micro-mark mini mill cnc conversion suggestions

[Waldermac]

Hi everyone, new to this forum. I'm an wood and metal working hobbyist. Build furniture, boxes, hand planes etc. Been at at it for several years. Started metal with the taig lathe a few years ago and now have the micro-mark lathe and mini-mill.
Thinking of converting the X2 to CNC and been reading a lot about it on the net. Not sure if i should buy the stuff from chinese e-bay guy for 270 US or from one of the american companies. Then there is the instructions for the conversion, where to get them, and the software to go with it. Don't have any projects in mind other than the conversion.
Seems most people spend more time tinkering and tooling there machines than actually building anything. Cant say I'm not guilty of that as well.

Any suggestions welcome, thanks again

[hoss2006]

Do you have a link for the chinese Ebay guy?
There are DIY conversions and kit conversions like Cncfusion.
Keling carries motors, drivers and power supplies etc.
Mach 3 is the best for controlling the mill for PC users.
I have some links for some of the CAD CAM and other useful software.
Hoss

[Waldermac]

Ok, so ordered the cnc kit #4 with upgrades and the G540 with four 387's. Got the wire locally and now have a few other questions.

1. What is required for speed control on the X2 spindle and how do I wire it up?

2. Are the resistors required 3.48K 1/4 watt? and how many do I need and where do I wire them too?

3. Does the spindle control offer both foward and reverse for tapping? The x2 I have (micromark) does not have a reverse speed on the control.

4. Has anyone used a 4" rotary table from micromark as the 4th axis and what coupler does it require

5. Why is this such an expensive hobby???

[jalessi]

Waldermac,

You will need a 3.48K resistor for each stepper motor.

Solder the resistor to pins 1 and 5 of the DB9 connector.

Jeff...

[Waldermac]

Any info on the other questions??

[jalessi]

Waldermac,

Is this is the rotary table you are referring to?

http://www.micromark.com/MILLING-MAC...ABLE,8218.html

Make a mount like the one in the attached jpg

Hoss machine has a very kewl tapping attachment for the X2.

http://www.hossmachine.info/projects_8.html

Little Machine Shop has several motor controller's

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1211&category=

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3194&category=

Jeff...

[Waldermac]

Yes thats the rotary table. Love the tapping attachment. Guess I will need a C10 board from cnc4pc to control another stepper motor.
So to control spindle speed I need to buy a new controller board from LMS. I cant use the board that comes with the mill?
I'm thinking a belt drive conversion is a must as well.
I have the MT3 spindle. Is it worth it to convert to R8 or leave it. I already have the tooling for the MT3 but not a huge investment

[jalessi]

Waldermac,

I am not familiar with the controller in your machine.

There is a engineer that repairs the controllers, he will be able to answer your questions.

http://www.www.repaircontrol.com/

gerlinglabs@repaircontrol.com

Ask for John Gerling

I don't own "MT@#$ anything"

Falling out and breaking a tool sucks!

You don't really need a C10 use the A axis on your G540

99 percent of the time you wont be using the rotary while tapping.

How hard is it to unplug the DB9 connector?

Or if you use the same size stepper for the rotary and the tapping function a 4PDT switch will handle the task for about five dollars.

http://tinyurl.com/nlpa7g

Just don't flip the switch with the G540 power on.

Jeff...

[Waldermac]

My controller is not broken, I just want to control spindle speed with Mach3. If I want to built an ATC and use tormach stuff would the R8 or MT3 make any difference?

[jalessi]

I know your controller is not broken, you want reverse or variable speed right?

Ask John Gerling if that is possible.

MT... whatever will be a big problem with a tool changer.

Do you have your air conditioning on today?

Jeff...

[jalessi]

Tormach tool holders will not fit MT3.

[Waldermac]

Of course air conditioning is on! Its 30 degrees celcius here in Toronto. I emailed John so waiting to hear back. I ordered 3 limit switches, was I supposed to get 6? I thought one for each axis except the 4th.