X2 cnc finished for now maybe

[hoss2006]

Jay,
That would be fine with me. Got an extra 50 grand?
I would have to get a bunch of extra toys to outfit a shop.
You never know what could happen in a year.
Cnc Fusion and others probably started the same way.
I already figured out how to expand the y axis to 12 inches of travel.
Starting on it this weekend and on through vacation next week.
i'm giggling with anticipation to see if the plans I drew will work.
I'll have to start calling it the X2 Freak.
One drawback with the new x axis is now i'd have to spend $100 for a new longer scale for the DRO. Ehh mach 3 will do.
The video of the X travel is up at .
Hoss

[Jay C]

I do, but I have to think of my kid's college Look at wigitmaster for inspiration. The guy is designing and building CNC wood routers in his retirement (and his garage) and selling on eBay to let the market name the price. Looking forward to you making some "made to order" kits in the future


Oh, and the DRO has to be redundant doesn't it?

FWIW,
Jay

[hoss2006]

Now that guy knows how to run a small business, make the parts, then sell them.
Others could learn from him.
He's done ALOT in 5 weeks.
I could wait till I retire, only 23 years to go.
Maybe I should go on american inventor and win a Million.

Yeah the DRO is pretty much useless now anyway.

[Micro Rotors]

Hoss,

Any hints on how you will get more travel out of the Y axis?

Thanks
Bill

[hoss2006]

nope














it's a secret

[Micro Rotors]

Doh!

I just tore it down about 15 min. ago so I can clean it up to assymble the CNC parts to it. I was hoping to see what you had done now BEFORE I put it Back together today.

Thanks Anyway
Bill

[hoss2006]

I haven't done anything except draw prints and order parts.
Nothing to show ya yet. I will.
It will require some mods to the base and head though.
But I need the mill operational to make the pieces to add on first.

[project5k]

yea i keep running in to that, new projects that i wanna make that would make life easier, so having the mill torn down is a problem.. just like waiting till i get the rest of my electronics all buttoned up, i'm not gonna put the ballscrews into my machine...

[Micro Rotors]

Well ... I guess I am lucky I don't need to use the Mini Mill to make the parts. I have a HAAS VF-3 and a Bridgeport I can make the parts with I just wanted to see what you had done. If you are doing a mod to the head, I assume you are adding a spacer block. I wanted to see what you were going to do to the base.

Bill

[The Blight]

Extended Y on yahoo discussion groups (GrizHFMinimill)

[hoss2006]

Extended Y on yahoo discussion groups (GrizHFMinimill)

close, but no cigar.
that only gives about 6 1/2 y travel.
that might be an easier option for some.
With my previous 3/4 in. easy mod to the y axis
http://www.hossmachine.com/cnc_conversion.html go to Fabrication, you could get a little over 7 inches total on the Y.
so for about $100 in parts and a little labor, you could have
16-18.5 x 7.
129.5 square inches vs. 32 for stock x2.
i should wind up with about 231 for another $150, and more work.

one more day and i'm on vacation

[Micro Rotors]

Extended Y on yahoo discussion groups (GrizHFMinimill)

I thought about this one but, it would raise the Z axis up even further. I have a fixture plate that is .625 thick and it still to low on the stock setup.

Thanks
Bill

[hoss2006]

If you disconnect the stock torsion arm and go with an air spring or counterweight, you can get extra Z down travel.
If I removed the unneeded Z Stop, I could nearly hit the stock table with the spindle.

[The Blight]

Hoss I did that on my machine too. I never bothered with extending the axis further because of the enclosure I'm using.

Anyway! I have to say that this topic is one of the most enjoyable I have ever read. Great pictures and ideas, so keep up the good work!

I like your lathe setup, and I have been thinking about doing something similar, except that I want to put an encoder on the motor so that it can be used as a servo for indexing. Well I think that will turn out to be just an idea, because I was just told that I have been given $2700 to build a CNC lathe with an automatic tool turret. I might make it with live tools later on and a material loader.

[hoss2006]

Sweet, tell em to give me $2700 too
I have a little 7x10 sitting in pieces (where I got the lathe parts).
Someday it will be cnc'd too but playing with the mill for now.
It may get put in the never happen bin if i get a big lathe for xmas.
Just added a 4 in chuck to the lathe attachment. Have to think about getting a longer base for it now that I have the longer x travel. Want to finish the tailstock, then make a trunnion table for it. Saw this from High tech Systems.
Pretty cool.
Hoss

[FPV_GTp]

Sweet, tell em to give me $2700 too
I have a little 7x10 sitting in pieces (where I got the lathe parts).
Someday it will be cnc'd too but playing with the mill for now.
It may get put in the never happen bin if i get a big lathe for xmas.
Just added a 4 in chuck to the lathe attachment. Have to think about getting a longer base for it now that I have the longer x travel. Want to finish the tailstock, then make a trunnion table for it. Saw this from High tech Systems.
Pretty cool.
Hoss

Hi hoss

nice work on the mill , love the New CNC Trunnion Table can be 4th or 5th Axis made by HTS .

keep up the good work

cheers

[project5k]

yea, i'd like to see one of thoes in action, rather than just running back and forth...

[hoss2006]

here's a couple videos of a trunnion table in action though not this particular one.
same principle.



something to work up to someday.

[digits]

here's a couple videos of a trunnion table in action though not this particular one.
same principle.



something to work up to someday.

They are very impressive, but I think it would be very hard or expensive for a DIY'er to do without significant backlash. You've also got to factor in the cost of 5-axis CAM tools - now that's scary!

What I think would be useful though is 5-axis indexed, so that you could set up once and then machine the 5 other sides without removing the stock.

If money's no object though, you really want a rotary axis like this amazing Stama machine:

[The Blight]

I would rather go with a dual spindle, dual turret Index machine. It can do what the Stama machine can do, just faster and a lot more. Index has also made 6 spindle machines to produce extreme quantities. Wish someone could put a video up of one of those.

Looks a bit like this (The Index machines)


I like that rotary table though (High tech systems). I feel inspired enogh to make one (just got to finnish all the other projects first)