Machine tools are massive and beefy, but have numerous delicate parts and precision-ground surfaces. Simply playing with the controls without understanding their function has the potential to cause great harm to the machine either by damaging parts of it or by leaving it in an unsafe or unexpected configuration for the next user. If you don't have a full understanding of the mill, please resist the temptation to turn cranks, pull levers, and such things.

A list of authorized users is posted next to the machine. Persons not listed here are explicitly not authorized to use the machine. If you would like to learn, speak with one of the people on this list who are authorized to approve new users to start the process.

With any machine tool, lubrication is vitally important. It serves to minimize friction and wear between moving contacting surfaces, as well as protecting bare metal from rust and corrosion.

Insert note here briefly explaining that there is a major difference between “motor” oil and “machine” oil, and that certain oils can be very bad for certain things….

The mill has a one-shot oiler on the lower left side which lubricates the knee, saddle and table. Every four hours of use, the plunger should be lifted and released. Do not force it back down; a spring slowly forces oil through tubes to various parts of the machine. Do not fill the oiler with anything other than the very specific type of machine oil called for. (We'll note this type before it runs out)

There are several oil cups on the head that are not served by the one-shot oiler. Before use, verify that these have been topped up appropriate to their schedule. If not top off these cups with the correct types of oils specified by the notes on the mill head.

When you are finished with the machine for any significant period of time, please clean it thoroughly but carefully. A soft bench brush can be used to clean chips from most surfaces, and compressed air can be used to clean chips from the T slots of the table. Avoid directing compressed air into any crevices or voids formed by moving parts, such as the sliding surfaces that allow movement of the X and Y axes. The machine should be left cleaner than when you started. Remember that many of the surfaces require a constant fine coat of oil, so degreasers should not be used for cleanup except under very unusual circumstances and only if these surfaces are re-coated appropriately.

R8 collets 1/8” thru 3/4” (missing 3/16” and either 1/16” or 13/16”)

Accu-Rite Millmate X and Y axes only

Servo 140 for X-Axis

Caution: Be very mindful of where your hand(s) are when using the power feed, as the rotating crank has a LOT of torque and could easily break your wrist/hand if you got tangled up in it. This is especially true when using the jog button, which involves much faster speeds and is located where you will be tempted to place your had dangerously if you are not thinking about it.