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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    8

    KX1 CNC stuff

    --Hi gang! I've had a KX1 for about a year now and it's been a real learning experience. I've used it primarily as a means to radius the ends of various aluminum parts I make for myself and for a friend. I've discussed early problems somewhere else but they boil down to shoddy craftsmanship by the OEM that could be traced to loose wiring. I still have some problems with spindle not coming up to speed but my work-around is to invoke the pendant controller and turn the spindle on there. After a bit of 'exercise' the problem seems to go away.
    --The machine has needed a couple of other mods and I'll detail 'em here as I remember 'em.
    --For starters even the smallest vise, for instance that beautiful little 3 in. one LMS sells, won't fit within the confines of that tiny chip tray so it had to go. OBTW observe how tiny the screws are that hold the tray in place: they were just aching to break if the lip of the tray was bumped so I'm glad it's off.
    --For another it turns out the manufacturer intended the machine to be run 'dry', i.e. without any kind of supplemental lubrication during machining operations and they strongly discourage giving it a go. Well screw that. The big problem can be seen if you open up the electronics bay in the back. Down at the bottom you can plainly see a large hole has been cut in the housing to make room for the Y axis stepper motor. If you make any kind of chips and then clean the work area with an air gun all sorts of stuff can get into the wiring thru the hole. Well I've got duct tape, thinks me, so I taped up the holes and since then it hasn't given me any troubles. Still and all I'm thinking it might be a good idea to shoot some of that 2-part expanding foam in there to do a proper sealing job. I'm a little worried about motor overheating so I've put it off for now.
    --The other problem is air quality: if you plan to do any production work and if you use a spray mist system the air eventually becomes too foul to breathe. At first this limited me to running the machine when weather permitted working with the garage door open. I'd roll the machine to the entrance, then hook up a big-ass fan behind it. Not really optimal but what else could one do! Using the machine in the winter months meant wearing a respirator: again not optimal. I went looking for a mist collector but even a cheap one costs well over a thousand dollars. I investigated the possibility of building an enclosure. The factory sells one but it costs about the same! Looked on ebay for used mist collectors but couldn't find one that weighed less than a few hundred pounds: very cumbersome. In the end I decided to switch to flood coolant and I've begun building a tank that's larger and deeper than the original chip pan. One of the things I decided right away was that it had to be fastened to the table more securely than the old pan so I drilled and tapped 10: #10-32 holes in the table to fasten front, back and sides. Not quite done yet but soon I hope. Photos of the machine and what I've done with it are posted to Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamb...57646745303904

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Posts
    1424

    Re: KX1 CNC stuff

    Quote Originally Posted by Steamboat Ed View Post
    Still and all I'm thinking it might be a good idea to shoot some of that 2-part expanding foam in there to do a proper sealing job.
    One concern I would have is that expanding foam can absorb water over time, so it wouldn't be the best way to seal that opening to keep coolant out. Sure, they might say "weather resistant" or "water resistant", but of that opening is in a spot where it can see standing water, you might have problems over time. Better just to get a good silicone or polyurethane based calk.
    Tim
    Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    8

    Re: KX1 CNC stuff

    --Right you are; actually I was thinking of injecting the stuff into balloons to let the foraming be contained a bit. This would leave a waterproof membrane as well, but I'm not sure of its longevity. Meanwhile I'm almost done fabricating a larger, waterproof chip pan so I can switch to flood coolant and not worry so much about crap getting all over the place and in particular into the motor/electronics area. Here's a photo of current progress: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamb...7646745303904/

  4. #4

    Re: KX1 CNC stuff

    i have same problem. i hope someone can answer this.

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