[Jaime128]

Now I need a little help. I don't have them yet, but my first question is this:
1. The mini mill uses an R8 spindle I believe and the lathe uses and MT3 and MT2.

2. Should I convert the mill to an MT3 or the lathe to an R8 which I don't know if it can be done?

3. Any help is appreciated since I just want to buy one set of tools to use between the two, the collet set for example. I'm new at this so I'm not sure which one is more affordable cost option in the long run. Thanks.

4. Has anyone used the http://www.probotix.com/ CNC motor kits? They look very nicely organized and I'm looking at complete kits instead of mixing and trying to match things. I just don't know how good these are.

Note: I ordered the HF just because I could drive over to the store and it was less than on-line, plus I figured if I cnc it, I still have to change the leads screws. This is why I didn't get both from Micro-Mark. I got their lathe, just because I couldn't find the 7x14 anywhere else. Not cheap so if anyone has any other links, let me know in case my brothers decide to get something later. I did find that toolsnow has the same mill for like $100 less than HF in case anyone else is looking. Now I'm still waiting for both.

[hoss2006]

Hey jaime,
Leave the mill and lathe as is.
R8 is an industry standard for tooling and you'll
find plenty of cheap tooling for the mill using it.
MT3 and MT2 are standards for lathes and are held in place
just by forcing the tool into the head or tailstock by hand.
They usually come with a tang on the end to keep it from spinning.
MT's for mills are tangless and threaded for a drawbar.
R8's use a drawbar to hold them in place.

You can find cheaper complete CNC kits at Kelinginc for less money than the
ones at Probotix.
Option C CNC package at Keling with (3) 425 oz/in motors= $359
3 Axis Monster at probotix with (3) 400 oz/in motors = $410
The drivers used on the Keling are great and they have lightning fast shipping.
Hoss

[Jaime128]

Well, I do like the fact that their systems cost less and the motors have a bit more goodness in them. Also, I am in the states so that helps very much too. Just so you know, your hoss.com link doesn't work, but the .info does. I'll take a look at their stuff a bit more.

Any other links to an affordable cnc mounting kit. I looked at the cncfusion which looks great, but also costs more than the actual mill and I still have to buy the tooling and well, I'm sure it will make more sense to me when I get them and have them in front of me. So not much budget left, but I would like to look into cnc for this later. Now I know that R8 is used by the bridgeports which have been around for a long time. I went to their site to see what the machines use now. Now I know why that is a standard. I was looking at the quick connect collet kits from grizzly, but they have both the R8 and MT and they are not cheap, this is why I was also asking, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind. I'll come back and bug you guys again when I get things set up and maybe get some pictures for other newbies to see what they get when you first make a purchase for these two items.

Note: Scanning through your pages, I noticed you still have the handle left on it...that I like very much and the cncfusion kit removes it. I may have to take a closer look at them. You got a lot of great info, so I'll be reading all night again...hehe...

[hoss2006]

Little Machine Shop has a good collet set to get you going and it's only $39.

[Oldboy]

I purchase a R8 collet set off Ebay from a Ebay seller. And im VERY HAPPY with it.
Give it a look on Ebay and you might like it for your Harbor Fright X2 mill? Ebay item 350052050881. Its just what Im using on my X2.
And I won it for less than the one sold on Little Machine Shop web site.
Hope this helps You?

[Jaime128]

I will keep all this in mind...So far I'm just getting owl eyes from all the reading I have been doing for the last two weeks. This stuff is just too interesting to me right now because I know what is possible with the cnc. I already have one projet to machine. It's the thumb joystick for a wireless keyboard that broke the first time I dropped it. It's held by a screw, but nothing a machine piece of stock can't fix now. I guess the waiting for these things is one of the longest waits, aside from learning all of this stuff.

[Jaime128]

Okay, not really, I had to pick up my mill today. I've been cleaning it up and I'm trying to take out the chuck. Just getting familiar with the whole thing before I even plug it in.

Can someone tell me how to take that damn chuck out. It looks like it's really stuck in there. I took out the top bolt, tapped the darn thing with a rubber hammer, but nothing. Am I not doing something right?

Do I have to loosen the top nut too? The one that it's a backwards thread or left hand I guess. That was a pain in the butt.

[Crevice Reamer]

Hi Jaime! You don't take OUT the drawbar. You only loosen it a couple of turns. Then tap the top of the draw bar with a hammer until the chuck loosens. Now you can remove the drawbar and the chuck.

The Grizzly manual is better than the HF one:

http://www.grizzly.com/images/manuals/g8689_m.pdf

CR.

[Crevice Reamer]

You might also find THESE helpful:

Mini mill user's guide:

http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

Mini Lathe user's guide

http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

CR.

[Jaime128]

I found this posting as well which is where I realized you should use a regular hammer not the rubber hammer. Lightly hit it and it's all good. The inside had a bit of rust were the screw goes so I WD40 the whole thing now and will leave it off for the night. I'm not feeling well so I'll call it a night. Tomorrow I'll check the wiring and electrical before I plug it in for the first time. I also added grease on the motor gear because the little they added wasn't even on the gears. It's also comes with the plastic gear and the housing bolts were loose all around. So check this so that your gears mesh just right, not too lose or too tight. This may be why some also brake aside from trying to cut too much. Just my educated guess right now. And yes, the HF manual is useless. Fortunately my dad and I have both been learning today. He's never used one either so it's been good for both of us.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=414589

[Jaime128]

Okay, I checked the wires today and they all looked fine so I plugged the mill and and turned it on and left if running on the slow side for a couple of minutes to let the brushes and things settle a bit. I later tested both low and high gears, everything seems to work fine on that end. Unfortunately I noticed theres a slight wobble or the chuck doesn't seem to be turning evenly I guess is the other way to describe it. I took the chuck off and the drawbar to make sure that's not bent or anything, but I could still see just a bit of that on the spindle and the left hand nut. How the heck do I fix this. I'm pretty sure it's not my eyes, still got 20/20. I was also able to make my first hole on a piece of wood and it was straight, but I can still see this a bit when I stare at the top left hand nut straight from the front.

In any case, I just find this annoying and I hope there's a simple way to fix this other than having to repack this thing and take it back to the store. Not to mention I might end up with the same thing again. I also got my mini lathe today and I got two boxes from Micro-Mark. One is the mini lathe and the other is the accessories box. Seems to have a lot of stuff. I haven't open it yet. I need to get my mill setup finished and ready for well, anything.

[isaac338]

Jaime128, if you ever decide to convert your mill to MT3, give me a shout - I just bought an MT3 equipped mini mill which I want to convert to R8

[Crevice Reamer]

Removing the drawbar cap and a little tightening of the spindle nut may take care of that run out for you.

CR.

[Jaime128]

I already tried tightening the nut, but I still see a bit of that. Still trying to figure out if it's the spindle itself. Are there any other suggestions that can be done other than taking it apart or do I need to replace the R8?

Issac, I think I'm going to leave it alone, but I'll let you know if I do. Still playing with the setup. I just got my lathe almost set up too, so I'm having quite a learning experience from both. The one thing missing on these pieces of hardware is quality control. Once I can get through these, I think the hardware will be okay, but can't say until then.

[hoss2006]

Import drill chucks are a crap shoot when it comes to runout, most are pretty crappy though.
Removing it from the R8 holder(it should have a taper that holds it on) cleaning and reinstalling it may help, otherwise get a quality chuck like Jacobs.
The spindle should be checked for runout with an R8 collet and a piece of drill rod or anything round and true.
the inside could be perfect (less than .001) but the outside could be off giving you the illusion it's bad.
Hoss

[Jaime128]

Hey Hoss, well, the chuck looks like a really decent part. Something that has JT33 on it, but what do I know. I think it may be the run out because when I take the chuck off, I still see a bit of that slight movement and the hole I made was straight as I could tell.

How do you check the runout? I have no idea. I already tried making it a bit tighter, but didn't do much. I'll put in the end mill holder I bought. I stopped by LMS(LittleMachineShop) for those who don't know what LMS is. It took me a while to figure this out. If you haven't read the threads it won't make sense to you. I picked up a couple of things to get me started from them, the guys are great over there.

If you like puzzles, get a clamping kit. I think I still need something else to clamp a plate...darn it...hehe

[Jaime128]

Hoss, I took a closer look at the chuck and well, you're right, they are not right. Since I have the lathe almost cleaned, I decided to put that chuck on it and spin it to see if I could see the difference. I also turned the other spindle I got for some cutters and they both look a bit lump sided. So It looks like the tool holder may be okay since the hole I made was straight, even thought the chuck didn't look like it was spinning right.

By the way, is there a small vise to hold a 150 or 150mm plate? I think this is like an almost 6" inch wide plate. It's something I need to mill but I'm not sure what to use in order to hold it square. I got the clamp kit, but that thing goes all over the place. I noticed most small vices for this machine only open to about 3 or 4" so any help with this will be great. Thanks.

Note to self: Find sears and look for a dial gauge to check this stuff...

I created a posting for the lathe in the mini lathe section just to keep things organized

[hoss2006]

I think you already figured out you need an indicator to check the runout
either a dial indicator or a test indicator.
Here's a video on Youtube to show how to check it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSjIV9tr3E"]Runout Check[/ame]

I'm a big fan of tooling plates for mounting all my parts.
I use a couple of pins to line one side up parallel (or perpendicular) with the axis.
place some scrap stock or parallels underneath and clamp it down.
LMS sells a couple that would fit the X2.
I rarely use a chuck anymore. They take up a lot of Z.
Hoss

[Jaime128]

I've been trying to get creative with the clamp set, but no luck since I still don't have parallels and well, any other tools for this two machines. I stopped by sears yesterday, but they only had a crappy dial, so I only got me a scriber that I need to mark the plate. I'll check a bigger store today and see what they got.

You're right again, damn chuck takes all the space. I just realized I can use that other tool holder I got, just kill two problems with one shot. Don't need to get a new chuck and now I can get more z room, and third...no need to change the tool holder for a bit...cool. I had to go to the machine and verify this, but nope, the drill is too small, the nut won't go all the way in to hold the drill bit. I'm sure a smaller one will do. You do gain a lot of z this way though. I bought a set of center drills, but just can't find them now...man...

[Jaime128]

I decided to take some readings with my new digital dial. I checked the flatness and the runout. The table is very flat which is great, just got a bit of change towards the end on the right side. About .001" to .002", almost two or .01mm and I get that same number for the spindle so that looks better than I thought for the overall mill. I was expecting this to go way off, but it looks good. I still haven't taken the sharpness of it off either. The digital gauge works great too.

Has anyone seen smaller controllers by any chance. What I've seen looks like the older white computer boxes. I guess this stuff hasn't kept up much. Just a big box in all flavours vanilla...I sure hope I'm wrong about this...I guess I just don't want another ugly big box sitting next to a mill that just happens to be smaller than the controller itself...