Milling Machine Restoration, Overhaul and Base Build

I got a really good deal on this used milling machine. It's a round column mill very similar to the Rong-Fu RF-30. Probably around 20 years old. These old round column mills have some downsides but you can get them relatively cheap and they're real workhorses. They are sold by a bunch of different brands, like Grizzly but there are many used ones on the market. They're very sturdy and bigger than most people imagine. But for a small shop, they take up a lot less space than a Bridgeport or similar mill.

The mill wasn't in great shape so I decided to do a complete overhaul with the help of a friend. We took everything apart down to the last screw, replaced some things, cleaned and lubed everything and I also decided to give it a new paintjob and add a frequency drive so that there's no need for changing drive belts for different speeds.

I also built a sturdy base with some drawers for it. Welding together square tubing is getting really boring for me too, but this is hopefully the last piece of shop furniture I have to make for a while.

I'm very happy with the result, the mill is nice and heavy (about 400kgs) and has a decent amount of power for nowhere near the price I would have paid for a new mill of comparable size and weight. I will probably make more modifications to it in the future.

If you have any questions about this kind of mill, leave a comment!
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[davidzuniga]

I felt compelled to clap when the video ended 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[fredboat]

Great video, I am glad to see young men with hands on shop skills, I bought the same bench mill in 1994 and I added power feed and DRO. Good tunes too.

[goetz]

Very nice job. After all these years it needed some TLC. Adding a vfd is a great idea and the quill position indicator comes in very handy. Your machine was originally imported by Knuth Werkzeugmaschinen in Germany. The original gray power switch was a unique feature that only Knuth was using. Thank you for sharing this video!

[tommylee]

Wow, amazing restoration! And perfect choice of music!

[ActiveAtom]

Great work, your color choices and the details of tending to refurbish bearings even the paint removal was nice to watch. Nice scales addition, once we added them to our lathe we could never look back. Love the hand welded work table for the mill, never enough drawers for storage.

[JoeEngineer]

The restoration was as elegant as the soundtrack. Bravo.

[JohnJohnson-ypkk]

I love the article. I always learn a little bit from each video. I plan to incorporate the changes to my mill that clean up my past efforts.

[mygraj]

Dream tool for small workshop, I bet you you gonna use it a lot.

[juliodifelippo]

She was beautiful before you restored her, now looks What a beautiful mill! Enjoy !

[freeinhabitant]

The Music, well, just beautiful - as is your Mill!

[RookieLock]

Ahh that was a beautiful thing, I love bringing new life into old or mistreated machines

[failscript]

Not only your work is awesome but also your videos, BRAVO!

[ChristopherSmith-bhsz]

I bought one of these new from Warco machine tools in the UK about 20 years ago, loved it.

[redgum]

Perfect. I have a similar mill and the quill jumps up and down which is most annoying. May need to do a fix soon but your job was quite special.

[makerbaer]

Die Musik ist der Hammer. „Der mit dem Werkzeug tanzt“ 🥸🙃🤪🤣😂🤔😇😎🤷🏻‍♂

[lundertied]

Great video, great work, great music! Chapeau!

[alexbruyere]

With a lathe, a milling machine and a TIG, nothing can stop you from doing your own cargo bike frame ! Can't wait to see that ;-)

[morsecodereviews]

I wouldn't call that burly machine a dancing flower but it sure did blossom.

[DDB]

Love those drawers. You just gave me an idea. Thanks.

[keithrussell]

just found your Excellent, well done Sir!!