On 2/11/2022 8:13 AM, Rick Sparber wrote:
> On Wednesday, November 11, 1998 at 1:00:00 AM UTC-7, Anders Östlund wrote:
>> Hello,
>> I am quite new in the hobby and are planning to buy a Vertical Mill
>> called RF-30.
>> I would like to know about anyone with experience from this machine
>> out there, and if anyone have doubts about these machines.
>> I live in Sweden and have been searching for a while but the message
>> is that the market for small milling machines (in my price class...)
>> not exists (almost anyway), so this is the only machine I've found for
>> sale so far. I discovered a EMCO FB-(something) in a catalogue from
>> last year but when I called the message was: "we dont sell these anymore
>> and have no left in stock..."
>> So all you RF-30 owners out there please give me some feedback...
>> Regards Anders Ostlund, Sweden
>> ka...@hem.passagen.se
>> http://hem.passagen.se/kasoe
> First, some difficult questions: What do you plan to do with this machine? How much room do you have? How much money can you spend (assuming you will pay as much for tooling)? I have owned my RF-30 for over 35 years. Rick
>

Hey Rick , did you realize this post was from 23 years ago ?
--
Snag
My rights don't end
where your fear begins .

On 2/11/2022 7:53 AM, Snag wrote:
> On 2/11/2022 8:13 AM, Rick Sparber wrote:
>> On Wednesday, November 11, 1998 at 1:00:00 AM UTC-7, Anders Östlund
>> wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I am quite new in the hobby and are planning to buy a Vertical Mill
>>> called RF-30.
>>> I would like to know about anyone with experience from this machine
>>> out there, and if anyone have doubts about these machines.
>>> I live in Sweden and have been searching for a while but the message
>>> is that the market for small milling machines (in my price class...)
>>> not exists (almost anyway), so this is the only machine I've found for
>>> sale so far. I discovered a EMCO FB-(something) in a catalogue from
>>> last year but when I called the message was: "we dont sell these anymore
>>> and have no left in stock..."
>>> So all you RF-30 owners out there please give me some feedback...
>>> Regards Anders Ostlund, Sweden
>>> ka...@hem.passagen.se
>>> http://hem.passagen.se/kasoe
>> First, some difficult questions: What do you plan to do with this
>> machine? How much room do you have? How much money can you spend
>> (assuming you will pay as much for tooling)?  I have owned my RF-30
>> for over 35 years. Rick
>>
>
>   Hey Rick , did you realize this post was from 23 years ago ?

Hey, I started to respond to this. Don't pick on me because I had to
search through 23 years of old posts to find something I felt I could
add a relevant reply to. (I owned an HF RF30 for a few years.) I
thought it was pretty mediocore to poor, but I did some actual work with
it. I even ran it with a master holder so I could use my Kwik 200 tool
holders with it. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

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On 2/11/2022 10:32 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> On 2/11/2022 7:53 AM, Snag wrote:
>> On 2/11/2022 8:13 AM, Rick Sparber wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, November 11, 1998 at 1:00:00 AM UTC-7, Anders Östlund
>>> wrote:
>>>> Hello,
>>>> I am quite new in the hobby and are planning to buy a Vertical Mill
>>>> called RF-30.
>>>> I would like to know about anyone with experience from this machine
>>>> out there, and if anyone have doubts about these machines.
>>>> I live in Sweden and have been searching for a while but the message
>>>> is that the market for small milling machines (in my price class...)
>>>> not exists (almost anyway), so this is the only machine I've found for
>>>> sale so far. I discovered a EMCO FB-(something) in a catalogue from
>>>> last year but when I called the message was: "we dont sell these
>>>> anymore
>>>> and have no left in stock..."
>>>> So all you RF-30 owners out there please give me some feedback...
>>>> Regards Anders Ostlund, Sweden
>>>> ka...@hem.passagen.se
>>>> http://hem.passagen.se/kasoe
>>> First, some difficult questions: What do you plan to do with this
>>> machine? How much room do you have? How much money can you spend
>>> (assuming you will pay as much for tooling)?  I have owned my RF-30
>>> for over 35 years. Rick
>>>
>>
>>    Hey Rick , did you realize this post was from 23 years ago ?
>
>
> Hey, I started to respond to this.  Don't pick on me because I had to
> search through 23 years of old posts to find something I felt I could
> add a relevant reply to.  (I owned an HF RF30 for a few years.)  I
> thought it was pretty mediocore to poor, but I did some actual work with
> it. I even ran it with a master holder so I could use my Kwik 200 tool
> holders with it.  Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.
>
>
>

When I was shopping I read all the reviews - probably including yours
and most certainly Rick's . I then shopped around and found the RF45
clone I now have . The stuff I do requires moving the head sometimes
while in process , and I didn't want to dick around finding my zero
after a move . The dovetail column is the biggest reason for my choice .
The lipstick on my pig is the Shumatech 350 DRO (adequate but ...)
and an X axis power feed . I have another* I'm considering mounting on
the Y but I'm not sure it's worth the effort so ...
* It was on the mill X and blew a couple of diodes so I replaced it ,
then repaired it when I had the time and inclination .

--
Snag
My rights don't end
where your fear begins .

On 2/11/2022 10:39 AM, Snag wrote:
> On 2/11/2022 10:32 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>> On 2/11/2022 7:53 AM, Snag wrote:
>>> On 2/11/2022 8:13 AM, Rick Sparber wrote:
>>>> On Wednesday, November 11, 1998 at 1:00:00 AM UTC-7, Anders Östlund
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>> I am quite new in the hobby and are planning to buy a Vertical Mill
>>>>> called RF-30.
>>>>> I would like to know about anyone with experience from this machine
>>>>> out there, and if anyone have doubts about these machines.
>>>>> I live in Sweden and have been searching for a while but the message
>>>>> is that the market for small milling machines (in my price class...)
>>>>> not exists (almost anyway), so this is the only machine I've found for
>>>>> sale so far. I discovered a EMCO FB-(something) in a catalogue from
>>>>> last year but when I called the message was: "we dont sell these
>>>>> anymore
>>>>> and have no left in stock..."
>>>>> So all you RF-30 owners out there please give me some feedback...
>>>>> Regards Anders Ostlund, Sweden
>>>>> ka...@hem.passagen.se
>>>>> http://hem.passagen.se/kasoe
>>>> First, some difficult questions: What do you plan to do with this
>>>> machine? How much room do you have? How much money can you spend
>>>> (assuming you will pay as much for tooling)?  I have owned my RF-30
>>>> for over 35 years. Rick
>>>>
>>>
>>>    Hey Rick , did you realize this post was from 23 years ago ?
>>
>>
>> Hey, I started to respond to this.  Don't pick on me because I had to
>> search through 23 years of old posts to find something I felt I could
>> add a relevant reply to.  (I owned an HF RF30 for a few years.)  I
>> thought it was pretty mediocore to poor, but I did some actual work
>> with it. I even ran it with a master holder so I could use my Kwik 200
>> tool holders with it.  Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.
>>
>>
>>
>
>   When I was shopping I read all the reviews - probably including yours
> and most certainly Rick's . I then shopped around and found the RF45
> clone I now have . The stuff I do requires moving the head sometimes
> while in process , and I didn't want to dick around finding my zero
> after a move . The dovetail column is the biggest reason for my choice .
>   The lipstick on my pig is the Shumatech 350 DRO (adequate but ...)
> and an X axis power feed . I have another* I'm considering mounting on
> the Y but I'm not sure it's worth the effort so ...
>   * It was on the mill X and blew a couple of diodes so I replaced it ,
> then repaired it when I had the time and inclination .
>

I had a CNCed RF45 class machine. The implementation was terrible, but
the base machine looked OK. When I finally decided I needed a half
decent manual milling in the shop last year I considered a Precision
Mathews import in that class, but I finally decided since I was going to
do a lease purchase (finance) I was going to get all the bells and
whistles I wanted and something big enough to create really stupid
setups and went with the South Bend SB1028F. So far I really like it
for manual jobs, repairs, and an amazing number of second ops that are
faster to just do manually than to program. I didn't pick the SB on
reputation since it appears to be a Grizzly owned brand now. I picked
it because it came with the most of what I wanted all in one package. I
use it almost everyday in spite of having 5 CNC mills in the shop. For
just a home or small farm shop I would certainly own an RF45. Heck, if
one comes along at the right price I'll buy it anyway. LOL. I've got a
buddy who has a similar PM machine, but slightly smaller and he is
pretty happy with it making parts for sale on Ebay.

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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:su6h3g$13kf$1@gioia.aioe.org...

....I was going to get all the bells and
whistles I wanted and something big enough to create really stupid
setups and went with the South Bend SB1028F. ...

----------------

I inherited an Enco version of the Grizzly G0731 in a consolidation of
departmental model shops. It suffered from Enco quality, mainly in the small
parts, but it was a size and style that I think would serve well in a home
hobby shop. It was effectively a modernized version of my 1950's Clausing,
which is very nice for small delicate work and capable of machining parts
for a sawmill and log splitter. The Clausing at least disassembles into
parts one person can carry down stairs.