Picked up a Microlux X2

[TerraWombat]

Saw an ad on Craigslist, responded and had this guy a couple days later. Everything you see in the pics came with the mill, including the table, but excluding the wireless router!









Has a power feed, but doesn't seem to be worth much. Having some trouble identifying everything that came with it. Lots of random bolts and whatnot.

[hoss2006]

Looks like a nice package, did you get a good deal?
The powerfeed is a nice addon, looks like the LMS model.
LittleMachineShop.com - Mini Mill Power Feed Kit, No Feed Screw
Seems to be an MT spindle and you already have your collets and chuck plus a couple spare drawbars.
The bag of gears looks like either a changegear set for a minilathe or he got a bunch of replacements
for the mill head.
A belt drive from LMS will take that problem out of the picture.
LittleMachineShop.com - Belt Drive Conversion Kit, Mini Mill
You can find lots of stuff to do to/with the mill here.
Hossmachine Homepage
Have fun, Hoss

[TerraWombat]

Hey Hoss! I was actually going to pass on this mill because I thought it was too small for my needs. It is on the smaller side, but should be enough to get me going. Your X2 Freak build is actually what made me finally bite the bullet and pull the trigger. I thought to myself, "Well, Hoss made quite the machine out of his...I could do the same if need be!"

I meant to post up the price, but forgot. I paid $450 for the whole lot. I attempted to negotiate, but there were other buyers in line so no movement there. He also had a Microlux 7x14 mini lathe, but I was a day too late on that. I would have bought them both!

I will definitely be doing the belt drive conversion as I don't see how plastic gears can hold up too well!

[hoss2006]

That's a pretty good deal, probably cost twice that new with all the parts.
That explains what those gears are probably for, his 7x14 lathe.
That buyer might miss those but they can get a new set at LMS.
Yeah it's not a matter of if but when those plastic gears go south.
Took me a while on mine but I eventually toasted one of the internal ones.
The upper ones not bad to replace but you have to remove the head to change the internals.
Hoss

[TerraWombat]

I was surprised at the amount of extras I got along with the mill. I was expecting just a bare mill with a power feed. The table that is on it now has some nice marks in it, but I'm going to look into going with the larger table and getting it through Harbor Freight.

I don't have much planned for it yet. I'm thinking about getting a cheap DRO setup and using this mill to machine the CNC brackets for the G0704 (or equivalent) I will be getting one day down the road.

[hoss2006]

Good plan. having one of these makes it much easier to work on something else down the road.
even using it as a little vertical lathe can make life easier.
Hoss

[eartaker]

Nice find, nothing on that table is random... you use all of it eventually. You should look at getting a HF 7X12 lathe to match the mill if you are just starting in this hobby. I found my 7X10 on Craigslist and was a great match for my X2.

[TerraWombat]

Thanks for the info. I wish I had called the seller sooner and landed the Microlux lathe as well. I will look into the HF lathes, but will also keep my eye on CL for any that pop up.

I've also got one other machine in my shop that makes this mill look like a baby:



She's been getting some good use as of late. Picked up a nice big air compressor for it too this weekend.

[sansbury]

My advice, from one who's been there: the X2 is a great little mill and can do much more than it ought to for its size, but I would avoid extensive modding for two reasons: first, time spent $#@!ing with the machine is time not spent making parts, and second, a modded machine will be harder to sell if/when you decide to upgrade. You got a great price and if you wanted you could likely sell the whole thing on CL for $400 in a week, and perhaps $500+ if you clean it up and wait for a serious buyer. I got mine for $400 two years ago with no tooling or power feed!

I would definitely get the belt drive though, it cuts the noise hugely and the higher top speed is very useful.

And hey, if you get your kicks from modding your machine, then be my guest I just realized looking back at the past two years that I've spent CNC-ing and tweaking and tuning my X2, that if I had just gotten a rotary table and some tooling and started making parts, I'd probably have a few projects finished by now, rather than a CNC mill that is 99% ready to start making parts for those projects. That is, after I finish this one more thing... down the rabbit hole we go!

[TerraWombat]

I appreciate the feedback! Initially, I had wanted to convert this mill to CNC, but after having it in my possession and making a few test cuts on some scrap aluminum and steel, I think I'm going to save the time and expense to CNC a mill for something bigger.

My current plans for this mill are to put together a cheap DRO kit (I've got something in mind) and get the belt drive conversion. I may look into the larger table from harbor freight if I think I'll need it. I think once I can get an accurate DRO and the belt drive on here, this mill will be perfect for the smaller machining projects I need to do.

[Nateg281]

I was surprised at the amount of extras I got along with the mill. I was expecting just a bare mill with a power feed. The table that is on it now has some nice marks in it, but I'm going to look into going with the larger table and getting it through Harbor Freight.

I don't have much planned for it yet. I'm thinking about getting a cheap DRO setup and using this mill to machine the CNC brackets for the G0704 (or equivalent) I will be getting one day down the road.

I'd really like to get a bigger table for my X2 as well. Do you know the Harbor Freight part #?