Harbor Freight X2 Mini Mill Fully Enclosed

[Adamj12b]

I am creating this post to show my progress as I finish converting my X2 mini mill to cnc in a full enclosure. I have been slowly working on it for the past few months with a little progress here and there. But lately I have been making leaps and bounds, coming closer and closer each day to finishing it.

I am open to suggestion from people as to what they would have done differently when they built their system. This is my first cnc conversion.

I started off with a basic design in my head of a tall, fully enclosed cabinet. kinda of the idea of the Haas Super Mini Mill.

I started with a bathroom vanity cabinet for the base, Installed a sloped shelf for coolant to run all to one corner, built the top half of the cabinet and door. Then I water-proofed the inside of it and mounted the mill. I then built a control panel for the front and started wiring things up.

Thats the bulk of what i have gotten done so far, but like I said, I am moving forward pretty quickly.

For More info about my project Visit my website. www.AdamBrunette.com. You can subscribe to it an get updates when i update it.

Hope You Enjoy! -Adam

[cjdavis618]

Looking good Adam.

I have started an enclosure myself for an x3 that I have cnc'ed. I have started on some custom fiberglass sinks for it to drain into and I still have to finish that and the upper panels and doors.

What are you coating the wood board with that your drain is mounted to? Also, what coolant are you using?

[hoss2006]

Originally Posted by cjdavis618 Looking good Adam. What are you coating the wood board with that your drain is mounted to?

I'm using Herculiner truck bed liner on mine.
it's oil and chemical resistant as well as tough as nails.
found this site that sells gallons cheaper than I could get shopping at Autozone or Napa.
Comes in Black, Red, White and Gray. Black is $79.99 ($99.99 kit) other colors are $139.99 per gallon kit.
Hoss

[Adamj12b]

I am using an epoxy based paint that is ment to refinish fiberglass bathtubs. I find it at home depot for 32 bucks for a quart. I like the idea of using the bed liner stuff, but being in college, I am limited on my budget.

As for coolant, I have been reading posts about coolant for hobbyist's, such as myself, that might not use the machine for weeks at a time. I think I am going to try Trico TC1. Another member said that he uses the stuff off an on, and has had it for over a year and it hasn't gone rancid yet. -Adam

[cjdavis618]

Did the epoxy paint come out really nice and smooth? I am looking for something strong and chem resistant that also doesn't catch the swarf on the way down. I have filtering for that so I can recycle it.

Do you happen to remember the brand or anything on that paint?

Thanks for the help

[Adamj12b]

It came out pretty nice. It is ment for use in a bathtub. You wouldn't want a bathtub to feel like sand paper. lol. Looking at that site that Hoss found, I see that they seel quarts of the bed liner which will cover 15 Sqf. It's only 30 bucks. That is more then enough to do what I want so I might buy it to give me a tougher finish. It might not be as smooth, but i am worried that if I dropped a cutter or something with a point it could go though that paint and the wood would soak up the coolant and end up rotting the wood.
-Adam

[cjdavis618]

With it being true epoxy paint, you shouldn't have a problem. The reason I ask about the finish is that some cheap paints like that I have seen bad issues with air pockets and drip that couldn't be worked out. (It could have been the painter. But I have seen more than one by different people. For me, the air pockets and holes would be the worst. for what I need it for, it really don't have to be perfect.

I'll post what I'm doing tonight and start thread for it. Maybe it will help someone as well.

I will go look up the epoxy paint and see what it is, I am needing to paint on of the "tubs" now so I can start on the other. I would like to have it finished and running in the next few days.

[digits]

That's looking good to me

[twocik]

I've used black pond liner (cheap at home depot ) and gray shower liner (much thicker, also found at home depot). Both can be painted, like mine in the picture.

[Adamj12b]

Twocik, I see that you have one of the cncfusion kits for your x1. How do you like it? I ordered my # 4 kit for my x2 today. I cant wait till it comes. -Adam

[twocik]

I can say that the mounts are Awesome, but the bearings are ok. The collars come loose pretty often causing missed steps, but other than that I can't complain one bit.

[Adamj12b]

So it has been a very long time since i have posted an update to my progress. I got the CNC Fusion kit back in december and had the machine running right after the new year. I purchased a Hobby CNC 4 axis board and 3 of their 305 steppers. I bought some stainless steel shielded cable on Ebay for motor cables and some 8 pin twist lock speaker connectors, for motor connectors. I went to radio shack and bought 3 2x3x1 plastic project enclosures to use as wire junction box's. I mounted these to the side of the steppers with 1 inch 2 sided tape. I also mounted a romex connector in the side of the box's to clamp the SS shield of the wire and secure. The heat-sink that I used for the Hobby CNC board is made out of a piece of 2" wide by .125" think aluminum and cut to length of the board. It has 4 stick on heat-sinks that I ended screwing on, and 4 small 1.25" fans. It is loud with the front of the control panel open, but they stay very cool.

I also created some better doors out of some 3/8" security glass that has the wires in it. I have added coolant nozzles and worked on the coolant system quite a bit, but am still not happy with it. I have only done some flow tests with and have not used it for cutting et but I think it should work good. I just have to get a better tank and some better filtration and it will be all set.

OK. Now for the pictures.

Picture 1: Hobby CNC driver board with heat-sink and fans.
Picture 2: 2 stepper motors with box's and cables.
Picture 3: Main electrical box with power supplies and relays.
Picture 4: Machine head with new coolant/air nozzles and manifold.
Picture 5: Cabinet with new doors and monitor, running a job.
Picture 6: The machine running the job in the last picture. It is machining a notch in a saddle for my large knee mill that I am retrofitting.
Picture 7: Milling threads with a home made thread cutter, for a ball-nut mount. The cutter was made by grinding an old end-mill down with a flat on one side and then a 60 degree lathe carbide brazed onto the end-mill. It was then sharpened and tested and produced excellent threads.
Picture 8: A custom radiator cap I made for my father-in-law for Fathers Day.
Picture 9: Same as #8