Damaged Milling / Drilling and Rotary Tables

Jersey John · Jul 5, 2015

Hi folk

I'm sure a good percentage of you out there will have lots of knowledge about this...

How many of you have bought a Milling Machine or Pillar Drill or Rotary Table with a "drill hole" or two or three in it and "wanted" to repair it.

Of course it doesn't usually effect the operation of the machine in most cases .. so it's more about returning it to original cosmetic status which for some matters and may even influence a purchase in the first place!

As just about all of the above are of cast construction surely there must be reasonable ways and I've heard of various metal pastes offered by MSC - J&L etc as well as mixing a glue with cast iron filings etc ...

Any good sound advice would be sincerely welcomed.

James H Clark · Jul 5, 2015

John: How about pictures of what you have? Just one hole or many? If only on small hole, just tap it for a small setscrew, insert said setscrew and stamp "oil" next to it. Pics if you can.

JH

Milacron · Jul 5, 2015

Jersey John said:
Hi folk

I'm sure a good percentage of you out there will have lots of knowledge about this...

How many of you have bought a Milling Machine or Pillar Drill or Rotary Table with a "drill hole" or two or three in it and "wanted" to repair it.

Of course it doesn't usually effect the operation of the machine in most cases .. so it's more about returning it to original cosmetic status which for some matters and may even influence a purchase in the first place!

As just about all of the above are of cast construction surely there must be reasonable ways and I've heard of various metal pastes offered by MSC - J&L etc as well as mixing a glue with cast iron filings etc ...

Any good sound advice would be sincerely welcomed.

As this is a common problem it has been discussed many times here in the past. There really is nothing to do that will not be noticable and/or dangerous to the casting.. but the safest and closest match I have found is Lab Metal. It is the only compound I've found that has a refelective sheen to it.

It's a one part putty like mixture and not very hard or durable but on certain minor dings if you look at just the right angle and squint it looks pretty realistic after sanding with very fine grit paper. If you order some you might as well get the solvent as well as otherwise the mixture will dry up in the can and become useless within a year after opening the can.

http://www.amazon.com/Alvin-Solvent...=1436124143&sr=8-7&keywords=lab+metal+hi+temp

It's not even remotely "liquid metal"..... two part epoxies with metal powder are more durable...but those expoxies do not even remotely look like metal after hardening and sanding (usually just flat dark gray color}....but liquid metal actually does look like metal...a bit more like polished aluminum rather than ground cast iron or steel however.

SteveBausch · Jul 5, 2015

The center of a cast-iron part is the worst place to apply heat; the heat expansion will attempt to split the part into pieces.

There was a business that had a great website publicizing its cast iron repair services, perhaps the east coast, but it's gone dark. Either they don't need to advertise at this point, or they couldn't afford the bandwith of lookie-loos such as me.

If you can't preheat the part in a programmable oven (for preheat and postheat) don't even think of applying heat to the center of a cast-iron part.

"Tink Tink Tink" gives you notice that cracks are propagating.

JohnEvans · Jul 5, 2015

If one or two spots park a vise over it. If it has to be pristeen buy a new machine and don't use it. If it does not effect the use/operation of things go have a pint and forget about it.

hermetic · Jul 5, 2015

Bolt some peices of new plate over the damage, held down with countersunc screws, then put a flycutter in the chuck and cut over it to loose the screw heads. If you have no T slots it is even easier, photos would help.
Phil
UK

Milacron · Jul 5, 2015

JohnEvans said:
If one or two spots park a vise over it. If it has to be pristeen buy a new machine and don't use it. If it does not effect the use/operation of things go have a pint and forget about it.

Do you think the OP is such an idiot he wouldn't have thought of that in a nanosecond already ?

redlee · Jul 5, 2015

I used to work with an old German machinist, he drilled the table one day and thought he was to be fired. He accurately resized the "oops" and plugged it with a piece CI bar stock, been there 25 years and its still holding, and it looks almost the same as the original table.

jscpm · Jul 5, 2015

In general most tables are so cheap it is easier to buy a new one or buy a new face plate. You can find good quality face plates on eBay for $50 to $100. To repair a hole drill it and ream with a taper reamer. Then fit a plug to it and sand over with polisher to smooth. If you use a plannishing hammer on it, the seam is invisible. Of course, ideally you want the plug to be the same material, which can be tricky. An alternative to a taper plug is to thread it and screw the plug in. If done well, it is totally invisible.

I know a funny story about a part that was going on one of the space telescopes. The machinist screwed up a hole and so he disguised it by threading the hole, screwing a plug into it and smoothing it over--completely invisible. Later when the part was being tested in a hard vacuum chamber, microscopic droplets of oil kept getting on the lens of the telescope. The NASA engineers could not figure out where the heck the oil was coming from. Finally, somebody inspected the whole assembly extremely closely and noticed a small, perfectly circular shadow on one of the faces of the assembly. It turns out the machinist did not use exactly the same material for the plug so its color was very slightly different than the rest of the part. When they bored out the plug they found tapping fluid at the bottom of the blind hole.

stephen thomas · Jul 5, 2015

Then there is the "sin boldly" theorem.

Inlay a deliberately contrasting metal in a pleasing pattern. Say maybe your company logo, or a stylish geometric. Peen it, polish it, and get back to work.

CI with bronze inlay, e.g.

smt

JohnEvans · Jul 5, 2015

Milacron said:
Do you think the OP is such an idiot he wouldn't have thought of that in a nanosecond already ?

You did note the smiley ?? I said this tongue in cheek ! But I am a firm beleiver in function over beauty.

KMoffett · Jul 5, 2015

I would say leave them. If they don't compromise the operation, they serve as a lasting reminder of "do not do that". If you try to "fill them" you always know they are there anyway.

Ken

emcmike · Jul 5, 2015

I just fill mine with JB weld and sand it smooth. Rarely do I drill my tables , but s*** happens when I'm sleeping on the job. Lol not like I just milled a new slot 33in in the mill table. :eek:

billzweig · Jul 5, 2015

I did a restoration on a few machines where the table was damaged with drill holes, and recently an Elliot shaper with a broken off edge of the table. For smaller, round holes I drill them deeper (if shallow) ream and hammer in a matching material and size round pin. I usually surface grind the table anyway as in most cases it was not in a great shape. After graining the hole is gone without a trace. For the broken off piece, I machined off the broken section (a half circle pocket), fitted a matching piece of metal and tig welded. I did preheat the whole table and after welding surface ground on all 3 sides and front. The whole operation took about 2.5 hours. The table is fully restored, with but a few small bubbles in the weld area.

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

Hi James

Thank you very much for your message and suggestion. Certainly I can see your idea working however there is an arc of 5 holes where a child has drilled through in bordum :angry:

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

Ahhh ... this is the reply I was hoping for and appeals most ... Now all I've got to do is locate it in the United Kingdom

Thanks very much

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

Hi Steve ... Thanks very much for your comments. I was aware heat "could" be a problem but you've made it clearer now.

Greatly appreciated

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

... And of course this comment was always going to pop up LOL

Thanks very much John

New machine it is then complete with full dust cover and no plug!

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

Hi Phil ... another option, thanks very much indeed

Good to get an European imput too ..

Jersey John · Jul 6, 2015

Hi Lee ... good to hear from you ... another really good idea that I like

All the best

John

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