[xander18]

My X2 came with a bunch of tooling, including a 2.5" face mill. Unfortunately it is too short for my X2 and the threads of the bolt that hold the tool (I'm sure I'm missing industry terms here) barely hits the threads of the tool. I was just going to buy a longer bolt (that looks like 1/2-20 thread) and run it like that but I wanted to check here to make sure that it's not some other similar taper and I run the risk of damaging my spindle/holder or getting it stuck in there.

Also, I assume that both 1/2" and 12mm T slot nuts work on these since they're so close? Just don't want to waste the money on a clamping set to find that they don't fit.

Many more questions to come, just trying to spread them out so I don't overwhelm the forum with cries for help

[photomankc]

That sure doesn't sound right. Any way to post a photo of the face mill? An R8 face mill should look something like this:


Hard to imagine one that's really R8 that would have such a short shank it couldn't reach the drawbar (bolt that holds the tool in). Also go easy with that sucker. My old X2 was really working running a 2.5" face mill on anything other than a shallow cut. Getting that bogged down and stalled would be asking to replace your plastic gears.

[xander18]

I thought it felt weird! I'm at work now, I'll put up pictures this evening. The shank looks like my other R8 collets and feels right when I test fit it in there, everything looks good except for the length. The end of the drawbar looks unmolested (I thought it might have been shortened).

Planning on doing a belt drive conversion anyway, this might be the motivation that gets me to order it.

Edit:
I can't find a picture of the actual face mill (it's kind of a weird one) but this looks like the shank it has on it.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

[photomankc]

That looks right but like I said I never found the the drawbar on the X2 to be short so If the shank on your tool is not getting up there I would would be looking closely at the tool. Is the taper seating all the way in? If so then all I can think of is that the shank of the arbor is way short. You can look for another arbor for the face mill assuming that it is not a one-piece unit. On most face mills you have an R8 arbor that has a keyway and screw that holds the actual face mill to the arbor. If the arbor is short then I would just look for the appropriate replacement.

The threads on R8 are 7/16"-20 but you will have little luck finding a bolt long enough and I would certainly not use hardware store threaded rod.

[hoss2006]

My X2 came with a bunch of tooling, including a 2.5" face mill. Unfortunately it is too short for my X2 and the threads of the bolt that hold the tool (I'm sure I'm missing industry terms here) barely hits the threads of the tool. I was just going to buy a longer bolt (that looks like 1/2-20 thread) and run it like that but I wanted to check here to make sure that it's not some other similar taper and I run the risk of damaging my spindle/holder or getting it stuck in there.

Also, I assume that both 1/2" and 12mm T slot nuts work on these since they're so close? Just don't want to waste the money on a clamping set to find that they don't fit.

Many more questions to come, just trying to spread them out so I don't overwhelm the forum with cries for help

A drawbar that is too short happens now and again.
you will find variances in lengths of different R8 tools especially with the off brand stuff.
The threads on the drawbar are 7/16-20, LMS sell replacements but you can use a good bolt from McMaster or others.
Hoss

[photomankc]

If you post the length of your drawbar I can measure the one on my garage X2 and see how it compares. If it is short then yeah, that's the easiest thing to replace I guess.

[xander18]

Thanks photomankc, I'll measure that when I get home and put some more info up.

[doorknob]

Also, I assume that both 1/2" and 12mm T slot nuts work on these since they're so close? Just don't want to waste the money on a clamping set to find that they don't fit.

I got the 12mm clamping kit for my X2. Even though I have not tried it myself, I have seen reports that the 1/2" T slot nuts are too big.

This is the clamping kit that I got:

LittleMachineShop.com - Clamping Kit, 7/16" T-Slot

[photomankc]

I got the 12mm clamping kit for my X2. Even though I have not tried it myself, I have seen reports that the 1/2" T slot nuts are too big.

This is the clamping kit that I got:

LittleMachineShop.com - Clamping Kit, 7/16" T-Slot

I'm pretty sure that's right about 1/2" being just a bit too large.

[photomankc]

I got 4-7/8" for the bolt complete length. The shoulder to the end came out to 4-3/16". Tape measure lengths though so figure 1/16" of fudge factor.

[xander18]

Yep, our drawbars are the same and this is just the ****tiest arbor ever.

Luckily I got hold of a better facemill for now, but I'm still curious as to why this was made like this. Woulda thought that the height of the R8 would be part of the whole standardization.