My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion


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Thread: My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion

  1. #1
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    Default My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion

    Soooo, with the motor problems and perpetually extending delivery dates, I canceled the G0704 and got a Wholesale Tools ZX45 instead. It came in today, and I'm really glad I did! This thing is huge, and solid!! It's currently in the bed of my truck, and I'm having to dismantle it in order to get it into the garage.

    I'm having a hard time finding a good reference site for the WT ZX45 or other RF45 clones, so I'll be recording this whole thing on my site,

    The Home Shop Saga

    I still plan to use CNCZone for questions, but I want to break all the info I find here into an easier to navigate location. It's hard to search through the several forums for these mills here, especially the 20+ page ones where all the good info is!

    My first problem is removing the pins that hold the X and Y leadscrew bearing flanges in place. Can anyone tell me how to remove them?

    Thanks,

    Drew.

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    Welcome to the 45 community... so many going on right now its out of control lol. I need to add more content to my site.



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    Thanks!

    Any advice on removing the pins from the flanges? Part no. 31 in the manual.

    Or, any idea of a site with good teardown info?



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    Default Drew....

    Welcome to another RF45 mill owner. There as you already have found are several good threads going right now concerning these machines. I know when I got my mill I was kinda shocked at how beefy it looks in person. They are really great machines for the money. They are really only covered on this benchtop forum and the IH machines forum. If you can shoot some pics of setting your machine up and your stand and whatnot. Always interested in seeing others peoples ideas come to life here. Good luck with your build and peace

    Pete



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    I don't have the manual to this machine and it isn't on there site. What flanges are you talking about?



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    The blocks that hold the leadscrew and bearings. The 2 for the X-axis are bolted to the table with 2 SHCS's and 2 pins. The one for the Y-axis is bolted to the base with 2 SHCS's and 2 pins.

    I also need to know how to remove the roll pins that hold the handwheel mating part to the leadscrew. Just punch them out?



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    Ahhh, on the flanges you can just remove the bolts and then pull the flange off, It will take some working and prying. The pins just hold it in place for when its bolted down. As for the roll pins nothing works better than a hammer and punch. =]



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    Awesome, thanks!

    I kindof thought that was how the pins worked, but I worked on 'em pretty hard and they didn't budge.

    I've got to get this thing out of my truck, the handling SUCKS and there's no way this weather will hold out for long!



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    Member gd.marsh's Avatar
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    Go 45's!

    Lots of conversions going on & a wealth of information from so many helpful people here on the zone.

    Enjoy your new toy!



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    Have you tried tapping on the side of the block and prying at the same time?
    are they tapered pins? If they are tapered then the tapping should loosen them
    I dont have this mill but this is what I had to do on mine


    JTCUSTOMS



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    Once you remove the bolts you can use the gib locks to secure the table and turn the handwheel to back out the bearing housing. That worked for me, anyway.



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    Flenser, I think I did that when I started to convert a x2, but forgot about it. Thanks, I'll try it when I get home from work.

    I'll be building the bench/enclosure tonight, or at least starting the planning stage. I can't decide whether to build a bench big enough for the mill and the g0602 lathe, or just build 2 separate benches...



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    I recently purchased a WT ZX45 as well. I'm at the same stage of teardown and seeing your post I figured I could show this.


    ZX45 on stand


    Left with fixed block removed


    Left fixed block after being removed (gives you an idea of part 31s' role)


    Right with bearing block on, remove pin from sleeve, remove two hex bolts from bearing block


    Right bearing block removed (one on top)


    Lead screw removed.


    Hope this helps and good luck,
    -Patrick



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    welcome to the zone!

    good luck with your shop - once you get started, it's so addictive

    matt



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    Thanks for the pics Patrick those really do help. I figured the pin needs to come out in order to get the leadscrew out.

    I borrowed a friends engine hoist, so I'm going to get the mill out of the truck with it, and onto my stand. Havn't built it yet, but It's going to be a pretty simple wooden stand. I plan to build an enclosure around it later, but that will have to wait a bit.

    Matt, I've been around here since 2003ish, but thanks for the welcome anyway! I've been addicted for awhile, just havn't had the funds to feed my addiction until recently!

    I can't wait to get this baby going!



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    Member gd.marsh's Avatar
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    Can't quite tell if it's my eyes playing tricks on me or not but those pins in Patrick's pictures almost look like they're drilled & tapped .. That was the case with the pins that locate the head cover on my machine .. threading a bolt into them and gently prying under the head of the bolt with a small pry-bar pulled the pins out quite easily.



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    The pins are drilled and tapped, but I haven't checked the size. I may toss them aside when reassembling in favor of tapping the holes and adding additional bolts. Any reason why this would be a bad idea? Also, one thing to note when pulling the bearing blocks is that the bearings are not sealed. I am also contemplating replacing these in favor of sealed ones.

    Also, Toby, are you planning on rewiring yours for 220V 1PH? I would like to, however the WT ZX45 variant has an interesting wiring setup (not as simple as rewiring the motor).

    -Patrick



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    Member gd.marsh's Avatar
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    Patrick ..
    That's exactly what I did .. in fact I added 2 more besides .. due to the design of my bearing blocks I felt more comfortable with 6 bolts because they're pretty long. May be a little over-kill, but I wanted to use oversized clearance holes to allow for minor amounts of bearing alignment & also wanted to feel confident that once I snugged the bolts down, the blocks wouldn't be going anywhere. More fasteners do seem to hold better & require less torque on each bolt, so I usually tend to lean in that direction when possible.



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    So I got the base built today. It's covered in formica countertop laminate. It's the first time I've tried using that stuff, and it worked out alright. I'm going to have to put some sort of aluminum angle on the top corners because I put the top on first... So, for future reference, put the sides on first.

    The slopes on the sides are where the drip tray will angle to the back for a flood coolant drain.



    I've also got the stepper motor mounts drawn up and sent to my plasma cutter guy. I've got 570 oz-in nema 23's that will be coupled to each axis with a 16 tooth to 32 tooth pulley. I can't find any pulley's to fit the stock leadscrews at .700", so I'll just bore out another pulley.

    I might have to upgrade the Z-axis motor, but it's not a big deal because I'll just use the 570 for the upcoming 4th axis. I may also add a counter weight system.



    Now I get to pull my hair out once again when I lift this beast up onto the stand.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion-2011-04-10-21-38-46-jpg   My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion-mounts-png  


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    Here's a progress shot. I forgot to get a tailstock chuck for my lathe, so this is as far as it's going to get until Sunday.

    The motor mounts are plasma cut from 11 ga steel, appx .120 thick. I tapped the mounting holes on the stepper's 1/4-20.

    It's very frustrating, especially since the pulley's and belt's should be here tomorrow. If I had chuck, I could turn the bore's on the pulley's and check the belt's. The belt sizes are the one thing I'm not very sure about. Well, that and a 570oz-in stepper being able to lift this beast's head.

    I also need to turn some standoff's, and probably buy more bolt's since these will not likely be long enough once the standoffs are added.









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My Wholesale Tools ZX45 CNC conversion

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