Hi there,

I need to upgrade the spindle motor on my X1 mill to get a higher speed along with more power. I am aiming for a top speed of around 20000 RPM (only 10 times the standard speed... :) ). The reason for the high speed, is that I want to do some grinding work.

What I was thinking about doing was getting some stainless/ceramic hybrid bearings for the spindle which are rated up to 24000 RPM using grease for lubrication. This would allow me to use an almost standard spindle, which would be helpful (although I may need to do some balancing???). I was then thinking about using a router motor to power it. Most of the routers that I have looked at have a no-load speed of around 30000 RPM. I was thinking that I could use a belt drive from the motor to the spindle. This would allow me to reduce the speed slightly and would also eliminate potential alignment problems.

Does anyone have any useful comments or suggestions on this 'plan'? What power rating would be good for this small machine? I have my eye on a 550W router, but would more power be a better idea?

Thanks in advance
Warren

are you sure your x1 is square enough to do grinding ?
or is the surface finish most important to you instead of dimensions ??

good lukk m8

Hi,

Surface finish is very important and dimensions are also reasonably important. I need to spend some time setting the machine up properly to ensure everything is as square as possible and I don't think that will be a big problem (I hope so anyway). I've done some grinding on it before using a Dremel attachment with fairly good reults, but it took ages. I need more power and something a bit more robust.

Regards
Warren

If you can get the bearings, go for it.
At lowes, there is a Hitachi Router for 114 dollars. I foget the model #, but it is mentioned all around the forum, especially the DIY router section. Its variable speed from 10k to 25k RPM I think, somewhere close to that. I use it, and like it. And its 2.5Hp peak, plenty of power and RPM.

Are you sure a belt drive is going to be comfortable at 20-30k? I have my doubts, although I have not done it myself.

Yea that is quite a bit of RPM for a belt.
He might be better off to somehow directly couple the router to the spindle.

Hello again,

It is approaching an uncomfortably high speed, however a belt 'should' be able to cope. According to information provided by the manufacturer, the toothed belts that I am looking at can handle linear speeds of up to 80 m/s. If my calculations are correct, then it should be safe with a pulley of up to approximately 50mm in diameter at 30000 RPM.

Having said all that, I am now having second thoughts about doing what I initially thought was a good idea. The bearings that I would like to use cost US$70 each before they are even in the UK. I'm not sure if it is worth spending that money on this machine, when success is not guaranteed.

For the time being, I'll keep looking around at other options.

Regards
Warren

Hello again,

It is approaching an uncomfortably high speed, however a belt 'should' be able to cope. According to information provided by the manufacturer, the toothed belts that I am looking at can handle linear speeds of up to 80 m/s. If my calculations are correct, then it should be safe with a pulley of up to approximately 50mm in diameter at 30000 RPM.

Having said all that, I am now having second thoughts about doing what I initially thought was a good idea. The bearings that I would like to use cost US$70 each before they are even in the UK. I'm not sure if it is worth spending that money on this machine, when success is not guaranteed.

For the time being, I'll keep looking around at other options.

Regards
Warren


Did you get anywhere on this in the end? I'm beginning to think I could do with a bit more power, but I don't need a much larger, 3x heavier mill, just a bit more speed (3-4000 rpm) and a bit more power.

I read this thread http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20573 on beefing up a tiny Taig mill, and it got me wondering about what might be possible on the X-1. I find it amazing that he got 0.1" 1/4" wide cuts in Al on such a small mill!

Have you considered fabricating a new head to mount a router directly.

Regards
Phil

Hello again,

It is approaching an uncomfortably high speed, however a belt 'should' be able to cope. According to information provided by the manufacturer, the toothed belts that I am looking at can handle linear speeds of up to 80 m/s. If my calculations are correct, then it should be safe with a pulley of up to approximately 50mm in diameter at 30000 RPM.

Having said all that, I am now having second thoughts about doing what I initially thought was a good idea. The bearings that I would like to use cost US$70 each before they are even in the UK. I'm not sure if it is worth spending that money on this machine, when success is not guaranteed.

For the time being, I'll keep looking around at other options.

Regards
Warren

Have you considered fabricating a new head to mount a router directly.

Regards
Phil

Yes, I did think about that - but can a router cut slow enough to handle big cutters, and how long can they run continuously?

I can currently manage 300mm/min at 0.5mm deep in alu. with a 6mm 4-flute but at that depth of cut it takes ages to contour even 1/2" thick stock. It is also very noisy even when not cutting, so I'd quite like to swap to belt or direct drive if possible.

I am half tempted to raid the X2 and X3 spares bins at Arc Euro, but the motors and driver boards are very expensive compared to variable speed routers...

Hi there,

I haven't done anything with the spindle on my X1 yet. I still want to do something, but I seem to be having trouble finding time at the moment.

I had also thought of directly mounting a router, but the only thing I was not sure on was how accurate the bearings would be and what kind of runout could be expected. That is part of the reason why I was leaning towards a good, solid spindle/bearing setup that is powered by the router.

As far as raiding the X2/X3 parts bin goes, would you not be better off getting a 3 phase motor and VFD (especially if you're only looking for 3 - 4000RPM)? When the motor on my lathe went bang a few months ago, I looked into the 3 phase with VFD option. I didn't go with it in the end, but the prices were not too outrageous. It gives you accurate electronic variable speed and will run off a standard household supply. It can apparently even be controlled by your computer - a nice little 'extra'.

I was looking at 370W motors and a VFD of the correct size to drive this motor. Through a dealer, I was quoted somewhere around £210 for this setup (motor and VFD). I can't recall what brand these items were, but I do remember that they were both European. This is a little more than the X2 parts cost from Arc, but less than the X3 parts.

I would think that a 370W motor would be a nice size on the X1 when compared to the standard 150W motor. Physically this motor should fit (at a guess) without looking ridiculous.

I'm going to keep searching for alternatives in the mean time (when I have time, that is...).

Regards
Warren

Hi there,

I haven't done anything with the spindle on my X1 yet. I still want to do something, but I seem to be having trouble finding time at the moment.

I had also thought of directly mounting a router, but the only thing I was not sure on was how accurate the bearings would be and what kind of runout could be expected. That is part of the reason why I was leaning towards a good, solid spindle/bearing setup that is powered by the router.

As far as raiding the X2/X3 parts bin goes, would you not be better off getting a 3 phase motor and VFD (especially if you're only looking for 3 - 4000RPM)? When the motor on my lathe went bang a few months ago, I looked into the 3 phase with VFD option. I didn't go with it in the end, but the prices were not too outrageous. It gives you accurate electronic variable speed and will run off a standard household supply. It can apparently even be controlled by your computer - a nice little 'extra'.

I was looking at 370W motors and a VFD of the correct size to drive this motor. Through a dealer, I was quoted somewhere around £210 for this setup (motor and VFD). I can't recall what brand these items were, but I do remember that they were both European. This is a little more than the X2 parts cost from Arc, but less than the X3 parts.

I would think that a 370W motor would be a nice size on the X1 when compared to the standard 150W motor. Physically this motor should fit (at a guess) without looking ridiculous.

I'm going to keep searching for alternatives in the mean time (when I have time, that is...).

Regards
Warren


Yep - a 3-phase motor was another idea that crossed my mind, but I did see a few posts on here about them being unsuitable for delivering high torque at low speeds and that they might overheat at low RPM. I found a UK website via ebay doing VFD's and 3-phase motors for about £150 for a 3/4 HP kit :

http://www.drivesdirect.co.uk/Products/Motor_Inverter_Packages.htm

I can't tell if the motors could be mounted with the spindle vertical though...

I was actually wanting to get the parts for the spindle from an X2 or X3 - it should be stiffer than the X1, and I was planning to connect the new motor via a belt drive. Looking at Littlemachineshop.com, I could get the X2's spindle box and a belt drive kit for $274 + VAT + duty - which isn't too insane given the strength of the pound.

Still, a variable speed router and a DIY pulley drive conversion would be a whole lot cheaper - the X2 spindle without bearings etc is £25 from Arc and they have a wide range of other little bits and bobs that might be useful...

You kinda want it all. 70 to 30,000 rpm with torque and horsepower, and all for less than < GBP 150.00. Don't think there is any such animal.

Regards
Phil

Yep - a 3-phase motor was another idea that crossed my mind, but I did see a few posts on here about them being unsuitable for delivering high torque at low speeds and that they might overheat at low RPM. I found a UK website via ebay doing VFD's and 3-phase motors for about £150 for a 3/4 HP kit :

http://www.drivesdirect.co.uk/Products/Motor_Inverter_Packages.htm

I can't tell if the motors could be mounted with the spindle vertical though...

I was actually wanting to get the parts for the spindle from an X2 or X3 - it should be stiffer than the X1, and I was planning to connect the new motor via a belt drive. Looking at Littlemachineshop.com, I could get the X2's spindle box and a belt drive kit for $274 + VAT + duty - which isn't too insane given the strength of the pound.

Still, a variable speed router and a DIY pulley drive conversion would be a whole lot cheaper - the X2 spindle without bearings etc is £25 from Arc and they have a wide range of other little bits and bobs that might be useful...

You kinda want it all. 70 to 30,000 rpm with torque and horsepower, and all for less than < GBP 150.00. Don't think there is any such animal.

Regards
Phil

I don't think I ever said I wanted 30,000 rpm - 6,000 would probably do me, and I haven't set myself a budget yet, I just don't want to spend 3x my machine cost on a motor upgrade, unless ofcourse I end up with a whole second machine! ;)

Sorry digits I missed the target. It was mean as a bit of a leg-pull directed at itsme. I think 6,000 should work easily with a VFD and a three pulley speed range to ensure reasonable torque and no overheating.

Regards
Phil

I don't think I ever said I wanted 30,000 rpm - 6,000 would probably do me, and I haven't set myself a budget yet, I just don't want to spend 3x my machine cost on a motor upgrade, unless ofcourse I end up with a whole second machine! ;)

Sorry digits I missed the target. It was mean as a bit of a leg-pull directed at itsme. I think 6,000 should work easily with a VFD and a three pulley speed range to ensure reasonable torque and no overheating.

Regards
Phil

That's OK Phil - I needed a bit of a slap anyway - I was going way off plan - going back to post #8, if the Taig can take all that extra power, the X-1 with a belt conversion can probably do it too!

It then occured to me that I could probably raid the Taig parts bin - a set of 6-speed pulleys is only £23 from Peatol, and it's been shown that they can take the power.

The question remains though, will a VFD do the trick, or do I really need to spend a bit more on a DC motor and PWM driver? I made the mistake of buying a cheapo stepper motor controller board on Ebay which caught fire in use despite running at 1/2 rated current - I don't want to cut any corners on my motor really.

Erm, I think I may be about to eat my own words! I've just seen a decent looking DC motor controller on eBay that might do the trick. Does anyone have the voltage and current specs of the 220/240V X2 or X3 motors?

Cheers.

Well, I've ordered a beefy variable speed DC motor controller, so I guess a DC motor will be next on my list.

Does anyone know of a UK/European supplier of DC motors in the 0.5-1.5HP range?

One obvious choice is to use a stock X2 or X3 motor which can be picked up for about £70-£90. Do you think the X3's 600W would be overkill on an X1?

Cheers.

Two DC motors that have the same basic power rating are not necessarily the same thing. You need to consider power and torque curves against RPM and in conjuction with the controller output and any gearing etc.

It may make the difference between something sweet and a lemon.

Regards
Phil

Well, I've ordered a beefy variable speed DC motor controller, so I guess a DC motor will be next on my list.

Does anyone know of a UK/European supplier of DC motors in the 0.5-1.5HP range?

One obvious choice is to use a stock X2 or X3 motor which can be picked up for about £70-£90. Do you think the X3's 600W would be overkill on an X1?

Cheers.

Two DC motors that have the same basic power rating are not necessarily the same thing. You need to consider power and torque curves against RPM and in conjuction with the controller output and any gearing etc.

It may make the difference between something sweet and a lemon.

Regards
Phil

How very true!

Speaking of the X2 motor - I discovered a few days ago that warco in the UK are doing an X2 with a 550W motor and 300 of X and Y travel for a pretty reasonable price. The thing that made me go Super X-1 in the first place was the fact that it had the best combination of X and Y travel for its size and weight - ah well, c'est la vie!

Does anyone know where I can find out the spindle diameters of the X2 and X3 motors, or at least if they are the same?

Cheers.

i'd ask ketan at arc
cobbled together a beltdrive for my x1 a wee while ago with some random
pullies i found at work (one's from an electric window motor dunno what the
other's off ) and a toothed belt from the same source.the small pully's about
2" dia and the big ones about 5"dia , after a bit of messing around with the
trimmers in the drive it dose 9600rpm when tach'ed (bit bloody scary at that tho, lot happier at 6000 ish)
think the x3 spindle is 8mm (but dont quote me on that)

i'd ask ketan at arc
cobbled together a beltdrive for my x1 a wee while ago with some random
pullies i found at work (one's from an electric window motor dunno what the
other's off ) and a toothed belt from the same source.the small pully's about
2" dia and the big ones about 5"dia , after a bit of messing around with the
trimmers in the drive it dose 9600rpm when tach'ed (bit bloody scary at that tho, lot happier at 6000 ish)
think the x3 spindle is 8mm (but dont quote me on that)

Cheers, that is a good idea - I would probably be buying the motor from him anyway. I suppose it might even be worth asking if they can supply just an X2 spindle box ala littlemachineshop.com...

Is that on their website.

Regards
Phil

How very true!
.....I discovered a few days ago that warco in the UK are doing an X2 with a 550W motor and 300 of X and Y travel for a pretty reasonable price. ..........

Is that on their website.

Regards
Phil

Sort of : http://www.warco.co.uk/shop.asp?catid=40&ProdId=286#286

The spec sheet is out of date - but I have now seen two magazine advertisments from them claiming that it has 300mm in X and Y as well as a 550W motor...

that must be a different beast to a standard x2 or a typo
to get 300 mil in the y needs new castings allround including the head
to get more overhang. will watch with interest.

that must be a different beast to a standard x2 or a typo
to get 300 mil in the y needs new castings allround including the head
to get more overhang. will watch with interest.

If you look at the pics, it doesn't look that similar to an X2 - it is identical to one of the pics on that X2 table thread though. I nearly went to their showroom to have a look last Sat - I couldn't trust myself not to buy one though ;)

not seeing this mate
just looks like a standard x2 albeit a green one
point me at the big x2 specs

not seeing this mate
just looks like a standard x2 albeit a green one
point me at the big x2 specs

I think you'll have to pop out to a newsagent - the only specs I've seen and the picture which matches :

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25476&d=1163204706

are in the last two issues of Model Engineers Workshop...

dont think thats a seig made machine, but see it now.
its always the way inn'it i bought an x3 last year, few weeks later the super
x3 comes out then some other one i can't remember now this.
nearly as bad as(bloody) computers.
see simply cnc are doing the cnc kits for warco now.
mike

dont think thats a seig made machine, but see it now.
its always the way inn'it i bought an x3 last year, few weeks later the super
x3 comes out then some other one i can't remember now this.
nearly as bad as(bloody) computers.
see simply cnc are doing the cnc kits for warco now.
mike

You're probably right - it might not be an X2, but it sure looks like a clone to me. Just a shame no one makes a clone with 500mm of X, 300mm of Y, 300mm of Z, a 1kW 8,000 rpm R8 spindle, THK linear bearings and a price tag of £500 ;)

Probably the only things stopping me 'upgrading' to whatever that is are a lack of money, the fact that I couldn't get it up the stairs in one piece (unlike the X1) and the fact that the Z-axis is a rack which would make CNC conversion more pricey. Ho hum...

that z axis rack could present some problems
jon fettig was a great exponent of the x2 on here dunno if he's still
lurking about.
mike

digits
pics of my belt conversion counterweight in "x1 counterweight" post
mike

digits
pics of my belt conversion counterweight in "x1 counterweight" post
mike

Cheers Mike :)

Well, I still don't know the shaft diameters of the X2 and X3 motors - anyone know what they are?

Also, has anyone mounted a high-speed spindle to the X1 head - I see littlemachineshop has a mount for the X2.

I am half tempted to try fitting an 800W Kress to my X1 for a bit of highspeed roughing - 800W should be good for removing 2 ci in/min of aluminium if the X1 frame can take it!

Well, after another disappointing day of slow-mo milling, it looks like I am going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later. At 0.02" per pass at 10IPM on a 1/4" endmill, I have some parts that would take well over 40 hours to make! Even today's small design took over 3 hours to rough out to 1/3 completion :(

I really want 5-10x more performance, e.g. 0.1" depth @ 20IPM with a 1/4" endmill - can an X2 or X3 motor and spindle handle this, or do I need over 1HP?

I am also half tempted to try an 800W (1.1HP) Kress 800 FME with a 6mm collet for roughing - my hunch is that my X1 has both too little power and too slow a spindle speed to cut aluminium at any greater feed rates and both the X2 and X3 spindles don't really spin fast enough for Al unless you're using huge cutters.

On my X3...
Motor is 8" long, and 3.75" wide. Shaft diameter I believe is 12mm, I have not looked inside the head for a while so I am not positive. It is definitely larger than 8mm.

Digits-
In June of 2006 I made some heavy duty modifications to my X1. First, I mounted a 1.5HP DC motor, yes 1.5HP. Here is the motor:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2006112617390224&item=10-1783-A&catname=electric

I had a set of pulley's for the spindle and for the motor shaft. I ended up somewhere around 8000 for a top RPM. And there was PLENTY of power. This was one of the best upgrades I made to my X1 when I had it. THat thing really chowed down the aluminum...

Also, make efficient use of what you have - use roughing end mills!

On my X3...
Motor is 8" long, and 3.75" wide. Shaft diameter I believe is 12mm, I have not looked inside the head for a while so I am not positive. It is definitely larger than 8mm.

Digits-
In June of 2006 I made some heavy duty modifications to my X1. First, I mounted a 1.5HP DC motor, yes 1.5HP. Here is the motor:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2006112617390224&item=10-1783-A&catname=electric

I had a set of pulley's for the spindle and for the motor shaft. I ended up somewhere around 8000 for a top RPM. And there was PLENTY of power. This was one of the best upgrades I made to my X1 when I had it. THat thing really chowed down the aluminum...

Also, make efficient use of what you have - use roughing end mills!


:cheers:

If I lived in the US, I would be on those surplus motors like a shot - I might still investigate the shipping cost to the UK, but I'd guess a bit of wise shopping would get me something cheaper locally. I already have a 2HP 110/230v DC speed controller from Canada via eBay - I just need a chunky motor now and perhaps a beefier spindle now.

So how does the X1's frame cope with a 1.5HP motor? My current CAM software toolpaths are doing nasty things to my X1 - I can see the head assembly twisting on the dovetails :( I am seriously tempted to build a whole new Z and head assembly as stop gap to a much bigger machine.

Have you got any pics of your steriod enhanced X1 - and did you need to change the bearings to get to 8K rpm?

Cheers.

The stock bearings were total crap, they hot very hot quickly. After a month or so of use at high speeds, they were shot. I replaced them with better bearings from vxb.com
I believe the dimensions are 25x42mm and 7 or 9mm thick.

My X1 had the extended table and extended base, it was a formidable machine. Probably the most rugged mill in it's size. If you don't have the extended base, BUY IT. Seriously, that is THE the best upgade you can make it. It literally increases dovetail contact 150%.

With that though, came a problem. There was this thin steel adapter plate that held the column to the base. Applying 40 pounds of force, I could flex the column backward almost .01" I believe. THis was applying force on the very top of the column though. That steel plate was so flexy because it was had counter bored holes, so there was maybe 3mm of steel doing the work!

So I got some 4140 prehard steel, 1.25" thick. I bridgeported it so size at work and surface ground it to parallelism within a couple tenth thousandths. Applying 100 pounds of force at the end, I was not even able to flex this thing .002". Needless to say, life was improved :). The frame was fine with the 1.5HP. I never put the mill in a situation where it would use the full 1.5HP though.

Unfortunately, I deleted all of the pictures I had of that mill after I sold it on ebay :(.

One more thing. Any bolt that holds two things together that need to STAY together needs to be replaced with a bolt worthy of that duty. For example, bolting the column down to the base. I replaced the crappy m8 threads with grade 8 3/8"-16. THis applies a lot more force

Also, at 1.5HP the weak link by far is the limitations that MT2 places on you. That is, small cutters! Rigidity of the machine becomes the factor here, no longer motor.

Also, at 1.5HP the weak link by far is the limitations that MT2 places on you. That is, small cutters! Rigidity of the machine becomes the factor here, no longer motor.

Thanks - this is one of the reasons why I am tempted to get an X2 spindle-box so that I can have R8 tooling and perhaps even treat myself to some tormach fixed Z tooling :)

On the motor front, is there any reason I can't just gut a variable speed router for a motor? I doubt the run out is great, but with a pulley drive, would that matter?

BTW, I have the 'super X1-L' version of the X1 with a 400x150mm table and about 290mm X, 145Y and 220mm Z-travel post CNC. It's going to need upgrading to 500mm X travel soon, but not if a 500mm long part would take 3 weeks to mill ;)

Power, power, I must have more power!

I really don't know the runout of a router. I suspect the runout on some of the nicer ones out there is pretty good.
I would not even bother to fix an X2 spindle box on there. Just buy an X3 :).
A router that drives the spindle would work. Just be aware that the top speed of the router probably exceeds the top speed of the spindle bearings.

When my X3 is finally CNC'd, I will be making a side attachment for my HItachi router. The router will be attached to the head somehow, and It will be removable. I have a friend who wants me to mill some PCB's for him. He's helped me out a great deal, so I guess it is my turn to return the favor.

I do plan to upgrade my mill's motor and spindle speed to 4000 or so RPM.
5 x 10^3 RPM would be even better. I will get a Hi Low range belt setup.

The X3 is a lightyear ahead of the X1 in performance and frankly, quality. It is as if these mill's were made in two separate factories.

I really don't know the runout of a router. I suspect the runout on some of the nicer ones out there is pretty good.
I would not even bother to fix an X2 spindle box on there. Just buy an X3 :).
A router that drives the spindle would work. Just be aware that the top speed of the router probably exceeds the top speed of the spindle bearings.

When my X3 is finally CNC'd, I will be making a side attachment for my HItachi router. The router will be attached to the head somehow, and It will be removable. I have a friend who wants me to mill some PCB's for him. He's helped me out a great deal, so I guess it is my turn to return the favor.

I do plan to upgrade my mill's motor and spindle speed to 4000 or so RPM.
5 x 10^3 RPM would be even better. I will get a Hi Low range belt setup.

The X3 is a lightyear ahead of the X1 in performance and frankly, quality. It is as if these mill's were made in two separate factories.

Believe me, if I could get an X3 up the stairs, my X1 would be on ebay UK right now - I just can't manage a 150kg mill in my apartment - well, not unless it arrives in 25kg pieces anyway ;)

Hmm, I do know where I can get an X3 spindle assembly in the UK... Edit Well, I did - Arc have trimmed down their spares list and deleted it :(

Yeah, it just occured to me that a router's unloaded speed is about 10x too fast for most milling operations. I do see the need for a high speed cutter for tiny mills and PCB work though - I might try bolting an 800W Kress router alongside my X1's spindle - I can't see myself sourcing the parts and building a 'proper' new milling head this side of New Year.

The weight of the X3 was a challenge. If you disassemble it though, it is manageable. I unpacked, moved it down flights of stairs, and re assembled, all myself. Take the table and saddle off, thats probably 80 or so pounds. Take off the head, thats another 80 pounds. The base is probably 40 or 50. The column is the heaviest at 100 pounds. I figure you will want to disassemble the machine to clean and inspect it anyways, so you might as well.

The weight of the X3 was a challenge. If you disassemble it though, it is manageable. I unpacked, moved it down flights of stairs, and re assembled, all myself. Take the table and saddle off, thats probably 80 or so pounds. Take off the head, thats another 80 pounds. The base is probably 40 or 50. The column is the heaviest at 100 pounds. I figure you will want to disassemble the machine to clean and inspect it anyways, so you might as well.

The problem with me just buying an X3 is that I'd have to CNC it and upgrade the spindle motor to get 4000+ rpm as soon as I'd finished putting it back together.

I don't see anything inherently wrong with the X1's base or table, so untill I am ready to tackle my parts which need 500mm of X travel, I am tempted to just replace the whole Z assembly and add an X2 spindle box and a bigger motor. I'll probably also add a 10-30k rpm router thinggy for high-speed work with tiny mills.

Well, I went off to buy a metal-cutting bandsaw at the weekend - came home empty handed, but I did see an X3 in the metal. Too bulky for my needs, but it does look very well built :)

Anyway, today I got my R8 X2 mill head and belt-drive conversion from littlemachineshop.com - excellent service - delivered from the US to the UK within 6 days :)

I've just ordered an X3 motor to drive the thing and some R8-MT2 adaptors to get me going. I had hoped to use the Christmas break to get going on this upgrade, but I think it's going to be late Jan/early Feb now before I have the full set of parts for a new Z-axis.

find yourself dragged into another hobby, machine building?
iv'e just rediscovered the reason why i started this again ,bits for bikes
what are you builbing?
mike

find yourself dragged into another hobby, machine building?
iv'e just rediscovered the reason why i started this again ,bits for bikes
what are you builbing?
mike

It all started out as a quest to make a few simple parts for my car...

A shed load of elegance crept in and now I have 15 interesting parts to make - so far I've made 1.5!

It had never occured to me that, just as with computers, if a job takes too long, it really is infeasible on your equipment. I have a fairly simple 3D part to make that's 10"x2.5"x1.5" - if I cut it in 3D at 300mm/min / 0.5mm deep it will take ~40 hours. The same thing done as 2 2.5D passess will take about 5 hours on one side and 4 on the other. That is just possible on a wet weekend, but it won't win me any brownie points ;)

I still need a bigger machine for 2 of the 15 parts - and it looks like I may have to build that to get the travel I want in a desktop machine. Or I could ask Father Christmas for a high-speed Wabeco - but even then I'd be a little short on the Y-axis and would probably have to sell a kidney to pay for it! I might have to buy a house with a garage just so I can fit a bridgeport :D

Still, I reckon a 600W X1 with an R8 spindle will be fun - and should be good for 13 of those parts I need.

I just have to decide whether or not to upgrade my CAD tools next - DesignCAD is good for the money, but is seriously slow for any reasonable number of 3D faces. I've already upgraded my PC to cope, but I should have just spent more than £40 on CAD S/W in the first place!

try rhino ,free download on (ahem "demo" version) nice simple full 3d stuff
millwizards(del cam) good too.

mike

try rhino ,free download on (ahem "demo" version) nice simple full 3d stuff
millwizards(del cam) good too.

mike

Cheers Mike - I've just bought a copy of VariCAD! I looked at it a few months ago, liked the look of it, but couldn't really justify the cost. After four months of buying tooling and fighting with Design CAD, it seemed a lot more reasonable!

I had a quick play with the demo - I managed to download and assemble some 3D models of Hiwin rails and carriages, and extrude and assemble some 80/20 profiles and it was still very responsive - DesignCAD would have been on its knees at this point. The best bit however has to be the ability to drill or mill holes in solids, and then edit the holes after the fact, or to simply drill holes by inserting bolts through several solids at once :)

Well, it's taken me a week of making tooling, and a couple of days to mill it, but I finally have a workable X3 motor mount for the X2 head :) So far it weighs about 10.4kg!

Well, almost workable - the X3 motor spindle is about 10 mm too long, so I'm going to have to mill out some spacers to lift it up a bit. I still need to make or buy a pulley for the motor though as the X3 motor is about half as fast as the X2 one the kit is designed for.