Converting an SX2 Mini Mill to CNC - build thread

oatnet

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I'm converting a mini-mill to CNC, and I wanted to create a build log.  I thought about putting it on CNCZONE as yet another X2 conversion, but since it is intended to make ebike parts anyhow, I decided to put it here on the sphere instead - in the spirit of nechaus' "makerbot" thread. There are a lot of folks here with skills and tooling that far exceed mine and will regard this project as laughably naive, but hopefully there are others who are interested in seeing what is involved.  Usually I post here ONLY based on my direct experience, and that will be the case for the rest of the thread as the build progresses, but this is new ground for me so the first posts are OPINION based on the reading and research I used to design the project.  I am sure I misunderstood some things along the way, so take it as the ravings of a CNC noob trying to learn.

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Since I took a Machine Tools class a few years ago (my sole experience to date), I have wanted a vertical mill at home, so I could make my mistakes in private, and the tools I break are my own instead of depriving students trying to learn a trade.  I also wanted CNC control, if possible.

During the class I almost bought one of the cheap chinese router/engraver tables that had just hit the market at the time, which today are available on eBay from dozens of vendors.  I'd start out with one of those $800 engravers in my cart, upgrade to the VFD spindle, throw in the bonus 4th axis table, add kings ransom in shipping, and suddenly, you are way past $2k...  I held off long enough to read feedback from others, finally concluding that the mills are better suited for engraving, and were not powerful, rigid, repeatable, or capable enough for the type of milling operations I had in mind.

I realized for the same $2k+ the Chinese engraver cost, I could get a decent large vertical mill - so what if it didn't have CNC.  I started looking at the Sieg X3 clones, then I rationalized in upgrade after upgrade - consider getting 220v service installed at the house, to handle the larger Sieg X4 clones, then the RF-45 clones...  Then I rationalized down in size a few models as a trade off for adding in CNC.  Then I'd work my way back up the size range again until I was at the RF-45 with a CNC kit.  Then I'd figure well since I was spending all this money, I should get a professionally converted mill...

About this tiime, I realized I was planning on spending 10k on a mill, as well as getting 220v service installed and giving up my spot in the garage permanantly, to install a mill to build the occasional ebike part.  I'd get frustrated with the futility of implementing the ultimate mill, and all the time I'd wasted thinking about and researching it, so I'd forget all about it for a few months.  Then some project I'd read about, some part I'd need, would trigger the craving for a mill again, and I'd go through the whole cycle again, from Chinese engraver to 10k CNC.  This repeated for a few years.

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Recently, I came across an ad for the Harbor Freight varient of the Sieg X2 mill for $450.  I liked that the owner had done the nasty job of cleaning off the shipping grease, had lapped in the ways already, and was only 10 minutes away. Still, I dithered about it for a few days, starting the usual cycle of rationalizing bigger and better mills, until I had a moment of clarity.  This HF X2 mill was more than up to the most immediate job on my project work list - milling a brake adaptor to mount a 9" disk brake on a Boxxer fork.  Sure, I might get lost in the acres of backlash, and have to go find the edge a few times, but eventually I can locate a spot with precision.  Yes my operations will not be precise to .0005 - but I don't need that level of precision - so I bought it.

I figured I'd see how it fared in my workshop, whether it was a tool I only wanted to have, or a tool I actually wanted to use and grow proficient on.  If I used it enough, I thought I'd do the CNC conversion, which is a strong driving reason for me getting a mill.  I had a taste of G-code in class, I wanted more but I realized because of my learning style it is something I could only pick up on my own, figuring out what I needed for each project until I built up a good body of working knowledge.  

As it turns out, while the HF Sieg X2 mill is a good fit for the home mill I needed, the tilting column makes it a challenge for CNC, as the torque of a cut can move it out of adjustment.   For light-duty manual milling it is not a big deal to tram the head, even between each cut if needed, adjusting with a rubber mallet - but CNC needs to do cut after cut without interaction, and if it gets a little out of whack each time, eventually you get way out of whack and crash the head.  Some people build supports that brace the column to prevent is, and I'd consider that if I had to.

However, there is a single X2 variant, one of the "SX2L" models sold by littlemachineshop.com (LMS), which has a solid column that eliminates the whole movement problem, and therefore is more capable of CNC duty.  It is harder to tram in the head because you have to shim the solid column to the base instead of rotating the adjustable column, but without the ability to rotate it will stay square much longer.  The LMS X2 also has a bigger table, with so much longer travel in all 3 axis that the total work envelope is DOUBLE the size of other X2 mills.  It also comes with belt drive instead of the noisy/weak plastic gears on other X2 clones, and a 500w BLDC spindle motor with a tachometer output, instead of a 350w brushed motor.

SolidColumnLMS-HFAdj2.jpg
As you can see from this borrowed pic, the walls of the solid column are thicker than the ones on the tilting column, and not hollow inside the dovetail section, adding rigidity.  LMS sells the column separately for $175, and it can be used to upgrade other X2 mills because their smaller tables' saddles will fit on it. The Solid column does not lose space to the tilting mechanism, allowing for a little extra Y axis travel.  The base of the solid column juts out further, so it's dovetails are lengthened further along the Y axis, also adding travel.

I could overcome the two biggest weaknesses of the HF mill with the solid column upgrade, and replacing the plastic gears with LMS's $145 belt drive upgrade kit.  However, the total cost of parts/cost/shipping/HF mill approaches that of the LMS mill, and I still wouldn't have the bigger work envelope or BLDC spindle.  I decided I would be better off selling the HF mill to someone who needs just a mill, and buy the LMS mill for a CNC conversion.

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Once again I started thinking about the 389lb x3, or the 879lb RF-45, and roughly priced doing conversions on them too.  The X3 only cost 40% more after conversion, and had a much bigger work envelope, and is way more rigid and has a knee and can be ordered with a rotating head...  Then I looked at the HF mill I have, the space its flooded enclosure will need, and realized that was already more space than I wanted to give up.  I also realized that I'm getting older and the 139lb mill was just on the edge of what I feel comfortable moving around.  I don't want to have to go through a major 400lb rigging ordeal every time I want to do something to the mill.  Skilled people are tuning X2 mills to get .001 cuts out of them, and I could invest time someday to approach that, but very little of what I expect to make will need more than .010 accuracy.  It can't handle the occasional large piece, but 99% of what I've thought about making will fit into that work envelope.  

That perspective convinced me that a solid-column LMS conversion was the right solution, and despite my earlier plans to wait, I ordered the mill, the conversion kit, and the electronics/software.  I read a lot of posts complaining about how high the liftgate shipping was, but because LMS is pretty close to me, Residential Liftgate Delivery was cheaper than picking it up at a freight company.  After shipping and tax, the LMS 3960 solid column mill was $972.75.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3960&category=1387807683

My research found many X2 CNC conversions that used the CNCFUSION.com kit, who also offers a special version for the larger table on my LMS mill, so I went with their kit.  The Z axis mount will require me to drill/tap two holes in the column - maybe I can use my HF mill to do that work.  Their design's Z axis has some issues - such as blocking the gib screws, and having the screw mounted to the side causes an alignment issue.  However, it will suffice to get me started, and I can always upgrade it later.   Each axis requires a $24 precision coupling - par for the part - and I'll take them up on $33 to have each ballnut pre-loaded and matched to its screw.  That adds $47 to each of the 3 axis, $141 overall.  Shipped, the precision hardware was $821.00 .
http://www.cncfusion.com/

For the electronics, I settled on the 50v Gecko G540 driver, after reading a lot of documented experiences, it is the sweet spot of price/features/reliability.  I researched and considered Geckos 80v drivers and a BOB (break out board), but the power of the g540 is really sized correctly to the X2's rigidity and the simplified installation a better fit to my skill level. 
http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/gecko-drivers/gecko-diver-g540-4-axis-driver

I had trouble settling on stepper motors, until I recognized that the 381oz/in Kelig stepper motors many people were praising because their volt/amp requirements neatly fit the G540's ratings, also had super-low inductance and resistance so they run cooler.  Then it clicked - the motor scaled to the gecko driver and both scaled to the mill, and I can use one of my Vicor PSU's to power everything.
http://www.automationtechnologiesin...quarter-inch-dual-shaft-with-a-flat-381-oz-in
http://www.kelinginc.net/NEMA23Motor.html

Software is another issue.  CAD lets you design the part.  CAM converts it to G-Gode.  CNC software drives the mill, and executes G-code.  I haven't figured out what I want for cad/cam, but for now I'll just be happy to have the mill under digitial control with CNC software.  I found the $175 Mach3 CNC software at automationtechnologies for $149, and since they had the steppers at the same $49 price as Kelig, and the G540 driver at an typical $279. They were the cheapest place to single-source all the electronics/software on my list, and while I was at it I bought a $10 emergency-stop switch for the controller, and a $16 single motor cable as a model for my own cables.   $640.50 delivered for all the electronics and software.  
http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/cnc-cam-software/mach3-license-file

So, $2,285.25 to buy the LMS solid-column mill and CNC conversion parts, about the same price as a Makerbot 2 but with the ability to work in a wide range of materials in addition to plastic, at 10x the resolution. Another $50 for the PC/keyboard/mouse and $149 for Mach 3 CNC software, so you can build a complete, functional, basic CNC mill 2,484.25 total. Whups, I had a spare monitor and parallel cable, so those costs are not included.

Upgrade costs will include an enclosure with drains, coolant nozzles and pump, home switches.  Then there is the cost of a stand, tooling, CAD/CAM software, more tooling, a 4th axis, more tooling...
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I got the crate with the mill on Tuesday, my wife received it for me because Hollywood freight missed their delivery window, and there was a dent in the box.  I mailed pictures of the dent to LMS, who was very supportive, and said if anything was damaged they would replace the part (they stock all the parts). I freed up time to open the crate last night, and the dent appears to stop short of the table, and I have not detected any problems with the mill yet - yay!   I put it up onto the workbench and took comparison pictures, so people could see the difference between the HF X2 and the LMS SX2.  On top of all the benefits I mentioned earlier! in person the LMS SX2 presents better quality.  The column looks bigger and better, and the edges of the dovetails are sharper and consistent, like they were cut better.  The connectors for the wiring are better.  It's all the same parts, just better made in many instances.  I noticed the SX2 table also has a t-slot.cut into the front.

Anyhow, here are pics:

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Although they specified 2 weeks before shipping, CNCFusion has already sent me a tracking number for the precision hardware. I'm not looking forward to the next part, but if I prep the mill now the parts can be installed as soon as they arrive. My tasks will be remove the head/table/saddle to strip the mill down to a bare column, clean the waxy shipping oils from every surface of with low-VOC mineral spirits, then coat the ways with white lithium grease and everything else with Mobil 1 synthetic non-detergent motor oil (oils with detergents will cause wear).

As Michael from CNCFusion joked, these are "Snowflake Mills - no two alike" so I anticipate some challenges fitting the precision hardware. If I am lucky, the better build quality I see on the LMS mill will result in more accurate tolerances that reduce the number and magnitude of those challenges. I'll use this detailed photo-rich article about installing the CNCfusion kit to guide me through the teardown, as well as removal of the many parts made obsolete by CNC Conversion. That guide did the best job of getting me comfortable with what I will be doing with the CNCFusion kit, but there are additional articles from CNCFusion here, here, and here.

Once the mill is reassembled with precision ballscrews and motor mounts, I can bolt on the steppers, wire them to the g540 driver, install/configure MACH 3 on the CNC computer, and start to dial everything in.



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nicobie said:
Looks like a fun project. Is the mill big enough to work steel, or is aluminum / plastic all you will be milling?

Thanks!

I have seen youtube vids demonstrating that even the tiliting column X2 will mill steel, it is just a matter of how fast it can do it. The steppers I chose have abundant torque, so they can press the tool into the workpiece with great force resulting in great speed. However when the mill pushes too hard, it makes the column flex until the tool skips along the workpiece, risking damage and leaving a rough surface. Since the LMS's column is thicker, and better braced by bolts at (4) dispersed points instead of the tilting column's single point, I hope the added rigidity will let me mill steel even faster than I saw in those vids. Of course, locating/drilling/tapping holes in steel is a slam dunk, like a precision drill press.

After the mill is assembled, I'll be able to assess how deep I can cut and how fast I can feed steel before it induces chatter. If I want more speed, I can increase feed rate by changing the pulley on the belt drive to drive a carbide bit at higher RPM, or upgrade to a faster/more powerful spindle motor. I also have been percolating on an upgrade that will add rigidity by bracing the top of the column (actually the side benefit of an upgrade to increase usable z-axis travel).

That said, most of what I think about milling is aluminum, with plastic test runs. However, like you, I still found it important to make a machine that would CNC steel fast enough so that programs don't take days to complete. I think I've met that design criteria, stay tuned and when the mill is built I'll try to prove that out.

-JD
 
Progress over the past few weeks. First step its to tear the mill down and clean off the thick shipping grease. Then lube it up, mount the precision hardware, setup the electronics, etc etc.

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Currently, the Z-Axis ballnut seems wierd. Ballnuts have a channel that takes a ball bearing out of one end, and recirculates it to the other end. When it is ready to recirculate one of these ball bearings, I get high resistance until I hear/feel one of the bearings snap into the channel, then it moves smoothly until the next one is ready to pop. I can move the head up or down smoothly over a range of an inch or two without causing this circulation, but as soon as one of the bearings needs to pop, I hit resistance. CNCfusion told me where to look to find instructions to try to resolve this, but I haven't gotten to that yet. The X-axis feels a little catchy too, so maybe this is normal behaviour, but the Y-axis is smooth as silk so I have concerns.

To run the Mach 3 CNC software, I picked up a used Pentium D computer at a local swap meet for $50, 250gb drive, 2gb ram, and a Microsoft XP license tag on the side. I had to install XP from scratch; haven't done it for a few years, seems that Microsoft has tried to obsolete XP-SP2 by keeping Windows Update from installing correctly. I had to manually install Windows Update, then it was fine. None of HP's drivers worked, even though they were specified for the exact model I have - I had to go to Intel's website and install their generic drivers. I've had this problem with HP before - I believe more attempts to obsolete hardware by confusing end-users. Anyhow, after hours and hours of drivers and M$oft patches and virus scanner, Mach 3 installed smoothly and picked up the license file I had stored on the root of C:

I ran a straight-through parallel cable to the Gecko G540 drive. I configured a 48v PSU from one of the Vicor Megapacks I've been using to charge batteries, and powered up the G540 to the anticipated fault light. Then I installed the emergency stop switch, and the G540 powered up to the green ready light.

I haven't hooked up the motors yet. The Gecko manual uses nomenclature I am not used to, it refers to the (4) wire connections as "A", "A/", "B", and "B/". I assumed that A=A+ and A/=A-, but that completely reverses the wire colors on the "sample cable" I bought, and looking at other people wiring the same motors are referring to "A/" as "A+". If anyone has insight on the "/" nomenclature, I would sure appreciate the tip.

I guess polarity doesn't matter as long as I am connecting both "A" leads to the same coil, if I do it backwards on both coils, then the motor should just run backwards... Still, not fully understanding, I find it hard to proceed. Soon I'll just go with it anyhow.
 
Oh, and since Nicobie asked about the X2 milling steel - here are a couple of random youtubes of SOMEONE ELSE'S X2 milling steel... I have a way to go yet:

[youtube]Onjt-OGVlSw[/youtube]

[youtube]7s5QkspyhQw[/youtube]
 
Beautiful, that machine is going to be awesome. Not so much important with the cnc, but I couldn't imagine milling things without a rotary table.
 
Got the X and Y axis powered up and moving today, yay! I used the HF mill to drill/tap holes in the x-axis motor mount, so I I could mount the wire-track for the X-axis. The Y axis and Z axis motors stay in fixed location, so they don't need track. I freehand-drilled/tapped the column for other side of the wire track. Then I sorted out the motor wiring and Mach 3 configuration/operation basics enough to get X/Y moving, as well as a feel for the limits of travel.

I still have to wire the Z axis, and I haven't tuned the motors yet, or learned how to adjust the speed in mach3. Here are two long vids of it simultaneously moving X + Y, just reaallly slooowwwlly.

-JD

[youtube]dsWsQpqwBbU[/youtube]

[youtube]cMT-ZLIMY3c[/youtube]
 
You saying the scriewballs problem went away by it self ?

nice toy oat :)

is there a difference between a rotary table and a dividing head ?

i can mill steel as well with my getho drill prss lol
 
A dividing head typically moves in two axis, and more often than not has a chuck. A rotary table is always just one axis, and has slots like a standard mill table
 
nice job.

be interesting to see if there are any issues driving the "Z" axis. gravity helps the head going down and opposes the head going up. that means that the acceleration during "Z" axis contouring will be different depending on whether you are plunging or withdrawing the tool. that could affect the accuracy of your vertical contours that you may not be able to resolve by simple tuning.

rick
 
rkosiorek said:
nice job.

be interesting to see if there are any issues driving the "Z" axis. gravity helps the head going down and opposes the head going up. that means that the acceleration during "Z" axis contouring will be different depending on whether you are plunging or withdrawing the tool. that could affect the accuracy of your vertical contours that you may not be able to resolve by simple tuning.

rick

It shouldnt, good cnc servos will be able to slam the head around like it weighs nothing, and for some reason it can't, then it will slow down the other axis to match it. On the cnc at the school if you are loading a servo enough for it to bog like that, the mill throws an error amd shuts down. Normally only happens if you leave the axis locked.
 
weight means something but mass means much more.

these are open loop stepper motors. there is no feedback mechanism or feedback loop to continuously adjust or correct any deviation from expected behavior or motion. the stepper motor is commanded to move but there is no guarantee that the table or head will follow.

your mills at school are likely commercial mills and those are servo systems. they have a feed back mechanism that uses either glass scales on the axis or rotary encoders on the ball screws to measure if the table moves when and only by as much as it is supposed to. the feedback corrects position and speed errors, things that simple stepper controllers are just not capable of. feedback loops are also essential for overload detection. the simple stepper systems do not have this luxury.

counterbalance is important. many mills have either counterbalance weights and pulleys or spring/hydraulic mechanisms hidden inside the vertical column. it all depends on the design. but the truly massive and rigid mills with a moving head or gantry, that you could take a big beefy cut with were likely to have something to compensate for the weight of the head. in our shop we had some mills by Cincinnati Millacron and Mori Seiki that did, but others by Bridgeport and Moog that did not. On larger rail or gantry mills i can't remember one that did not. our largest mill was a 5 axis Cinci 2 head gantry mill with 32x8x4feet (10,000X2,500x1,250mm) travel. and it definitely had a pair of massive weights balancing the weight of the gantry.

rick
 
Looks good so far man! Here is another mill conversion, worth signing up to see the pics. He also has a nice thread on the CNC lathe conversion of a 9 x 20.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/8187-rung-fu-clone-RF-45-ZX45-cnc-conversion
 
I used to want to convert a small mill.. but seems like a more rigid, massive machine is the best option if you want to get good quality work (aka machine product is what your model is). Obviously for most bike accessories it's not necessary.. but any time you don't want to spend Saturday afternoon and evening to get a press fit .5" deep bearing bore in a hunk of steel...I'd probably get the massive guy.

I'm not at any point to buying one, but someday I'd like to save up for an entry level Tormach.

http://www.tormach.com/product_pcnc_770_main.html
 
hillzofvalp said:
I used to want to convert a small mill.. but seems like a more rigid, massive machine is the best option if you want to get good quality work (aka machine product is what your model is)

I think you are confusing speed with quality. A larger mill gives a bigger work envelope, and the extra ridigity allows it to take deeper cuts that translates to speed, but I have pictures below of mirror-smooth cuts that are accurate to .001, how do you get better "quality"?

That said, I can't imagine it taking more than 45 minutes or so mill out a slot for a 1/2" deep bearing an inch or two across. Even if it took all 'Saturday and Evening" as you assert, I'd rather spend that time than 400% more $$$, the expense of installing 220v, give up my parking spot, and rig up a lift every time I want to take the head off the column. If I did, I would do an RF-45 or SX-4 conversion.

It's all about tradeoffs - sure, the Ferrari is nicer than the volkswagen, but the car payment/insurance are much higher and you can't park it on the street. If you need groceries more than track time, the VW is probably a better choice.

etard said:
Looks good so far man!
Thanks Etard! :mrgreen:

rkosiorek said:
nice job. be interesting to see if there are any issues driving the "Z" axis. gravity helps the head going down and opposes the head going up. that means that the acceleration during "Z" axis

Thanks Rick! Well, I am a ways from doing conturing :oops: but I'll be on the lookout for that. I read a few reports of people taking their counterweight/air lift mods off their X2 mill after CNC conversion. My research didn't turn up problems with the Z-axis, even on conversions using 220oz-in steppers, which are probably more than a mill this size needs. I hope that by using 380oz-in steppers I'll won't have an issue - the spindle head is nothing like the size of the monsters you are used to working on. :lol:

-JD
 
I've made a lot of progress on the mill over the past few weeks, just slow on posting it. Here is a video of it moving in all 3 axis:
[youtube]4Cpx8IjHm4U[/youtube]

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I had to tune the motor accurately. The motors are 1.8 degrees/step, aka 200 steps per revolution. The Ballscrew is .200 pitch, which means it needs to turn (5) times to travel an inch. The Gecko g540 does 10 microsteps per step.

200 steps x 5 revolutions x 10 microsteps = 10,000 steps per inch. This is handy, because each microstep represents .0001" . The drives seem pretty happy jogging at 100 inches per second.

I used the dial-indicator mount to verify I had the correct steps per inch, as well as repeatability - that the machine keeps returning to the same point every time. Good thing, because I discovered I had not properly stored the SPI for the Z/Y axes - they were still set to the 8000 SPI I used on my first try.

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[youtube]RXbif1h4xTw[/youtube]
Verifying that the mill is square. There is a scratch in the replaceble jaw plate, you can see the dial skip -.001" as it goes over it. Note that otherwise, the needle is solid on "0"

[youtube]RxyuXJAMDBY[/youtube]
After programming in backlash, verifying that the Z axis returns to the same spot every single time.

[youtube]ve7kIc9HxMg[/youtube]
I was driving the mill with the keyboard, I don't have home/limit switches installed, so I was worried about crashing the mill and didn't take it to the ends of each axis - so this does not demonstrate the full range of travel. With the table square, movement accurate and repeatable, I was ready to start milling. I used the keyboard (arrow keys, and pageup/down for z axis) to move parts under the spindle. I couldn't get the keys working on my early experiments, because I had been using g0 commands to move the table around, and g0 mode locks out the keyboard control. I learned to use the TAB key to bring up the jog dial, and used it to slow the motors to the correct feed rate and give smoother cuts. That is the wrong way to set feed rate, but at this point I was more focused on making chips than advancing through the MACH3 learning curve.
 
oatnet i didn't understand how the stepper motor can do 2000 microsteps per rev if the motor itself is limited to 200 steps per rev ?
i get the board is capable of sending microsteps, but i thought the steps a stepper is designed for that's what it can do, unless there are some gears on output of the stepper. (i aint expert on steppers, saw few vids of how they click every step).

next in relation to non hardened steel, as SAE 4140/4340
what company/type/coat mill bits you use ?

what's your feed rate with a 5mm end mill bit or 7mm at a depth of ?

did you find optimal rpm before too much vibration/chatter if at all ?

what max depth you feel comfortable milling befor you feel any flex if at all ?

if you havent tried steel, then regarding aluminum.
 
Nice word JD, you will find the CNC to be a whole new hobby by itself. we have been busy too, just finish this. Waiting on a 2hp water cooled spindle. It should be able to hog out aluminum at a good rate. Working also to get the X3 online, x an y axis are done.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FHNgrY64U
 
kfong said:
Nice word JD, you will find the CNC to be a whole new hobby by itself. we have been busy too, just finish this. Waiting on a 2hp water cooled spindle. It should be able to hog out aluminum at a good rate. Working also to get the X3 online, x an y axis are done.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FHNgrY64U

Nice DIY build kfong, and you also went for the x3, I'd love to see a build thread on that. I thought long and hard about the x3, I wish my build had its work envelope, but the X2 does fit the space I had better.

I still need to install home switches, and I got hung up struggling with Autodesk Inventor, but I recently used Sketchup to design the battery box for my VW dune buggy conversion (putting the 9" motor that was in the 3500lb bus into a 1,000lb street-legal dune buggy, CLICK HERE), I liked it so I think that will clear my CAD obstacle.



Sorry screiwy, I don't have the practical experience with this machine yet to answer your question. This project enabled me to build the brake adaptor to complete the Norco Aline 5403 build, and then after that I got sucked into the mid-drive "Ktrak" snow/sand bike, and finally the Dune Buggy conversion I mentioned above. I will likely cycle back to the mill next, now that I have CAD sorted.

-JD
 
We do keep a running build on our website http://www.embeddedtronics.com/x3.html, our gantry project even made it to hack a day http://hackaday.com/2013/07/26/cnc-router-built-with-8020-rail/#more-100262, and the gantry on our site is
http://www.embeddedtronics.com/cnc_gantry.html. 3D printers will be our next are of interest, part of the reason for the gantry build. I need (4) 12 inch custom aluminum disks for the structure.

We started on the X1 and wished we went with the X2 at the time due to the column flex. Still it has earned it's keep over the years, it even milled all the aluminum parts and the stainless steel torque arms for my Motobecane build. I think you will be quite happy with the X2. It has enough iron and mass to mill out steel with reasonable cuts. We are hoping the current gantry mill will be stiff enough for steel, won't really know for sure until we do actual cuts. Very confident it will cut aluminum like butter using the 2.5hp VFD drive. The work area is 2'x2.3', quite a bit more than the X3. The problem you encounter with going larger is the flexing, aluminum isn't the best choice for a stiff mill of this size, but it's easy to work with. We have backup plans to stiffen it with plate steel if needed.

Cad took much longer to accomplish. I had to teach myself solidworks, mastercam and mach3. Learning 3D, took the longest to do without a class. YouTube is your best resource in learning this, but the payoff is worth it.


oatnet said:
kfong said:
Nice word JD, you will find the CNC to be a whole new hobby by itself. we have been busy too, just finish this. Waiting on a 2hp water cooled spindle. It should be able to hog out aluminum at a good rate. Working also to get the X3 online, x an y axis are done.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FHNgrY64U

Nice DIY build kfong, and you also went for the x3, I'd love to see a build thread on that. I thought long and hard about the x3, I wish my build had its work envelope, but the X2 does fit the space I had better.

I still need to install home switches, and I got hung up struggling with Autodesk Inventor, but I recently used Sketchup to design the battery box for my VW dune buggy conversion (putting the 9" motor that was in the 3500lb bus into a 1,000lb street-legal dune buggy, CLICK HERE), I liked it so I think that will clear my CAD obstacle.



Sorry screiwy, I don't have the practical experience with this machine yet to answer your question. This project enabled me to build the brake adaptor to complete the Norco Aline 5403 build, and then after that I got sucked into the mid-drive "Ktrak" snow/sand bike, and finally the Dune Buggy conversion I mentioned above. I will likely cycle back to the mill next, now that I have CAD sorted.

-JD
 
I haven't had time to do any CNC, but I have used it for several operations on my Dune Buggy conversion (link in signature). That said, I wanted to issue Customer Support Kudos to LittleMachineShop.com.

The spindle on my mill suddenly stopped working, it looked like a bad phase, spinning very slowly, pausing, and spinning slowly again.   My mill is out of the warrantee period, but only has an hour or so of use, so Chris of LMS generously offered to replace the failed part.

He sent me a link to the controller test regimen, which showed voltage on all three phases, so we then assumed it was the motor.  I was surprised, expecting a blown FET, but I could see how maybe I lost a hall sensor or a winding failed...

I got the replacement motor fast, but when I swapped it in, same problem.  Chris immediately sent me a new controller, and told me to hold onto the motor until the problem was fixed.  I got the replacement controller fast, but when I swapped it in, same problem.   If it wasn't the motor or controller, that left only the throttle...  I popped the throttle box, put the DMM on the pot, but didn't see resistance to the wiper change as I rotated it up and down...  So I powered it up, jumpered the wiper as shown in the picture below, and the spindle immediately spun up to speed.  Chris sent me a new potentiometer assembly, and that resolved the problem.  Anyhow, the support and excellent customer service made me really glad I bought from LMS, they have earned a loyal customer.

Thanks LittleMachineShop! :D

-JD
 
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