, 2015)

Spanky----Now that is a good word!!!


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 4, 2015)

This entire bracket business is somewhat subjective---You measure, you design, you build, and then in the final go-round, you file a little bit here, grind a little bit there, and make it fit. I had planned on using one of the brackets which came with the "kit" to attach to the "reading head" of the Y scale, but it turned out to work better if I made a new bracket cut from 3" x 3" x 1/4" aluminum angle. Everything is slotted to give me lots of flexibility for aligning everything, and if I need to I can always use some shim stock between the parts which bolt to the cast surfaces of the mill and the mill body.  I have two holes left to drill and tap to complete the Y axis installation, so I am of to do that next.---Brian


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## Twizseven (Jul 4, 2015)

Brian,

I know the feeling of drilling holes in a nice new machine. I recently fitted 3 axis DRO with magnetic readheads on a Cowells vertical mill. Very delicate work, drilling m3 and m4 holes in the various components. It all worked in the end and I'm very happy with the result.. You wont look back when you have them all up and working. Couple of pictures attached showing the brackets I had to make. I also made the electronics box (based on YUristoys design) and use with an Android tablet. Best regards, Colin.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 4, 2015)

And that, gentlemen, is all of the brackets finished for the Y axis. Now it's simply a matter of leveling, shimming, and measuring until the Y axis scale and guard are mounted. Tomorrow, I hope to accomplish that and move on to the x axis. Twiseven---Thank you for the pictures---You may want to use a resizing program on them.---They show up HUGE on my screen and I can't see their -extents without scrolling back and forth. ---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 4, 2015)

I'm learning as I move along here.--I have been thinking about drilling the holes in the back of my milling table to mount the X axis scale. I want the top of the glass scale to be about 0.68" below the top of my milling table. This would leave adequate space above it to mount the flange of the guard, plus the thickness of the guard, plus 3/16" clearance as the DRO guys recommend between the underside of the guard and the top of the scale..---However--The limiting factor here is where I drill the holes to mount the bracket for the "reading head".  I just got my smallest electric drill up on the table and measured it, and the closest I can drill a hole to mount the reading head is 0.9" backing. This puts the top of the scale only .17" below the top of the table. This simply won't do!!! Tomorrow I will design a new bracket with offset ends which will let me mount the X axis scale where I want it.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 5, 2015)

A new X axis reading head bracket shaped as shown, will let me get the holes into the dark blue 0.9" off the dark green surface (which is as close as I can get to it with my electric drill without disassembling my milling machine) and still allow me to mount the glass scale almost 1/2" below the top of the milling machine bed  For the guard, I think I will forget about a flange along the top and just use a piece of 3/16" thick aluminum angle, supported at the ends only. This lets me keep the top of the angle down 1/16" below the top of the table and leaves 1/4" clearance between the underside of the angle and the top of the glass scale.


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## RonGinger (Jul 5, 2015)

Why are you mounting the X scale on the back of the table? That looses almost an inch of the Y travel, which is already the shortest range of the machine.  On my G0704, which looks like the same machine I put it on the front table edge and  have had no problem with it.


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## Swifty (Jul 5, 2015)

One advantage of having it at the back, is that you run less risk of damaging it when putting vices and rotary tables on the table. My Bridgeport clone has it at the back, but then again, I don't have any Y axis shortage of travel. There is actually a stop on the Y axis to stop the scale hitting the back of the mill. However, we did have a few at work with the scales at the front.

Paul.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 5, 2015)

My table position locks are on the front of my table. The scale is less likely to be damaged on the back side of my table. I have 8 1/2" of travel now, will lose about 1 1/2" of travel.--I can afford that.---Brian


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## canadianhorsepower (Jul 5, 2015)

I did mount mine at the back also "same mill", never had any problem
and  installed under the apron not afraid of using liquid cooling

Luc


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 6, 2015)

We had a quiet day here yesterday. Had family home for big feast and everybody got to meet Jacob, the newest grandson. I snuck down after everybody had left and cut down most of the head thickness of one of the bolts in the milling machine base which was going to interfere with my Y axis read head bracket. I'm up early this morning, so again, in aid of being quiet until good wife gets up I have finished all of the 3D modeling of the mill. This is not just an exercise in creating pretty models. This will assist me when I go to drop the head raising handwheel. I have to buy one piece of aluminum this morning from my supplier to make a new bracket for the X axis read head, and then I will mount the scales and the electronic display head. If all of my customers leave me alone, i may have read-outs by the end of this week.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 6, 2015)

So---Let's try this again---All the brackets are finished now. Now it is time for some more finger crossing and breath holding, and to drill and tap the holes for the X axis scale, bracket, and guard.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 7, 2015)

This mornings "Quiet time" was spent modeling the lowered head lifting handle. This is a very simple modification, using #35 pitch roller chain and an 18 tooth and 28 tooth roller chain sprockets, along with a couple of home made pieces. I have an old injury to my right shoulder that doesn't like it very much when I reach up high to turn the handle that lifts and lowers the head. This modification brings the handle down to a much easier reach, and even gives some mechanical advantage when turning the handle. if anyone wants I can give more detailed information on this mod.---Brian


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## makila (Jul 7, 2015)

Hi Brian,

I have the same mill as yours (called an AMA 30LV here) and fitted a DRO similar to yours last year. The DRO does take up quite a bit of rearward table travel, which was not too great before the DRO was fitted. This requires the work being carefully positioned towards the back of the table so the front areas can be accessed. It's more than once I have had to re-indicate work due to the table not moving rearwards as much and large pieces will be awkward.

I do like the modification of the pulley system though. I am like you, having to reach up high each time to raise the head is a pain. If you have a drawing of your system it would be appreciated and having a mechanical advantage is a great idea as the head gets heavy and stretching to get to the wheel is tiring.

Looking at yours, I put the DRO box support arm where the pulley chain runs but this can be adjusted. The picture was taken prior to the DRO being fitted.

I have had a slight problem with the slow speeds hunting, this seems to manifest itself during cold weather (mine is in the garage) and the wiring diagram in the manual is not accurate, I wonder if yours is better illustrated?

All the best, Steve.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 7, 2015)

Over a lifetime, I have had too many holes move while being drilled to do this without a drilling fixture. the "fixture" is simply a piece of 3 1/2" x 3/8" cold rolled flatbar, with two 1/4" diameter pins inserted in the bottom to "straddle" the dovetail below it with zero clearance and the two holes I want to drill in the back side of the saddle pre-drilled in the bar on the mill. Two toe-clamps on the mill table hold it securely in place. The right angle drill attachment is something I bought 6 years ago for a different purpose and have never used.---it worked out very well for this. The holes are now drilled and tapped with no misplaced holes or broken tap disasters. The reading head is mounted in place and the table is drilled and tapped to hold the scale in place. I am going to put some travel limiters on the 23 1/2" X axis table movement, because at full travel it gets alarmingly close to the full travel of the scale. the next size larger scale would have been longer than my mill table.


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## petertha (Jul 7, 2015)

Brian Rupnow said:


> This modification brings the handle down to a much easier reach, and even gives some mechanical advantage when turning the handle. if anyone wants I can give more detailed information on this mod.---Brian
> http://s307.photobucket.com/user/Br...CATED HD. LIFTING HANDLE_zps2pebmr7h.jpg.html


 
That's a great idea. Yes snap some pics when the time comes. The turn handle is in an odd spot. I've seen a very similar looking Asian mill (I think) with the handle down low. Strange why they would put it there.

My mill is an RF-45, suspect bit bigger machine & also heavier head. The handle is better positioned mid column, but still requires reaching in and sailor arms. I've mulled over adding gas struts like the cnc-conversion guys do, but that's a bit of a production. A motorized gear reduction is another option I suppose, but I recall figuring pretty hefty torque. But your chain reduction/relocation idea seems to be a good compromise & positioned completely independent of the existing handle location.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 7, 2015)

Mkila--Yes, I will post drawings of the modification, when I get to it. As far as the wiring diagram is concerned, there is one stuck to the side of the readout box on my mill, but I'm not really an electrical kind of guy, so I have no idea whether it is correct or not.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 7, 2015)

Somebody was asking about table stops for the Y axis. This picture shows how I made them on my previous benchtop mill, and they worked very well.----Brian


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## petertha (Jul 7, 2015)

That was me & thanks. I like it. 
Dumb question but is the mounting bracket A mirrored on the back? Or is the slider bar kind of cantilevered towards the rear?


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 8, 2015)

There is a bracket supporting the far end of the rod that comes up off the mill base. The rod sets stationary. The slider bolted to the saddle moves back and forth. The locks with the knurled handles slide in or out and lock on the round bar to restrict linear travel of the slider.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 8, 2015)

Here we go, as requested. This will get the head height adjusting handwheel down out of the sky, to a more comfortable height, and give you some mechanical advantage as well. A word of warning though---There is no provision for tensioning the chain, so pick the approximate position you want the lowered handwheel to be in, then form a length of chain complete with master link and "hang" the lower assembly from the top sprocket. This will give an exact location to drill and tap your mill column so that the chain will be neither too tight nor too loose.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 8, 2015)

The electronic display and support are installed. If it bounces around because of being installed on the sheet metal motor guard, I will relocate the support bracket to the column.  I purchased a piece of 3" x 3" x 1/8" aluminum angle and used it to make a cover for the X axis scale. Since I don't have the capability here to weld aluminum, I made up two end plate/mounting brackets from 1`aluminum plate and bolted them in place.  The top of the aluminum guard angle is about 0.100` below the top of the mill table.The only fabrication I have left to do is to make up two table stop brackets to limit the travel of my X axis to 23so as not to damage the scale by òvertravelling`the reading head.


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## RonGinger (Jul 8, 2015)

I think you are going to want the readout mounted on the column and down close to the table. You will be watching the readout and the work at the same time and getting the readout down close to the work will help. I drilled and tapped a couple bolts into the column about mid way between the table and the head.


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## Swifty (Jul 8, 2015)

I agree, I think that you have mounted it too high.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 8, 2015)

You fellows may well be right. I stuck it up there because it was easy and it has to go somewhere. I won't really know until it comes to life and I try using it.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 8, 2015)

IT'S ALIIIIIVVVE!!!!  I just plugged in  the wiring from the X axis scale and the 110 volt feed to the read-out box. Holy Cow---is it ever neat to turn the dials/handles on the table and see those numbers spiral up or down. Ron, you're absolutely right---it's way too high where it is currently mounted. Of course now I'm going to have to build yet another bracket to hang off the side of the column so I can see the DRO readout  around the  mill control box. I haven't permanently mounted the Y axis scale yet, I've been too busy working on the X axis guard.---I've got two emails from customers insisting that I work on their projects RIGHT NOW, so it will probably be Sunday before I get the X axis travel limiters built and installed and suss out a bracket to mount the DRO box in a better spot.---Brian


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## Swifty (Jul 8, 2015)

Great work Brian, I will be doing my lathe later this year, I'm really looking forward to it. I just went out and checked my mill readout, the display is at eye level, it's a convenient height to zero readings etc without having to lift my arm too high, but it's out of the way of swarf. I never look at my machine dials anymore, you will wonder how you ever got on without it.

Paul.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 9, 2015)

I worked on a design job today until 1:30, but got hung up on a question my customer who is currently away in Europe couldn't answer.----so---I made up my X axis table travel limiters. My glass scale is only good for 23 5/8" (600 mm) and my table travel is 23 1/2". If you overtravel the scale capabilities, then it breaks something inside the scale. I didn't want to take a chance on that happening, so I made up a travel limiter for each end of the x axis which bolt to tapped holes in the end of the table. The 1/2" diameter rod welded to the inside of the stop bracket stops against the end of the saddle as shown in the pictures. This reduces my overall table travel to 21 1/2", but I can't imagine ever needing that much travel, and I certainly didn't want to break the scale.---I'm almost there!!! I need to make up a bracket to correctly position the electronic readout box and I will be just about finished with the DRO installation. This type of mill comes with a sheet of flexible rubber that runs from the base of the column to a bracket on the saddle to prevent chips from clogging up the Acme screw which operates the Y axis.--I now have nowhere to attach this sheet at the saddle end, so I'm a bit perplexed as to what to do about that. I know you can buy collapsible covers for this screw, same as you can for a lathe lead screw, but they are horribly expensive and I don't want to get into installing anything more right now.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 10, 2015)

I keep on making the "last bracket" and then discovering I need one more---. This afternoon I welded up a "dogleg" bracket to mount the DRO display off the column.--This was no simple task, because the milling machine control box sets exactly in the position where I would like the DRO readout to set, and it travels up and down as I raise or lower the head of the mill, plus the fact that the mill will eventually set in a recess in the wall of my machine shop. I finished the dogleg bracket and painted it, and then I got to seriously studying how the heck I am going to re-attach the big rubber flap that protects the Y axis Acme screw. Okay---I have a plan--but it is going to require yet another bracket. And it involves an "edge sealing brush" which will ride against the aluminum X axis guard as the table moves left to right and back, to prevent swarf from getting down into the X axis reading head. I'm getting darn well tired of making brackets!!!!


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## RonGinger (Jul 10, 2015)

I dont think the dog-leg bracket is needed. I simply used the bracket that came with the DRO and mounted it right to the side of the mill column, about half way up the column. Just drill 4 holes and tap them, I used 1/4-20.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 11, 2015)

Ron--You must have missed the bit about "The back 4" of the mill is setting in a recess in the wall." This is to preserve a bit of space in my very small machine shop. The dog leg was necessary to sneak around the recess in the wall and miss the side of the recess.


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## ShopShoe (Jul 11, 2015)

"I'm getting darn well tired of making brackets!!!!"

Been There, Done That.  You will get this done and it will work well for you.

I am enjoying your reports on setting up this mill because it is a great insight into your design process and problem solving.

I am also looking forward to seeing the future engine and mechanical projects this new mill will undoubtedly allow you to make.

Best wishes,

--ShopShoe


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 11, 2015)

I lay in bed last night with my head on fire, doing what I do best--designing!!! I have to have a way to incorporate that 10" wide rubber strip that covers the X axis ways and the Y axis Acme screw with the new DRO system I have installed. This will work, and it should work well. I'm a little vague right now on where I will get the 1/32" nylon strip, but research should yield something.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 11, 2015)

Eureka!! I have it!! I can use a piece of brass shim stock instead of nylon. That, I know where I can get, and a sheet metal brake will put in whatever bend I desire.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 11, 2015)

Wife and I just got home from a 240 mile round trip to visit my mother (who is 95 years old and in good health). I had to immediately go out to the garage and fit my new dogleg bracket which lowers the DRO readout by about 8 1/2" from it's previous location, and puts the center of the screen at my eye level. I had to make that dogleg bracket such a complex shape because of the fact that when the mill is in it's final location in my machine shop, the back of it will fit into a 4" recess in the wall, and the bracket had to clear the side of the recess, and also clear the head of the mill which moves up and down. Maybe tomorrow I will bolt on the Y axis scale, set it up true and level, and start thinking about where to run all the cables and wires. I can't do anything about the rubber sheet seal between the table and the column until Monday, when I can buy some sheet brass.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 12, 2015)

I think I can put this portion of the thread to bed now. The DRO is up and running and seems to perform very well. I still have to finish the bracket and the piece of brass shim-stock to complete the reinstallation of the big rubber guard between the saddle and the column, but that should be a relatively minor act, now that I have figured out what to do. The positioning and sorting out of wires and cables will be ongoing until I find what works best for me. My next act now will be to install the sprockets and chains to reposition the high handwheel that raises and lowers the head to a more comfortable position.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 12, 2015)

I hadn't planned on doing this today----Honest!!! it just kinda happened.


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## makila (Jul 12, 2015)

Hi Brian,
Just seen the drawings for the remote pulley,many thanks for sharing.
Steve


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## canadianhorsepower (Jul 12, 2015)

Hi Brian
nice to see that your DRO is lowered to a normal
eye level. (Y)


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## petertha (Jul 12, 2015)

Looks good Brian. How will you validate what the DRO is measuring vs. what the display says its measuring over the travel? Be interested in how it compares to your dials after this exercise complete. 

Mine was amazingly accurate despite a couple hundred handle turns. Not that it matters with a DRO, but made e feel pretty good about the lead screw at least.


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## petertha (Jul 12, 2015)

Another DRO learning for me: they clearly show you how much the table can move just by tightening the table travel lock screws. Mine would go +/- 0.002". Sometimes you hit the digit target by second guessing travel direction either adding or subtracting. And that's kind of the source of the problem. The typical Asian mill uses a bolt contacting the gib strip & as it applies torque can tractor the carriage & drift it a bit as it tightens. When I examined my strip, it had some nice ugly little crescent markings down it, so also not good.

My fix was just a bit of rod milled at dovetail angle on one end & countersink for a bearing ball locktite'd the other. The original cheesy set screw & plastic knob was replaced with a better quality bolt which I ground a slight dome & made a nice knurl knob. Now it rarely drifts more than 0.0005", usually not at all if I just snug them alternately.

The only thing to be mindful of is how to remove the little contactor it when the day comes. Turns out the ball I had was stainless & the contactor made from brass so my pokey magnet thingy didn't work to retrieve it from teh hole. (uh-oh!). Turns out I just remove the gib strip, unwind the travel until the thread hole is exposed inside & juts poke it out with a bent piece of copper wire.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 14, 2015)

I could never imagine, in my wildest dreams, how great a thing it is to have a DRO set-up. My god---It takes away 50% of the time in making something on the mill. It seems really weird at first, not counting full rotations and part rotations of every table adjustment using the dials. At first it seemed kind of strange, zeroing the x or Y axis then making the table move without even giving thought to where the dial is, but it's something you get used to pretty darn fast. It is simply amazing!!!---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 14, 2015)

This video shows the modification I made to the handle which raises and lowers the head of my bench-top milling machine.---Brian
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tNdf5aJUA&feature=youtu.be[/ame]


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## Swifty (Jul 14, 2015)

Great job on the chain drive and the readout. All you have left now is to move the mill into position and your ready to go. I can see that you are extremely happy with the readout, they make life so much easier. Does your readout have circular hole position function on it, it make it very easy to layout evenly spaced holes around a PCD. That's about the only special function that I use on mine, apart from the mm to inch button and half size for when I pick up the centre of blocks. The numbers on the dials are now superfluous, I never look at mine. Life will now be so much easier.

Paul.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 14, 2015)

Swifty--My DRO has all kind of nifty capabilities that I don't know how to use right now. since my Solidworks design software will give me ordinate dimensions for bolt hole dimensions, I don't know if I will ever use that particular function on the DRO.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 14, 2015)

I'm down to the point of having only one thing left to do, and that is complete the bracket to hold the big rubber sheet between the saddle and the column, yet still let the table move back and forth in the X axis. I purchased a sheet of .015" brass shim stock to make the "sliding seal" portion that rides against the back of the X axis guard angle, as shown in an earlier post. I hope to do that tomorrow morning. My original plan was to fit everything, then disassemble it all to move it into my machine shop. I am now rethinking that, and may move everything just as it is on my heavy duty machinery moving cart. I may hire two great big healthy fellows to help me---not so much to help me move the thing, as to steady it while I pull the cart. It has to go through the doorway from my garage into the office, then through a second door from my office into my machine shop. Clearance is not an issue, and both transoms are very low. I don't want to end up like the poor fellow on one of the forums who upset his brand new lathe and crushed his foot in the bargain.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 15, 2015)

I'm finished!!! The big rubber seal is back in place between the saddle and the column, and the piece of .015" brass seals tightly against the edge of the table but still lets it go back and forth. I have modified the "machinery cart" by welding up a handle to pull it with.--I found that while it has no problem supporting the machinery, it is almost impossible to steer the damn thing with a load on it, even with two steerable casters and two fixed casters. This way, the pivotting handle will let me steer and pull, while a couple of strong fellows can steady the machine. I have checked and the cart does fit through all my doorways. (barely). The machine will be bolted to the cart for the duration of the move.


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## Brian Rupnow (Jul 18, 2015)

And so, my friends, with the grace of God, the help of a neighbour, and lots of "huffery and puffery", the mill made it's way from my garage, through my office, and into my machine shop this morning. Nothing was dropped or broken, no fingers were crushed, and best of all, it fits into the hole in the wall I had prepared for it. Obviously, there will be some serious rearranging of the shop vac, belt sander, and chest of tooling drawers that were in there with the old smaller mill, but I will make that up as I go along. Thanks to everyone who has followed this long winded thread, and if anyone learned something on my journey, then that is the greatest reward of all. This thread is now ended.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 10, 2019)

Today I have to add a new chapter to this story. This mill has a high speed/lo speed selector knob, which gives the same effect as putting  a lathe into "back gear". About a month ago, during heavy drilling with a 1" diameter drill, in "lo speed" the  selector knob jumped out of gear. I said "Oh Dear" or something to that effect and clicked the selector back into "lo-speed". That fixed things for a little while, but the mill kept doing that repeatedly on any heavy drilling jobs I had from that point on. Yesterday, during a heavy drilling job, the lathe went "crunch" and I totally lost the "lo speed" function. I'm sure I have stripped the teeth off a gear in the head of the machine. I called Busy-Bee head office in Toronto this morning, and they do stock spare parts for this mill, which was purchased in 2015. Sometime this week I will pull the top off the mill, and try to find what I need to replace. If I find that it is too complex to fix in my shop, the entire head of the mill can be stripped from the column by removing two bolts, and I can take it down to Busy Bee for repair. The high speed function still works correctly, but I need that "lo-speed" function more than you would think. I really like this mill, and it has given me excellent service since I bought it.---Brian


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## dnalot (Oct 10, 2019)

Brian your new machine looks great. But you still have one thing to do. This alteration is just as impressive as adding the DROs. Replace the X & Y lead screws and nuts with ACME zero backlash setup. I did this with my SX3 bench-top mill and it was world changing. My conversion is now several years old and still working great, zero maintenance and no lubrication needed. 

https://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/threads/new-lead-screws-and-nuts-for-sx3-mill.24448/

Mark T


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 10, 2019)

This is a picture of my mill with the top cover removed. Don't let the sprocket and chain fool you--that is a modification I made so I wouldn't have to reach up so high to raise/lower the head. (I have a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder that can't be repaired). Unfortunately I don't have access to the back of the mill, so I will have to remove the motor and the motor-mount plate and go in through the top.---Brian


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## trlvn (Oct 11, 2019)

Hi:

Just in case, the manual for your CX601 is available as a pdf from BusyBee:

https://www.busybeetools.com/pages/Manuals.html

[Search for CX6 and you'll get to the right spot.]

I didn't check but hopefully a parts diagram and list is included.

Craig


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 11, 2019)

Thanks Craig---I have the original 601x manual here that came with the machine.---Brian


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 11, 2019)

So--Here we are with the head off the mill, setting on a small framework made of 2" x 8" lumber. So far this is pretty easy. There is one major bolt that holds the head to the vertical slider mechanism, and it is accessible from the front side of the machine. There is also one fairly major stud and nut combination which, when loosened allows the head to tilt left or tight to tram the mill head. The entire head pivots on that first major bolt. The entire head which unbolts is extremely heavy. I made sure that the head assembly was only a fraction of an inch above the wood framework before removing the pivot bolt and stud , because I didn't want to have to lift it when it came free. There is an inspection plate on the back side of the head, which I can now access to see whats happening in there. I will swing the entire head and wooden support frame around to give me clearance to remove that inspection panel and look inside.


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 11, 2019)

This picture shows the gear selector moved over to "low range" and the gear has moved so the damaged gear meshes with another gear to give "low range". --It hasn't moved all the way into position because of the damaged teeth. I think my next stunt will be to remove the motor and hopefully the damaged gear will come out with the motor. This will give me a chance to check the teeth on the gear which the damaged gear meshes with.


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 11, 2019)

Okay--My bad. The gear in question wasn't on the motor shaft. I pulled off the motor and motor plate, and see that there is a jackshaft between the motor shaft and the mill spindle. The bad gear is on this jackshaft. I have to disconnect some wires, so this is the point where I get out my sketch pad and start drawing pictures with wire colors on them so that after I disconnect them I can remember how it all goes back together. I see a c-clip on the end of the jackshaft, so now I will disconnect the motor and set it aside, still bolted to the motor plate.


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 11, 2019)

And here is the nasty wee bugger that caused the problem. I did have to phone Busy Bee in Concord to ask how that shaft came out. I thought I seen how it came out, to free up the gear, but I have been bitten on the arse before by "What I thought!" I did have to use my snap ring pliers to remove a couple of bearing retaining snap rings, then drive the shaft out from the bottom with a brass drift punch. I checked out the gears which this one meshed with, ---They are steel and suffered no visible damage. The new gear costs $55 and they have 44 in stock. I will drive to Concord (north Toronto) tomorrow and buy a new gear.


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## awake (Oct 12, 2019)

Looks like these gears are some sort of plastic? Perhaps to allow any destruction to occur here while saving the steel gears and the rest of the drive train.


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 12, 2019)

Okay, we're good here. I drove down to north Toronto this morning and picked up a new gear. (I get lost every time I drive into the city, and usually get lost when I try to get out again). Brought the new gear home, installed it, greased everything well and the mill is a runner again. No strange squeals, groans, or thumps. I knew before this all happened that my mill had to be trammed, so after I finish this post I will tram it.---Brian


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## Ghosty (Oct 12, 2019)

Brian,
It happened once, did you get a spare as well? Would save a long drive with getting lost again.
Cheers
Andrew


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## Brian Rupnow (Oct 12, 2019)

Andrew--If it happens again I may just go looking for a new mill. It's not that long a drive for me--only about 50 miles from here to there.


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## BaronJ (Oct 13, 2019)

Brian Rupnow said:


> And here is the nasty wee bugger that caused the problem. I did have to phone Busy Bee in Concord to ask how that shaft came out. I thought I seen how it came out, to free up the gear, but I have been bitten on the arse before by "What I thought!" I did have to use my snap ring pliers to remove a couple of bearing retaining snap rings, then drive the shaft out from the bottom with a brass drift punch. I checked out the gears which this one meshed with, ---They are steel and suffered no visible damage. The new gear costs $55 and they have 44 in stock. I will drive to Concord (north Toronto) tomorrow and buy a new gear.


Hi Brian,
My mill is the same as yours. I made a steel replacement for that gear when the plastic gear gave up.  It also cured a rhythmic thumping sound that I had from new, which turned out to be caused by the gear not being concentric with the shaft.  The plastic gear is used to reduce the noise created by the gears.  In my case the noise has reduced.

As far as new mills are concerned, I've been looking at a Sieg SX3.5DZP. All the mods that I've done to mine are standard.


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## Swissmat (Jun 4, 2020)

Brian Rupnow said:


> A new X axis reading head bracket shaped as shown, will let me get the holes into the dark blue 0.9" off the dark green surface (which is as close as I can get to it with my electric drill without disassembling my milling machine) and still allow me to mount the glass scale almost 1/2" below the top of the milling machine bed  For the guard, I think I will forget about a flange along the top and just use a piece of 3/16" thick aluminum angle, supported at the ends only. This lets me keep the top of the angle down 1/16" below the top of the table and leaves 1/4" clearance between the underside of the angle and the top of the glass scale.



Hey Brian, 

I have that same mill and am working on some bracketry and such. Are you able to share your 3d model somehow? Maybe as a  .step file? Would be greatly appreciated!
Mat


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## RonW (Jun 6, 2020)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Andrew--If it happens again I may just go looking for a new mill. It's not that long a drive for me--only about 50 miles from here to there.


Hi Brian,
I'm in the process of looking for a mill. The toss up has been between the PM25-MV and the CX601. I like the belt drive of the PM and after your and others hassles with the plastic gears in the CX I'm leaning that way. The PM I'm looking at also comes with 3 axis DROs. How long have you had your CX and what is your overall impression. It seems quite a lot heavier than the PM and also has a bigger table. How difficult was it to install the DROs on your machine?
Ron W


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## Brian Rupnow (Jun 6, 2020)

I have had my machine for 5 or 6 years now, and I am very happy with it. Installing the DRO system makes you scratch your head a bit, but is not terribly difficult. If someone wants my 3d cad files, email me at [email protected] and I will send them to you as .step files.---Brian


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## Swissmat (Jun 20, 2020)

I emailed you Brian  Thanks!


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## lucsimoneau (Feb 27, 2021)

Hi Brain - thanks for the 3D file, just received my machine yesterday  . Needed to look up the instructions available with the G0704 machine to turn it on . So if others are having problems, need to have the Forward/Reverse switch set to either F/R and the protective guard in place for the machine to start up. I will be installing a CNC upgrade to this machine in the near future ,,, will keep you posted!


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 3, 2021)

Today I have some new news to share with you. Last week, in the middle of a heavy cut, my mill stopped dead, as if the switch had been shut off.  I checked all of the obvious things,--glass fuse, circuit breaker, e-switch and power to the outlet. All seemed to be in order. I called the technician at BusyBee in Toronto, and he said that he is 99% shore that it is an electronics control board in the control box. It is not a big problem to take my mill to Toronto for repair, (It's only 70 miles from where I live) but it is a horrible job to move my mill from my shop out to my garage to load into my truck. The technician knows that I am a fairly handy guy, so he suggested sending the electronics board to me so I could install it on the machine. So---Here is the board and what it cost me. It looks like fairly simple "plug and play". I am going to dive into this, and I will show you my progress, as a lot of people in Canada have this same mill, and it's always nice if somebody puts up pictures of a repair job. In other news---Wife and I just got our first shots of Phizer vaccine for Covid this morning. No drama, no hurt, and no adverse reactions. we go on 14th of April for our second shot.


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## lucsimoneau (Mar 3, 2021)

Found another post of someone converting his PM-30MV to CNC. The machine is almost an exact replica of the CX601. Anyway's here's the STEP file if people find it useful. Send me a message if you want it.
In the meantime, I've been busy getting the machine installed with leveling feet (hockey pucks and carriage bolts), getting the CXVISE1 from Busy Bee modeled up and installing a coolant mist system for the unit.
Received some TTS tooling and getting ready to machine first parts.
Will be tackling the CNC upgrade shortly ...


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 3, 2021)

This shows the mill in it's home position, and as you can see there is no access to the back side of the box with the controls on it. However, since I very seldom get rid of anything, I hunted around until I found the wooden platform that I laid the head on when I changed the plastic gear in an earlier post. It seems that that is the simplest way to gain access to the back side of the control box, so by removing two large bolts I should be able to access the back of the control box.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 3, 2021)

So, with the head dismounted and the back cover off the control panel---It looks like they may have sent me the wrong board. The one in the machine is considerably different from the one in my hand. EDIT-EDIT--a friend with the same machine as mine had his apart while changing it over to cnc controls. The control box has a second board setting underneath the top/inside of the control box which does match the board they sent me.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 4, 2021)

So this is the electronics card being replaced. It wasn't the one at the rear of the control box, it was located on the inside/underside of the top of the control box. The new electronics card they sent me does match this one in the picture. according to the BusyBee technician, it should be pretty well a "plug and play" job, with no soldering required. These photos will be my record of what things looked like before I start pulling off wires and transferring them to the new card, one at a time.


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## awake (Mar 4, 2021)

Brian, have you already pulled off one wire? I'm a bit concerned about that open connector in the second photo. I don't suppose the whole problem with the mill is as easy as that wire coming loose?


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 4, 2021)

Andy--I have looked at the old board under high magnification. While all the other tabs have scratch marks on them from the push on wire connectors, that one has no marks on it at all, and there are no disconnected wires anywhere in the control box. I don't think there was ever a wire on that terminal.


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## awake (Mar 4, 2021)

Interesting. The plot thickens ...


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 4, 2021)

New board is installed, and still no cure. However, there is some good in this.--I now realize that I don't have to transport the entire mill to Toronto for Repairs. I only need to take the head with the motor on it. Am I disappointed?---Yes. Ah well, my hands and wrists are too buggered up with carpal tunnel to do much anyways. I've worked almost every day this winter on my mill and lathe, and if I have a few more days of downtime it isn't going to matter one way or the other.


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## SirJohn (Mar 4, 2021)

Hello Brian, questions are a bit off topic but mill related.  I am in the market for a mill and would like to know if you would buy another BusyBee Craftex mill considering all the recent problems you have encountered?  I am debating between  the 600 and 601 models because of the sizes and weights and the difficulty to move a mill into my basement shop.  What are the short comings of the 600 vs. the 601?  How difficult would it be to dismantle either model into smaller components that could be manhandle?


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 4, 2021)

I would buy another cx601 in a minute. it is a great mill. I've had mine 5 years, seeing almost daily use, and the only trouble I've had is the nylon gear and this electrical issue. It is very easy to separate the head of the mill from the base and column and just take the head in for repair work. (The entire head, spindle, and gearbox are held on with two large bolts.)


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 4, 2021)

I have taken the head completely off the machine and set it on my stool. It is very, very heavy, but nothing compared to the weight of the entire mill. Tomorrow I will probably bring in my cherry-picker hoist, move it from the stool to my two wheeled dolly, wheel it out to the garage and then lift it into my truck and take it to Toronto.


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## deeferdog (Mar 4, 2021)

Brian,
Like you I have had that mill for over five years. Once I had the exact same problem as you. It turned out to be the brushes in the motor, might be worth a check. Cheers, Peter.


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## BaronJ (Mar 5, 2021)

I agree with Peter,  I have made and replaced the brushes in the motor a number of times because the motor has just stopped usually in the middle of a job.

Not only do the brushes wear, the springs also end up carrying the motor current and get hot then collapse allowing the brush to loose contact with the commutator.   I would certainly check them first.

Don't rotate the brush when you take them out !  If you need to put them back in they must go back the same way they came out.  I mark the top with a red marker pen.  I've had new brushes that had a pigtail and it just pulled out of the carbon, so the springs had to carry all the motor current.

HTH.


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## lucsimoneau (Mar 5, 2021)

Hi all,
Just wondering if any of you with this machine have done a CNC Conversion. I've been looking into this and would like to hear what others have had as experience. Maybe I should start a new thread. New on this forum. 
Thanks


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## ssaxer (Mar 5, 2021)

IF you go over to Blondiehacks" youtube page she has a video  (  )where she repairs her Precision Matthews mill (look a lot like the CX) and had to fix a problem with the mill not running. Might  offer some additional information.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 6, 2021)

The head is in Toronto. Very little problem in loading it into my truck and driving it down and unloading. Takes me 1 hour to go one way. They will repair it and then ship it up to the Barrie sales outlet which is only 3 km from my house. I got home, had a hand full off papers in one hand with instructions on how to find the shop in Toronto, had a rolled up tarp in the other hand, and stepped out of my truck. My driveway is solid ice and I felt both feet starting to go. I cursed as loudly as I could, held on to my papers and tarp, and ended up flat on my back like an old turtle that someone had flipped over on it's back. I folded into the fall as well as I could, and other than a moment of sheer terror as I was in freefall seemed to be unharmed. So there I was, laying on my back, wet from ar$hole to eyeballs, rather shocked to say the least. After deciding that the only think harmed seemed to be my dignity, I scrambled around on my hands and knees retrieving all of my paperwork (which by this time had blown underneath the truck). Went into my house told my good wife I had a "great trip", and spent the remainder of the day setting on the couch and reading.


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## BaronJ (Mar 6, 2021)

BaronJ said:


> I agree with Peter,  I have made and replaced the brushes in the motor a number of times because the motor has just stopped usually in the middle of a job.
> 
> Not only do the brushes wear, the springs also end up carrying the motor current and get hot then collapse allowing the brush to loose contact with the commutator.   I would certainly check them first.
> 
> ...



Hi Guys,

Talk about coincidence, I've just done some maintenance on my my mill and what do you know the motor doesn't run any more.

Usual thing go straight for the brushes, this is what I found...




Worn almost to about two fifths of the length they should be.





The springs aren't much better !  Suffered from having to carry the motor current.

Still it is not a disaster.  Dead easy to make some new brushes, that is if you can get some suitable carbon.





The brush on the left is the one that I got the carbon from, and the one on the right is the new brush ready to be cut in half to make a new pair.

Total cost about half an hour with a junior hacksaw and some 80 grit sandpaper.

The net result is that the motor is running nicely again !


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## awake (Mar 7, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> The head is in Toronto. Very little problem in loading it into my truck and driving it down and unloading. Takes me 1 hour to go one way. They will repair it and then ship it up to the Barrie sales outlet which is only 3 km from my house. I got home, had a hand full off papers in one hand with instructions on how to find the shop in Toronto, had a rolled up tarp in the other hand, and stepped out of my truck. My driveway is solid ice and I felt both feet starting to go. I cursed as loudly as I could, held on to my papers and tarp, and ended up flat on my back like an old turtle that someone had flipped over on it's back. I folded into the fall as well as I could, and other than a moment of sheer terror as I was in freefall seemed to be unharmed. So there I was, laying on my back, wet from ar$hole to eyeballs, rather shocked to say the least. After deciding that the only think harmed seemed to be my dignity, I scrambled around on my hands and knees retrieving all of my paperwork (which by this time had blown underneath the truck). Went into my house told my good wife I had a "great trip", and spent the remainder of the day setting on the couch and reading.


Brian, that was scary to read - surely far more scary to experience! So glad you escaped serious injury.


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## SirJohn (Mar 7, 2021)

Had a similar experience in the church parking lot, thought I was on my to heaven or maybe hell. Went straight out flat on my back, no injury but spent the rest of the day in a chair too.  So much for going to church, it is a lot safer in my shop.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 8, 2021)

Today I got the phone call from BusyBee in Toronto. The holder for the glass fuse which is located on the underside of the control box had failed internally. The technician said that he has never seen that happen before. I had the fuse out and examined it while I was trouble shooting the mill myself, but the fuse was okay. The mill will be shipped back to me on Thursday. I personally am not doing very well, as I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and very bad arthritis in my knees. I'm off to see the doctor in about an hour.---Brian


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## Shopgeezer (Mar 8, 2021)

I bought a pair of the slip on ice claws that posties use for our trips to the city. The ice in town is deadly. Not so bad here at the farm but we are supposed to be getting a big pile of wet snow and rain tonight. Sounds like a good shop day tomorrow.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 8, 2021)

My old grandpa had a pair of those slip on "ice crampons". He wore them all the time when it was icy outside. I'm probably older now than he was, but if I end up on my arse again in the driveway, I'm going to buy a pair!!!


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## Linz (Mar 8, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> So, with the head dismounted and the back cover off the control panel---It looks like they may have sent me the wrong board. The one in the machine is considerably different from the one in my hand. EDIT-EDIT--a friend with the same machine as mine had his apart while changing it over to cnc controls. The control box has a second board setting underneath the top/inside of the control box which does match the board they sent me.


The board on the left is the line voltage filter and the board on the right is the motor speed control board. These along with the forward/reverse switch appear to be the same ones used in the CX-701 lathe.


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## Linz (Mar 8, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> So this is the electronics card being replaced. It wasn't the one at the rear of the control box, it was located on the inside/underside of the top of the control box. The new electronics card they sent me does match this one in the picture. according to the BusyBee technician, it should be pretty well a "plug and play" job, with no soldering required. These photos will be my record of what things looked like before I start pulling off wires and transferring them to the new card, one at a time.


The open terminal is just a ground out connection. The ground in is connected to various other points in the machine and this terminal is not used. Not a lot to go wrong with this board. 110v in, filtered, 110v out. The stepped down voltage from the transformer  supplies power to the display via that ribbon cable.


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## Linz (Mar 8, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> New board is installed, and still no cure. However, there is some good in this.--I now realize that I don't have to transport the entire mill to Toronto for Repairs. I only need to take the head with the motor on it. Am I disappointed?---Yes. Ah well, my hands and wrists are too buggered up with carpal tunnel to do much anyways. I've worked almost every day this winter on my mill and lathe, and if I have a few more days of downtime it isn't going to matter one way or the other.


Unfortunate indeed. However, you are lucky to be close to the Toronto branch. I am suffering a similar fate with my BRAND NEW CX-701 lathe and getting it running here in Edmonton is NOT proving to be as easy.


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## Linz (Mar 8, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Today I got the phone call from BusyBee in Toronto. The holder for the glass fuse which is located on the underside of the control box had failed internally. The technician said that he has never seen that happen before. I had the fuse out and examined it while I was trouble shooting the mill myself, but the fuse was okay. The mill will be shipped back to me on Thursday. I personally am not doing very well, as I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and very bad arthritis in my knees. I'm off to see the doctor in about an hour.---Brian


Well, you must be special. I currently can't even get the courtesy of a return call. I hear ya on the carpal tunnel and arthritis problems. Had carpal tunnel release surgery on left hand and right is getting worse. Arthritis areas show up white on xrays, almost like a glowing light. My full body scan has me pretty much lit up from head to toe. Lots of injuries over the years. Season changes are brutal. Good luck.


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## Courierdog (Mar 9, 2021)

Linz
Good to hear you are close by, I am in Edmonton. I agree that some of the Edmonton Staff are not as caring as they should be, when it comes to returning calls ETC, this was why I ended up purchasing from the Little Machine Shop in California who as far as I am concerned provides excellent customer follow up. 
If BusyBeeTools were to adopt the LMS Customer Attitude BusyBeeTools would more than double their business. 
I personally believe the Seig machines are not quite the same quality of the Weiss machines sold by BusyBeeTools and the cost as delivered in Canada is about the same as the items from BusyBeeTools. 
If you find a BusyBeeTools location that does provide good service and gives you the confidence that they care then by means give them your business. The Craftex / Weiss machines are excellent quality. Since I am not a machinist and my background is electronics and Antennas, I require customer support.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 9, 2021)

I am fortunate to be only 50 miles from Toronto. I find the technicians to be very helpful and decent to deal with. In broad strokes, the store owners at local level are quite willing to take your money, but are as useless as tits on a chicken if you have any trouble with the machines they sell you.---Brian


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## Linz (Mar 9, 2021)

Courierdog said:


> Linz
> Good to hear you are close by, I am in Edmonton. I agree that some of the Edmonton Staff are not as caring as they should be, when it comes to returning calls ETC, this was why I ended up purchasing from the Little Machine Shop in California who as far as I am concerned provides excellent customer follow up.
> If BusyBeeTools were to adopt the LMS Customer Attitude BusyBeeTools would more than double their business.
> I personally believe the Seig machines are not quite the same quality of the Weiss machines sold by BusyBeeTools and the cost as delivered in Canada is about the same as the items from BusyBeeTools.
> If you find a BusyBeeTools location that does provide good service and gives you the confidence that they care then by means give them your business. The Craftex / Weiss machines are excellent quality. Since I am not a machinist and my background is electronics and Antennas, I require customer support.


Most of the staff I have spoken to in Edmonton are ok, a couple are even quite good to speak with. Unfortunately, they have no say in after sale service/warranty matters. It's the Ontario, Concord(Toronto) head office I'm currently having issues with. Current shipping costs make it virtually impossible to justify buying hobby (budget) machines from the USA. For that matter, even somewhere else in Canada if you have to pay shipping.

The budget (home hobby) type machines and tools are all quite similar amongst the various vendors, it's the service that makes all the difference and I feel BB's customer service to this point has been horrible. I can't comment on the Quality (result wise) they produce as they are not running yet. The fit and finish is as expected from budget machines, nothing more. The electrical/electronic components are among the cheapest available. At the end of the day, these are budget machines and I knew that going in. That's all I can afford and they are just for home hobby, learning, tinkering.


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## Linz (Mar 9, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I am fortunate to be only 50 miles from Toronto. I find the technicians to be very helpful and decent to deal with. In broad strokes, the store owners at local level are quite willing to take your money, but are as useless as tits on a chicken if you have any trouble with the machines they sell you.---Brian


It seems proximity to the Toronto (head office) location is the deciding factor on whether one should deal with BB or not. I don't know if the other stores are individually owed or just managed under the umbrella of the head office. I am told here in Edmonton they don't carry any replacement parts or do any actual work on the machines. They told me I have to order parts directly from Toronto and that they are required to ship anything requiring service back to Ontario.

I have never been able to call directly to any technician and have only had a customer service call answered twice before having them forward me to hold followed by voicemail on the technical line. I had my initial customer service call on my failed new 701 lathe returned and he did seem decent and attempting to be helpful as well. He offered to send replacement parts that I would install myself. I told him several times that I was willing to work with them to get the machine running but expected to receive the parts in a reasonable amount of time. He told me he had them and would send them out right away. That was 3 weeks ago. Haven't heard a thing. Finally called them for an update on the situation but could only reach the voice mail. I left several messages but have not received a return call.


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## trlvn (Mar 9, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> ... useless [...] if you have any trouble with the machines they sell you.---Brian


I don't want to antagonize you but...what did you expect?  We all want machines with lots of features but at a really low cost.  To achieve that, such machine are built of low-cost components in a far-away, low-labour-cost market.  I expect that BusyBee will eventually get you up and going but it may be a long haul with multiple attempts.  

The owner of BusyBee drops in to the CanadianWoodworking site periodically and he sincerely seems to want to solve problems and help users.  For instance, I believe they sometimes scavenge parts off floor machines to send to a customer in need.  And hopefully get a replacement part for the now-dead floor machine.  If you are not getting satisfaction, you might try contacting him directly.

BusyBee is far from perfect but you seem to be expecting 5-star service while paying 3-star rates?

Craig


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## Linz (Mar 10, 2021)

trlvn said:


> I don't want to antagonize you but...what did you expect?  We all want machines with lots of features but at a really low cost.  To achieve that, such machine are built of low-cost components in a far-away, low-labour-cost market.  I expect that BusyBee will eventually get you up and going but it may be a long haul with multiple attempts.
> 
> The owner of BusyBee drops in to the CanadianWoodworking site periodically and he sincerely seems to want to solve problems and help users.  For instance, I believe they sometimes scavenge parts off floor machines to send to a customer in need.  And hopefully get a replacement part for the now-dead floor machine.  If you are not getting satisfaction, you might try contacting him directly.
> 
> ...


I'm not sure if you are directing that towards, Brian or me. Brian has been great here! He as taken the time to review the Craftex CX-601. He's posted pictures of his additions and upgrades, documented procedures, made drawings and offered files to anyone who could use them. He readily admits when he's wrong or is unfamiliar with something. He pretty much exemplifies what you look for in a forum thread poster. He has also stated in several places that he is satisfied with his Craftex machines and can work with, live with or deal with the service he gets from BusyBee. The comment on local dealers being useless after the sale is 100% correct in what I have experienced.

Myself, I haven't seen any positive traits exhibited by BusyBee Tools. We all know what these machines are. We know why and where they are made. What do we expect? We expect the vendors of these machines to provide support and customer service to those that buy them. You don't have to sell top-of-the-line items to provide top-of-the-line-service. As far as I'm concerned, BusyBee does neither.

Maybe the "owner" can spend some time on his own BusyBee Tools site, read the "About Us" section and try to actually do or provide some of these things. Maybe he can teach his employees how to answer the phone or return calls. Maybe he can teach his employees to be honest with customers and/or to follow through doing things they say they will.

I don't expect a 5-star machine at 3-star rates but yes, I do expect 5-Star service. This is their business (selling low end machines), they chose to do it and they are the ones who profit from it. You seem to equate the price/quality of the goods to be tied to the level of customer service you get, that is why places like this still exist. One day, if we have more and better choices, and BusyBee goes out of business, you can ask the owner "What did you expect?"


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## awake (Mar 10, 2021)

trlvn said:


> I don't want to antagonize you but...what did you expect?  We all want machines with lots of features but at a really low cost.  To achieve that, such machine are built of low-cost components in a far-away, low-labour-cost market.  I expect that BusyBee will eventually get you up and going but it may be a long haul with multiple attempts.
> 
> The owner of BusyBee drops in to the CanadianWoodworking site periodically and he sincerely seems to want to solve problems and help users.  For instance, I believe they sometimes scavenge parts off floor machines to send to a customer in need.  And hopefully get a replacement part for the now-dead floor machine.  If you are not getting satisfaction, you might try contacting him directly.
> 
> ...



Hmm ... are the only choices 5-star service or 0-star service? I would think it would be reasonable to expect 3-star service for 3-star rates ... but based on what Brian and Linz are reporting, it sounds like they are getting more like 0-star service, certainly from the local stores, and in Linz's case, even reaching beyond the local store. IOW, no, I wouldn't expect the local store or even a regional manager to be able to diagnose the problems and fix them personally, but I would hope that 3-star service would at least include some attitude of caring that there is a problem and wanting to help make it right!


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## trlvn (Mar 10, 2021)

Late last week BusyBee sent Brian a new board expecting that would cure the described problem.  Unfortunately, it didn't:
           #105         

He took the head to them and on Monday this week they called him to say they had found the problem (fuse) and were sending the repaired unit to the store nearest his home:
           #117         

That seem to me to be pretty good service and far from "useless".  Perhaps Brian's fall left him a little grumpy.  I'm sure I would be.  5-star service would have been a technician dispatched to his home.  I'm just saying I don't expect white linens and an experienced sommelier when I buy a meal at MacDonalds!

Craig


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## Courierdog (Mar 11, 2021)

Craig:
I think you are missing the point that most of use understand.
Brian is a gentleman, and has the luxury of being able to drive to Toronto from Barrie. There are more of us out in the "Left Overshoe" of Canada who while we may live near a city that happens to have a BusyBeeTools outlet. As has also been said Only Toronto is authorized to perform repairs or ship out spares.
Here in Edmonton, IF, BusyBeeTools will return my call, and if they will pass the information along to Toronto, a week or more has already past.
This is reality living in Canada.
I have lived In the Maritimes, In Ontario, and Alberta and there is a huge difference in treatment if you live anywhere but Toronto the Blessed, oh and by the way you also must life on the correct side of the tracks as well.
It has nothing to do with eating at McDonalds and expecting service befitting the old Royal York.
It is about being treated as a valued customer.
One very wise manager I once had said, It does not matter what the customers orders, be it the least expensive item or the most extravagant item, you give every customer the treatment as if they just bought the store, and you will never disappoint the customer, or the company you represent.
My two cents


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## Linz (Mar 11, 2021)

Craig, Sorry, but you are a very confused individual. He said he finds the LOCAL store useless( when there is an issue or problem with the machine). I find that to be100% accurate here in Edmonton as well. No one individual's fault. Maybe it's just the Busybee business model. I don't care if the local employee knows anything or not. They should be able to find the required information or maybe carry some of the parts or possibly order them in. Maybe they should be the ones contacting "head office" because I sure find them useless in handling customers as well. All the BusyBee employees should at least be part of the support team and provide customer service along with sales. Maybe the "head office" wants to be in total control and won't allow individual stores to stock, distribute parts, or contact them on the customer's behalf. I don't know. What I do know is that my experience with BusyBee (not the machines, as they are not running yet) has been horrible! Awake, Courierdog, and I'm sure several others, get it. The goods being sold, their cost, the condition of the building, the average yearly income of the customers, the size of their house, the type of car they drive, the color of your eyes, the alignment of the planets or anything else you can think of have nothing to do with the way a customer should be treated in respect to the business. CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I'm going to stop beating this "Dead Horse" now. You either understand "customer service" or you don't. I hope this thread can return to reporting on the Craftex CX-601 mill as intended.


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## Richard Hed (Mar 11, 2021)

trlvn said:


> Late last week BusyBee sent Brian a new board expecting that would cure the described problem.  Unfortunately, it didn't:
> #105
> 
> He took the head to them and on Monday this week they called him to say they had found the problem (fuse) and were sending the repaired unit to the store nearest his home:
> ...


There ya go!  I wouldn't buy a meal at mccancers under ANY circumstances.


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## Courierdog (Mar 11, 2021)

Ok! I t now time to turn it back to Brian, to continue his saga of the CX601. The Machine CX601 is a good machine for the money spent. Yes there are some weak points, which if were reported back to the manufactures would be fixed in due course. Those dealers who have a direct link to the company have found the manufactures are keenly interested in improving their product and their customer image as well. Just because some of the machines being discussed have started out extremely cheap, take note of the latest versions in comparison to the first iteration of the same machine. If the west thinks the Chinese do not listen or do not care are in for a very rude surprise. The Quality of their machines and merchandise in general has been improving. All these things take time.
We do not have to go off shore to realize the true facts about manufacturing. Take a breath and look at the South Bend Lathes as an example in the US or the MyFord in the UK. These machines did not magically appear one day as the perfect example of Machining Excellence. No Machining Excellence comes by hard work, perseverance and adherence to best practices and above all listen to what the customer wants. Listening to the customer, can pay huge dividends. The Concept of Total Quality while written by an American was taken to heart by the Japanese and Taiwanese who have taken W. Edwards *Deming's *words to heart and now you will find some of the best examples of the machining arts are produced in Japan and Taiwan. *Deming's treatise *in essence was Customer Service taken to the extreme. Break it down to the basics, Plan, Do, Check, Action. I was fortunate to take his course and it has nothing to do with Quality Control which is what the Americans consider what it is about. Total Quality is about the process and the control of the process, down to the smallest detail. In essence Total Quality is about taking each single step of the over all process and breaking it down and improving each and every step. It does not stop there, the improvement of each step does not stop, it is a continual process. Those people and those companies who apply and continue to apply Deming's concept and make it a part of their company at the heart find that even the people take to process home and it is and can be a transforming process. The Smallest process done right, and worked at to improve even the smallest points within the process can and does make a difference.
Take making your morning cup of coffee or tea your choice. Start there and write down the process you use. Use this as your personal experiment. Read Deming and use his concept and work your own process to achieve your morning beverage. Keep working your process. You will be very surprised in short order you can improve the end result. The big caution is never assume you have arrived. The TQ concept is never ending it is a beginning.
OK I will get off my Soap Box and Wait for Brian to get back on and keep us on Track of the perfection of the CX601 Mill. Lets hear it for Brian and his patience and perseverance.


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## Richard Hed (Mar 11, 2021)

Courierdog said:


> Ok! I t now time to turn it back to Brian, to continue his saga of the CX601. The Machine CX601 is a good machine for the money spent. Yes there are some weak points, which if were reported back to the manufactures would be fixed in due course. Those dealers who have a direct link to the company have found the manufactures are keenly interested in improving their product and their customer image as well. Just because some of the machines being discussed have started out extremely cheap, take note of the latest versions in comparison to the first iteration of the same machine. If the west thinks the Chinese do not listen or do not care are in for a very rude surprise. The Quality of their machines and merchandise in general has been improving. All these things take time.
> We do not have to go off shore to realize the true facts about manufacturing. Take a breath and look at the South Bend Lathes as an example in the US or the MyFord in the UK. These machines did not magically appear one day as the perfect example of Machining Excellence. No Machining Excellence comes by hard work, perseverance and adherence to best practices and above all listen to what the customer wants. Listening to the customer, can pay huge dividends. The Concept of Total Quality while written by an American was taken to heart by the Japanese and Taiwanese who have taken W. Edwards *Deming's *words to heart and now you will find some of the best examples of the machining arts are produced in Japan and Taiwan. *Deming's treatise *in essence was Customer Service taken to the extreme. Break it down to the basics, Plan, Do, Check, Action. I was fortunate to take his course and it has nothing to do with Quality Control which is what the Americans consider what it is about. Total Quality is about the process and the control of the process, down to the smallest detail. In essence Total Quality is about taking each single step of the over all process and breaking it down and improving each and every step. It does not stop there, the improvement of each step does not stop, it is a continual process. Those people and those companies who apply and continue to apply Deming's concept and make it a part of their company at the heart find that even the people take to process home and it is and can be a transforming process. The Smallest process done right, and worked at to improve even the smallest points within the process can and does make a difference.
> Take making your morning cup of coffee or tea your choice. Start there and write down the process you use. Use this as your personal experiment. Read Deming and use his concept and work your own process to achieve your morning beverage. Keep working your process. You will be very surprised in short order you can improve the end result. The big caution is never assume you have arrived. The TQ concept is never ending it is a beginning.
> OK I will get off my Soap Box and Wait for Brian to get back on and keep us on Track of the perfection of the CX601 Mill. Lets hear it for Brian and his patience and perseverance.


That's how and why we learn--unconsiously or conciously, we improve in what we do.  Those of us who do well, continually improve.  We may not be aware of it but it is indeed, our process.  Ford motor company one time in the 80s made a terrible mistake as they had the process in which a part was machined to +- .020".  They had a male and female part for the transmissions in which the parts were made by different companies, all by the correct spec!  But when the parts were put together for assembly, they didn't fit as the specs overlapped.  It cost a lot of $$ to redo the parts.  you remember the 80s?  That's when Ford made their worst products eveer, very arrogant, almost as arrogant as GM.  Actually, I believe there was actually somethign else at work here:  since all the American car companies owned a huge portion of the Japanese companies, the American car companies actually wanted to put their own companies out of business!.  Seems like crap what I am saying.  But look at the evidence:  Parts are mostly made overseas, all the unions are done for, people lost scores of thousands of jobs.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 11, 2021)

An update on what is happening with the mill. I went over to BusyBee sales outlet today in Barrie and picked up the power head for my mill. (Toronto BusyBee ships it up to my local BusyBee with no charge to me.) They refunded $67 to me because the filter board they had originally sent me was not the problem. They put a new power cord on the mill and a new fuse holder. They charged me $15 for the new power cord and nothing for the new fuse holder. Two hours labour cost $100.00 I'm okay with this. It is a good milling machine and I am very happy with it. I used my cherry-picker engine hoist to unload it from my truck and onto my two wheel pallet truck, then maneuvered it from my garage into my office. It is extremely heavy. I may enlist the help of my younger son to get it off the pallet truck and back into position on the mill. My hands are bad with carpal tunnel syndrome right now, so I'm in no great rush.


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## Richard Hed (Mar 11, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> An update on what is happening with the mill. I went over to BusyBee sales outlet today in Barrie and picked up the power head for my mill. (Toronto BusyBee ships it up to my local BusyBee with no charge to me.) They refunded $67 to me because the filter board they had originally sent me was not the problem. They put a new power cord on the mill and a new fuse holder. They charged me $15 for the new power cord and nothing for the new fuse holder. Two hours labour cost $100.00 I'm okay with this. It is a good milling machine and I am very happy with it. I used my cherry-picker engine hoist to unload it from my truck and onto my two wheel pallet truck, then maneuvered it from my garage into my office. It is extremely heavy. I may enlist the help of my younger son to get it off the pallet truck and back into position on the mill. My hands are bad with carpal tunnel syndrome right now, so I'm in no great rush.


Wait a minute--what is a two wheel pallet truck?  Is it like a two wheel trailor?


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 11, 2021)

I may have made that name up. I really didn`t know exactly what this was called.


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## Richard Hed (Mar 11, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


>


Oh.  We call that a hand truck, no wonder I didn't know what it was.  Language slowly diverges regionally but with internet, it should re-converge.  Thanx, learned a new word today.


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## Courierdog (Mar 11, 2021)

Brian:
Here is what you need.
*Mini Shop Crane*






						Mini Shop Crane - HomemadeTools.net
					

I started to build this to lift the head off my milling machine, but decided to make a mobil shop crane out of it instead. At 6 1/2 feet, it's short



					www.homemadetools.net
				



Or it at least it looks interesting and for a person of your talents,  I would suggest pneumatic tires to make it easier moving around the shop and out to the truck.
The part I like is you can build it to suit your home and situation which best suits your needs.
It is strictly for vertical lifting. There is no Boom or any means to extend a weight in the horizontal plain other than moving the entire Crane from point A to Point B


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## Courierdog (Mar 11, 2021)

I had another look. I would suggest a different approach to the actual lifting method.
1. and electric Winch
2. a chain fall
3. a block and tackle using as many pulleys as required to make the lifting weight manageable with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.


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## goldstar31 (Mar 12, 2021)

I hope that I am not offending anyone  but my thoughts  and actions may be worth a thought or two.
 Provided there is no problems which are severe mentally and physically, there is no reason that I can see to prevent people of they are still in clining to carry on  machining into quite late in lif e.  I'm almost 91!

However, I have made dramatic alterations( and really should make more) because  I am no longer fit enough to even consider heavy-ish tooling and certainly not blocks and tackles.
I'm even connsidring whether to dispense with my milling machine and tackling jobs  which we all managed on a vertical slide-- in the olden days.

I've updated my lathe to one which is the same but hopefully,  requires and w ill reqire less attention in whatever future holds. Again, when that time inevitably comes, there will be a workshop which will be desirable and not the subject and attention of the tire kickers who waste time of those who have the responsibility of finalising things.

Like many of advancing age, I have more than one lathe. It has saved vast amounts of time and effort in not having to change tooling and, in my case, the second lathe was incredibly cheap. In other w ords as someone who has 'done cost accountancy, recognises that machinery  not only reduces in value but-- horror of horrors- takes on a negative value .
So my thoughts. I'd be delighted to hear yours

Norman


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## BaronJ (Mar 12, 2021)

Richard Hed said:


> Oh.  We call that a hand truck, no wonder I didn't know what it was.  Language slowly diverges regionally but with internet, it should re-converge.  Thanx, learned a new word today.



Over here, its called a "Sack Barrow" !


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## Richard Hed (Mar 12, 2021)

BaronJ said:


> Over here, its called a "Sack Barrow" !


Whoa, that's really great--learnd another new word.  a "sack Barrow", must originally come from the same meaning as wheel barrow, a barrow of course is a pig.  Did the ancient English, perhaps, use pigs for work like camels?


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## goldstar31 (Mar 12, 2021)

Richard Hed said:


> Whoa, that's really great--learnd another new word.  a "sack Barrow", must originally come from the same meaning as wheel barrow, a barrow of course is a pig.  Did the ancient English, perhaps, use pigs for work like camels?


Chinese
The railway stuff of 4feet 8 and a half inches is older than the Romans.  There are ruts formed from chariots running along The Roman Wall and obviously older than that.  George Stephenson, the railway pioneer ived nearby-- and copied the gauge. In wood first!


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## BaronJ (Mar 12, 2021)

Richard Hed said:


> Whoa, that's really great--learnd another new word.  a "sack Barrow", must originally come from the same meaning as wheel barrow, a barrow of course is a pig.  Did the ancient English, perhaps, use pigs for work like camels?



Hi Richard,
Up here in Yorkshire and Scotland , the word "Barrow"  often gets pronounced "Barra".  Barra is also the most southerly of the inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides part of the Western Ilse.


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## goldstar31 (Mar 12, 2021)

A Barrow is also a tumulus in pre- historic times.

Now they have found that Stonehenge was moved from the Nort of Sccotland to the South of England


Heady stuff and just discovered


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## trlvn (Mar 12, 2021)

Courierdog said:


> ... Brian is a gentleman


Interesting.  Why did you feel the need to point that out?  I certainly haven't written anything that suggests otherwise.


> ... the luxury of being able to drive to Toronto from Barrie. There are more of us out in the "Left Overshoe" of Canada who while we may live near a city that happens to have a BusyBeeTools outlet. As has also been said Only Toronto is authorized to perform repairs or ship out spares.


You might recheck Brian's first interaction with BusyBee.  It was all done remotely and they sent him a new control board immediately.  Why his experience was different from others in the West, apart from the time difference, I can't say.


> ... I have lived In the Maritimes, In Ontario, and Alberta and there is a huge difference in treatment if you live anywhere but Toronto the Blessed, oh and by the way you also must life on the correct side of the tracks as well.


Wow, there is an awful lot to unpack there but that is just too far from the raison d'etre of this board.

Craig


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## Richard Hed (Mar 12, 2021)

Well, just so that anyone concerned will know:  I . . .  am NOT a gentleman, not at all, I am rude and crude and slap women just for fun.  Rather, I am  . . . a SCHOLAR!  I am also a coward, if threatened by a woman bigger than me, I RUN!  But in my spare time, when not spuming naughty words or slapping the helpless, I READ!


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## trlvn (Mar 12, 2021)

Linz said:


> Craig, Sorry, but you are a very confused individual.


What a delightful person you are.  We may disagree but I haven't disparaged you.  Yet.


> ... the way a customer should be treated in respect to the business. CUSTOMER SERVICE.


I will again point out that Brian's mill went down on March 3 and I believe he received the repaired head back on March 11.  Are we really calling that bad customer service?

Note that I only ever commented on his experience--no others.

Craig


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## goldstar31 (Mar 13, 2021)

Richard Hed said:


> Well, just so that anyone concerned will know:  I . . .  am NOT a gentleman, not at all, I am rude and crude and slap women just for fun.  Rather, I am  . . . a SCHOLAR!  I am also a coward, if threatened by a woman bigger than me, I RUN!  But in my spare time, when not spuming naughty words or slapping the helpless, I READ!


Well?  Yes.

But the World rotates on the interaction of Land, Labour and Capital and arguably Enterprise. 
In a modest sort of way, hobby workshops are obtained-- or not. Rational comments would be welcome--- as it is bloody cold, raining and I have been locked down in this awful pandemic for 13 months.
Regards

Norman


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## ajoeiam (Mar 13, 2021)

goldstar31 said:


> snip
> as it is bloody cold, raining and I have been locked down in this awful pandemic for 13 months.



Hang in there - - - - more lock down to come - - - - we are a very long way from done with this particular virus at this point. 
In fact the UN, IIRC, was suggesting at least one more year - - - - knowing how accurate bureaucratic estimates are I'd suggest that said estimate is likely quite optimistic!


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## Linz (Mar 13, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> An update on what is happening with the mill. I went over to BusyBee sales outlet today in Barrie and picked up the power head for my mill. (Toronto BusyBee ships it up to my local BusyBee with no charge to me.) They refunded $67 to me because the filter board they had originally sent me was not the problem. They put a new power cord on the mill and a new fuse holder. They charged me $15 for the new power cord and nothing for the new fuse holder. Two hours labour cost $100.00 I'm okay with this. It is a good milling machine and I am very happy with it. I used my cherry-picker engine hoist to unload it from my truck and onto my two wheel pallet truck, then maneuvered it from my garage into my office. It is extremely heavy. I may enlist the help of my younger son to get it off the pallet truck and back into position on the mill. My hands are bad with carpal tunnel syndrome right now, so I'm in no great rush.


That was good of them to refund on the board. Driving to Concord seems to be the answer to lack of parts /service at the local stores. I wish I could do that. Although, driving the 3400kms might be quicker then waiting for them to return a call. Maneuvering these machines and parts can certainly be a chore. Your in home work room looks extremely convenient but also limiting on the hoisting equipment that can be used.


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## Linz (Mar 13, 2021)

Brian Rupnow said:


> I may have made that name up. I really didn`t know exactly what this was called.


I love all the machined projects you have on your shelves. One day......maybe.


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 14, 2021)

Together again---All my tears have stopped falling---Okay, well, maybe we're not all country music fans. This morning, with the help of my cherry picker engine hoist and armed with absolute faith in myself, I put the head back on my mill.---And yes, I did actually plug it into power and turn it on just to make damned sure that it really did run before I put it back on the machine. I was going to get my younger son to come over and help me, but I'd really rather work alone, and he is out and about with his job every day and I am still concerned about catching Covid. I consider it rather miraculous that the mill quit working on almost the same day that my carpal tunnel syndrome rendered both hands rather useless. I've taken good advantage of the "downtime" that resulted from the mill breaking down, and my hands are doing much better now. I still have to tram the mill and fix a few wires in place, but it will be back in production by the end of today. In terms of money, it's cost me about $125 and a trip to Toronto, but neither is a big deal for me.---Brian Rupnow


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## Brian Rupnow (Jan 10, 2022)

Today I am replacing the sheared off nylon gear in the head of my CX601 milling machine. This has taken me three hours to get from beginning to end of disassembly. I am going slow like the turtle, because I've only done this once before and I don't want to break something. Thank goodness I made some notes on how this was done two or three years ago, because I only remember about half of what I done. In this picture you can see the jack shaft this gear lives on, the old gear, the new gear, and the shifter fork. There is a real trick involved with this jackshaft. It has three snap rings associated with it. One is on the bottom, in the same cavity that the bolts are which hold the head in place and let you tram the mill. Take it off first. That shaft passes thru a bearing in the top plate and then thru another gear. The second snap ring holds the gear in place on the shaft and has to be removed to let the gear be removed from the shaft. Then a third snap ring holds the bearing in the top plate and it must be removed last of all. Then the shaft with bearing in place is driven out from the bottom side with a brass drift punch.


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## Dopy (Jan 11, 2022)

Brian Rupnow said:


> Together again---All my tears have stopped falling---Okay, well, maybe we're not all country music fans. This morning, with the help of my cherry picker engine hoist and armed with absolute faith in myself, I put the head back on my mill.---And yes, I did actually plug it into power and turn it on just to make damned sure that it really did run before I put it back on the machine. I was going to get my younger son to come over and help me, but I'd really rather work alone, and he is out and about with his job every day and I am still concerned about catching Covid. I consider it rather miraculous that the mill quit working on almost the same day that my carpal tunnel syndrome rendered both hands rather useless. I've taken good advantage of the "downtime" that resulted from the mill breaking down, and my hands are doing much better now. I still have to tram the mill and fix a few wires in place, but it will be back in production by the end of today. In terms of money, it's cost me about $125 and a trip to Toronto, but neither is a big deal for me.---Brian Rupnow


Good to hear its all back together and working.whewwww.
I have a 601 two years now.....not using it all that much....but i'll knowý who to go to when (not if) my gear goes.   So far the only issue was the spindle was heating up when used at higher speeds.  Ffelt like there was some drag when hand turning the spindle out of gear.  Took the spindle out and managed to reduce the load  on the bearings.  From guaging the spindle there's no play and can rotate easily by hand.  Only gets a little warm now....i'm happy.   I'm just a novice at this mill and a cx709 lathe.  Need to talk to you about a Dro for the mill.   
I'd say i'm an old fart...and suffered from carple tunnel for a couple of decades......untill i got surgery.. i fully understand the incapacitation  and pain of this condition.   Got my both wrists done......and has been great ever since with no issues.
Surgery is les that 30 minutes.     
Stay well.


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## awake (Jan 11, 2022)

Uhh ... Brian's "together again" comment was from the previous time he had to work on the mill, back in March 2021.


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## Dopy (Jan 11, 2022)

awake said:


> Uhh ... Brian's "together again" comment was from the previous time he had to work on the mill, back in March 2021.


Thanks!    I'm not to bright?


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## awake (Jan 11, 2022)

Dopy said:


> Thanks!    I'm not to bright?



Well, I didn't want to say anything ... but with a user name like "Dopey" ... 

Of course, people often think my user name is a claim to be alert, and therefore are amused when I overlook the obvious or otherwise make silly mistakes. Which happens with depressing regularity ...

(Actually, a is my first initial, and wake is the first four letters of my last name, so "awake" is not intended as any sort of claim at all!)


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## Brian Rupnow (Jan 11, 2022)

Okay, boys and girls, here it is. The newly built Lever/lock. When the mill is in low gear, the 1/2" threads on the knurled piece fit in behind the motor cover and will not allow the mill to wander out of low gear. And when the mill is in Hi gear (which it is most of the time) the knurled handle unscrews and lets the arm swing out into the run position. The mill never tries to jump out of Hi gear. Will it work?--I really hope so. Did it cost a lot?--No, $15 worth of aluminum bar and most of a days time to make and install it. My time comes pretty cheap when I'm working for myself. if it doesn't work, I will probably swear a lot (That doesn't cost me anything) and I will let you all know if it doesn't work. If it does work, then I'm happy as a pig in mud. If you want to do the same to your desk top mill, I am posting the drawing of it. It is only designed for the BusyBee CX601 mill, but the concept can be used on any bench-top mill that periodically jumps out of Low range and eats it's nylon gears.


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## Ghosty (Jan 11, 2022)

Brian, you can always zip-tie the handle to the chain, won't move then. 
Or to the top lock screw on the body and through the top hole of the lever.

Cheers
Andrew


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## Brian Rupnow (Jan 11, 2022)

Thanks Andrew---I'll keep that in mind!!!


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## Courierdog (Jan 12, 2022)

As Always Brian, simple straight forward design.
I especially like the lowered, Mill head rising and lowering the Z Axis control.


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