[arizonavideo]

For the quill there is two points for backlash, the rack on the quill and the screw drive turning the pinion gear. Both have backlash so the best you can do is preload the backlash to one side.

[stabbs]

:withstupi This is a bit of an embarrassing question- but how do I loosen the arbor bolt to change endmills and collets? This mill does not seem to have a spindle brake or lock.

[HackMax]

I think you will find that this place is cheaper than both the other places.
It's where I get most of my metals.
http://www.speedymetals.com/

I sometimes use Yarde Metals in the Drop zone, but they rarely have what I need. Cheap though when they do.

http://www.yarde.com/index.html

Thanks for that Yarde URL Lee. These guys do sell pretty cheap. They also have a surplus section that has quite a bit of different of various metal sizes as well but I found out that some of the stuff there you have to buy the whole lot they have. You just have to get a quote on the amount you can get as well as a price. What was even more surprising though, I bought some 12', (or just shy of that) pieces and they are delivering it FREE! I guess I am lucky because I live way out in rurals but they still make daily deliveries in my area. The only thing I didn't like though, the people I talked with were quite unfriendly, like I was wasting their time or something or they were just having an off day. I talked with three different people two different days and they all seemed like they had better things to do. But I'm still happy getting some of the 6061 for less than half the going price delivered. I will use these guys before anyone else even if the price is comparable.

Rick

[dan_the_welder]

Hi Stabbs,

I put mine in the lowest gear and use a sudden movement against the drag of the transmission. I also use this to tighten but not over tighten the spindle.

I recommend this technique because back when I got my mill I was very worried about getting the drawbar tight enough, so I would place the wrench against the motor housing and jog the spindle.

One day it tightened so much, so fast that the long bolt broke, suddenly releasing all the energy stored in the long springy bolt.

It went straight up, hit the light fixture, broke two four foot fluorescents and came back down on my head, shortly followed by the wrench and all the glass from the bulbs.

There was blood and my coworkers pointing and laughing.

[dan_the_welder]

Hi I took some photos from my build for you to look at. It's very crude but was easy to build.

The only milling was slots. Everything else is just hand laid out drilled holes.

The Z adjustment. I took off the bearing retainer and tapped two holes for the slots in the plate. It's a fussy to adjust because the bolts are behind the pulley.

The x axis: I pulled the bearing plate off and drilled and retapped the holes to 5/16. then the whole assembly is attached with 5/16 threaded rod with tubes for standoffs.

The y axis: I drilled and tapped two holes in the base casting, tube standoffs again.

The last picture is of the x axis nut. I fairly rapidly used up all the adjustment provided by the cut in the nut that comes from the factory. So I took it out and welded a fitting on the side. Then I cut the nut along one side of it's length. Now I can take up slop by squeezing the whole thing, like a lathe half nut.

I also have the hideous Z axis slop and I guess I will try one of the suggestions here about using a gas spring. I had been thinking about a weight.

[stabbs]

It went straight up, hit the light fixture, broke two four foot fluorescents and came back down on my head, shortly followed by the wrench and all the glass from the bulbs.

There was blood and my coworkers pointing and laughing.

that sounds pretty scary.

Nice conversion! Its funny that I had changed my motor mount design to use 1/2" galvanized pipe fittings as tube standoff's as well. I'll have to address that adjustment nut at some point- thanks for the great fix solution.

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

[stabbs]

I cut out my first part today. I hope to have video of that up soon. About 10 minutes into the run, I heard a squealing noise. It stopped a few minutes later, but when I went to change the collet the arbor bolt was very hot towards the top.

I don't think I properly lubricated the spindle. What type of lubrication should I use for this?

[SCzEngrgGroup]

You may find you have problems after a while with those X/Y motor mounts - they have very little torsional stiffness, due to being supported only by those two long, smallish pieces of round stock. They are likely to loosen up and start moving around after some use.

Regards,
Ray L.

[Adamj12b]

I am helping a friend convert one of these mills. What are you using for motors and controller? Also, what kind of speeds are you getting?

-Adam

[stabbs]

:wee: Its been a while since my last post & the mill is running great! I have been cutting out some small parts & the level of detail & accuracy is amazing compared to my router table. I have built one dampener - & while it seems to help I may not have built it large enough to be an effective flywheel.

You may find you have problems after a while with those X/Y motor mounts - they have very little torsional stiffness, due to being supported only by those two long, smallish pieces of round stock. They are likely to loosen up and start moving around after some use.

I'll be sure to periodically check for this. Perhaps down the road I will consider welding on some torsional supports, or going back to my original design.

I am helping a friend convert one of these mills. What are you using for motors and controller? Also, what kind of speeds are you getting?

I am using a Xylotex 4 axis control package. I have the motors tuned to about 20 ipm right now. I am experimenting with dampeners to reduce resonance & hopefully gain some speed.

[dan_the_welder]

You may find you have problems after a while with those X/Y motor mounts - they have very little torsional stiffness, due to being supported only by those two long, smallish pieces of round stock. They are likely to loosen up and start moving around after some use.

Regards,
Ray L.

As you can see from my earlier post I use a similar system. It has held up fine over time.

[dan_the_welder]

that sounds pretty scary.

Nice conversion! Its funny that I had changed my motor mount design to use 1/2" galvanized pipe fittings as tube standoff's as well. I'll have to address that adjustment nut at some point- thanks for the great fix solution.

Thank you, not as pretty as yours. Your build looks great, and it's going together quick!

Dan

[LeeWay]

I would like to hear more about how this mill is working out.
I have the same mill and I am considering several options.
Thanks.

[stabbs]

Hey LeeWay, nice to see there are other round columners out there.

I did make a few modifications since my last post I added some extra support to the x and y axis motors - I basically just pressure fit some 1/4" x 1" stock between the motor mount and the mill. Its not pretty but it works great.

I also bolted the z axis to the mill.

So far the mill has been working out well. My only complaints is how loud the gearbox is. I had read changing the bearings help with the noise, but I haven't found the time to swap them out. I would be very interested in seeing what you end up doing with your mill- keep me posted.