First mill! Newbie looking for LOTS of info...

[Farasien]

Hi everyone-

As the intro line says, I’m looking for a ton of info-

First off, some history… I’ve been looking into machining in general and CNC in particular for about 2 years. I’m not in the industry yet (I work in science, unfortunately...*hawk...spit!*) but am looking at possibly transitioning into the trade over the next few (5?) years. I absolutely love it as a hobby and would like to one day open a small shop of my own (like everyone else I talk to, it seems). I started going to trade school in my off time for Industrial mfg technology about the time I got bitten by the machine bug and have about another 2 or so to go. When I started, I immediately bought an X2 mini mill and a HF 7X10 lathe and have been trying to outfit the shop a little more every time the wife forgets to check the bank account. I've been lurking here for about a year and have been reading all I can, but three seems to be some gaps in things I'm currently facing in my build...

Now then… As far as my HF X2 mill goes, I have a number of questions…

1. I’ve talked at length with a friend of mine about electric motors, and from what I’ve gleaned, for the things I want to cut with my mill, a much lower RPM would be more ideal in my motor with the same (or more) horsepower as what I have at the moment(4/5HP). I bought one of those 130V 2.5HP treadmill motors you see on eBay all the time, but the RPM on those is about 6500. Instead, I was advised to shoot for something in the range of about 2500 or preferably less. Just for background’s sake, I’m looking at mostly plastic (I’m into sci-fi scale modeling) and aluminum, though I would like the option of occasionally messing with soft steels and the occasional small piece of stainless (I have designs of doing a little gunsmithing in the future). I’m not looking to plow a half inch deep at 100IPM or anything- I’m just playing around with the technology for the moment. Production (hopefully) comes at a later time with a heftier machine. Is what my friend recommends sound in your collective opinion? If so, can anyone recommend a motor and/or controller manufacturer at about those specs for a reasonable price (I'm looking to spend $200 or less on the motor, if feasable)? Also, with regard to controllers, for those Argord treadmill motors that ebay sells (I stupidly bought one before I did all my research), is there a reasonably-priced controller out there available that I could wire to Mach 3 to control it? I figure it might work for the lathe at a later time.

2. I'm in the process of rebuilding the X2 to get more precision, less vibration and better overall performance prior to getting a CNC package. So far, I've filled the column and base with the densest polymer cement I could formulate (its handy that I work for a resin manufacturer), ordered and installed a CNC Fusion ballscrew kit on it, plumbed in some lubrication lines into the base and cross slide saddle, installed a LMS belt drive kit, am in the process of fabbing up a heavy bracing system for the column and have plans for a counterweight once the brace is done. The lube system is still largely a question mark, as I was hoping to make a backyard manual one-shot system similar to the systems Bijur makes, but I have no idea how to do the pump end of the system to get accurate and equal distribution of the lube to the ways AND the ballscrews in one shot. Any ideas on how I could accomplish this? I was also planning on replacing the gibs with ones I plan on fabbing up from A2 tool steel (due to the flexural strength and the % of chrome in the steel to prevent galling) when I go back to school this coming fall (gotta love near-free heavy machine access! ) I was told that the gibs currently on the X2 aren't really hefty enough to hold up well, and due to their thinness (distance from the back of the dovetail to the surface of the gib), require a hell of alot more tweaking more often than something with a bit more thickness to them. Are there any other mechanical workovers anyone would suggest I do before plunging into the electronics?

3. Speaking of electronics, it seems as though most people doing what I'm doing usually opt for either the Kelling or Xylotex kit- both are reasonable in price and both offer ready-to-go packages, which I think I'll need (I'm a moron when it comes to electronics). From what I've already seen, both kits get good reviews from the folks here and are approximately the same price (I'm looking at a 4 axis stepper kit with ~425 oz/in motors, most likely). I've heard the Xylotex system is less forgiving. Does anyone have an opinion on this? For that matter, do MasterCam X post-outs interface at all well with Mach 3 or is there somthing else I should look at to do my programming? Last in this, one of my professors advises I should look into a post-processor or verification program, though these seem to run in the multiples of thousands for even a stripped down version. Does anyone have an opinion or advice on this?

4. Lastly, I'm familiar with the more common suppliers for X2 stuff (LMS, etc.)... Are there any other people out there that anyone knows of who make specialty and/or upgrade parts specifically for the X2?

Thanks much, and sorry for the length.

[Crevice Reamer]

For your stepper controller, I recommend you wait the month for the new Gecko 540. It is by far the most bang for the buck, and requires only a power supply, computer cable and plugging in the motors.

CR.

[sansbury]

A stock X2 should be plenty of motor for plastic. If you need more low-range power you might want to consider a belt-drive conversion with a higher reduction ratio than stock. This also spares you a lot of noise and busted gears which would be a near-certainty with the larger motor.

In terms of controllers, this one might work:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.as...1&item=11-2449