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Hi All,
After reading many of the threads here and other places like hoss's website Hossmachine Homepage, I have decided to redo my cnc conversion of my X2.
I am not a machinist or an engineer and I certainly do not have the creative ability of most of the problem solvers on this site.
Instead, I intend to use the ideas I have found here and on hoss's website to do my conversion. At the same time I will try to provide more information over how I accomplished the work, like clamping methods, cutting rates, etc. At the same time I hope to get some good input on how to do things better.
Some of the things I hope to accomplish are:
1. extend Y axis travel simliar to the way degreaser did here X2 Y Axis Way Extension
2. Implement hoss's cnc conversion Hossmachine_Cnc Conversion
3. Build hoss's tool changer, probably the original 8 tool rack that sits on the end of the x table.
Well, that is the overview, let's see how it goes. I have pictures of my inital milling of the table and will post them soon.
Pat
Whoo hoo! Another thread to watch!
I'm working on a similar project. The base I have is the new design with the open back section so my first step will be filling in that gaping hole. If you have the same kind, would you care to share your thoughts on ways to reinforce the back end?
Anyway, I will be watching the thread with interest!
Q: How many tools does it take before a simple task becomes a project?
A: Just one. I'm the Tool that turns a simple task in to a project.
Hi Troy!Originally Posted by TroyO
I have the old style base, fortunately so that is one less thing I have to deal with. I do not have a good idea at the moment on how to deal with but hopefully someone else will chime in.
Pat
Here are some pictures of the beginning of the milling process. First couple are meant to show how I clamped the base to the milling table. Then you can see where I milled the front of the opening. I took approximately 10 mm off before I reached the main part of the casting.
Before I started milling I clamped the base to the table upside down and used my face mill on the underside. I only took off a couple of thous. I just wanted to be sure the top surfaces were parallel to the feet. Sorry no pictures, that was before I decided to do this thread.
Not knowing for sure what to do, I used a 1/2" mill at about 1790 rpm. I did not use any lube or coolant. It seemed to work well. I did learn to wear a dust mask because I spent 2 days blowing black stuff out of my sinuses (TMI-sorry).
Sorry these pictures are rough, I'm learning how to use my wife's camera (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)
When I milled the front of the clearance slot I just went back and forth (left-to-right-to-left) and basically wore away the cast iron.
Because I had to take alot more off of the back (appx. 45mm) I elected to cut a 'U' shape, cutting from the top down. I think this was faster. First I touched the tool off to the back of the slot and then moved it to the front a small amount and set the Y DRO to 0. I arbitrarily decided the back (closest to the column) would be my reference. I left some material in case I over shot my cuts, I would still be able to make a cleaning cut later. While cutting to the right I did the same thing for the X DRO.
I experimented with increasing depths of cuts and ended up using .050 per cut. Probably too conservative but I am still learning what I can get away with.
Finally, I took a cleaning cut all the way around the perimeter of the slot.
The first 2 pictures show the beginning of the milling. The third shows the cleanup cut.
When I did my original setup I indicated the top of the dovetail closest to the column to be parallel with the spindle travel. The dovetail had been milled flat for a wide enough area that the indicator rode along it really well. I also checked to see how square the front of the casting was to that dove tail and it was pretty good. I was afraid I would have to mill the front also to be sure that the lead screw was not pointed off to one side or up or down but I don't think I will.
All of this took a fair amount of time for a machinist wannabe.
The reason this is important is next I wanted to mill the flats where the block of metal that the column will bolt to will sit. As I was trying out my setup I discovered that my mill cannot reach across the full width of the table. Worse, it does not even reach equally front to back. After all of the work lining up the casting I really do not want to unclamp it and move it.
So I went to my drawer of mills and found the biggest one I had hoping it would reach. It almost made it all the way to the front of the table. I decided I would give it a try thinking I could use a file to clean up the one corner it did not quite reach.
I set the cutter to the lower of the two flats (the one in the front) and first cut the higher one (the one in the back). This worked well. So I moved to the front one and tried to take a couple of thous off of it. No joy in Mudville!
The cutter polished the surface and threw sparks. The quill depth was locked (hard!) but the quill still kept moving up. Time for some maintenance.
So I took the quill lock apart and decided it was just gunked up. I cleaned it in Naptha and re-assembled. It seems to work really well now. BTW I bought this mill used from a friend's estate sale. He had obviously used it a lot but was not big on cleaning it.
So I think for my next installment I will try to use my facing mill which has a bigger diameter with carbide cutters and see how that works. Stay tuned.
The first picture shows the difference in the offset of the two sides. Next are two pictures showing the front and rear reach of the mill on the table followed by a picture of the larger mill. Finally pictures of the two sides I attempted to cut.
Last edited by Starnovice; 02-27-2012 at 10:44 PM. Reason: Added pictures
Heh, sometimes the little stuff gets in the way, huh?
One thing I noticed was you hadn't removed the paint yet. You might find sand under there... I stripped mine pretty bare and actually found the casting itself to be in decent shape (No large voids or cracks) but I also noticed a LOT of sand in there under the paint. I would say it was definitley tablespoons worth anyway.
You may have hit a pocket of the stuff?
In my case, it wasn't that I was so wise as to consider the machining steps yet, I simply wanted to strip the paint off so the JB weld will hold well, LOL.
My current plan for the gaping hole is to stuff it with mild steel block and JB weld it in, with a few other tricks to tie it in as well to base as I can.
Q: How many tools does it take before a simple task becomes a project?
A: Just one. I'm the Tool that turns a simple task in to a project.
Just a brief update. I finally bit the bullet and removed to the base from the mill since I was going to have to realign it anyway. Now I am going to make the parts to extend the dovetails and the mounting block for the column. Then I will remount the base to finish it including adding the other pieces all in one setup (I hope :-) ).
Tomorrow I am getting a Kurt type vise on loan from a friend which should help speed things up.
Pat
I think you are right and that I did hit a pocket of sand. BTW my face mill with carbide cutters worked well. More pictures later.
Pat
cnczone.com/forums/benchtop_machines/148568-yax2c-yet_another_x2_conversion.html
Yeppee another new build
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