The new x axis seems much more rigid than the old one.
must be the extra mass.
Started milling parts for the new y axis.
Bolted on my little tooling plate till I get a big 12x18 plate.
still have room for both the vise and rotary.
Nice to be able to indicate the vise in and not have to remove it to mill something else.
Hi Hoss,
How much Y axis can you get out of the new setup once you are done. I am working on improving my X and Y axis as well and your thread and website have been very excellent resources. Will probably try to get up to 8 inch of Y if I can on mine.
Alex
12 inches on the y alex.
getting that much travel won't be a problem.
the head will have to be extended and the only concern is stability once it's done.
I'm making the prototype parts from aluminum and will go to steel if more strength is needed. Would rather only have to add 9 lbs to the head using aluminum than 27 lbs for steel though.
keep ya posted.
Hoss
Once I finish this project and know the new mill footprint,
I'm definitely going to build a dedicated bench with enclosure and flood cooling.
Just need to make room for it. Guess I could put the hot tub outside.
hogging out these slots could have been faster. Only .050 a pass at 7ipm with
oiling and blowing away chips here. Then I really could just sit back an watch.
Hi Hoss, You probably looking at an extension of 5 inches extra which is quite a fair bit of extension. As for the base, are you looking at using a block of aluminium or steel to extend the base? Will love to see how stable the z axis is with a 5 inch extension. I am considering of doing only 2 inch extra to get about 8.8 inch of Y travel. The longer the head extension the longer the base extension has to be.
hey alex,
I'm using steel for the base, aluminum for the head(weight savings).
Actually extending 6.5 inches on the head.
The stock head has about 6.5 inches between the center of the spindle and the column
so technically I could get 13 inches of travel on the Y.
I'm reusing the old X axis ballscrew so I may be limited to 12.5 inches. Don't think it would be worth spending another $30 for new ballscrew for the extra .5 inch. I'm big on recycling as you'll soon see.
Hoss
A full flood enclosure is a lot of work hoss, but IMHO well worth it. Once you have a setup that can run unattended though, I imagine that you will also begin to feel that tool changes are the weak link in the chain. Even with the rapid-changer I have on my X-1, having to be around at the right time to change tools, and so prevent the machine sitting idle can become a bit of a pain. I am so looking forward to seeing what you'll come up with for an ATCOriginally Posted by hoss2006
digits,
you're right, I better do the ATC before the enclosure.
may change the design of the enclosure to make room.
that's what I could do, just sit the mill inside the hot tub.
it already has a pump!
Hi Hoss,
I am trying to cut some steel with my X2 and its not easy at all. The cutter just barely made a small cut before the whole machine shook. Any advise on how you went about cutting the X base or did you outsource the work? Thanks.
Alex
Vibration can be caused by loose gibs. If you can wiggle the table by hand, they need tightened. I tighten them as tight as the steppers can take and still move the table. I limited the cutting of the dovetails to .025 a pass at 5 IPM, 1500 RPM. It's slow but it gets it done.
Here's a little clip of the dovetail milling on the new X axis.
I used the Surfacing Wizard in Mach 3.
Had to reposition 3 times to mill the entire length.
Hoss
oh god make sure u wear a mask when u cut cast iron, i made that mistake and paid for it!
Hey Gang,
The Y axis parts are coming along.
Have the long running jobs done.
Milling out the slots took an hour per side on the big part.
Can't wait to get a flood coolant system set up. Could have used that hour to do some straightening up instead of squirting oil and blowing out chips.
At least I have a TV down there.
Should be finished next week.
Here's a sneak peek.
Hoss
Here's the HossMachine Articulating Head Attachment.
I have it finished now, just need to mount it between the spindle housing and
spindle housing mount.
It will extend the head 6.5 inches.
The extended Y axis needed an extension of the head
and I wanted the spacer to have some adjustability to sweep the head in. I went a little overboard.
The head can tilt up 10 deg., down 95 deg. It will rotate 90 degrees to either side, technically it will rotate 360,
but practically 90.
I reused the fine feed worm gear to help lift/lower the head.
I'll get a video up at Youtube today sometime.
It's just mounted to a block clamped in the vise for demonstration purposes.
More to come.
Hoss
Ok, that's just cool. Got me on the edge of my seat to see the new Y though.
Hi Hoss,
Nice work. Just curious, with all that articulation, is it going to hold up well with the vibration?
alex,
that's the $50 question.
I'll find out soon.
I used (2) 1/2-13 bolts thru the tilt mechanism and (4) 3/8 bolts holding the rotating mechanism.
With everything tight, it seems quite solid.
The proof will be in the pudding, hopefully it'll cut something harder than pudding
Added a foot to my workbench so the new mill won't fall off.
might have some pics of the Y extension on Sunday.
Hoss
Ok, The cats out of the bag.
Busy day today. Have the new Y axis built, somewhat.
Still have some finishing touches to take care of.
Parts to mount, a shim here or there, Head attachment to install, stepper to mount, etc.
Have to indicate the extension into position and lap it in.
Should be functional next week.
Then begins the testing.
Later Hoss
http://www.hossmachine.com
Here's some pics of the X2 Freak with the head extension installed.
Shown are some of the possible configurations of the head positions.
Don't know if I would need to use any of them but it'll be nice if I do.
One possible use for 90 degrees to the X would be to mill/drill
the end of a long piece of stock.
90 degrees to the Y would be good for surface grinding or slot milling I guess.
Looks like I won't need my surface grinding attachment now.
Seems I'll need a 3'x4-5' flood coolant enclosure. Got some good ideas from project5k and twocik's posts.
Hoss
My first thought was "thats insane!".
I have been playing with the thought about connecting two bases together, but I figured that it would be way too inaccurate. Does it feel sturdy? I would buy another table and sadle and "table" which in your case is a new Z collumn, and connect them together.
It also seems like your head configuration is about 2" too long as it extends past midway of your Y axis.
Anyway! Now I see how you can get such an extreme travel on the Y axis. I hope it's rigid enough to do the same cuts as it did before the modification.
Still enjoying your topic.
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