[TroyO]

I was kind of thinking of snagging one of these (They are $89 W/Coupon) and putting a wood top on it, and maybe replacing the corners with some heavier angle iron.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...o?itemid=95659

Mill worthy?

[degreaser]

I'm pretty sure you could accurately measure your dovetail angles. Get an inexpensive adjustable protractor from Enco or MSC. You should be able to get within a half degree and then lap the rest off.

To make the numbers easy, consider an example of a dovetail cut at 45 degrees. tan 45 == 1. If we apply a force of say 10 lbs on the gib screws, the dovetail face would apply a force of 14.14lbs of force (10lbs * sqrt(2)) against the diagonal of the gib and the base would apply a force of 10lbs against the bottom of the gib. This isn't insignificant. If the gib isn't cut at the right angle, abnormal wear will occur at the point of contact.

A machining force of 10lbs is certainly attainable on an X2.

[knudsen]

I was kind of thinking of snagging one of these (They are $89 W/Coupon) and putting a wood top on it, and maybe replacing the corners with some heavier angle iron.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...o?itemid=95659

Mill worthy?

If you have a welder, I would remove the lid and make a 2 x 2 steel frame to make the top rigid. Then bolt plywood or particle board top on the frame and the mill to the frame.

Without a welder, I would make a very reinforced frame of 2 X 4's and drywall screw the !@#$ out of it to the lid, then close the lid and drywall screw the !@#$ out of of it through the sides. Then, of course, bolt plywood or particle board top on the frame and the mill to the frame.

Either way, remove the wheels and bolt it to the wall. I made mine out of a half a section of steel shelving:

http://porc.purdue.org/Forums/viewtopic/t=8568.html

It does not move at all. Wow, that brings back memories, I haven't seen the wood top for months!!!

I think you should make a nice wooden one The sliders for my drawer were really cheap at HF and seem to work well. I was scolded elsewhere for using plywood, but I love the maple-ish look. That's just pine veneer on it with spar urethane and no stain. The drawer front and sides are aspen with a little golden oak. I guess the bench-top must be sealed particle board, or the mill will blow up in your face or something. Plywood works for me.

[TroyO]

Ahhh... maybe i am missing some terminology....

By the botton of the gib, you don't mean the face that points to the bottom way do you? If I get what you are saying you mean the bottom part of the face of the gib that rides the dovetails?

This is making me rethink some of what I have done to my lathe... in particular that while I lapped the gibs and got them all nice and flat, I did squat to the side that faces the bottom way.... and it came rough as hell, LOL. I though/assumed and I think I even checked and it didn't touch the ways because the gibs were riding the "pips" of the set screws. I'm starting to wonder if the whole geometry was off?

[TroyO]

Ehh, if I had to remove the rollers I have an old metal frame desk thingy I icked up at a yard sale that is plenty strong... the idea was to have it more mobile.

I do have a nice new 120 Amp Mig/Wire feed welder that I got when HF had them for $150.... and I've never ever used it, LOL. Prepare for the worlds ugliest weld shots when I try welding up the column brace for this mill..... ;-)

[degreaser]

By the bottom of the gib, I mean the surface that is in horizontal contact with the X2 base. By gib face, I mean the surface that's in diagonal contact with the dovetail. In an ideal world, there would be perfect 100% contact. There shouldn't be any contact on the top of the gib stip.

A quick test to see if/how your gibs are making contact is to pull your gib out, paint it with dychem, put it back in, snug it up and move the axis around. Then take the gib out and look at the wear patterns.

[TroyO]

Awesome... that just raised my level of understanding of how the system is supposed to work.

Thank you! :-)

So now I am debating picking up even more brass stock and re-gibbing the lathe while I'm at it, LOL.

[thudson]

Any reason you wouldn't want to build an enclosure on wheels?

My shop space is at a premium, and I planned on building an enclosure with some mass to it. I have locking wheels rated at 800 lbs each. I planned on a bottom with a torsion box sandwiched between two 3/4 MDF panels.

The top would be doubled 3/4 MDF with another torsion box underneath. Top would be supported on 4x4s to the bottom. MDF sides. Three inner compartments for 1) pump and coolant reservoir, 2) small air compressor, 3) Computer and electronics. All three compartments sound-proofed.

The top lexan enclosure would sit on the left two thirds of the top, the right one third for keyboard and monitor.

Everything screwed together and epoxied, and coated in epoxy paint or PlasticDip paint.

[degreaser]

Space is at a premium for me too. Most of my machines are on casters. These are the two benches I made for my 9x20 and X2. They are constructed of welded thin-wall 2"x2" steel tube. The wood tops are 2" thick made from flooring ply and a higher grade of ply with about 6 coats of polyurethane. They have an integral 19" rack space for mounting electronics. Watch out for tube warpage when welding.

[thudson]

Thanks Don, those are very nice.

My shop is in what I like to call a 3/4 car garage; you could probably drive a car into it, you just wouldn't be able to open the doors to get out.

Everything I have is on wheels, and I have elevated bench space that I can roll things like table saws and jointers under. For some projects I have to roll the table saw out on the sidewalk to do the work (which only works in the summer for Seattle).

I just want to be able to roll the mill into the basement when I don't need it. Of course, if I can build an enclosure that can contain the swarf, coolant, and some of the noise, I may be able to use it in the basement.

[degreaser]

Thanks!

My shop space is about the same size as yours. It's currently occupied by a motorcycle and a half-built gantry router as well so there's zero space available.

Containing the swarf is a really good idea. It means a larger bench though.

I'm using a drip coolant system. Flood is currently out of the question.

My compressor and shop vac are the loudest things I have. I have to turn the compressor off when I'm using it for misting otherwise I tend to jump when it fires up.

[thudson]

Mine is mostly taken up by a half-finished 16 foot canoe. I couldn't get the garage warm enough to finish it in the winter (getting epoxy to cure), but once it's finished I think my garage will seem spacious.

Did I mention I have too many hobbies?

[knudsen]

I did have a 12 X 24. Long 3/4 car garage. Moved a wall out to get 18 x 24. So I can understand where you're coming from. Now my rule is if it's in the shop on the floor, it has to have wheels or be bolted to the wall

If it shakes too much on wheels, you could always make a way to bolt and unbolt from the wall easily, leaving the wheels on.

[millhead]

I have the dovetail cutter, so I would cut mine if I do it. But if I didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to skip the beveled edge. I've read the lapping info on mini-lathe.com, and it seems the original parts only make contact on a few high spots. I was totally floored by how much difference the copper shim made for my Z. I think more contact is better, as you do, but the info on mini-lathe is contrary. Maybe I'll start work on that soon, I'm shooting for the guiness record for most unfinished projects

Hi knudsen,
How thick was the shim, and how did you secure the shim so it did not slide out when the head moves up/down? This seems way easier than even thinking about Brass replacement gibs.
Thanks.
Daya.

[knudsen]

I'll measure it later and give you the size. If you PM me your address, I can pop some in the mail for you. I'd guess it .030 or thereabouts. I just made the shim about 2" longer than the gib, and folded the ends over. Might need to be adjusted more frequently, but it's cheap, easy, and it show iz smooooth

[millhead]

I'll measure it later and give you the size. If you PM me your address, I can pop some in the mail for you. I'd guess it .030 or thereabouts. I just made the shim about 2" longer than the gib, and folded the ends over. Might need to be adjusted more frequently, but it's cheap, easy, and it show iz smooooth

Thanks for the reply, and your generous offer to send me some.

Hobby Lobby has some .025" sheet, and I will pick some up this evening, and try it. In fact, I have some .032 brass strips, and try that fitst.

Daya.

[TroyO]

When I've needed some "Quick and dirty" copper for a project I've used split and unrolled copper plumbing pipe before.

Heat it with a propane torch then quench it and it is super soft and easy to work. Hammers down flat pretty easy and is soft enough that the pressure of the gibs would finish the squishing it down job with ease.

You also may be able to "wrap" the gib and then solder it with plumbing solder too. (It's a little stiffer, but similar to a sheet of lead when it's softened. It can be folded and tapped in to sharp creases.)

I just ordered some brass stock (Along with the non round bits to finish the belt mod) so I'll keep you posted as to how my attempt goes.

If I ever get the mill.. LOL... no call yesterday, which is usually that store's truck day. I'm hoping they are just trying to avoid the "Ohh, yeah.. it's here, but we can't get to it now because all the stuff from the truck is stacked around it." crap i got when I went to pick up the lathe last time.

I was a little cheesed... mostly because I was borrowing a friends time and his truck to go get it. "If it's here... but unavailable why the (blank) did you CALL ME TO SAY IT'S READY?"

Anyway.. maybe they are waiting until they get stuff put away... or I'll just have to wait till next week. (Which means I'll have my brass by then.)

[TroyO]

Whooo hooo! Picked it up this eve, and it looks liek it's all OK. Haven't done anything with it yet other than open the box.

See you in about a week, I have mods to make. ;-)

[knudsen]

Either size should be fien. As long as it's not so thick it goes on tight before you tighten the gib screws. You'll notice the screws don't go in as far...

[thudson]

Whooo hooo! Picked it up this eve, and it looks liek it's all OK. Haven't done anything with it yet other than open the box.

See you in about a week, I have mods to make. ;-)

Welcome to the 'curse of the red goo' club.

Honestly, once I started tearing it down I really enjoyed it. I brought mine home in the back of a Volvo station wagon, unboxed it off while it was still in the back of the car, and realized I didn't want to hate myself the next day by trying to lift it and carry it to the garage by myself.

I went over and got my neighbor (an Aussie with a great sense of humor) and before we took it out of the car, a couple of other people in the neighborhood gathered around and started discussing it and asking me about my plans to CNC it.

One guy asked, "What can you make with that?"

The Aussie without skipping a beat said, "Anything he wants to make."

Of course you have to imagine it said with an Australian accent, and while it might be little bit of an exaggeration, it was sort of exactly how I was feeling.