Repair Ideas for mill ways?

[Boostinjdm]

There may well come a time in this project whare the OP has to seriously consider the minimum requirement he has for this machine and the"distance" (time, energy, money etc.) that he may have to commit himself to to get here.

Defining the "start" point will be the initial and possibly the hardest requirement.

But seriously, if all that the OP really required was a drill - why didn't he just buy a reasonable sized and quality drill that was pretty well ready to use with minimal (or any) necessary work or time or cost on it?

Your request to bin it has been denied.

I already have a drill press. I haven't used it since I got my mill. So I found this smaller mill to free up the big one. It would have likely done the job I wanted it for with very minimal clean up. I have issues with doing the minimum required. Machine has already been torn down except for the head. Most of it cleaned, and some of it repainted. By the time I am done, I will have removed and re-installed every last nut and bolt.

Other than these ways, I have not found any major issues. The x and z ways look almost new. I want the damaged ways repaired to a reasonable condition, but am not wanting to spend a lot of money on it. If I wanted to spend money, I would have bought a new one. Or at least a nice used one.

[oldtiffie]

I did not mention anything about requesting that you "bin" the mill - hence my request/call to bin it does not exist and so cannot be denied.

I hope it works out for you - as it now seems that it might.

[J Tiers]

That was my very first thought, but it does seem kind of half assed.

With all due respect, it seemed you were basically ASKING FOR "half-assed" repairs..... per this quote.

I picked up a Millrite MVI last week and tore it down for cleaning and repairs before putting it to use. I found some pretty significant gouges on the knee where the saddle rides. I'm looking for cheap ways to improve the condition of the damaged ways. I do not want to spend much money on this thing, and it does not need to be perfect. I just can't leave it as is. I have a full size mill already and pretty much bought this for drill press duty.

And, it's not really half-assed anyhow. Your choice is to mill off to flat metal, or to fill in the gouges and let it rip. Since that surface likely doesn't get a lot of pressure, as it appears that it is mostly toward the top, where the pressure is on the backside, the surface area is not all required for support. There is likely to be good metal between gouges, and that should be sufficient to do what is needed.

Can we see the mating surface? Gouges normally do not occur just in one half of a mated pair.

If the thing is worn down hollow in that area, which we can't see from the straight-on angle, that might be different.

[Boostinjdm]

No, I wasn't asking for half-assed repairs. I was asking for ideas that wouldn't cost me a lot of money.

Sending it out to be ground or professionally repaired could easily cost more than the machine is worth. Before purchasing this, I looked for ones for sale and that have sold to get an idea of what it was worth. $1000-$1500 seemed to be the norm for a clean and functional machine. I paid $505 and have a couple hundred worth of nuts, bolts, paint, and other parts to purchase for this thing. Quickly approaching that $1000 bottom end. That does not count fixing the damaged ways. If I thought I could get it professionally done for a few hundred, I'd be game. I don't think that's going to happen.

If milling it myself will yield good results with or without build up, then I'd likely go that route. I don't mind putting some labor into it. I will likely have this machine for a long time.

I have two main concerns with just filling the gouges with JB weld.
The first is whether or not it will hold up. Will it scratch easily and end up right where I started?
The second is how well it will deal with a feathered edge. If I fill the gouges and file/stone it flat, there will be feathered edges.
If I knew the answers to those questions, then I could rule it in/out and move on.

The ways do not appear to be worn hollow. Just gouged. The tops of the gouges may be the original surface height.

I can't find a defined edge that would indicate the over all surface dropping.

[J Tiers]

First, do not use JB Weld.

What I used was actually a clear regular epoxy. I think it was a faster setting type, because I had some non-horizontal surfaces to do. You could use a longer cure, by just tipping the column to put it horizontal.

As for wear, I have had it on lathe ways, maybe 5" in front of the headstock. It's been there for many years, and I have not noticed any problems whatsoever. No discernible wear. You would not expect it, since it is level with the metal, and so won't wear until the metal has worn down. Only swarf is likely to be an issue, and it has not been.

Since you do have "original" surface to work with, filling up with good quality epoxy (not JB Weld) and then cutting down level with a burr file should do the job for you. The vertical surface seems as if it would not be a big problem for swarf, compared to lathe ways.

I think I'd perhaps suggest fitting some kind of felt wiper. It's likely the original issue came up when some wear let a gap develop and Bubba wasn't a noticing type fellow.... Swarf got into the gap and was crammed-into the way surface, perhaps when the knee was raised, which would tend to tilt it back into the column. Once a gouge existed, swarf would get into it and the problem would rapidly escalate. A wiper will assist in avoiding any issues in case there is a gap worn at the top of the knee.

The main function of the epoxy is to fill up the space so swarf cannot get caught in it and do worse damage.

[AiR_GuNNeR]

I recently completed a complete tear-down and rebuild of a Millrite. Like yours, the owner saw the zerk fittings and immediately reached for the grease gun.
My ways weren't as gouged as yours, but I ended up epoxying them as well, (after scraping and reflaking). I used a brass brush to scrub the gouge out. I didn't use comet, but that would have been a good idea. I rebuilt a Bridgeport J had and mounted it to the mill. It was an easy bolt on replacement.

I also made wipers for all the ways.

[Boostinjdm]

J Tiers, I thought you just misspoke, so I let it go, but you have repeated it a few times now.
This is not the vertical surface. this is the horizontal surface the saddle rides on. In my first pic, the knee is resting on it's back (the Z axis ways).

I do plan on adding wipers and maybe some sort of cover to prevent this in the future.

The underside of the saddle is also gouged.

From what I have read, Moglice seems to be the right stuff to use. I'm having trouble finding application details like surface prep, minimum/maximum thickness, is it machinable.

Machining the surface down and epoxying on a thin piece of cast has not been ruled out either.

[oldtiffie]

If, and only if it were mine, and having in mind what the OP has in mind for the mill in question, I'd probably just "stone" those slides with a 6" or 8" x 2" x 1" (or thereabouts) "oil/water" "stone" that wood-workers use to finally hone their chisels etc.

If new and pre-soaked in paraffin or fine oil and used with a "lapping" motion it should take off most of the "high spots".

Again, if and only if it were mine, it might well be good enough to put together and see how it operates and what its performance limits are.

[Sim]

Machine to get rid of gouges, then rescrape. Won't cost you anything but time.

[big job]

Ya pretty hard to find a machine run by one old man with a gun ( & I'm an old man thinking that way) I have a melt down about help placing soda or
beer cans on my tables, takes 15 min and there's a rust ring. Anyways there will be nicks and dings, which do no real harm as long as dings are not 'up'
then stone & lap flat. (did I write this before?) usually Sundays I smear a coat on silver never snezze, wait awhile and buff with paper towels. Paper
works best. All hand wheels in the shop get a coat of chrome polish, then I buff with one of them round buffer thingies on a drill. All Machines shine and
my way of thinking is once you get it up there its easy to maintain it. Then I find using a little gas with 2 or 320 wet paper I get 90% of the flaws
WD40 junk seems to aggravate the paper, gas or even brake cleaner keeps it good. right or wrong it works for me. Too bad we can not attach
pics here; I should say this site should get with it, all other sites you can att. pics. then I can prove it....



sam

[J Tiers]

J Tiers, I thought you just misspoke, so I let it go, but you have repeated it a few times now.
This is not the vertical surface. this is the horizontal surface the saddle rides on. In my first pic, the knee is resting on it's back (the Z axis ways).

Somehow I got stuck on the idea it was the column , perhaps because of the look of the ways, which are UNLIKE most mill knee ways, but VERY MUCH like the column ways on many machines..... including all of mine. The picture being vertical re-inforces that, as did your lack of contrary comment......though I see on careful inspection of the pic that there is light over top of the part......

In any case it is not a problem either way. The epoxy will still do the same thing, and it is still unlikely to get gouged-up. In the case of the knee, an "apron" over the area at the rear of the knee is better than wipers alone. A wiper is fine for the front area

[janvanruth]

J Tiers, I thought you just misspoke, so I let it go, but you have repeated it a few times now.
This is not the vertical surface. this is the horizontal surface the saddle rides on. In my first pic, the knee is resting on it's back (the Z axis ways).

I do plan on adding wipers and maybe some sort of cover to prevent this in the future.

The underside of the saddle is also gouged.

From what I have read, Moglice seems to be the right stuff to use. I'm having trouble finding application details like surface prep, minimum/maximum thickness, is it machinable.

Machining the surface down and epoxying on a thin piece of cast has not been ruled out either.

you might want to check out turcite
comes in adhesive strips and seems to work a lot easier than moglice

[Seastar]

If it will fit on your larger mill, how much trouble can it be to fixture it and re machine?
If necessary, epoxy on cast flats to bring back to original heights.
Bill
Maybe the question is, what is the condition of your other mill?

[vpt]

What about melting lead into the gouges like old time hot rods?

[Rosco-P]

What about melting lead into the gouges like old time hot rods?

Lead loading?
Ever sweat copper pipe or gas weld thin steel? How are you going to bring the knee up to temperature so the lead will melt and stick?