Originally Posted by Allistah  I was tossing the idea around of buying a desktop mill which I would convert to CNC. I've seen the plans at http://www.stirlingsteele.com/millplans.html and those looked pretty nice. Has anyone bought and used these plans? Any comments? I see they also have a belt drive kit available too. Any comments on that?
-Jaime |
I haven't got an X2, although I was considering one but ended-up with an X1L [long table version] which has a larger table than the X2 [albeit at a reduction in rigidity]. I did a fair bit of investigation and regarding the X2, my primary concerns were regarding the small table size / travel, the rack and pinion Z axis and the reports of a particularly fragile and noisy spindle drive train.
Please note: There are no perfect solutions! There are drawbacks to all mills, in terms of cost, mass, bulk, performance & etc.
So regarding the belt drive upgrade from
www.stirlingsteele.com, I have purchased and intend to implement their mini lathe CNC plans. These plans look very good and are recommended. I fully expect that the spindle upgrade they offer should be to the same standard.
First of all it should offer a significant increase in spindle speed which is useful for engraving or using small diameter cutters.
Secondly I believe that it offers significantly increased robustness and reduced noise.
If I had an X2, I would be getting this upgrade or one like it.
The X2 and probably most other small mills probably need better lubrication - haven't heard much about this. This would be important for regular CNC use.
I'm looking at using [head mounted] oilers feeding oil via suitable flexible plastic tubing to the slides, lead screw nuts, pillow blocks & thrust bearings and quill.
In effect the machine should be dripping with oil. If you are only intending light use, an oil can may well be sufficient.
The X2 and X1L both need a higher spindle speed than offered especially for small diameter cutters and proper lubrication [especially if CNCd!]. Regarding high speed spindles, I'm looking at the Proxxon IB/E available from
www.kdntools.com [USA], Axminster Power Tools [UK].
Which ever mill you end-up buying, don't forget to strip it down, perform the ceremony of the sacred removal of the evil red [Communist] grease and remove all traces of casting sand, swarf and btw grease those gears! Applies to Sieg and related variants, may or may not apply to others.