RF 31 BENCH MILL DRILL

[ray jones 1Participant @rayjones1]

HI

I have just purchased a RF 31 BENCH MILL.

It is made by RONG FU Taiwan.

It is new, unused but "shop soiled"

I need a few additional parts for it.

It is well made, robust and heavy weight is 600lbs +

I have contacted the original supplier in USA, – -his name plate is on the machine.

He says he has no european contacts and cannot help..

Does anyone know of an agent or supplier in UK or Europe

I appreciate all advice thank you

RAY

[ray jones 1Participant @rayjones1]

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

It is often re-badged under a different name. Should be somewhere in your area that sells them.

Where do you live ?

[ray jones 1Participant @rayjones1]

HI I live in WALES,

Thank you ray

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Not able to help you Ray, I live in New South Wales, Australia.

Someone on MEW should be able to point you in the right direction.

I have an RF-45 and very happy with it,

Cheers,

[Alan Waddington 2Participant @alanwaddington2]

What parts do you need Ray ?

[ray jones 1Participant @rayjones1]

Hi in the short term I am looking for

1/ a 3 MT DRIVE SLEEVE, It is currently fitted with R 8, BUT MT 3 is optional in the parts catalogue

2/ QUILL clamp locking lever – this is missing

Thank you ray

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Have a look at…

**LINK**

**LINK** … Major Mill/drill.

They look to be in the same family as your RF31 … Usual disclaimer applies in all cases…, just thought they may be able to help.

George.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Ray,

I can't help with the spares but, may I just mention that R8 seems a much more appropriate fitting than Morse Taper.

… Do you have lots of MT tooling already ?

MichaelG.

[Ron LadenParticipant @ronladen17547]

Ray, looking at the pictures on the links posted by mechman, although not clear it looks like the quill locking lever is a Bristol Handle like the two fitted at the front to lock the X axis, though it may be a different size. You can pick those up anywhere and I think Warco list a selection of them

Ron

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Personally R8 would be my first choice for the spindle taper, changing the spindle seems likely to be a major hassle and probably costly. Arceurotrade have adapters for R8 to MT3 if you just want to have the facility for taper tooling. If you have already got MT 3 tooling it may be cheaper and easier to replace it with R8 tooling rather than change the spindle. R8 collets give a useful saving in headroom but an R8 ER chuck and collet set will hold most cutters and straight shank drills and is a very convenient method of cutter holding.

Mike

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

Hi Ray, I've got an RF25 badged as Alpine Engineering – hitherto of the West Midlands, but long since defunct. When I bought it it came in two variants, either MT3 OR R8 up the spindle, i.e. there were two models available which had different spindles fitted. I bought the MT3 version so I could use taper twist drills in it. The RF-30 which was also available at the time was bigger and heavier, I'm guessing that an RF31 is something the same.

My recollection is you can buy an R8 to MT2 adaptor, but an R8 to MT3 is essentially a jump sleeve as the internal size of the R8 taper isn't big enough to accommodate an internal MT3 socket. I think you may find that the overall length of such a thing will use up most if not all of your headroom under the spindle nose. I can find an R8 to MT3 adaptor on ebay for about a tenner, but it may not do what you want because of its length. Search "R8 to MT3 adaptor".

I could well be wrong, but I believe that the MT3 spindle as shown in the parts list is a "swap the whole spindle" job, not just an adaptor to push up the (R8) hole. Is this what you want to do? Are you looking for a spare spindle with an MT3 socket or an adaptor?

I no longer have the parts list for mine to check this – long since eaten by the fairies down the back of the bench – but can I suggest you check the parts diagram carefully.

The quill clamp locking lever is a simple thing to make if it is the same as mine, – it's a threaded bolt bent to a near right angle to make a comfortable handle. It pulls two cylindrical pads into contact with the rear of the quill in a cross drilling in the casting. How much of this is missing? I'll post a picture of the bits later.

HTH Simon

[Alan Waddington 2Participant @alanwaddington2]

Yeah as Simon suggests, i reckon MT3 would have been an alternative to R8 from the factory, not a retro fit item.

R8 is really a better system for milling than MT, and as it was widely used in industrial machines, Bridgeport etc, there is a wealth of secondhand tooling about.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Almost the same as Grizzly's G0705, parts and user manual can be downloaded from them.

As said MT/R8 are usually factory options unless you want to completely strip the machine and change the spindle.

If you want to run MT3 then stuck one of these up it, but not quite as rigid and you loose height

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

Posted by JasonB on 06/11/2018 10:18:43:

If you want to run MT3 then stuck one of these up it,

… and note the comment on their website that this adaptor is not suitable to accept an MT3 tool with a tang. There's no socket for the standard morse tang up the spout.

Rgds Simon

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by Mike Poole on 06/11/2018 09:35:32:

… If you have already got MT 3 tooling it may be cheaper and easier to replace it with R8 tooling rather than change the spindle….

Mike

And you could get a fair price for the unwanted MT3 tooling by advertising here.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I suggested the non tang version as I thought it more likely that it would be used for milling and the drawbar would be the best bet but if you want to use a tanged drill chuck then use these

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well as the photo shows the OP already has an R8 chuck (the adaptor is fitted in the spindle) and an R8 shell end mill, I'd just get a generic R8-MT3 adaptor to allowMT3 tooling to be used as well.

I suspect this is exactly what the "3 MT DRIVE SLEEVE" is.

Neil

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

Well as the photo shows the OP already has an R8 chuck

The photo also shows a quill clamp lever fitted, so is possibly a "generic" photo of the particular machine & not the OP's own.

Nigel B

[VicParticipant @vic]

You could try contacting the manufacturer direct?

**LINK**

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Hi Ray Jones,

Our post office has a service whereby they will collect items delivered to an address in America,and arrange for collection in my local Post Office,for a small charge.

Dont know if this would be of any interest to you,but it,s a bit nearer to your home patch.

Just a thought !!

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Pure Guesswork, but I would imagine that the RF31 was sold in UK by Warco as either the Minor, or the Major Mill/Drill . Probably Chester also sold the same machine in a different colour scheme.

(The RF25 was sold as the Warco Economy Mill/Drill)

They used to be offered, by Warco, with a choice of Metric or Imperial dials and leadscrews

At this distance of time, (approaching 20 years) I doubt if spares would be available from Importers

Arc Euro offer R8 to 3MT adaptors under their codes

For Tang tooling, 120- 010-00540, with a 7/16 UNF drawbar thread

Open, for Drawbar use 120-010-00500 (Unsuitable for Tang Tooling)

They are going to cost you around £13 each, plus P & P, I would imagine

Possibly, to accomodate the extra length, you may need a slightly extended drawbar (3/8 BSW likely)

If your 3MT tooling is M12 drawbar thread, there is enough meat in a male M12 thread to drill and tap for 3/8 BSW, to convert,

H T H

Howard

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If you need a Bristol type locking lever, again, Arc Euro list them as "Alumimium Indexable Handles"

Presumably, you would want the M8 stud type, 084-013-10063. if this is too short at 60mm long, you could Loctite a piece of M8 studding into a Nut type 084-013-00063.

On the RF 25, the Quill appears to be locked by a "nut", (Part No 5-26 "Fixed Tight Collar – Thread" ) with a chamfer or concave being pulled against a similar fitting ( Part No 5-25 "Fixed Tight Collar" ) with a clearance hole, to grip it.

Part No 5-24 is merely described as "Handle Rod" and is shown as a one piece handle, integral with the thread.

So IF the internal parts are still there, all that you need to do is to ascertain the thread, (Might be Whitworth! There are BSW threads and parts on my RF25 ) and make up a suitable handle and threaded rod to pull the two parts of the clamp together.

Doesn't sound to be too much of an insuperable job.

Even if the threaded and clearance "Fixed Tight Collars" are missing, it should be easy to make up a replacement locking arrangement.

If you wanted to stick with Whitworth threads, for consistency, you could make up a BSW threaded spindle, with a short M8 male thread on one end, to Loctite into a M8 NUT type handle.

At worst, just a few hours work.

Howard

Those silly Emojis may grin, but they don't do the same for me! hence the edit

Edited By Howard Lewis on 06/11/2018 16:28:15

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Taking another look at your original picture, the Quill Locking handle appears to be present. It's the chrome handle on the left, close to bottom of the head. If you meant engaging the Fine Feed, that is the knob in the centre of the three handles for the Quill vertical feed. Turn the knob clockwise and you press together the two parts of a cone clutch to lock the handle to the spindle of the worm and wheel that provides Fine Feed on the Z axis.

Howard

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 06/11/2018 16:36:17:

Taking another look at your original picture, the Quill Locking handle appears to be present. It's the chrome handle on the left, close to bottom of the head. …

.

Howard: I think you may have fallen into the same trap as Neil

… see the comment by Nigel B [mgnbuk] on the first page.

MichaelG.

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