A small pile of X2 mods...

[TroyO]

OK, it's a little hard to explain but I will gine it a try, with the help of a Crap-O-Cad drawing, LOL. The whole system hinges on the leadnut, which is modified in the following ways:

The nut is sawed "mostly in half" so that it can be squeezed to compress the two sides of the leadnut together and "pinching" the leadscrew, thereby reducing backlash.

Two holes are drilled through only the outside face of the leadnut alowing the bolts that hold the leadnut in place to apply the pressure for retaining them to the INNER face of the split ONLY. The "Inner face" I am talking about is colored blue in my crap-o-cad. That allows the outer face to move when pressure is applied at the X while the leadnut as a whole is firmly pinned in place.

To apply the pressure on that X, you drill and tap an additional hole in the X axis right between the two stock leadnut retaining holes.

On the Y axis, you drill/tap two holes on either side of the existing retaining bolt.

I hope that helps.

 

[TroyO]

More to the pile...

Mod #1, a brace for the column base. I started out planning to use a piece of 1/4" steel I got at Home Depot. But, as I stood there with it in my hands and starting the process of laying it out I looked over at a "Furniture weight" I had scavenged... a 1x4.5x8 or 10 inch hunk of some unknown steel. Hmmm.... if 1/4" is good, 1" is 4 times better right? The price was right... LOL, got about 30 of them for free.

So, I went about making that work. First issue, 1" is too thick to let the nut thread all the way on to the retaining bolt or whatever you call the stub that holds the column to the mill. So, I drilled a 1" hole for the bolt, then set about using a boring bar for the first time. First off... the stinking draw bar doesn't fit. Blarg! So, I drive all over trying to find the right size metric bolt to fit it so I can start boring the hole. After that, it went OK although I broke one boring bar bit in the process. I got a lot of chatter when I reached the bottom, but it eventually cut the flat bottomed recess. So, nut and a hardened washer now sit recessed by about 1/2" in to the plate.

Finally I bolted the heck out of it with 1/4" bolts.... 10 of the suckers, LOL. It's now fixed to the column and aint going anywhere. At the bottom, I drilled/tapped by hand and installed 2 3/8" auto grade studs. Finally, I drilled the holes in the plate to go over the studs, and drilled/tapped 2 holes for 3/8" SHC bolts. That lets me set the fore/aft swing by tightening the two bolts to push the bottom of the column away from the base, or I can tighten the bolts to move the bottom of the column towards the base.

Problem: The new style mini mill base is hollow under the column. The back wall was not up to the pressure, and so it cracked when I tightened the bolts. Ohh no!

Mod #2, fix the base... LOL
So, I flip the base upside down an after cleaning it all out and degreasing I dam up the hollow area with modeling clay then fill it with JB weld and gravel. (IE... redneck "Epoxy granite"). I decided, while I was at it to dam up the rest of the base and gave it a dose of clear epoxy/concrete/gravel mix. So, any available cavity is now filled and shored up with an "Epoxy granite-ish mixture". While not optimal for sure I have to assume it was better than just not doing it. In any case, with the base now repaired and a 1/4" pressure plate under the bolts to spread the load it seems to be holding up just fine.

The difference is HUGE.... I han't gotten much time to use it since but a few test cuts had dramatically less drama involved and I was able to cut deeper/faster than I was before by a big margin. Much much much less vibration and shuddering involved.

 

[TroyO]

But wait, there's more!

I got a misting unit, specifically this one from Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Spray-Mist-Unit...896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ae156fa8

He shipped quick, it arrived in decent shape although there was a small crack in the lid of the bottle. I didn't bother telling the seller since it didn't affect the function at all. You could turn it down failrly low and still get coolant, but my compressor still ran pretty often.

The block is pretty much just an air valve, and there is no "nozzle" per-se, just a tube that extends through the LocLine and pokes out the LocLine nozzle. It worked pretty well, but in researching info about misters I ran in to Bogs post about making a high effeciency nozzle.

Hmmm... great idea! Too much work, LOL. I ran in to a post with someone asking about using an air brush instead but no one really responded to the idea. It got my brain working, especially since I had 2 cheap air brushes that haven't been used in years.... I think I got them both at a flea market for like $10.

So, I take a look at them and they way they are made I think I can do something with them. Here are the results.

I took it apart and looked at how it worked... there is an air inlet, a push button air valve and then the sprayer nozzle which usually has a jar of paint hooked to it.

By cutting the barrel at a point just past the air valve I just had an open tube. I drilled that out, threaded it (5/16 NC if I recall correctly.) and then I threaded the LocLine nozzle to the same. Screw the barrel on to the LocLine with some teflon tape, then hook the coolant tube in to the paint coupling. Ohh, and I had to block the hole in the air block where the collant line used to go. I just threaded it and put in a machine screw with a O-Ring on it.

Bingo! Easy, controllable and adjustable low volume misting unit!

It can go from a gentle blow almost like blowing through a straw to a pretty decent little air blast (Plenty for blowing chips) while sucking coolant at a rate anywhere from it taking 30 secs or so to dampen a spot on a piece of paper to downright giving it an instant drenching.

As some of you Brits say..... "It was bodged together but worked a treat".... ;D