Newbie Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

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Thread: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

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    Default Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Hi All,

    Long time reader, first time poster.

    I'm pretty excited at my first foray into CNC. I'm a hobby machinist and I've had manual Lathes and Mills for 20 years but in recent years been keen on moving into CNC.

    I just picked up a Lagun FTV-2 with a ProtoTRAK MX2 conversion. Its in good shape for its age, everything works and the MX2 is pretty easy to drive for a newbie like me. It's only 2 axis but I figure it'll be good enough for the majority of work I do.

    One of the things I like about it is I can still run it like my old manual mill. The MX2 controller is old and has it's limitations but the conversational programming seems pretty easy to use.

    I'll start getting it installed and setting it up this weekend and hopefully be able to post some pics.

    Cheers

    Mike

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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Got the Mill home on Friday with help from a good friend. Trouble free ride bringing it home. Sunny day and the Mill securely strapped down to the trailer.

    So far I've just unloaded it and it's waiting while I move the old mill out and clean up the floor. 5 years of flood coolant splashing around can make a mess.

    Here's the machine shop area where the current mill sits. This was soon after getting the area set up so still pretty clean.



    Here's the Lagun Mill. It's about the same size as my current HAFCO BM30. The table is identical in size and it looks like the X and Y travels are the same.



    A few features of the new mill I really like and am looking forward to playing with are the variable speed head (No more swapping belts), the power draw bar and the mist coolant setup.



    Before I can get it all running I've had to install a Phase converter as I only have single phase power in my workshop. That was the job for this past weekend. It's a 4KW/5.5HP unit which will be plenty to run the mill. I went a bit bigger as I want to put in a CNC plasma table in the future.

    Here's the 3 Phase converter all installed.



    Cheers

    Mike

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-machineshop-jpg   Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-lagun-1-jpg   Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-lagun-2-jpg   Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-phase-changer-installed-jpg  



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Spent a few hours today cleaning the floor in the machine shop. a few years of using flood coolant makes a mess even if you try to clean up regularly. Moved all the machines out to get in and do a decent job.



    Rearranged things a little around the lathe to give better access for maintenance. Getting in to adjust the belt tension on the motor is easier now, The new mill is finally in position. Hooray!



    Tomorrows job is to get power and air run in and hopefully have the mill running. Can't wait!

    Cheers

    Mike

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-floor-jpg   Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-cnc-mill-jpg  


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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Got a few more jobs done and the mill is up and running now.

    Wired in a dedicated 3 phase outlet for it and also plumbed some fixed air lines around the shed. I used PEX hose that is designed for house plumbing. The fittings just snap on with no special tools and you can disconnect them with a small plastic release tool so you can rearrange or change the setup.



    Tidied up the cabling with some spiral wrap and some rubber lined P-clips to replace the cable ties. Also replace the broken emergency stop button.



    Starting to collect some tooling. Picked up a new Modular Mill vice. Very happy wit the quality of this thing. Picked up some bolts and T nuts to mount it today so I should have it all set up and trammed in on the weekend.

    Bought some new R8 arbors for my boring head and face mill and a very nice keyless drill chuck. Unfortunately my old mill is NT30 so not a lot of the tooling swaps over. Bought 3x ER40 collet chucks as I still have a good collection of collets and I'll leave them set op so I can quick change the tooling with the power draw bar.



    Have to say a big thank you to the guys at Standaco machinery for looking after me.

    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Did my first machining project on the new mill today. Designed and machined up some wall mounted tool holders for the R8 tooling. Very happy with the result.

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-rack-1-jpg

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-rack-3-jpg

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-rack-2-jpg

    Fun and satisfying project and I learned a lot about programming the Prototrak.

    I reckon I'll make a bunch more for my ER40 collets and Morse taper drills.

    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Got some video up of the machine running.



    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Hi. Looks like a nice, clean and tidy setup. I work in a shop where we use the air drawbar systems which are great, however they can and do fail. If it is like this one ...


    Then these would possibly be the parts that could need replacing.



    Again, looks great and enjoy it.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Item 39, 40 and 42


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Thanks m0bnd,

    I'm liking the air draw bar but one idiosyncrasy I've found with it is you have to remember to bring the spindle back to top and then lock in place. Undoing the draw bar without it locked can sometimes kick the spindle down and the drive to the draw bar out of gear.

    Just have to get in the habit of locking it when changing tools.

    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    This is true and another 'weak' area. We've been through a few drawbars here and at over ÂŁ80 each they aren't cheap either.


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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Another Mill update. I've fitted up a Fog Buster mist cooling system. Thrown the POS Chinese mist cooler in the bin. Complete junk.



    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Quote Originally Posted by CSX66 View Post
    Thanks m0bnd,

    I'm liking the air draw bar but one idiosyncrasy I've found with it is you have to remember to bring the spindle back to top and then lock in place. Undoing the draw bar without it locked can sometimes kick the spindle down and the drive to the draw bar out of gear.

    Just have to get in the habit of locking it when changing tools.

    Cheers

    Mike
    Hi Mike.

    Something we've contemplated in our workshop is - Royal Products - the only thing that stops us really is how hard we push our cutters and are not sure of how long the holders would last. I'm not sure about how or what you machine but this is almost a lock it and leave it piece of tooling maybe for you?

    Andy.



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    The current air draw bar setup is working fine for me plus the R8 tool holders are relatively inexpensive. I bought 3x ER40 collet chucks off the web for about $170 delivered to my door. I just have to be mindful when using it and get myself into a routine with tool changes. Still definitely easier then loosening the draw bar by hand and giving it a whack to release the tool.

    I've been learning more about driving the controller and different tricks you can do with it. Here's the follow up video finishing off the hand brake mechanism build.



    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    If anyone is interested I've put my old HAFCO BM-30A Mill on eBay

    Hafco BM30A Milling Machine in VIC | eBay



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    My revised Air plumbing and Fog buster is going really well. It's tidied everything up moving it off the mill and onto the wall behind.

    Here it is when I first got the air plumbing in:

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-air-1-jpg

    With the need to install the Fog buster there would have been hoses everywhere so I moved the reg for the Air draw bar off the mill and back to the wall.

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-air-2-jpg

    Spiral wrap keeps the hoses that do need to go to the mill protected.

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-air-3-jpg

    There was a handy plate left over from the old crappy chinese mist cooler that the new Fog Buster magnetic base clipped straight onto.

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-air-4-jpg

    Had the Fog buster on there for a few weeks now and I'm very happy with how it performs.

    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    The old HAFCO mill is sold and gone to a bloke up in Canberra. That's freed up a bit of room in the workshop. Need to have a clean up and rearrange some things a bit better now.

    Still enjoying working with the ProtoTrak. I've been doing more and more things on it. Started doing more with making fixtures for repeat machining processes.

    Collecting more tooling and have a bunch of solid carbide end mills that I'm using now. With some experimentation with speeds and feeds I've been getting some really nice surface finishes.




    Also bought some corner rounding end mills



    As a bit of a fun project I machined up a ring light setup for the quill. Works really well.



    I machined up a battery box for my Shelby Cobra project that turned out pretty good





    The other job I did was slotting some new brake rotors for my Ute. The CNC lent it self well to this job as I was able to replicate the unique slotting pattern that was used on the Tickford Ford cars.



    Cheers
    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Mike,

    Great video, I'd like to see more of your workshop and car projects sometime.

    I have just bought a small office/warehouse in Melbourne and will spend a year over there getting a branch office organised.

    In the meantime, what brand PEX piping and fittings did you use for your compressed air lines? Do they have Pex/Alumin/Pex construction?

    I might eventually get around to making some parts for my car project.

    Cheers,

    John

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-honda2-jpg   Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-honda1-jpg  


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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Quote Originally Posted by CSX66 View Post
    As a bit of a fun project I machined up a ring light setup for the quill. Works really well.




    Cheers
    Mike
    Hey Mike,

    Your projects look fantastic. I've seen the ring lights on Amazon and thought having one would be nice. Can you post more info on what you did?

    Thanks!



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Haven't been on here for a while, sorry.

    Great project car John, Those Honda S600s are cool.

    The PEX tubing and fittings I bought was Sharkbite brand. I just picked them up from Masters. Pricing was good and they had a good variety of fittings. Mostly brass construction. They also had adapters to go from copper pipe to PEX. I liked the fact you need no expensive special tools to terminate them. You can also easily release them to re-terminate (Which I did when I added the droppers and purge valves to the system).



    I hope to be making a YouTube vid of machining up one of the Ring lights in the near future. I want to make one for a friends HM50 Mill.

    Cheers

    Mike



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    Default Re: Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2

    Only a small update. Still tinkering with this machine and learning.

    I had a problem with the Z axis rotary encoder. I was getting inconsistent readings and no repeatability from it. On further investigation I found the fixing where the encoder attaches to the quill was loose. Had to pull a bunch of pieces off the front of the mill to get to it but eventually got it sorted. Cleaned the bolt, applied some locktite and torqued it back in place. It's much better now and I trust the readings on the DRO again.

    When I got the machine it was missing the hand wheel for the quill down feed. It had the rapid lever on the side but it was difficult to creep up on a measurement with this. I had been looking online for a replacement hand wheel but in the end decided to make my own. I had a piece of 4" diameter billet aluminum under the bench that did the trick. It turned out pretty nice and should make using the machine easier and it was a fun machining project.

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-hand-wheel-1-jpg

    Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-hand-wheel-2-jpg

    Cheers

    Mike

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Lagun FTV-2 with ProtoTRAK MX2-20161114_101233-jpg  


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