[John1987]

Hello. I decided to share my cnc conversion project of TM 7045 FG mill. This milling machine is a clone of ZAY 7045, RF 45 and so on.

The dovetails on the column was poor quality, so i decided to cut them away and install linear rails. A portion of lapping was required to make perfect flatness for linear rails.

[gd.marsh]

John,

I am anxious to see more of your work on this conversion. You've already got my attention with the linear rail conversion!
I've been thinking about that for some time now .. but have not proceeded because of the difficulty of tearing down the machine while inside the enclosure.
My shop is so small, I would have to move a large shelving unit that is quite full to get the machine into the open where I could lift it out of the enclosure to tear it down!
Your build might just be the thing that pushes me over the edge into doing it!

Gary

[jalessi]

John,

Please explain the process you used to lap the rail mounting surface.

Awesome work!

Jeff...

Hello. I decided to share my cnc conversion project of TM 7045 FG mill. This milling machine is a clone of ZAY 7045, RF 45 and so on.

The dovetails on the column was poor quality, so i decided to cut them away and install linear rails. A portion of lapping was required to make perfect flatness for linear rails.

[John1987]

John,

I am anxious to see more of your work on this conversion. You've already got my attention with the linear rail conversion!
I've been thinking about that for some time now .. but have not proceeded because of the difficulty of tearing down the machine while inside the enclosure.
My shop is so small, I would have to move a large shelving unit that is quite full to get the machine into the open where I could lift it out of the enclosure to tear it down!
Your build might just be the thing that pushes me over the edge into doing it!

Gary

Actually, your build inspired me to purchase this mill and upgrade it. If my experience will be useful to you, it will be great!

John,

Please explain the process you used to lap the rail mounting surface.

Awesome work!

Jeff...

I used the vertical slide from spindle head as a lapping plate. It has ground dovetails, so the flatness of it was pretty good. Also i took grinding paste for engine valves. Spread a little amount of the paste with some oil along the surface that you want to lap, put your flat lapping plate on top and go back and forth until the desired precision is achieved.

[John1987]

Once the dovetails were gone, i decided to make new spindle head, because the original one was too heavy (85 kilograms!) and it has Morse taper #4 spindle, which is very poor for continous working on cnc. There was some thick aluminum plates in my workshop, so i use them for spindle head. The spindle is custom made BT 30.

[gd.marsh]

Very impressive!

I have one of those spindle cartridges and have considered going that route. Will be interested to follow your progress.
Can I ask what city in Russia you're in? I have a good friend who lives in Vologda. Haven't had a chance to visit yet but am hoping to make a trip there in the future.

Gary

[gearhead406]

I like it so far. Nice. Going this route with the spindle myself.But have not purchased yet.

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[John1987]

Very impressive!

I have one of those spindle cartridges and have considered going that route. Will be interested to follow your progress.
Can I ask what city in Russia you're in? I have a good friend who lives in Vologda. Haven't had a chance to visit yet but am hoping to make a trip there in the future.

Gary

I am living in Barnaul, not far from Novosibirsk. Not very big town in Western Siberia.

[John1987]

Installing ballscrew inside the column and motor plate on top of the column. I am using NEMA 34 steppers with encoders for all axis.

[Sparky_NY]

I have a RF45 retrofit in process and bought the rails for the Z. I won't get to the project for a while but am very interested in the thread.

[John1987]

Next, i made motor mounts for X and Y axis. They are similar.

[gd.marsh]

John,

Any more progress? .. your machine is now inspiring me to do some rebuilding on mine ..
Please post your progress .. things are looking great!

Gary

[John1987]

Some hand scraping were done to ensure good contact between column and the base. Chip tray welded from 2mm thick hot rolled steel. Pretty tough thing...

Add Z shaped grooves to the saddle for liquid oiling of the ways.

[gd.marsh]

Looking great John .. really like the new head /spindle setup .. I've decided to go in that direction myself .. thinking about a welded steel head, but still only in planning stages right now so still not sure.
Keep up the good work!

Gary

[John1987]

Electrical cabinet, telescoping way covers and some movement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3k6TV3eaTc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av4A_9I_0DQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEcA27SmQs

[ripperj]

Nice!


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[John1987]

Actual view of the mill. Working 8 hours per day for 2.5 years.

[ripperj]

So the machine has been complete and making parts for 8hrs a day for 2.5 years? That’s pretty impressive


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[John1987]

So the machine has been complete and making parts for 8hrs a day for 2.5 years? That’s pretty impressive


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Correct.

[John1987]

Building a new head from cast iron to replace aluminum one. Also want to replace spindle motor and use 1.8 kilowatt AC servo.