Thread: Installing a knee power feed for the HM50/52 or a Grizzly 3616/17

I can see that in the near future I will be penniless....very soon to
thanks Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

Hi,
The pictures tell the story, but I will add a bit of a right up.

I was asked to show how I fitted the knee power feed to my HM52 mill. After loosing the first memory card, I have taken it apart for more photos. I don't have photo's of the shaft because it's to much mucking around to pull it back out and set it back up again. Also the extension is on tight and I don't think it will come off.

The first thing to do is remove the knee handle and shaft. The shaft is held on at the back with a setscrew in the bevel gear, you have to remove the safety tie wire before you can get the setscrew out. Be careful because there is a thrust bearing, a few spacers and a key.
I decided to make a new shaft instead of using the original one, just incase I needed to change it back for some reason. I was lucky I did, as I ended up returning the fist mill because of problems.
If you are going to make a new shaft just copy the original shaft at the back end, it steps down in diameter with a key way and is spot drilled for the set screw. At the front it will need a 5/8-18 thread on it to screw on supplied extension shaft, in front of that you will need a few inch's of shaft stepped down in diameter to go inside the extension.
The manual called for a spring pin to be drilled through the extension and the shaft.I don't like spring pins as I find they collapse when used like this,so after they were screwed together in the vise, I drilled and tapped through the extention and into the shaft about a 1/3 of the way on both sides, then put grub screws in.

The kit came with a steel spacer to mount the power feed body to the mill but I decided to make my own one out aluminium to fit better. I machined out a recess in the factory collar and a matching male one on the spacer to help keep it in alignment.

They supply you a castle nut to hold the bevel gear on, it is to match the Bridgeport knee handle. I machined 2 flats for a spanner then machined the castle part off it because it was of no use and gave more room for my handle and spring. I added a grub screw in the side of it so it can be locked to the extension shaft because these mills are not setup like the Bridgeport's.

The end of the extension comes round, I milled it square and tapered the end to suit my handle and machined off a few threads were the grub screw will sit. For safety you need the handle not to spin when the power feed is operating, I came up with the idea that you can see in the photo's.
The extension comes with a threaded hole in the end, so I machined a piece up to be a neat fit inside the handle with a hole down the centre. I found the spring didn't want to sit on the handle so I made a collar up to hold the spring in place, there is already a factory recess in the castle nut end for the spring to sit. I also made a washer up to hold the handle which has the bolt counter sunk into it.
I have not had any trouble with this setup, as soon as you let go of the handle it springs out and disengages.
To fit the standard knee collar, it needs a thin spacer between it and the bevel gear to get it to fit properly.
Dave

Edit
I bought the power feeds from the link below, it only cost me $630 insured and delivered to Australia for 2.
Hare and Forbes want that much for 1, and they are the same 110v unit.
eBay Australia Shop - EZ Accessory: lug nuts, lug bolts, wheel adapters

Hi dave.How did you hook up the voltage side of your feed
Tony

Hi Tony,
Sorry for the late reply I have only just found this post had not been answered looking for something else.
My power feeds are pluged into a 240 to 110v 1500w step down transformer.
Dave

Hi.Dave.I hooked mine up to a 500watt stepdown transformer,works well.The total power needed for both is less than that,only use one at a time.Regards Tony

Hi Tony,
500 watt will run 2 at the same time. One of mine (Align) is 100 watt and the other one (ALGS) 250 watt, so you wont have any trouble running the 2 if needed. I find the only time I will run 2 is if I am getting the table in position using the rapid buttons.
I only use the 1500 watt one on because I picked it up on ebay for about $35 posted. Every other one at the time was going for around $100 and one this size was $350 and up new. It was advertised as is because they had no way of testing it. When I got it it had a test tag on the cord that was still in date from the central coast council and worked fine.
I am looking for an electric automatic oiler for the mill. I will be able to buy it cheaper and second hand from the US and use this power supply for it as well as anything else that comes along. I picked up some new 110v 1 into 3 power boards from the US for around $6-$7 posted over here. I find there type of plugs more dangerous than ours, because of the round pins and don't seem to stay in as well.
If you are going to buy a power board from over their, beware of a seller claiming for each bid you get 2. I bought 2 lots and only received 2, he's reply was it was too expensive to send 2 for that much and it was a mistake in the listing.
Any pictures of your mill set up?
Dave