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

i really like your conversion. nice machine.

didn't plug it in either... just started chopping the fat...

haven't had much time to work on it. but i got the X stiction down from
85.30 in/oz to 17.44in/oz, Y did not give up nearly as much. started at
34.34in/oz down to 33.28in/oz. bearings should help considerably..

those motor mounts are quite impressive, did you cast them? or hog em
out of square bar? or are they something off the shelf?

belt drive is high on the list too. you wouldn't happen to have a
drawing of those pulleys?

my Z has a .005 high spot at the top of the column. thats a lot of
sanding. i just started taking measurements of everything, after i get
all the numbers, ill come up with a plan.

im planing to draw up the whole machine in cad before i do anything
else. i need the practice and it should be a good exercise.

thanks for the reply


C Cowley

On Mon, 2003-10-13 at 23:40, Chris Baugher wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Oct 2003, Chris Cowley wrote:
>
> > just bought one today... and its already completely stripped down for
> > re-machining.
>
> I did the same. Didn't even plug it in.
>
> > check out
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hf47158toCNC
>
> There are some pictures of my conversion there.
>
> > 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.
>
> As with any cheap Asian too quality varies widely. Mine was fairly decent
> out of the box although not outstanding. It was better than the
> mini-mill.
>
> > here is a short list of bad news:
> > the lead screws come pre-bent.
>
> Mine aren't too bad, but they do have couple tight spots.
>
> > the screws are supported on plain bearings not taper roller or even ball
> > bearings.
>
> Yeah, that part kinda sucks. Fortunately it's way easy to make new blocks
> with bearings of your choice.
>
> > the nuts are iron.
>
> They are, but they work better than I thought they might. Soak 'em up
> with oil and adjust 'em just right, and they work fine. I was able to get
> mine down to .0025" of backlash without too much friction.
>
> > the gibs are iron.
>
> The gibs are kinda weak. Had to a get some sandpaper and a surface plate
> after mine.
>
> > needs counterweight of some kind
>
> Yup. A 25lb. gas spring from McMaster Carr works good.
>
> > need to chop about 10 pounds off the headstock
>
> The best thing to do is scrap the cheesy gearbox and convert to belt
> drive. It's SO easy. The hardest part is making the pulleys.
>
> > consider it a rough casting.
>
> For the price of the machine it's fine. I found that swiping a piece of
> coarse sandpaper over the dovetails a few times to smooth out the milling
> marks did wonders.
>
> > otherwise. yeah, it will be an excellent desktop machine IMHO.
> > i really like mine already, in case you could not tell......
>
> For the price you can't beat it.
>
> > > 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.
>
> The Z is kinda wierd, but it makes for an interesting machine. For CNC
> conversion use the fine feed on the dovetailed column. Then just lock the
> quill in place.
>
> You could however use it like a precision drill press. Use the column
> feed for general hight adjustment and the quill feed for drilling.
>
> C|
>
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