I'm kinda new here, so I hope I posted the PICS properly.
This is my rebuilt J-head. The out shots were all coming out really blurry, so I had my eyes checked, but they are still blurry....sorry - only one is attached. I am glad the background is not clear - who knows what kind of embarrassing garbage one of you would find in the mess! You'll spot a fuzzy image of my HF 9X20 lathe behind the mill....it's next for CNC. Bridgeport first.
I do not have digital photos of this machine when I first got it, but it did not look the way it does now. But that's a long story and I am getting tired.
There are a few photos of my homegrown one shot lube system - very adjustable, huh? Still tweaking the adjustments, but it lubes all the screws (Z included), the ways (of course) and the head. I broke it into two circuits so I could feed the heck out of the ways if I wanted to purge them after a nasty day of cast iron milling. This machine had grease fittings and many of the cross drilled holes were packed with some hard, foriegn material that did not resemble grease. The lube lines to the head are not run yet. I need to get inline check valves - to be continued. As you can see, I used nylon tubing for the lube lines. I am very satisfied with it's performance and appearance so far. Estimated cost - about $70 with some dumpster-diving involved.
And finally - the beginnings of the brackets for the steppers.
I spent most of this afternoon sketching out the brackets. I started out on a sheet of paper then graduated in to ACAD after I had a clear image in my head of what I wanted to do. Then, of course, after I got everything into ACAD solids, I pretty much threw the paper design out and started compacting and refining the drive system and bracketry. I want it rigid, protected and tucked out of the way.
One thing I could use input on - I was NOT originally going to put the gear directly on the shaft of the motor - I was going to use a coupling and a seperate shaft supported on two or three roller bearings, but now I am thinking I am going to mount it direct and support the outboard end of the motor shaft - opinions?
Anyway - I will use this thread to post progress in the coming weeks (months).
Scott