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Broken-off Z indicator, 1964 Deckel FP2 mill

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Diamond
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
Location
Garbsen, Germany
A few days ago, I broke off the Z-axis position indictator from my 1964 Deckel FP2. It is equipped with glass scales, but I
still use the manual scales for rough positioning.

The problem is that if it is rotated out of the normal position, the Z indicator can "catch" on top of the Z-axis scale (visible in
the last three photos below). This happened once before, but I caught it in time and was able to bend the indicator back. This time it snapped off
completely. It seems to be cast.

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I was able to hard-solder it back together, but it no longer fit because the dimensions are quite precise. So I milled the indicator notch
again.

To prevent this from ever happening again, I also made a modification to the design. I milled a 4.1mm wide, 1.3mm deep notch in the vertical rod, and
then replaced the 4mm brass clamping-pad rod with a longer version. This makes it possible to move the Z indicator up and down and clamp it
in place, but prevents rotation. So I won't break it a third time!

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Cheers,
Bruce
 
I had a similar accident with my Aciera F5. To flip the vertical head off to the side, you have to loosen the forward trip dog and move it forward to give the ram some extra travel to the rear. I left a T-handle hex key in the trip dog screw, despite reaming anyone who leaves a key in a lathe chuck. I then power-fed the ram forward, and it caught on one of the ram lock levers, breaking it off. I had to make a special tool to un-jam the lock and drill out the stub of the broken handle. Fortunately the stub came out and I was able to thread the broken handle 1/2" shorter. All is good again. Live and learn.


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