Testing the X2 Harbor Freight Mini Mill - CNC Converted

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Please direct all correspondence to:
Craig's Machine Shop
2753 E. Broadway Rd Ste. 101-PMB416
Mesa, Az 85204-1570

[@tomtrantham6604]

Craig please keep posting. Your channel is awesome.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks Tom!

[@andreysu4302]

Hello! At the machine, the column has a slope to the right, this is evident when, when moving to the right, the rear of the cutter does not remove material, and when moving to the left, the rear of the cutter removes material. Check the perpendicularity of the column relative to the working table of the machine.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks!

[@GregsGarage]

Enjoying the HF mini mill's second chance at life!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Me too, fun to see it moving again. A lot of memories converting it. Too bad I will have to sell it.

[@choleaoum1383]

So glad I subscribed earlier. I was searching for a video just like this.

[@marvinpybus4599]

If you send the machine to x zero, y zero, and z zero between tool changes, the machine will be less likely to lose it's place.

[@richardvanetten561]

Looks to me you forgot the tool offset on the x axis.

[@billstrahan4791]

I know LinuxCNC has a learning curve, but once you take the plunge you'll never be able to use Mach 3 or 4 again. Love your videos!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks Bill! I guess I can dual boot it on my current computer and give it a try? Not real familiar with Linux.

[@billstrahan4791]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Dual boot might not be best. It can be pretty confusing at first, but I knew almost nothing about Linux and got LinuxCNC working. It's a learning curve, but it's alive and growing where Mach is a dead end of sorts. Holler if you need help!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@billstrahan4791 Thanks, I might give it a try.

[@sunnesonne]

I have always wanted a cnc machine and a 3D printer, got the 3D printer, but any cnc machine sold online seems really expensive; this seems like a much cheaper option: get a mill and cnc conversion

[@craigedinger9629]

Yeah, it was a great start for me. It taught me a lot

[@calvinmoffatte7334]

Check to see if constant velocity is on in mach 3.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

I sold the mill. Thanks though.

[@jonathantaylor2584]

Does the trial version of Mach 3 have look ahead? I wonder if that might be the cause of the hesitation in the boring operation.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Yes, it's set at 20 lines.

[@CNC4XR7]

It's Alive Back from the dead!

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Yeah, back from the dead and walking a little funny still. :)

[@jonkwilloughby]

Very cool!!

[@heidiaugust4958]

Think a nema 17 or 23 stepper would be strong enough?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

I think 17 is kind of small. 23 seams fine. The 23s come pretty big.

[@robertbutler8004]

This is a good lesson video on not buying rubbish in the first place.

[@craigedinger9629]

Sometimes you have to start with something you can afford especially when trying out a new idea

[@1pcfred]

CNC is pretty involved to get working properly. There are a number of factors that all have to be right for success. From this I couldn't even begin to guess what was going wrong. Well I could guess but they'd just be wild guesses.

[@ttexastt]

Pipe down... This is why she cheated on you.

[@Goshjij]

What is your cnc conversion equipment called?

[@ExtantFrodo2]

If you are losing steps it is likely that your stepper motors are under powered (unless you have some serious binding problems).

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

I'm using the same size steppers that most are using. Don't remember the size. It jogs fine. Maybe I will try to lower the rapids and see if that helps? Worked on the Tormach once when I was having oil problems.

[@ExtantFrodo2]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Sorry, I wasn't talking about the size of the motors, but the voltage current power supply that drives them.

[@martyscncgarage5275]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Rapids will help with missed steps. But I don't think that was your issue as to why the hole was not centered. Did you do a rapid move back to X0Y0 when done to see if it centered on the hole or centered on the part?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@martyscncgarage5275 Hey Marty! Yeah G0 X0Y0. I was off about the same distance

[@gangleweed]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 My opinion.....linear rails are tops.....dovetails are not exactly where you ever want to be no matter the cost for retrofitting them, but then you do have an SX2 so maybe you have to live with the dovetails.

[@scorpioo7350]

5:42 You have no slack on ball screw bearings?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

They seemed fine when I was putting it back together.

[@devinhales]

What stepper drivers are you using?

[@douglasnichols6116]

It looks like you made a sett of stairs harbor freight am I right

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Well, it was supposed to be facing the part but the Y-axis kept binding.

[@coffeeoutlaws7783]

what material are you working is that aluminum or steel? looks like aluminum but making sure

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Aluminum

[@Daniel-vq9zb]

Dose it have home switches?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Yeah, I have to ref all home a lot due to lost steps. lol

[@justaguywhoplaysfalloutsom1104]

If your limited to 500 lines of code couldn’t you just create multiple 500 line programs. I know its not ideal but if you lift your part in the vice for that whole side i would think it wouldn’t cause any problems for basic projects. Or create multiple programs and add them together, you would need to remove a few lines of code and probably add a couple but if you have access to the stuff to do that it might be a solution. Im only learning cnc machining but that seems like the easiest solution to only having 500 lines of code per program.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Would probably work for simple parts but a lot of the parts I run are like 20k lines of code.

[@gregcooper8647]

can someone recommend how to make a table or what kind of table to buy that would be good to place the harbor freight mini mill onto? I wouldnt think a wood table would have sufficient mass to dampen vibration, but im not really familiar with other types of tabletops or what material they would be made of? thanks

[@eyesik1252]

I would recommend a husky workbench. They’re basically hardwood tall desks for like 300 bucks if I remember correctly. You can get em at Lowe’s or Home Depot. They can hold 3000+ pounds and have leveling feet. They have a metal frame and are super sturdy. I bought one to use as a computer desk and it works great for that. As far as putting a mini mill and maybe even a mini lathe, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work great for that.

[@1pcfred]

I made my milling machine stand out of structural steel. The legs are 3" C channel and the top is 3-1/2" heavy angle welded together. And yeah it could be sturdier. I have given serious thought to pouring a concrete pedestal.

[@naoufelmelayh240]

HI craig ,thanks for videos very instructive , need to buy an x2 mill can you help me please ? th

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Thanks. Not sure how I can help. I don't have an x2 anymore. I have a Tormach.

[@zachjackson9263]

How do you fix the travel pinion so it goes up and down vertically?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Not sure exactly what you mean. The head travels up and down with ways. The up and down travel is controlled by a stepper motor controlled by a computer.

[@zachjackson9263]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 I fixed it you just pull the traverse out

[@michaelwielenga7403]

@@zachjackson9263 what are you talking about??

[@zachjackson9263]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 I meant clask and pull it toward a wall.

[@MSM5500]

The feeds & speeds as well as tool size you show aren't suitable for X2 (SX2) mill of any kind including"solid Z-column" version of it cause these mills are flexible as hell. The biggest reasonable tool for that milling machine is a 6mm end mill cutter. Whatever is bigger than that can be used with microscopic chip loads only in order to keep the geometry of the machine pretty much squared during operation. Otherwise it will give you that weird and dodgy finishing shown in the video.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Yeah, your probably right.

[@MSM5500]

@@craigsmachineshop2040, from my perspective the only real step up that can be made with mini-mill is to give it a high speed spindle (>1000 rpm). That would give it a chance to have a little chip load and keep reasonable speeds at the same time. I've personally built two milling machines: the first one is based up on an aluminum frame (but relatively sturdy one with excessive number of massive elements for rigidity), THK and Rexroth precision linear actuators and a high speed spindle. The second one is CNC retrofit of SX2 mill. I use SX2 for roughing and boring and the high speed one for finishing and engraving. I haven't been happy with all that since very beginning but I live in an apartment so I cannot go any bigger. Otherwise I'd have built a proper CNC mill with linear guides from scratch but not a converted one cause dove tails aren't suitable for contemporary CNC machine all.

[@TheAnimal191]

Will this cut steel?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

It will but not very fast

[@TheAnimal191]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 thank you for the response. I dont need fast as much as I need convenient lol

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@TheAnimal191 I understand.

[@kkknotcool]

Why not Fusion 360?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Fusion 360 is CAD/CAM. Mach3 is the machine controller.

[@ExtantFrodo2]

I think my 44991 must have a 1/4 HP motor because I can't cut aluminum anywhere near that fast.push in 20 thou = stall. So boring. I know it's supposed to be 4/5 HP but it's not.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Do you have the belt drive conversion on it?

[@ExtantFrodo2]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Um, sort of. I made my own when I saw my gears were about to go. I've been thinking that might be the problem and should just cook up a set of metal gears like I had been planning. But, you have the belt drive on don't you? or have you just by passed that?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@ExtantFrodo2 Yeah, I got the belt drive conversion from Little Machine Shop. I think you will do a lot better if you can run at 4500 rpm. What RPM are you at now?

[@ExtantFrodo2]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 About half speed because when I crank it up the belt wanders from the middle. It also does that when the DOC is too deep. I've either cut my pulleys poorly or the mount for the motor is inadequate some how.

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@ExtantFrodo2 Oh. I never got a lathe so I had to buy a kit.

[@Marc_Wolfe]

am I deaf, or did he not mention what material he was cutting?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Sorry, maybe I didn’t. It was 6061 aluminum.

[@ethanclark6859]

How did you convert this to CNC? Kind of interested in doing it myself

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

Yes, I did. It was definitely a great learning experience.

[@ryanbareither89]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 what kind of kit did you use?

[@craigsmachineshop2040]

@@ryanbareither89 Sorry, I don't remember the name. I may mention the name somewhere on my build videos on the channel like 7 years ago.

[@ryanbareither89]

@@craigsmachineshop2040 Thank you, I'll dig through your old vids

[@brighambaker3381]

If you search KZbin for cnc conversion of milling machine, you can find a few good series' on how to do it.