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+1 for the x2....I'm still amazed at what mine is continually capable of. Can't really beat it for the price. Never used EMC, but I'm more than happy with Mach3. If you can, I suggest picking up a...

Dougal, topcap looks great! Do you do your own anodizing? Would look pretty good with one of these bad boys

Thank you all for the deluge of helpful replies, they cleared a lot up. When you say tolerance settings, do you mean in CAD or CAM? If I stick to dxf, I'll have to program two separate profile...

Upon closer inspection, I think I found the problem. In AutoCAD, when the part is rendered the facets show. Come to think of it, the problem only arose when I switched from exporting dxf's to...

Thanks. That was also an initial concern, but I couldn't find any indication of it CAD or CAM (CamBam). The arcs appear to be smooth in the CAM viewer.

My dedicated pc is pretty old, haven't...

I machined a 17tooth cog, pressed in a bearing, and mounted it to the top left of the column. A bicycle chain runs from the head, over the cog, and down through a hole in the table. Counterweight...

My mill has started to do something quarky. When milling a 2.5d profile, the curves are coming out faceted instead of smooth. I've run these same parts many times before and never had this problem....

Sawzall is a horrible idea, no offense. I've used my Dewalt in a pinch, but that's about it.

+1 for the hf 4x6. Mine was crap out of the box, but cuts pretty well after some fiddling. I've...

something I finished this morning, co-worker request. 1/8" 6061 plate, anodized red. 1/16 ballnose, .002" DOC 40ipm...

Great help as always, Hoss. Thanks. Shot Bearings could explain some of my tool chatter too.

cool, thanks Hoss. the lever was removed before I got the mill, didn't even consider disengaging them. suggestions on a good source for bearings?

Stupid question, bear with me. Lately I've noticed that my mill is getting extremely hot....the head especially. After 30min of runtime, I can't even hold the collet.

The previous owner...

Sure thing man. Here's the link I used to set mine up G540 VFD

G540 also has 4th axis capability if you want to add a rotary/trunion table later. I was going to go with a cheaper board, but...

I have a Gecko G540 controlling my x2. It has a built-in vfd drive that can be easily configured to control the stock motor....no extra board required. I'm pleased with mine, it's worth checking...

Just noticed autocad 2011 has a point cloud feature. Anyone ever used it?

Cool, thanks Mike. I realize the advantages of a touch probe, but I don't foresee myself digitizing anything other than aluminum. I just hadn't seen anyone doing it this way.

As for the cloud,...

You could use a tiny probe and Hoss's probing utility. It has a great center-finding function.

Hey guys. I'm finally giving this whole digitizing thing a go. I configured jumpers to my board and installed Hoss's probing utility (thanks man!). All works well.

I have some small aluminum...

I use a 1/16 ballnose. Most of the engraving I do is post-anodizing. I've used spot drills in a pinch as well, but I've found it tends to chip the ano layer.... fwiw.

It's possible, sure. Mach 3 will compensate for the backlash, but it's best to get it as low as possible first. Even with ballscrews, I have .003"-.008" backlash in my axes....most of that, I...

what temper 2024 did you pick up? the 7075 i use is only 80% stronger than 6061, which I pay 2$/lb for. if I found a supplier of decent 2024 for under that price i'd be all over it all day long. ...

I never use a height gage. I use rolling papers which are ~.0005" thick. Move the tool down until it clamps the paper, offset by thickness. Learned it from an old machinist.....which is, um, the...

Welcome to the club!

To add a few things:

Your clamp step blocks are laying on their back. If you stand them up, the teeth will mesh creating a better clamping interface. You may have...

Dano, the tension spring is a great idea! I often find myself jamming my finger underneath the vise to try to seat it in the appropriate "rack". Mine too has the slotted side, no holes.

4" screwless vise by "American Sun". USA made, think they're out of business now. It does its job.

4" toolmaker's vise is perfect for the x2, imho. I use every bit of the 4" jaw opening, a 3" of any sort would be extremely limiting for me. I can't speak for the shars, mine is an american sun...

Should work fine, I believe that's the clamp set I use on my x2

70lbs? Either I got a fat mill or you're far stronger than I am ;)

Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, I didn't have a small enough chainring on hand so I milled this one. I found a pretty cool utility that will produce the tooth profile of any given chain pitch. I...

So gopher, what'd the machine shop say?