Need Help!- Ordered HF 44991 Mill and Microlux 7x14 mini lathe this week...

[Jaime128]

Now I need a little help. I don't have them yet, but my first question is this:
1. The mini mill uses an R8 spindle I believe and the lathe uses and MT3 and MT2.

2. Should I convert the mill to an MT3 or the lathe to an R8 which I don't know if it can be done?

3. Any help is appreciated since I just want to buy one set of tools to use between the two, the collet set for example. I'm new at this so I'm not sure which one is more affordable cost option in the long run. Thanks.

4. Has anyone used the http://www.probotix.com/ CNC motor kits? They look very nicely organized and I'm looking at complete kits instead of mixing and trying to match things. I just don't know how good these are.

Note: I ordered the HF just because I could drive over to the store and it was less than on-line, plus I figured if I cnc it, I still have to change the leads screws. This is why I didn't get both from Micro-Mark. I got their lathe, just because I couldn't find the 7x14 anywhere else. Not cheap so if anyone has any other links, let me know in case my brothers decide to get something later. I did find that toolsnow has the same mill for like $100 less than HF in case anyone else is looking. Now I'm still waiting for both.

[hoss2006]

Hey jaime,
Leave the mill and lathe as is.
R8 is an industry standard for tooling and you'll
find plenty of cheap tooling for the mill using it.
MT3 and MT2 are standards for lathes and are held in place
just by forcing the tool into the head or tailstock by hand.
They usually come with a tang on the end to keep it from spinning.
MT's for mills are tangless and threaded for a drawbar.
R8's use a drawbar to hold them in place.

You can find cheaper complete CNC kits at Kelinginc for less money than the
ones at Probotix.
Option C CNC package at Keling with (3) 425 oz/in motors= $359
3 Axis Monster at probotix with (3) 400 oz/in motors = $410
The drivers used on the Keling are great and they have lightning fast shipping.
Hoss

[Jaime128]

Well, I do like the fact that their systems cost less and the motors have a bit more goodness in them. Also, I am in the states so that helps very much too. Just so you know, your hoss.com link doesn't work, but the .info does. I'll take a look at their stuff a bit more.

Any other links to an affordable cnc mounting kit. I looked at the cncfusion which looks great, but also costs more than the actual mill and I still have to buy the tooling and well, I'm sure it will make more sense to me when I get them and have them in front of me. So not much budget left, but I would like to look into cnc for this later. Now I know that R8 is used by the bridgeports which have been around for a long time. I went to their site to see what the machines use now. Now I know why that is a standard. I was looking at the quick connect collet kits from grizzly, but they have both the R8 and MT and they are not cheap, this is why I was also asking, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind. I'll come back and bug you guys again when I get things set up and maybe get some pictures for other newbies to see what they get when you first make a purchase for these two items.

Note: Scanning through your pages, I noticed you still have the handle left on it...that I like very much and the cncfusion kit removes it. I may have to take a closer look at them. You got a lot of great info, so I'll be reading all night again...hehe...

[hoss2006]

Little Machine Shop has a good collet set to get you going and it's only $39.

[Oldboy]

I purchase a R8 collet set off Ebay from a Ebay seller. And im VERY HAPPY with it.
Give it a look on Ebay and you might like it for your Harbor Fright X2 mill? Ebay item 350052050881. Its just what Im using on my X2.
And I won it for less than the one sold on Little Machine Shop web site.
Hope this helps You?

[Jaime128]

I will keep all this in mind...So far I'm just getting owl eyes from all the reading I have been doing for the last two weeks. This stuff is just too interesting to me right now because I know what is possible with the cnc. I already have one projet to machine. It's the thumb joystick for a wireless keyboard that broke the first time I dropped it. It's held by a screw, but nothing a machine piece of stock can't fix now. I guess the waiting for these things is one of the longest waits, aside from learning all of this stuff.

[Jaime128]

Okay, not really, I had to pick up my mill today. I've been cleaning it up and I'm trying to take out the chuck. Just getting familiar with the whole thing before I even plug it in.

Can someone tell me how to take that damn chuck out. It looks like it's really stuck in there. I took out the top bolt, tapped the darn thing with a rubber hammer, but nothing. Am I not doing something right?

Do I have to loosen the top nut too? The one that it's a backwards thread or left hand I guess. That was a pain in the butt.

[Crevice Reamer]

Hi Jaime! You don't take OUT the drawbar. You only loosen it a couple of turns. Then tap the top of the draw bar with a hammer until the chuck loosens. Now you can remove the drawbar and the chuck.

The Grizzly manual is better than the HF one:

http://www.grizzly.com/images/manuals/g8689_m.pdf

CR.

[Crevice Reamer]

You might also find THESE helpful:

Mini mill user's guide:

http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

Mini Lathe user's guide

http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

CR.

[Jaime128]

I found this posting as well which is where I realized you should use a regular hammer not the rubber hammer. Lightly hit it and it's all good. The inside had a bit of rust were the screw goes so I WD40 the whole thing now and will leave it off for the night. I'm not feeling well so I'll call it a night. Tomorrow I'll check the wiring and electrical before I plug it in for the first time. I also added grease on the motor gear because the little they added wasn't even on the gears. It's also comes with the plastic gear and the housing bolts were loose all around. So check this so that your gears mesh just right, not too lose or too tight. This may be why some also brake aside from trying to cut too much. Just my educated guess right now. And yes, the HF manual is useless. Fortunately my dad and I have both been learning today. He's never used one either so it's been good for both of us.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/benchtop_machines/41918-remove_drill_chuck.html#post414589

[Jaime128]

Okay, I checked the wires today and they all looked fine so I plugged the mill and and turned it on and left if running on the slow side for a couple of minutes to let the brushes and things settle a bit. I later tested both low and high gears, everything seems to work fine on that end. Unfortunately I noticed theres a slight wobble or the chuck doesn't seem to be turning evenly I guess is the other way to describe it. I took the chuck off and the drawbar to make sure that's not bent or anything, but I could still see just a bit of that on the spindle and the left hand nut. How the heck do I fix this. I'm pretty sure it's not my eyes, still got 20/20. I was also able to make my first hole on a piece of wood and it was straight, but I can still see this a bit when I stare at the top left hand nut straight from the front.

In any case, I just find this annoying and I hope there's a simple way to fix this other than having to repack this thing and take it back to the store. Not to mention I might end up with the same thing again. I also got my mini lathe today and I got two boxes from Micro-Mark. One is the mini lathe and the other is the accessories box. Seems to have a lot of stuff. I haven't open it yet. I need to get my mill setup finished and ready for well, anything.

[isaac338]

Jaime128, if you ever decide to convert your mill to MT3, give me a shout - I just bought an MT3 equipped mini mill which I want to convert to R8