Newbie- A few noob mill questions

[MynamesKenny19]

Hi guys, I'm Kenny, I'm new as you can tell from join date and # of posts lol. Anyhow, I just graduted highschool a year early and am enrolled in college in a machining program and got hooked on milling machines and lathe. I have a Harbor Freight 7x10 mini lathe that is awesome and does what i need it to and all that jazz, but I'd lik to get a small milling machine to complement it.

Right now, I have $400 even. Should i get the X1 micro mill and sme toolin or waitto get more moolah and get the X2??? Space is liited and o are my projects and plans for the mill, I don't imagine myself making big things, mostly RC car parts and gun parts [not barrels, just parts]

So what should I do? What are your guys's opinions of the 2 machines? The X2 has 4x the horspower rating, so I'd think it'd have more torque. It's bigger and ~50 lbs heavier, so it'll be more stable, but that's just it, it's bigger and heavier. I don't plan on converting to CNC for around a year or so, so I'd like something thats reasoably accurate right outta the box after cleanin and adjusting. Haha, I think bigger handwheels are easier to turn and are more accurate, what about you guys? THink the same? Oh and 1 last question!
What's the difference between the R8 spindle and the MT2/3 spindles?
Is one easier to use or find tools for or more reliable???


Thanks for reading my long misleading-titled post "a FEW noob questions" lol
Oh and haha, the typing errors are not my fault, a few of mybuttons such as the space bar get stuck and or stik randomly because I dropped my laptop only once! and then it did "THIS"!!!!!!!!! ughghghhhh...... =[
Ohand nw I'm going tosleep, its AM right now =]

[mwood3]

if i had $400 to spend I would go with the X2...the X1 is just so puny... IMO

[Crevice Reamer]

Hi Kenny. Welcome to the Zone!

The X1 is actually a very good machine considering the low price, and can do real work on small parts. It comes with a drill chuck and is fully reversable for tapping. Naturally it is a Chinese mill and so will need careful cleaning and tramming.

Perhaps you should consider the X1 as a "learner." With a 20% off coupon (There's one right now in Popular Mechanics magazine) and maybe a sale price, you could be running the X1 for $200-$250. Add a small vise, a set of same shank 3/8 endmills and a 3/8 M2 endmill holder and you can start machining.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...2034&category=
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1705&category=
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1242&category=
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1276&category=

After you outgrow it, sell it on Craig's list or ebay and get something else. The endmills and vise can be reused on the new machine.

OR, you could do as I did and keep it as a stand alone tapping device.

CR.

[hoss2006]

Check around on craigs list yourself, you might find someone else that has outgrown THEIR mill already.
Folks usually include some goodies with them and often have done some of the upgrading as well.
R8 is the way to go, you'll find much more tooling available and they can transfer to
an x3 OR RF45 down the road, and the road will lead there eventually.
Hoss

[MynamesKenny19]

Alright, thanks for the info guys! Craigslist is always the first place I check for machine tools for cheap, but up where i live, there really isnt ANY milling machines for sale, same with other towns/cities nearby. So, is bigger better as far as these 2 mills go? X1 or X2, which should I get? The X1 with tooling or start with the bigger X2 later after I get more money? Oh and if I were to try and make a machine more stable and have less chatter, do I want to increase the weight of the machine in addition to bolting it to my table? At my machine shop class, I have access to LOTS of scrap tungsten pieces, I have no idea why we have a bunch of it, but we do! =] I can drill the base of the X1 if i get that and insert chunks of tungsten in the holes to beef up the mass of the machine. WOuld that work?

I'm really thinking about getting the sieg X1 machine cuz of price and size and what it can do, since it goes perfectly along with what I intend to use it for.

[Crevice Reamer]

Like I said, consider the X1 a learner. Do NOT buy extended tables and such. Do NOT CNC it. Keep it stock, use it to learn. Use it to help CNC your NEXT mill (probably an X3) and then sell it.

CR.

[MynamesKenny19]

Well I alread know how to use a mill pretty good, I'd just like to hav my own at my home. At class we have 6 big Bridgeport mills, a Dyna Myte 2400 cnc, a few Bridgeport CNC mills, 2 cnc lathes, a wire EDM, and i THINK 8 out Bend lathes, the 13x40 ones. Right now Im making a limited milling attachment for my 7x10 lathe and soon after that, Im going to make an extended bed for my lathe to make it a 7x22 and I'd "like" to make a cnc tool turret like DumpsterCNC on Youtube.com, like what he did for his homemade slantbed lathe, just smaller. THose are my plans for this and upcoming semesters.

Ok, well I've made up my mind after looking at other posts and other sites, I'm going to get the Micro Mill from Harbor Freight, gonna order it Monday along with some end mills and some face mills and collets if I need them, then make my own collets at school. Do they make any small 4th axis rotary tables for the micro mill? Oh and one last thing to say before i go pass out: THis site is badass!!!!! Mderators and administrators and other top guys, this site is badass, I just thought I should let ya guys know =]

[hoss2006]

Gonna pass out? You weren't doing any underage drinking were you
Bummer about the lack of anything on craigs list, nothing listed around where I live either right now.
I just helped a guy that found an X2 on there near him that came with a belt drive, rotary table and vise for $400.
The X1 will do ya just fine for now.
Should help building that lathe.
I have Dumstercnc in my favorites, want to make one of those for my lathe too one day.
Hoss

[Crevice Reamer]

Oh Geez! You've ALREADY outgrown the micro mill. It will seem to be made out of tinsel compared to what you are using now--I doubt you will be satisfied with that then. You might be better off to save a bit more, use a HF 20% off coupon, and get the X3 for about $800.

CR.

[MynamesKenny19]

Haha, nope, no underage drinking for me Hoss lol. DumpsterCNC i a badass guy, his slantbed lathe is awesome! But I think his turret is even cooler!

Yup R, I've already outgrown the X1, but I'm still going to get it. I only have access to the bigger mills on Wed and Saturday and Im just gonna build small stuff with the X1, nuthin too serious =]. I can't wait to order it on Monday! Im gonna get the X1, some face and end mills, cutting fluid, clamp kit, and some blue dye. My brother and I bought a 50g drum full of railroad spikes for $10, but theyre all rusty. We're gonna melt them down to bigger chunks.

Now Im going to sleep, I been at the shop all day standing at the Bridgeport makig a milling attachment for my mini lathe. Peace Out.

[MynamesKenny19]

...I bought/ordered the X1 from HF today with coupon so my overall price was around $285 including tax. So not a bad deal, pretty good I think =]
The HF truck was getting loaded at their warehouse as I was ordering it at the store, so they told me I should either get it this Thursday or next Thursday.

Ok, so I've looked and looked and looked some more, are there any good mods for the X1 both CNC and Manual??? Preferably manual for now. Has anybody made a tilting head like Hossmachine's X2 Freak???

When I do decide to go the CNC route, I think i'll base my X1 off of Hoss's X2 Freak mainly because thats the most badass X2 I've ever seen and also because his site is so detailed and easy to read.

Well, good morning West Coaster's and good night East Coaster's and everyone else =]

[Crevice Reamer]

The X1 is not a good candidate for CNC because it will always be a light duty, slow cutting machine. It is not rigid enough for serious work and most people who CNC it outgrow it quickly. Even if you ponied up the $3500 to buy (Just a souped up X1) one of THESE:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3501&category=

it would still suffer from those limitations.

That being said, if you insist on throwing your money away, the BEST mod you could make would be a belt conversion, or else you will soon be awash in white fluff from destroyed plastic gears.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...3488&category=

Your micro mill comes with a metric drawbar that will only ever fit the supplied chuck. In order to use standard 2MT tooling, you will need to buy this drawbar:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...2034&category=

You could also go to Lowes/Home Depot and just buy a 3/8 x 16 bolt of the same length--This will work fine.

To do any machining at all, you will need a set of end mill holders:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1978&category=

Or at LEAST this 3/8 end mill holder:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1705&category=

and of course, some same-shank end mills:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1242&category=

CR.