took the plunge

[alexccmeister]

Great thread. Lots of info. Thanks.

[bilinghm]

Here are the springs installed. The upper mounting sleeves are pieces of black plastic that hold the big ends of the spring on the outside diameter. The small ends are supported with sections of aluminum tube the fit the inside diameter of the spring. Neither end holds the spring tightly, the spring can move freely at both ends.

I must say that this way of protecting the ball screw has completely exceeded my expectations; it just works great. The ball screw and nut will stay perfectly clean.

Bill

[TOTALLYRC]

Your mill is shaping up nicely. I agree, thaose ball screw covers are going to make sure the screws are nice and clean. Very nice instalation too.

[RotarySMP]

I just read your thread right through. Yours is the best planned X2 conversion I have ever seen. Thanks for documenting it here.

[SlowRiderr]

Originally Posted by bilinghm In terms of using the wood table to stabilize the machine, if done properly, wood can be extremely stiff. Remember, one of the highest performance fighters of WWII, the Mosquito, was made of plywood! Also, there are whole sections of this site dedicated to making CNC machines from wood. The wooden structure would have to be a "stressed skin" design in order to perform up to expectation, but I still think the concept has promise. Bill

For the love of engineering and machining do not use wood.

[kanton]

bilinghm,

Excellent conversion and writeup!

What are your X, Y and Z travels after all of these modifications? Were you able to use the ballscrews that came with the standard CNC fusion kit? Where did you get your limit switches?

Thanks

[bilinghm]

Sorry for the slow reply, The X and Z are unchanged, the Y is increased to 4.5", a valuable gain. The limit switches are from Surplus Center.

Originally Posted by kanton bilinghm, Excellent conversion and writeup! What are your X, Y and Z travels after all of these modifications? Were you able to use the ballscrews that came with the standard CNC fusion kit? Where did you get your limit switches? Thanks

[degreaser]

Originally Posted by kanton bilinghm, Excellent conversion and writeup! Where did you get your limit switches? Thanks

If you can't get them surplus, here's a switch that should fit nicely:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...keywords=ch606

[nateman_doo]

Excellent Read!

[Steoh]

Originally Posted by bilinghm I built a small aluminum plate to support the Z stepper motor. I just didn't like the way the CNC Fusion kit only uses two bolts to secure the stepper and mounts it diagonally. It looks wrong to me. This mount is very solid, uses all four motor mounting holes, and is "aesthetically" pleasing to my eye.

I couldn't agree more, this is something that I want to change on mine as well. Did you machine the top where the motor was mounted to offset the increase in height your new mounting plate created?

Great read, and lots of ideas for me to implement.

Thanks,
Steph

[Fastest1]

What an excellent job. I just read thru the whole thread and really appreciate your efforts to document the build. Your bellow covers look very good, maybe a little more info on exactly how you glued those so uniformly. Did they hold up under real world conditions? and 1 last question, these cant be your hands holding the bellow covers are they? Clean smooth skin and shiny nails?

Originally Posted by bilinghm I thought this might interest you guys. I have made a way cover bellows to use on the X2. It is made from PVC vinyl sold by Home Depot in the outdoor area as an pond liner. I made a template from aluminum and cut out identical pieces. The are glued together using cyanoacrylate glue (super glue). A half inch thick piece, (first picture) expands to over six inches (second picture) and snaps back closed when released. This is my first attempt and there are a few flaws, but it really seems to work great. Also, any size, shape and length is possible. The cost? less than $10 for materials. Bill