Frist major break down with the Habor Freight saw mill

[hunterbuild]

I had a failure in the height adjustment mechanism. there is a worm geared shaft that turns inside a bass nut, the treads inside the nut failed letting the head drop. HF had no parts on hand, big surprise.As it was an emergency, I'm in the middle of a big project, I called woodland mills to order the parts from them. They wouldn't sell them to me because it was an HF mill. Said very bad things about my mill.:msp_mad: So after hitting all the bigger machine shop and being told they couldn't make the part for me I found a small owner operated shop,he took a look and said sure I can do that. I explained the emergency and he said he always left time on Fridays as this always happened. I picked it up Sat morning. Put it in today and started cutting, worked like a charm. I have to rep him, West River welding and machine in Rapid City SD. He made the part out of steel so it should hold up better. In the process of putting it back together I discovered the treads on the rod are poorly machined and are off in the center of the shaft enough to put stress on the treads causing the bass ones to fail. I'm ordering a new shaft to see if it was just a fluke or a serious issue. I hope the steel tread will hold up until then.

 

[hamish]

Did you get two of them made? How is this also an issue with Woodland Mills? Two different customers with similar product being made in the same factory with different specifications............
If you bought your Mill from Woodland than I am certain you would have gotten the part, even if you bought it used.

Dont sweat it for you are back up and running, and thats what counts.

 

[TPA]

I think your new nut will work great as a stop gap measure...however, you should get the same guy to make you a couple out of brass very soon.

The smaller, easier to make part is usually sacrificial. If you leave the steel nut in there, it will wear out the screw which is harder to make and more expensive.

If you make the nut out of brass, the brass is softer and is meant to wear out sooner. The foreign made nut is probably made out of a very low grade brass. Have your machinist get some good quality brass.

Happy milling!

 

[hunterbuild]

I could have replaced the parts with theirs. I think they would have worked better as it is a better design. I don't understand why they won't sell parts when they have them, regardless of who wants them. Anyway the treads on the shaft is the problem. they are off in the center and putting a bind on the nut, so the steel nut is better for now. I will order the shaft and see if a new one is better. The machinist said to put anti-seize lube on it and it will be OK

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'm glad you got your mill up and running again, but you DO get what you pay for. I think this is only going to be your first lesson in frustration with HF and in the end, you are going to become good friends with your machinest... Sadly, really good deals almost never are!

Once again, glad you are back to milling...

SR

 

[hunterbuild]

It is basically a solid machine. The few wearable parts can be fixed or replaced. Yes you do need some mechanical ability. At current price maybe not so good of a deal, but at $1700 it was a heck of a deal. I'm really cutting a lot of wood with it.:biggrin:

 

[srcarr52]

I'd just look to replace both the screws and the nuts. Check McMaster-Carr for them acme thread screws as they hold the load a lot better then regular thread. If you can have the local machine shop make you the nuts out of oil impregnated bronze and get a good quality screw and you won't ever have a problem again.

The only time you need a steal nut is for high loads and then you need lubrication for the steal->steal contact or else galling will occur.

 

[hunterbuild]

I've ordered the parts today, they are on back order until mid April. I hope the steel to steel will work until then. I using anti-seize lube and it is working very well, and the bad spot is better every time I go by it. I cut for four hrs today. If the new shaft has bad treads I will go to a acme tread.and have a new shaft made. I must believe the this is just isolated incident or someone else would have had the same problem.

 

[gemniii]

I could have replaced the parts with theirs. I think they would have worked better as it is a better design. I don't understand why they won't sell parts when they have them, regardless of who wants them. Anyway the treads on the shaft is the problem. they are off in the center and putting a bind on the nut, so the steel nut is better for now. I will order the shaft and see if a new one is better. The machinist said to put anti-seize lube on it and it will be OK

They make $ selling parts, they make $$ selling mills. Cooks does similar. I'd be wary of other parts.