Hi all. I joined quite a while back, but other things have distracted me from this project. I have a Grizzly G0484 (RF 45 clone) I bought used about five years intending to convert. Now I have the time and money to do it, so its in progress.

I have most of the design work completed and adding the one-shot oiler is in progress. Already had an OOPS of putting the holes in the saddle for the oil in locations that hit the table. But recoverable.

I've read through a bunch of threads here and other places on converting these mills. My plan is to use the Keiling (Automation direct) 840 in-oz 72 volt NEMA 34 motors on all axes. GT2 timing belts on all three axis. On X and Y I'll use a 2:1 reduction. This is the best I can manage using SDP-SI GT2 pulleys and keep the pulleys below the table and saddle. Should I consider a different type of belt or using a smaller motor pulley and drilling out the bore? The smallest 1/2" bore GT2 pulley is 28 grooves and the biggest one that fits below the table on the X is 56 grooves. There are slightly smaller 3/8" bore pulleys that would give a bit more reduction. On the Z I'll use a 72 groove pulley on the screw.

I'm planning to use the Kflop for motion control and SnapAmp for drivers. I'm slightly concerned about the lower peak amp rating of the SnapAmp vs. Gecko G320X drivers. However, I found some detailed information on Baldor servos that are similar to the Keilings (http://www.baldor.com/support/Litera...umber=BR1202-F) and did some analysis and measurement on the mill and I'm pretty sure the actual current requirements aren't anywhere near the 38 amps peak for those motors or even the 15 amp limit on the SnapAmp. But no practical experience, and the cost difference is minimal for smaller motors. NEMA 23 motors would be a better fit, though, as far as clearance.

I have screws, FK/FF type mounts and two ballnuts for each axis on order from linearmotion2008. And all the parts for the oiler are here (and waiting for me to back away from the computer). Haven't bought the other parts, yet. I'm using 2005 screws on X and Y and 2505 on the Z. I'll use bellville washers to provide preload between the pairs of ballnuts.

I'm planning to use the Kmotion CNC software, at least for a start. I've exchanged several e-mails with Tom and he's been great about answering my questions. Seems like the feedback from people who have switched to the Kflop has been uniformly positive.

I'm planning on using the US Digital optical differential encoders, per Tom's recommendation. Not quite sure about the proper count. My math is that using 2:1 belt reduction, the 5mm/rev lead of the screw, and a 500 CPR quadrature encoder I would get 20,320 pulses per inch of movement. Or, 0.000049" per pulse. Too much? Too little? The peak speed on those motors is 4200 RPM, so that translates to 140,000 pulses per second. Tom says that's well below the capabilities of the Kflop/SnapAmp. That all translates to 413 IPM, which seems way above what other folks report on these machines. Is the only source for these to buy them direct? Their pricing is pretty brutal for quantities less than five.

Still need to decide what to do for some counter balancing on the head.