[Teyber12]

Well congrats on the new mill I guess..... Not really sure why the heck one would need two little mills, now that you have a nice heavy duty RF45 in the shop I was sure you would be getting it cnc'd right away. I guess other than a toy to play with I really do not see the allure of these small mills. I am always trying to figure out how to get larger machines.... Oh well to each his own I guess.... good luck with it!! peace

at first i thought the same thing, but i think hoss will more then pay off the new machine doing the same stuff he does for the x2. He would not have been able to do this with the x3 really and not to the same extend with the rf45.

Cheers buddy

[hoss2006]

Bob, You are an Ideas man, don't think we'll live long enough to get everything done we want.
But we can sure try.

Pete, He who dies with the most toys wins.

Star, yep, you and me both.

Flenser, I was going to/will look for some big ones like Pete used on his, Power baby.

Ellik, I haven't decided yet on steppers or servos for the 0704. Got a month and a half
to check around for some deals before I have to decide. Will make a difference in motor mounting.

Teyber, The X3 is another Sieg like the X2 and I've been there, done that. The 0704 is
something new to sink my teeth into. Plus it will look cool in my living room.
Hoss

[Starleper1]

Teyber, The X3 is another Sieg like the X2 and I've been there, done that. The 0704 is
something new to sink my teeth into. Plus it will look cool in my living room.

Nothing like shag carpet and long stringy chips.

[TOTALLYRC]

Nothing like shag carpet and long stringy chips.

And here I thought Hoss has stainless diamond plate flooring in his living room.

:drowning:I must fight the urge to buy more machines, I must, I must.:drowning:
Mike

[bill south]

Hoss;
What is your time frame to upgrade the ZX45 to direct spindle drive? I'm thinking a direct drive for my lathemaster this summer and if you hare going to design one for yours, I'd be happy to purchase a set of "hoss" prints/plans for my upgrade. No use re-inventing the wheel if you are going to design a system that will work. I'm thinking a system similar to TNPETE with the purchsed adapter from Grizzly! Thoughts?
Oh yeah, sorry to hear about the delayed delivery of your new patient "Dr. Hoss". I am looking forward to observing the surgery and the upgrade to "The Bionic (hopefully less than) six million dollar mill"!
Bill

Bill

[Flenser]

Flenser, I was going to/will look for some big ones like Pete used on his, Power baby.

Thanks, as long as I've been lurking here I dunno how I missed Pete's thread. That belt drive is inspirational... I think my conversion cost just went up quite a bit

Those Keling servos are the ones I've been thinking about using. I haven't found anything else close to the 1000 in-oz I thought I needed for under $200. I plan to drive the lead screws for now, and switch to ballscrews this Spring when my work load tends to drop off, and I can take the time to do it right. If the servos are overkill with ballscrews, they might be just about right with the lead screws.

Jeff

[hoss2006]

Bill, I think Pete is planning on marketing his belt drive, doublecheck with him,
it'll be a while before i got into anything like that.
Hoss

[bill south]

Thanks Hoss.
Yes, I kinda got the drift that Pete was going to do a production run on this nice little mod. I just need the parts within a reasonable time frame and Pete is a busy man making a living these days which is in itself a chore. I'll most likely wait or do the mod myself.
Thanks for the info.
I think I have another problem though. I have a 9" lathe sitting in the shop that is screaming for motors. I've decided that I need a new chess set. Does this never end????
Bill

[hoss2006]

Never does, the 10x22 lathe is on my list too.
It keeps getting superseded though.
One day.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Bought some very nice metal switches from Automation Direct for the Powered Z,
They'll mount in an unused switchbox, one for UP, one for DOWN.
The legend plates were extra.
GCX1105 PB, 22mm, METAL, WHT, FLUSH, 1 N.O. $6.25

Very nice and they look like the originals on the mill.
Hoss

[bearwen]

Hoss, I am looking at getting a mill as I dont have one at all. I want to be able to do small work in alum and steel but also be able to larger work in cast iron, steel, alum so would you recommend the ZX45 as an only mill in my shop or first purchase mill? I am thinking as of right now I know I will be doing small engine building (high performance go kart stuff) as well as if the ZX45 could do it maybe some 4cylinder car stuff (I know the car stuff is probably not going to be doable interested in your opinion) as for car stuff I was thinking head work mainlly decking heads, valve seats etc... but i am also looking to build tools for my 9X20 lathe and any other prototype ie toys I can think up, need or can make some money off of (gotta pay for tools and what not). Please anyone not just Hoss reply I directed this to Hoss only because he has the ZX45 and I think the ZX45 is big enough but not to big and the price is right.

Thanks for the input.

[TOTALLYRC]

Bought some very nice metal switches from Automation Direct for the Powered Z,
They'll mount in an unused switchbox, one for UP, one for DOWN.
The legend plates were extra.
GCX1105 PB, 22mm, METAL, WHT, FLUSH, 1 N.O. $6.25

Very nice and they look like the originals on the mill.
Hoss

Nice switches, I just used some at my part time job and the fit and finish is pretty good and the pricing is right.

Mike

[hoss2006]

Hoss, I am looking at getting a mill as I dont have one at all. I want to be able to do small work in alum and steel but also be able to larger work in cast iron, steel, alum so would you recommend the ZX45 as an only mill in my shop or first purchase mill? I am thinking as of right now I know I will be doing small engine building (high performance go kart stuff) as well as if the ZX45 could do it maybe some 4cylinder car stuff (I know the car stuff is probably not going to be doable interested in your opinion) as for car stuff I was thinking head work mainlly decking heads, valve seats etc... but i am also looking to build tools for my 9X20 lathe and any other prototype ie toys I can think up, need or can make some money off of (gotta pay for tools and what not). Please anyone not just Hoss reply I directed this to Hoss only because he has the ZX45 and I think the ZX45 is big enough but not to big and the price is right.

Thanks for the input.

I don't think you'll need to worry if you go with these mills. Below is a pic from the Industrial Hobbies forum of a Ford 460 Block on the larger table IH Mill.
4 banger parts should be no problem for the RF-45 sized mills.
Hoss

[cyclestart]

I want to be able to do small work in alum and steel .

These machines don't have much RPM in stock configuration for smaller tools in aluminum. Someone mentioned earlier the spindle can handle 4500 but didn't go into much detail, belt conversion of some sort.

I'm really tempted by the mill at Machinetool Warehouse. Any thoughts on whether it would be practical to put a stepper on the quill ? I'm thinking a cnc x-y table could be bolted on to the big table. Sort of an intermediate step allowing the sale of my X2 without losing cnc for the foreseeable future. 4.75" z travel would work for a lot of my projects, except for drilling.

Edit/ Considering there are 2 ways to alter z height, 2" of quill travel would cover much of the milling work.

[tikka308]

Tormach is about to release a 'Speeder' which turns a ER-16 collet at 3X the spindle speed. It's an R8 mount meant for the Tormach or Bridgeport mills. Any reason it wouldn't work on the ZX45? Obviously you're sacrificing some Z height...

http://www.tormach.com/blog/?p=535

[Starleper1]

I wonder what kind of torque loss they have going from 5100 to 16000.

[rowbare]

I wonder what kind of torque loss they have going from 5100 to 16000.

It is a ~3:1 ratio speeder so the torque at the cutter will be ~1/3 the original torque minus whatever mechanical losses the speeder imposes. Tormach mentions on their blog post that they are using a poly-v belt system so the mechanical losses should be pretty low.

[Crevice Reamer]

Tormach is about to release a 'Speeder' which turns a ER-16 collet at 3X the spindle speed. It's an R8 mount meant for the Tormach or Bridgeport mills. Any reason it wouldn't work on the ZX45? Obviously you're sacrificing some Z height...

http://www.tormach.com/blog/?p=535

This makes me wonder 2 things:

1) How much will it cost when they release it in 2 months?

2) Will Hoss have made his own version of it by then?

CR.

[nine 16]

Re the Tormach Speeder thing:

I think the Tormach and Bridgeport have a spindle nose at 3-3/8" diameter, while the IH is 3". I think.

Maybe a ring-shaped collar adopter (with 3/16" thick wall thickness) could be made so the Speeder will work on the IH and similar models?

Just something I wondered myself.
-Mark

[nine 16]

Oops, did I mean the spindle nose diameter or the quill diameter?

-Mark