[TroyO]

Looking at the Y block (Again... haven't gotten that far yet) but I 'm kind of thinking I can bore out the room for the bearing on the outboard side without issue.

On the inboard side.... I'm still going to bore it out and just let the two sides of the bearing hang out. If I can fashion a little cover for it, even if there's not enough meat to fully enclose the bearing, it should work OK. (If it clears the X axis movement, anyway.)

Or, I can just put it on the "someday" list. I don't think that's as vital as some of the other stuff.

The 8X is a nice machine... I know I'm nowhere close in terms of rigidity, mass and power with the Mini Mill, so I figure I will have to tune it to within an inch of it's life to be happy with it, LOL.

The 8X is a pretty forgiving hunk of iron, I see it like the good old beat up Ford Pickup. The Mini Mill... more of a zippy little sports car. Both useful, but things can south a lot faster in a sports car with a mechanical glitch, so you have to keep it in better tune.

I'm planning on making chips this weekend. Even if I just have to hold the stock in a bench vice and hoist up the whole column and do it by hand! ;-)

[knudsen]

So is the tape behind the z rack to shim it against the gear in the head for less slop? That would be nice, I've got about .050 of slop there, and it can spoil your day if not careful about it.

BTW: I like the nakedness of no lift system at all, but after dropping a sharp 1/2" endmill on my hand under the 30# mill head, I think I'll add the counter weight system soon than later. I added the eye bolt last year and have the weights sitting there ready...

[TroyO]

Yes indeedy... it occured to as I was installing it that "Gee, this would be easy to tighten up."

It dramatically reduced the slop, even with just one layer.

[Dano523]

Looking at the Y block (Again... haven't gotten that far yet) but I 'm kind of thinking I can bore out the room for the bearing on the outboard side without issue.

On the inboard side.... I'm still going to bore it out and just let the two sides of the bearing hang out. If I can fashion a little cover for it, even if there's not enough meat to fully enclose the bearing, it should work OK. (If it clears the X axis movement, anyway.)

Or, I can just put it on the "someday" list. I don't think that's as vital as some of the other stuff.

The 8X is a nice machine... I know I'm nowhere close in terms of rigidity, mass and power with the Mini Mill, so I figure I will have to tune it to within an inch of it's life to be happy with it, LOL.

Don't write off the mini mill just yet, the motor has plenty of power in stock form, and if you need more power, a board upgrade is less than $50. And once you have installed the column support, you will be amassed on the cuts that you can produce without chatter. Granted that your not going to make .060 passes in steel with the machine, but with softer metals and getting ride of the plastic gear system, you can make some deep rough cuts.



The 8X is a pretty forgiving hunk of iron, I see it like the good old beat up Ford Pickup. The Mini Mill... more of a zippy little sports car. Both useful, but things can south a lot faster in a sports car with a mechanical glitch, so you have to keep it in better tune.

I'm planning on making chips this weekend. Even if I just have to hold the stock in a bench vice and hoist up the whole column and do it by hand! ;-)

If you just must use the stock Y block and thrust bearing, here is a better attack plan that having the inner bearing exposed.

Slitting saw with the thinnest blade you can get, divide the round section from the back square section on the block. Now drill.counter sink the back section for bolts to reattach it to the round section as close to the outer edge that you feel comfortable. On the back section, over bore the screw passage as large as possible so you can bushing the stop collar of the screw forward for contact on the back bearing now in the round forward section, then use the round section to install the thrush bearing on it both sides.

Granted that you will not have a great deal of meat between the bearings, it will be better than having the bearing exposed,especially when you go to run coolant.

Don't write off the mini mill just yet, the motor has plenty of power in stock form, and if you need more power, a board upgrade is less than $50. And once you have installed the column support, you will be amassed on the cuts that you can produce without chatter. Granted that your not going to make .060 passes in hardened steel with the machine, but with softer metals and getting rid of the plastic gear system and going to belt, you can make some deep rough cuts.

[TroyO]

I haven't decided anything on it yet... I probably will put that one off until I get the machine basically functional.

For the most part, I need to get it apart and get a first hand look... can't decide anything until I do that.

It's also not like making a new Y block would be all that hard either, and I have a decent pile of AL round stock to play with. (Someone local was selling round offcuts from 1" to 6" round @ 2$ a pound. I got like 60 pounds, LOL.)

[TroyO]

So, I ran in to these decent looking handles on Grizzly.com in the clearance section... $4.50 seemed like a steal!

http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/Hand-Wheel-4-/H3471

I figured what the heck, I'd give them a shot and I got 3. (X,Y and Z)

When I got them... I must say I am impressed. Nicely weighted, round and concentric.

I figured I'd have to come up with some fancy adapter to make it fit... ends up it was about a 15 minute job on the lathe! I pounded in a 1/2 x 3/8 bronze bushing (It was a knock in fit.. nice and tight.) in to it, and there was enough meat to re-bore it to fit the shaft of the leadscrew. Then I turned down the back end of the handle to make some room for the graduated dial, and there was plenty of material to make it fit. I do still need to drill/tap for a set screw, which will be what holds it from spinning instead of a key. I plan to wrap it in teflon tape instead of spring loading it.

Here's how it ended up... I think it will be a nice upgrade to the stock handles.

[Dano523]

On a mission where we!!!!!
But have to ask if think that the 4" wheel on the Z is a bit of over kill or not when you get it installed? The most I cut in a pass is around .020 in steel and the small handle works great for that.


Speaking of lathes, I still racking my brain on cleaning up the Z lash on my 8X14 (down to .030 now).
I took .026 off the lower gear housing top to tighten up the gear to rack for it, but the handle/gear section is driving me nuts (read no way to install a set screw in the handle to take up the slop between it and the rod. Plus its a bearing less system so if you tighten the handle down too much, it will not turn.

An X-2, X thrush bearings will work great on the outside of the housing insert/guide, but need to figure a way to bearing/sleeve the inside of the house for the needed depth of the gear (has a reduced diameter and can't get the same bearing to work there).

To sum it up, I guess your are really never done with it come to improvement tinkering with the machines. Your playing with new handle on your mill, while I trying to bearing mod the wheel on my lathe (and still need to get around to installing a quick reversing gear mod as well). On the positive note, We can't die anytime soon since, since the pet project lists are much too long, and if we did die, no one else to finish them for us (the whole not dieing until you feel completed in life thing)!!!!

[TroyO]

I'm not sure if the wheel will be overkill on Z or not. Mostly, I'm thinking of the "spinnability" factor than anything.... when you have a couple inches to go... maybe just flipping the knob and spinning it through would work better? (In other words... bypass the coarse feed most of the time.) I really just don't like the way that Z feed works in general... it will be addressed at some point, LOL

What do you mean by "Z" on the 8X... the carriage left/right feed? Hmmm... I wonder... how dumb would it be to stretch a timing belt across 2 static hubs on either side, and turn a timing belt pulley mounted on the carriage with a crank? Or maybe static attach the belt to the carriage and feed the belt with a crank at the end of the machine? I dunno... long belt maybe would have too much slop.

If the length of my life is measured by the projects left to do.... I'm never gonna die! LOL, that list gets perpetually longer, never shorter... ;-)

[knudsen]

I think the big wheel is a great idea on the Z. I agree the Z is the weakest point on the x2 for my uses. Luckily, I don't often feed in Z for most work. It's more of an adjustment before the cut. I might just have to try one. I wouldn't mind some large wheels for X and Y either. I already made a big honkin' handle for Y on the original wheel.

[TroyO]

I did wind up doing the spring instead of just wrapping it in teflon tape... the fit was a little too good to do the teflon coating, LOL.

On my 8x, the teflon worked well, but I think there was more slop than I machined in to this one, so there were more layers of tape built up.

Anyway... easy enough, feels good. I'm happy. Now all I have to do is make one more just like it.

Another reason for the Z axis wheel is the leverage. I read somewhere that someone had done a gas strut mod with a 120 Lb strut... which overbalanced the head but made fine feed cranking harder. The advantage was the head is always locked against the bottom of the rack teeth with the extra ~85 Lbs of tension, which means none of the dreaded "head drop" where the head suddenly takes up it's backlash mid cut and drives the cutter an extra .02 deep. I'm considering doing something similar, either by upgrading the existing strut or maybe ordering a second one from LMS and doubling up. Or bypassing it entirely and doing the counterbalance. Or just make a habit of locking the Z before cutting... LOL.

Anyway... it won't hurt in the meantime and makes a future upgrade easier. Besides it will look cool with the flames and racing stripes....

[TroyO]

For some reason it looks like the first post didn't go through... I may have previewed without hitting submit, LOL.

Anyway... here are some pics of making the gibs. I used a round bar against the gib, backed up by another brass bar so it could clamp the angle correctly. I just used hand clamps, but if you were milling you could do the same thing using C clamps or even put the whole thing in a vice using the same principles.

To actually do the filing, I used a scrap of 18 Ga stainless to protect the mill parts, and skated the file across it to keep everything level/straight. It worked just dandy... some touch up on a belt sander and finally on some sandpaper glued to a granite slab and I had a workable set of brass gibs.

To drill the pips, I used some popsicle stick splinters wedged in between the dovetail groove on the slide and the gib to wedge it down and against the dovetail, then used a #11 (If I recall) drill bit through the gib screw holes and carefully went just enough that the whole circle was being cut by the drill tip. That should be 60^ from the drill tip, and 45^ on my gib screw points so they only interact at the tip.

They work just dandy... even if the method was a little more redneck than machinist, LOL.

[HellPhish]

does your X2 have a z lock on the head? my SX2 has a lock on the head and that little clamp thing too. i was thinking of using a couple hood or trunk shocks to replace that useless torsion spring.

[TroyO]

Yes, there is a locking screw in one of the gib screw holes, and a "depth stop" clamp on the column too. I'm going to grind down one end of that depth stop so I can take it on/off the column though.

[TroyO]

Ohh, and PS.. this may fit the SX2 as well.... not sure though:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...2258&category=

[HellPhish]

Ohh, and PS.. this may fit the SX2 as well.... not sure though:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...2258&category=

it will, the SX2 just has a better motor, belt drive, and no transmission.

[TroyO]

Got some more done this weekend. I did the 3/4" Y axis mod by mounting it up in a milling attachment on my 8x lathe and attacking it with a 3/4 end mill. It was a groany, shuddering mess of a job... but it worked. LOL. The other method that may have worked was to cut slits in the metal and then pry them sideways to chip them out. I've used similar on wood projects with good luck. Turned out I was too lazy for all that manual hacksawing, LOL.

I also finished the Y axis split nut mod, Ala Chukkie. Works like a charm.

All in all..the Y is now working with minimal backlash. I haven't measured yet, but I'm guessing .002-.003. It's still just a little stiff but only on the "extended" travel section... I may go for one more lapping session using Mothers instead of the valve grinding compound. First I think I will try simply running it back and forth in that area a couple dozen times.

Funny 'Doh moment. I got the Y together, and was running it back and forth. It was pretty smooth and even with the exception of that little bit of travel mentioned above, it was just taking more torque than expected. I scratched my head a bit, then went and had a smoke. That's when the "Ahhhhaaaaa!" moment hit.... I hadn't lubed anything yet. 'Doh! Much better with oil on it... LOL

Another, not so funny 'Doh moment. I tapped a set screw hole in the handle, M5 x .90.... guess what? Set screws come in M5 x .80...... blah! Luckily, short run and almost the right threads... I just made a pass with a M5 x .80 tap and it seems to be holding up well enough.

[knudsen]

I scratched my head a bit, then went and had a smoke.

"The psychological benefits of pipe smoking have been described by many who have enjoyed the hobby, including Mark Twain, Albert Einstein and others. Einstein felt that pipe smoking facilitated his mental clarity when working on a difficult project. Many pictures of him at work show that he favored billard-shaped pipes. Pipe smokers often like to recite one of his most relevant quotes: "I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs". Indeed, it is difficult to measure the calming qualities of pipe smoking and the possible beneficial effects on our work, productivity, relationships, and relaxation."

[TroyO]

Indeed, it is difficult to measure the calming qualities of pipe smoking and the possible beneficial effects on our work, productivity, relationships, and relaxation.

Too bad it jacks up the lungs so bad. (nuts)

It does help to step back and seperate yourself a bit... which sometimes helps catch dumb mistakes, LOL...

[knudsen]

Too bad it jacks up the lungs so bad. (nuts)

Just smoke it Bill Clinton style

Uhhhhh, the pipe, not Monica. :rainfro: