According to Bill Schwab :
I have a rebranded Rong Fu 31 (I thinkg) that is hopefully getting off
to a good start. I am open to do/don't suggestions on oiling etc.
Good waylube on the ways -- it holds on longer than lighter
lubes. Probably Mobil's "Vactra No. 2 Waylube" will be a good choice.
That will probably work well on the column as well.
What the spindle wants will vary from machine to machine and
from bearing type to bearing type.
Dumb question: for practice, I aligned my vice using a dial indicator.
It was fairly smooth, but not something I would want to do every day.
Should I be concerned about leaving the vice in place for long periods?
Check on the underside of the vise for slots for table keys.
If they exist, make a set of keys a bit oversized. and mount the vise
upside down on the table to cut the keys to precise width to match the
T-slots. (There should be tapped holes for mounting the keys.) This
way, you can drop the vise onto the table, work the keys into the
T-slots, and you will be very close. For the top precision, you may
need to adjust just a little bit, but for most work the keys will get
you to where you need to be.
If the vise does not have slots for keys, mill slots and drill
and tap the holes for screws to keep the keys in place. (You may want
two sets of slots -- one for the vise at right angles to the T-slots,
and another set for the vise parallel to the T-slots. In that case, I
would suggest putting number stamps in the keys and the slots so the
same keys go back in the same place each time.
To get the slots running just right, take a chunk of square
steel stock, clamp it to the table adjusting for parallel, and then
clamp the jaws of the inverted vise to the stock. (This is presuming
that the vise does not have a swivel base, of course.)
I would hate to find rust where there was once a nicely machined table 
Wipe the table and vise down with waylube before mounting the
vise, and you should be fine as long as you don't trap water soluble
coolant under the vise.
Is there a trick to mounting an indicator on the spindle? I put it in a
chuck. Is there a better way?
There are lots of ways -- depending on the indicator. Since I
don't know what your indicator looks like, I can't suggest much --
except that I would use collets instead if I had a choice.
Speaking of the table, most of it is quite clean. There are a couple of
small dings that I assume will be best honed or lapped away. What
should I _not_ do?
What you *should* do is stone or file to remove the *raised*
part of the dings, without cutting into the rest of the surface. Again,
rub with waylube after you have filed, so you don't have bare metal
exposed to rust.
BTW -- if you've got a fuel fed heater in the shop -- beware
that aside from possibly introducing carbon monoxide and poisoning you,
it is also *very* likely to produce water vapor, which will condense on
the cold metal for quite a while until you get the tools warm enough.
Better to use electric heat, or put heat sources (e.g. light bulbs)
inside the machine to keep it warmer than the surrounding air. (And
lots of surface lube again.)
Before even checking prices, I knew about the tool change, head height,
registration woes of round column machines. I can live with it (670
pounds was quite sufficient for me and my engine hoist), but will
welcome ways to reduce the hassles.
O.K. I'll leave it to others who deal with this problem to make
suggestions on this.
One of the more interesting suggestions was to use a collet chuck. My
problem is that google returned so many hits as to be useless. Can some
kind soul who knows what is going on provide a link to the right gizmo
(or refute the idea)?
What is the spindle for your machine? The first hit which I
checked on "Rong Fu 31" in Google shows that the one being sold has an
R8 spindle, so you will use R8 collets. They are relatively
inexpensive, good for light work, and should be tightened by the same
drawbar which holds in you drill chuck (which is a *terrible* way to
hold end mills, though quite reasonable for drill bits.)
So -- the search for "R8" collets should narrow things down
greatly. You won't need a chuck at all for holding them -- your spindle
should do that properly.
For heavy cutting with an end mill, however, you will want end
mill holders -- as collets can let the end mill creep downward, cutting
an ever deeper slot. This is especially important as you get up to the
1/2" size of end mill or larger.
An edge/center finder is on its way. For most things, layout lines will
probably be more than sufficient. Otherwise, I am thinking of
drilling a reference hole for "when" I get lost, and then working
relative to it.
Hmm ... something like that could be nice for re-zeroing a DRO
(Digital ReadOut -- a device for numerically displaying the coordinate
positions so you aren't having to spend as much time making sure that
the leadscrew backlash is not fooling you.
Reading suggestions are welcome.
You have my thoughts for the moment.
Good Luck,
DoN.
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