I decided to convert my X2 mill to Hiwin HG15 linear rails and blocks and also zero backlash ballscrews. I was never happy with the dovetails, if you adusted them to within what I would consider a decent tolerance they became almost unmovable and after adding a 'Heavy Metal' cnc conversioin ballscrew kit with simpson ballscrews, I don't know I just thought there must be a better way. Also, as soon as I had converted to the heavy metal kit I realized that the machine was too small in the Y axis for anything I wanted to build, that was totally my fault as originally I bought the machine to mess around with in my appartment, and maybe build some robot parts. I will add some more detail later but here are some image of where I am at right now.
So, basically after machining off the dovetails on the base, saddle, table and column I started with the base and added a 1 1/4 x 12 x 6 inch cast iron plate to the top. The cast iron plate is glued witih epoxy to the base and screwed into place. The expoxy was allowed to dry and then I willed the base with expoxy granite, it is the standard mix of 62% gravel, 23% sand, 15% expoxy and this was left for about two weeks to set. I have noticed that the expoxy does remain soft for a good 24 hours, I am guessing that this is due to the volume. I did not vibrate the epoxy as I currently don't have a vibration table, I do have all the part to build one but just didn't have and needed to move forward with this. After letting the epoxy set I then machined the base to allow for the rails, and also give me enought clearance for the SYK MBL 10-C motor mounts that I am using, I like off-the-shelf parts so I go for them when I can. The saddle just had the dovetails removed and then was drilled to accept the HG15 blocks, for both the base and table. The table, again after having the dovetails milled off, was drilled for the linear rails. Yes, I did leave all the rails long, I ordered them long and happy conincidence having them long meant that assembly was a lot easier, especially on the base as I could pull the saddle all the way out and screw in the screws from underneath. The biggest problem with the X2 is it is just so small there really isn't any room in there for putting basically anything, so the whole project was an exercise in space conservation. The column was pre-drilled for the rails and I added some brass inserts on the inside, this was so I could get a decent length of screw as once you have machined off the dovetails there isn't a lot of cast iron left to screw into, and I just wanted to be sure. Also I wanted some 'flex' space in case I messed up. So I added in inserts, covered the bolts in wax, glued them with expoxy and then filled the column with the same mix of epoxy granite. Once that was dry I again machined the rest of the dovetails off. Needless to say this took quite some time. Oh and I also plugged all of the existing holes with bolts, again glued in place obviously to stop the epoxy from coming out and because well I didn't want the whole thing to look like swiss cheese, it is amazing how much 'stuff' I have take off of the mill prior to doing this.
The head is a whole different story and I will add that in the next post.
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X2 Hiwin Conversion
