Maintenance of a 30 Year Old CNC Milling Machine
One of the big questions that I have about the new milling machine is maintenance and cleaning.
Cleaning the ways
I was almost tempted to get out the Foamy Engine Clean and spray down the machine and let all the sludge drip onto the floor. However I avoided cleaning anything that may contain grease or lube with any degreaser. On the painted surfaces I used a version of "Orange Clean" (which I could not find locally). It is called "Greased Lightning Blast" with orange oil. It made short work of most of the grease on the machine grey paint.
The machine after a bit of cleaning. Anyone have a source for cans of enamel spray paint that matches?
Way Wipers
A quick Google search shows that many people want to sell you exotic and probably expensive way wipers. But on Ebay a couple sellers offer felt way wipers specially for Series 1 Bridgeport. I still haven't decided what to do about the wipers. It is suggested that they are changed out yearly so I am guessing I need to replace them before running the machine. I will probably pull mine out and see if they can be cleaned and lubed for now.
Way Lube
The automatic lubrication system reservoir had some liquid oil in it but also had a sludge at the bottom. I removed the tank and cleaned the whole assembly. The maintenance manual suggests Sunoco Waylube 80 (or equivalent) for the automatic lube system. This is a bit hard to find. But http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/chart/lube.html actually is a chart of way oil equivalents. In this list is suggests that ISO VG 68 is a replacement. Enco lists a Hangsterfer's ISO VG 68 Way Oil for $24 a gallon (#319-3925).
OK, recently found page 2-5 which lists MANY approved way lubes. Some notables:
Mobile Vactra Oil No. 2 (available at Grainger in 5 gallon pails for $100)
Another link with equivalent way oils: http://www.idahomachinery.com/PDFFiles/MachineLubricantCrossReference.pdf. I guess everything crosses to Hangsterfer's.
Other Oiling
There is a nice plaque on the head with suggested oiling procedures. I need to find the oiling points and a source for appropriate oil. More Later...
Belt Drives
There are timing belts on each of the axis and a belt in the head to change speeds (I think). I will need to inspect these belts and find a replacement source. Also it may be that a newer type material may be quieter/faster.
Other Machining Information
I actually found some good introductory videos on the MIT Tech TV website. The videos are for training students in building prototypes in the MIT robotics lab. The milling machine videos start at #4 http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/127-machine-shop-4.
Cleaning the ways
I was almost tempted to get out the Foamy Engine Clean and spray down the machine and let all the sludge drip onto the floor. However I avoided cleaning anything that may contain grease or lube with any degreaser. On the painted surfaces I used a version of "Orange Clean" (which I could not find locally). It is called "Greased Lightning Blast" with orange oil. It made short work of most of the grease on the machine grey paint.
The machine after a bit of cleaning. Anyone have a source for cans of enamel spray paint that matches?Way Wipers
A quick Google search shows that many people want to sell you exotic and probably expensive way wipers. But on Ebay a couple sellers offer felt way wipers specially for Series 1 Bridgeport. I still haven't decided what to do about the wipers. It is suggested that they are changed out yearly so I am guessing I need to replace them before running the machine. I will probably pull mine out and see if they can be cleaned and lubed for now.
Way Lube
The automatic lubrication system reservoir had some liquid oil in it but also had a sludge at the bottom. I removed the tank and cleaned the whole assembly. The maintenance manual suggests Sunoco Waylube 80 (or equivalent) for the automatic lube system. This is a bit hard to find. But http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/chart/lube.html actually is a chart of way oil equivalents. In this list is suggests that ISO VG 68 is a replacement. Enco lists a Hangsterfer's ISO VG 68 Way Oil for $24 a gallon (#319-3925).
OK, recently found page 2-5 which lists MANY approved way lubes. Some notables:
Mobile Vactra Oil No. 2 (available at Grainger in 5 gallon pails for $100)
Another link with equivalent way oils: http://www.idahomachinery.com/PDFFiles/MachineLubricantCrossReference.pdf. I guess everything crosses to Hangsterfer's.
Other Oiling
There is a nice plaque on the head with suggested oiling procedures. I need to find the oiling points and a source for appropriate oil. More Later...
Belt Drives
There are timing belts on each of the axis and a belt in the head to change speeds (I think). I will need to inspect these belts and find a replacement source. Also it may be that a newer type material may be quieter/faster.
Other Machining Information
I actually found some good introductory videos on the MIT Tech TV website. The videos are for training students in building prototypes in the MIT robotics lab. The milling machine videos start at #4 http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/127-machine-shop-4.
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