Re: HF micro mill (part no. 47158) suitability for CNC

Hey Chris, thanks for the link! I just joined the hf47158toCNC group.
I do have a 7x12 and a mini mill, as well as being a part-time
student at a technical college with a fully-equipped machine shop
(lathes and mills of all sizes, surface grinders, etc). I think I'll
go for this machine. I'm aware of the 'tuning' that these budget
import machines require!

At this point I have my homebrew stepper board with 1 axis so far
working. I have DIP switches with pull-up resistors for setting
various things like stepper direction, waveform (half step, full step,
etc). I successfully drove one stepper from a linux/EMC system. I
just have to finish the board and then I should be all set on the
electronics and computer front, and just need the machine.



--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Chris Cowley <rotorheads@e...>
wrote:

> just bought one today... and its already completely stripped down for
> re-machining.
>
> check out
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hf47158toCNC
>
> i would not recommend it if you don't have access to larger machine
> tools or would not be willing to drop the coin to farm out the work, as
> you could probably cut better dovetails with an axe...... and this will
> make life hard for motors, drivers, screws, tooling and you.
>
> here is a short list of bad news:
> the lead screws come pre-bent.
> the screws are supported on plain bearings not taper roller or even ball
> bearings.
> the nuts are iron.
> the gibs are iron.
> needs counterweight of some kind
> need to chop about 10 pounds off the headstock
>
>
> consider it a rough casting.
>
>
> otherwise. yeah, it will be an excellent desktop machine IMHO.
> i really like mine already, in case you could not tell......
>
>
>
> C Cowley
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 2003-10-12 at 23:20, david_margrave wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm basically just looking for something low-cost to play with CNC
> > with the EMC linux software and a homebrew stepper board using the
> > allegro micro drivers. I'm going to be doing mostly light-duty work
> > (plastic, printed circuit milling, maybe some aluminum).
> >
> > I'm considering either a cheap X-Y table and then making a Z column
> > with feed, or just spending a bit more and getting this $300 micro
> > mill from harbor freight. I'm interested in this machine's
> > adaptability for this task. The Z-axis looks strange, having a handle
> > at the top of the column, and two quill feeds (coarse and fine). I'd
> > be interested in hearing from anyone who has one.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> >
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