If you are concerned about the reliability of the controller/electronic add a fan. I have a mill similar to yours, added a fan the first day and 11 years later never had a problem. Heat is the greatest enemy of electronics.
as an electrician who works on low voltage controllers almost as much as everything else, heat 99% of time time will cause an issue before anything actually failing without being heat induced
You’re obviously a qualified machinist but you also do a great video . I’m a 60 year old fitter machinist and have purchased a mini lathe for home as I have found your clips inspirational . I don’t have to machine at work these days so it’s time to enjoy making stuff for myself. Great work👍
I've looked at some of the mini lathes to have one at home as well.......the one thing i've found is all the mini lathes seem to have a low speed in the 100 to 150 rpm range......not a lot of fun to try thread cutting on
im teaching myself doing everything since 2018. I wish i had someonme with so much experiance like you who can teach me. But learning by doing is fun too.
Take a 150mm or 200mm diameter piece of pvc pipe which is a couple of cm taller than your coolant level, but will still clear the lid. Cap one end and glue in a heavy weight. Drill holes around the circumference near or within the end cap. Place vertically in the coolant and put the return into the pipe. Over time the oil will float to the top of the pipe and coolant will flow out the holes in the bottom. Oil can be sucked out the top of the pipe with a large syringe or baster. That size mill will hopefully be my next purchase as I have space limitations too. Great tips and videos, thanks.
From the bottom of heart thank you for this video, i have the same mill (pre covid model as the speed control etc is nicer) but its had a knock in the spindle bearings for ages. Its nice to have a decent tear down video for the replacement. From a fellow aussie mill owner thanks. My ends up acting as more of a glorified drill press but the occasions its done milling has really helped out
A small note from a fellow hobby-level machinist... I own the Harbor Freight mini-lathe and mini-mil and have to say that while I never would have wanted to go smaller to something like a Sieg, both machines have allowed me to do real machining in a home environment, with the ability to move either one by myself in one trip vs. having to disassemble and painfully move them piece by piece. They also cost a total of less than $1000 USD (Obviously with no vise/bits included), which made it possible for me to actually afford them, though this was back around 2001 so obviously inflation will have to be factored in. It would be great to have larger machines, but you can't discount the fact that they allow entry into actual machining, building up those skills, and are quite capable for machines of their size-- no issues tackling stainless or other ferrous metals. Anyway, just had to chip in since I feel like the mini-lathe and mini-mill are often immediately dismissed as "not a real lathe or mill", when often they are quite capable for their size and allow people with less money to build all those important skills that are impossible with hand tools. Just my two cents...
Hi, unfortunately in Australia I dont believe Harbor Freight is available, and the shipping costs from the US to Oz is rather expensive making US tools rather uncompetitive.
Excellent comment. I spent years avoiding these "hobby" grade lathes and mills because so many people said they were not "real" machines. However, since recently buying a cheap chinese lathe, I've discovered the truth of what you say here. There are fundamental skills and understanding in machining that require actual experience and hours of practice. It's fair to say that anything more than a cheap chinese machine would have been wasted on me. I'd have broken it, or gone broke buying the tooling, before mastering the very basics of the craft. Previously I would look at large, precise machines and desire to own them. Now I know I'm not ready for that, and don't even want them anymore. It will be at least three years before I'd want to try my hand at something larger. The other big advantage of the cheap chinese stuff is that you learn so much, fixing and improving it. That is what I love so much about my lathe, and lathes in general. They are amazing tools, because they can make things to make themselves better at making things. Building your own tooling and features for your nasty little machine, making it less nasty and little, is like having a living thing growing in the shop. That's what this channel is all about, which is why it is one of the best out there.
If you use linseed oil for anything be aware that it polymerizes and becomes gummy within some weeks. That's why it's used for oil paintings or for impregnating wood. Don't want that stuff sticking on your surface plate. I had better success mixing mineral oil with a lot of pigment powder. You really want it to be like a paste so you can see the very thin layer. Otherwise get some bluing dye off the shelf, it's not that expensive. I built a simple scraper out of a power saw, removed the linear mechanism and replaced it with my own which I can attach scraping blades to. Also added a shallow tslot to the cam gear so I can adjust the stroke. Oh, and once you scraped both sides, technically you'd have to check the whole thing for pararellism between both sides, since that could be off too now.
When you’re gluing materials like that, a cool trick is to put tape on both pieces of material, then glue the tape together. Still strong but it comes apart much better and leaves no mess
I have a different mini mill. But I did all the same things you did. Crazy how they made sure some things were flat and others were not. Same on mine. But the closer to perfect and consistent you get, the more expensive things are.
When I did my apprenticeship, we made our own coolant - an emulsion made from roughly 2:1 engine oil and a mineral oil detergent (so, not dish soap!), and then watered down to the right consistency. Basically, you're using enough detergent to get the oil to emulsify with the water, making it "water that won't make things rust", so I'm guessing you could do the exact same thing with cheap vegetable oil and dish soap!
For the best scrapers, contact your local machine shop and ask them for any old circular cutting blades they are throwing away. Put on your PPE and throw it as high into the air as you can so it lands on a hard concrete floor where it will shatter. Some of the shards will have a convex edge which you don't touch - don't even sharpen it. Grind the bit behind this edge to fit in your handle and you will have the best scraper known to this planetary system.
This is a very good video. You explain things clearly, the audio matches with video, and you show how to improve the machine in a way that everyone can understand. What more is needed? nothing. You turn a basic cheap mill into one that works to high standard: I found it encouraging to watch you work, thanks for an excellent video.
Very good video. I have a similar mill and initially had overheating problems. After taking the head apart, like your situation I found out that the factory installed a deep race bearing with an angular contact bearing. I replaced both bearings with SKS AC bearings. It really made a big difference.
Nothing wrong with angular contact 🐻 inns. They’re used on some very expensive machines. The quality, and just as importantly, the way the bearings are fitted, are the thing that matters.
I have a similar size mill, Amadeal AMAT25LV with the brushless motor and belt drive (no gears in the head) . Watching you using your mill, I'm so glad I waited for the brushless one to become available (and pay the extra money for it). The performance difference is outrageous. If you get the chance to go brushless, I highly recommend it.
I have the smaller sister of the Sieg SX2.7, the SX2.3. The biggest difference is the table size, the SX2.3 has a shorter table in the X-direction, other than that it should be pretty much the same. I quite like the mill, once you know how it behaves, you can actually squeeze a lot of accuracy out of it. I added a gas-strut to mine, that pushes the head upwards. I can really recommend doing that mod, you get less sagging of the head, it's way nicer and easier to crank up and down and it vibrates a little less (I mounted the strut at an angle, so it pushes the head slightly into the dovetail, which stiffens it up a bit). The next upgrade on my list is reinforcing the column, since that's still stock and probably the biggest weak point.
Grear vid! Interesting to see the spindle disassembly, and the scraping. It made me realize that scraping isn’t such a big deal, at least on small jobs like this.
When you mentioned bacteria/mould in the coolant i had to think back to my apprenticeship, where someone got assigned the mill that no one used and turned on the coolant pump, only to have what can only be described as looking like "diarrhea" all over his part and cutter. Smelled awful too and immediately prompted checking of coolant on all machines. Fun times.
Hi from Texas, New Subscriber. Great Job on Scraping those ways. With the new Bearings and everything else you did, I bet the Mill is a lot Nicer. I’m glad your Video kind of popped up in my Feed. I’ll be checking out all your Videos. Thanks for posting this.😁👍👍
On my Sieg X3 I replaced the top radial bearing and thrust bearing with a tapered roller bearing. I used a belleville washer to under the nut to set the perload.
I have to get one of these, I built a MPCNC (Mostly Printed CNC) for milling wood and engineering resins but I want to replace the 3D printed parts with steel and aluminium, this will be the ideal first project once I get used to working with the Mini Mill, great video and some great tips!
Way that this saddle was manufactured is correct, by making contact at the ends of these surfaces it prevents assembly from wobbling. Similar method is used in lathe support.
Interesting. My scraping and fitting boot doesn’t seem to make reference to this. I can probably add it later if I can feel any rocking. Although the table is riding better than it was before. Either way I’d have to have scraped it since the was initially ground with 2 corners being higher than the others. Cheers
Glad to see your mill. after a long time when i first see you get it and i got mine weeks after yours. I would say , Even though brushless motors is noisy but at least you can repair the brushes when worn , i know 2 people who have had Brushless and after a while they had problems, as the small motors don't like the strain, but bigger brushless motors seem to be good. but still when a brushless stops it needs to be replaced, but as a brushed motor, 99% of the time you just spend a few bucks on new brushes and your good to go. Anyway i like seeng what you have figured out, and is nice for some one like you to do videos on these small machines and follow up on how you have got on, as it is inspiring for those who are thinking about getting one.
A single cut file drawn perpendicular to that bed would have kept the material removal where needed without using that improvised scraper. Draw filing or using the proper scraping tooling is what us Millwright’s do. Bonus point for being right on the handle removal but minus two for using a slip-joint plier instead of a hook spanner.
Hi you may know the guy I wish to refer you too ! CEE CUTTING EDGE ENGINEERING AUSTRALIA MAKEING A LINEBORING HOLDER ! But your would be a little smaller in size in the mini mill however I am thinking of the possibilities !! Thanks for the hours of enjoyment you give to people like myself besides introducing us to new skills we did not know we had in us CHEERS BRIAN
Definitely get sealed bearings next time, as in the orientation they are in they wont retainant luberication without the seals. So glad you look after your equipment properly. Kudos
Some u tube creators have a lot to answer for introducing scraping to the masses. You listening Adam! To scrape successfully you have to be finer than that mate. When I was a aprentice one of our first jobs was to create a cube 1 inch on all sides. + or - half a thousand using a hacksaw, a couple of files, scraper and surface plate and square. This was out of a lump of rusty plate 1 and a half thick.
I dont know who you are referring to, this is straight out of my fitting and machining book. Had to be done since the diagonal corners were high. Either way end result is better tram and better fitting table and nicer surface finish. Cheers
Funny, I'm using the exact same rectangular storage container as a reservoir for my hydroponic setup. Even has a pretty similar looking pond pump in it. I ended up using cheap 13mm irrigation fittings to plumb it all through the top of one of the sides to keep the lid easy to remove for drain, refill and checking nutrient concentration etc.
Sealed angular thrust roller bearings are probably best for the top. But parallel roller bearings are probably best for the bottom. However, one way to find out would be to study the specifications of far more expensive milling machines and copy their setup.
Looking forward to doing my mill, but it's a bit bigger - and I want to scrape all the dovetails as well. Only thing stopping me: A 900x600 granite block is $2200.... it would become the most expensive item in my workshop.
19:19 on the return line to the sump chuck a couple of filter socks in there and it will pickup any particulates that get carried away in the fluid. The bulk will settle out but the super fine bits will act like silt and clays do in a stream.
I love the content man. Wouldn't mind seeing more from you. You make me want to get down in the shop and mess with my machines that have never been used.
If you want a surefire no-rust coolant, try Metalium XDP1000 mixed 10:1. It's a bit hard to find (harder to find than XDP2000 or XDP1800), but it leaves a good oily film on surfaces once the water evaporates.
if you ever get the chance to take some scraping classes with richard king i think youd enjoy it. it did my heart good to see that surface plate come out. well done sir :)
I have a similar setup to your coolant but it pumps oil it seems to make a big difference to tool life but it makes a real mess but im going to make some Perspex splash shields like Blondi Hacks has. I have it on my big lathe & mill. My mini lathe has no drip tray so i just manually add cutting oil. In UK winters the biggest enemy is corrosion from condensation on everything so oil helps a lot with that. Keep up the good work ive been enjoying your videos like a podcast while cleaning an old Oris watch to hopefully get running tomorrow.
Every time you said "mill" is sounded like you said "mule". Funny English accents from around the world! Oh, and "fix" sounded like "feeks". Lol, thank you for the laugh today. You confirmed that my hearing is really bad!
I haven't put coolant on my mill yet for the very reason you have said, rusting, so I'm very interested to see how you get on with that new stuff. The whole idea of water around my machines worries the hell out of me
If you use a good coolant and don’t let the oil drop the risk is small. Maybe a small fog buster could work. Coolant for me made a big improvement in tool life. Cheers
Bearings typically have a wear in schedule, and I’ve always seen tapered roller bearings packed in grease. Oil may work too, just need to follow mfg instructions very closely.
@@kennethstaszak9990 but they are splash fed from the diff sump. To be successful the bearings would need a few drops every hour or so to get a sufficient film in place because to my way of thinking they will lose their oil due to gravity! I may be wrong because I have only been a fitter for 45 years and believe me, I am still learning. Cheers from Tassy.
@@glennbrown1961 don't denigrate yourself, you're talking complete sense, I would pack the taper roller and the top bearing with a good moly grease for machine bearings ( not auto wheel ones ) and that at least should suffice at least on a yearly strip out and check basis.
Way cover: I cut the dove-tail profile into the bracket, added some magnets and now I can move the bracket & way cover further up when it is in the way.
I'd recommend getting some smaller nozzles for your coolant. They help with restricting flow and can make less of a mess cause you're actually using less
I’ll have to play around with it some day. Might make some with the lathe. I don’t think I’ll get it strong enough evacuate chips whilst not making a huge mess, I think that’s one of the trade offs that I had to make with this set up.
@@artisanmakes An adjustable type nozzle may be handy to play around with. Really looking forward to more of your scraping adventures, hopefully get to check planarity, parallelism, and make your machines as smooth and rigid as they can be.
Well done. May have been good to finish the metal putty with the mill and make it look factory. Your coolant looks like Dettol 😂. You always make excellent videos. Cheers Stuart, Canberra.
Alright mate. What I enjoy about ur videos is u show us and explain how and what ur doing with ur machines. The upgrades are bloody great mate. Really enjoy ur channel but could u tell me how much this Mill cost? I'm thinking about 1500 quid? If it's cheper then it's a great deal. I sw u changed out ur Mini Lathe for a bigger one recently? or at least it was recently when I watched the video anyways my bro. Great content as always. Thanks for posting the content. It actually helps out so many ppl I'm sure.. I get tonnes f information even though I don't own either a Lathe or a Mill yet. They will be coming in the next 12 months though..
Great video! I like the reasoning for the spindle handle removal as a safety issue. As you seem very conscious of safety, I would recommend wearing long rubber gloves when messing in your coolant tank as the coolant could be carcinogenic. Also I liked the metal putty use. I have a Sieg X2 mini mill and wish I had yours! But got what I could afford at the time. I enjoyed seeing your scraping job you did. I wonder if a Multi-function Tool would work as a power scraper? I think it would being careful not to let too much be taken down. You could grind one of the tools to make the scraper blade or make your own. Maybe a Saws All would as well, but the stroke may be too long.
I’m sure you could get a multi tool to work, but it just isn’t the correct action for scraping, you’d want a forwards and backwards movement rather than a side to side one. Cheers
Hi mate any chance of getting a list of the gear you have so i can setup a similar workshop I only have small area . The info from your videos is great and more on how to use the equipment would be great I live in Au also cheers Leigh
Hi, Traming a head save running gauge over the table slots. Get a gauge block or something similar, set that under the stylus to read zero on 1 side swing 180 other side slide block in take your reading. Steve in UK
Another great video dude. Good too see your pushing this mill to its limits so much so your having to replace the bearings. Just out of curiosity any reason in particular you didn’t go for taper roller bearings top and bottom ??
My trade is machine fitting and he’s correct, you scrape the center 30% of any short slides low so you get a positive lock on each axis, so it doesn’t rock when worn and to hold a oil film that can’t dissipate when under heavy lock or if an axis is locked.
@@artisanmakes if you mean the connelly book, he never actually scraped a machine in his life its a collation of various machine rebuilders with huge gaps, great source of information but lots of equally bad advice
@@artisanmakes I'll also say that you shouldn't be scraping the saddle independently, you should ideally be using the X and Y long slides as a master and scrape the saddle to match while tweaking for cartesian alignment. christian of @machsuper made the same mistake initially for his optimum but I'm letting him use my plate, straight edges etc to do a best practice rebuild, if near me you're welcome to pop in and use the plate, straight edges biax etc
Spindle bearing like these can be greased as well as oiled. Thrust bearings are self centering, so when loosened they may feel sloppy. Just buy a tube of bluing dye. Really, as Klaufmann said, it’s cheap enough, and Linseed oil is problematic for this purpose. Otherwise, very good work.
Why did you add the scotchbrite that has fine abrasive particles to your coolant. I'm shure that can not possibly be good for the machines. I would not let that coolant near my machines unless the grit was been filtered with a super fine filter now.
InMy Opinion ,Bearings are generally fairly inexpensive and i personally always try to purchase the highest quality i have available for that paticular job i like to keep a Journal on all my indivualMachinery and Equipment that gives me the ability to reflect or reveiw on what parts do or have worked the best for that application and whenever possible i like to keep extras in stock to make future repairs or maintenance easier , i do that with Gaskets as a generalrule of thumb also
Awesome video! The only question I have is...instead of using a carbide bit and stone to plane the header, why not just tack some ultrafine grit wet/dry sandpaper to your inspection plate and level it on there? I just bought a grade AA plate for leveling mating surfaces on small engines and I will never go back to depending on paper gasket covered in gasket maker again. Maybe you guys with years more experience than I have may offer a reasonable explanation? I do get the whole "the small imperfections will help hold onto lubricant" aspect of it. I'm just curious.
Is sanding on a surface plate actually good enough that a gasket isn't needed? I never would have expected that since I intuitively think sanding like that isn't particularly accurate. (edges will be sanded more than the middle of a surface)
Hey,, great video,, I have the same mill, At the top of the spindle, With the new angular contact bearing, did you put the thrust bearing back , use a spacer or did you only use the angular contact bearing ?? Thanks
The problem is (was) not with the brushed DC motor as it is capable to produce the nominal torque even at standstill. The problem is (was, again) the open loop drive electronics and the lack of forced cooling. DC motors are so great that they were even used even in MW power level locomotives. Maybe the only downside of DC motors are the brushes and the commutator.
If you are concerned about the reliability of the controller/electronic add a fan. I have a mill similar to yours, added a fan the first day and 11 years later never had a problem. Heat is the greatest enemy of electronics.
Ill definitely be stealing this idea. Thank you
Good point
as an electrician who works on low voltage controllers almost as much as everything else, heat 99% of time time will cause an issue before anything actually failing without being heat induced
@@artisanmakes can't steal it if he already gave it to you 😅🤷🏽♂️
@@artisanmakes Best ideas I ever had I stole .
You’re obviously a qualified machinist but you also do a great video . I’m a 60 year old fitter machinist and have purchased a mini lathe for home as I have found your clips inspirational . I don’t have to machine at work these days so it’s time to enjoy making stuff for myself. Great work👍
I've looked at some of the mini lathes to have one at home as well.......the one thing i've found is all the mini lathes seem to have a low speed in the 100 to 150 rpm range......not a lot of fun to try thread cutting on
im teaching myself doing everything since 2018. I wish i had someonme with so much experiance like you who can teach me. But learning by doing is fun too.
Take a 150mm or 200mm diameter piece of pvc pipe which is a couple of cm taller than your coolant level, but will still clear the lid. Cap one end and glue in a heavy weight. Drill holes around the circumference near or within the end cap. Place vertically in the coolant and put the return into the pipe. Over time the oil will float to the top of the pipe and coolant will flow out the holes in the bottom. Oil can be sucked out the top of the pipe with a large syringe or baster. That size mill will hopefully be my next purchase as I have space limitations too. Great tips and videos, thanks.
From the bottom of heart thank you for this video, i have the same mill (pre covid model as the speed control etc is nicer) but its had a knock in the spindle bearings for ages. Its nice to have a decent tear down video for the replacement. From a fellow aussie mill owner thanks.
My ends up acting as more of a glorified drill press but the occasions its done milling has really helped out
I am always impressed with what you accomplish on a small budget. That epoxy putty on the vice trick was an excellent idea.
A small note from a fellow hobby-level machinist... I own the Harbor Freight mini-lathe and mini-mil and have to say that while I never would have wanted to go smaller to something like a Sieg, both machines have allowed me to do real machining in a home environment, with the ability to move either one by myself in one trip vs. having to disassemble and painfully move them piece by piece. They also cost a total of less than $1000 USD (Obviously with no vise/bits included), which made it possible for me to actually afford them, though this was back around 2001 so obviously inflation will have to be factored in. It would be great to have larger machines, but you can't discount the fact that they allow entry into actual machining, building up those skills, and are quite capable for machines of their size-- no issues tackling stainless or other ferrous metals.
Anyway, just had to chip in since I feel like the mini-lathe and mini-mill are often immediately dismissed as "not a real lathe or mill", when often they are quite capable for their size and allow people with less money to build all those important skills that are impossible with hand tools. Just my two cents...
Hi, unfortunately in Australia I dont believe Harbor Freight is available, and the shipping costs from the US to Oz is rather expensive making US tools rather uncompetitive.
@@101peligrosoDon’t worry, the Harbor Freight mills and lathes are just rebadged Seig tools.
They’re the exact same as far as I know.
Excellent comment. I spent years avoiding these "hobby" grade lathes and mills because so many people said they were not "real" machines. However, since recently buying a cheap chinese lathe, I've discovered the truth of what you say here. There are fundamental skills and understanding in machining that require actual experience and hours of practice. It's fair to say that anything more than a cheap chinese machine would have been wasted on me. I'd have broken it, or gone broke buying the tooling, before mastering the very basics of the craft.
Previously I would look at large, precise machines and desire to own them. Now I know I'm not ready for that, and don't even want them anymore. It will be at least three years before I'd want to try my hand at something larger.
The other big advantage of the cheap chinese stuff is that you learn so much, fixing and improving it. That is what I love so much about my lathe, and lathes in general. They are amazing tools, because they can make things to make themselves better at making things. Building your own tooling and features for your nasty little machine, making it less nasty and little, is like having a living thing growing in the shop.
That's what this channel is all about, which is why it is one of the best out there.
If you use linseed oil for anything be aware that it polymerizes and becomes gummy within some weeks. That's why it's used for oil paintings or for impregnating wood. Don't want that stuff sticking on your surface plate. I had better success mixing mineral oil with a lot of pigment powder. You really want it to be like a paste so you can see the very thin layer. Otherwise get some bluing dye off the shelf, it's not that expensive. I built a simple scraper out of a power saw, removed the linear mechanism and replaced it with my own which I can attach scraping blades to. Also added a shallow tslot to the cam gear so I can adjust the stroke. Oh, and once you scraped both sides, technically you'd have to check the whole thing for pararellism between both sides, since that could be off too now.
Rags can also spontaneously combust due to exotherming as they cool.
It should dry and be scrapable
When you’re gluing materials like that, a cool trick is to put tape on both pieces of material, then glue the tape together. Still strong but it comes apart much better and leaves no mess
ah, a fellow man of culture i see
I have a different mini mill. But I did all the same things you did. Crazy how they made sure some things were flat and others were not. Same on mine.
But the closer to perfect and consistent you get, the more expensive things are.
When I did my apprenticeship, we made our own coolant - an emulsion made from roughly 2:1 engine oil and a mineral oil detergent (so, not dish soap!), and then watered down to the right consistency. Basically, you're using enough detergent to get the oil to emulsify with the water, making it "water that won't make things rust", so I'm guessing you could do the exact same thing with cheap vegetable oil and dish soap!
For the best scrapers, contact your local machine shop and ask them for any old circular cutting blades they are throwing away. Put on your PPE and throw it as high into the air as you can so it lands on a hard concrete floor where it will shatter. Some of the shards will have a convex edge which you don't touch - don't even sharpen it. Grind the bit behind this edge to fit in your handle and you will have the best scraper known to this planetary system.
But saw blades are made from steel and one that isn't particularly hard. I can't imagine that they can compete with a carbide cutter.
@@rcts3761 I think he meant the brazed carbide that the saw teeth are made of.
This is a very good video. You explain things clearly, the audio matches with video, and you show how to improve the machine in a way that everyone can understand. What more is needed? nothing. You turn a basic cheap mill into one that works to high standard: I found it encouraging to watch you work, thanks for an excellent video.
Very good video. I have a similar mill and initially had overheating problems. After taking the head apart, like your situation I found out that the factory installed a deep race bearing with an angular contact bearing. I replaced both bearings with SKS AC bearings. It really made a big difference.
Nothing wrong with angular contact 🐻 inns. They’re used on some very expensive machines. The quality, and just as importantly, the way the bearings are fitted, are the thing that matters.
Well made video, very helpful. And you obviously spent a heap of time editing all the footage from many small jobs there. Thanks! 👍
I have a similar size mill, Amadeal AMAT25LV with the brushless motor and belt drive (no gears in the head) . Watching you using your mill, I'm so glad I waited for the brushless one to become available (and pay the extra money for it). The performance difference is outrageous. If you get the chance to go brushless, I highly recommend it.
I have the smaller sister of the Sieg SX2.7, the SX2.3. The biggest difference is the table size, the SX2.3 has a shorter table in the X-direction, other than that it should be pretty much the same. I quite like the mill, once you know how it behaves, you can actually squeeze a lot of accuracy out of it.
I added a gas-strut to mine, that pushes the head upwards. I can really recommend doing that mod, you get less sagging of the head, it's way nicer and easier to crank up and down and it vibrates a little less (I mounted the strut at an angle, so it pushes the head slightly into the dovetail, which stiffens it up a bit).
The next upgrade on my list is reinforcing the column, since that's still stock and probably the biggest weak point.
Great bunch of info here, nicely made video. Enjoyed the spindle refurbish and the coolant treatment, well done!
Grear vid! Interesting to see the spindle disassembly, and the scraping. It made me realize that scraping isn’t such a big deal, at least on small jobs like this.
Excellent video, I love seeing opinions and changes after a machine has been in use for a while
When you mentioned bacteria/mould in the coolant i had to think back to my apprenticeship, where someone got assigned the mill that no one used and turned on the coolant pump, only to have what can only be described as looking like "diarrhea" all over his part and cutter. Smelled awful too and immediately prompted checking of coolant on all machines. Fun times.
I don't know anything about mills or milling but this was very satisfying to watch!
Hi from Texas, New Subscriber. Great Job on Scraping those ways. With the new Bearings and everything else you did, I bet the Mill is a lot Nicer. I’m glad your Video kind of popped up in my Feed. I’ll be checking out all your Videos. Thanks for posting this.😁👍👍
Thankyou I am glad you enjoyed the project
On my Sieg X3 I replaced the top radial bearing and thrust bearing with a tapered roller bearing. I used a belleville washer to under the nut to set the perload.
I have to get one of these, I built a MPCNC (Mostly Printed CNC) for milling wood and engineering resins but I want to replace the 3D printed parts with steel and aluminium, this will be the ideal first project once I get used to working with the Mini Mill, great video and some great tips!
Way that this saddle was manufactured is correct, by making contact at the ends of these surfaces it prevents assembly from wobbling. Similar method is used in lathe support.
Correct 💯
Interesting. My scraping and fitting boot doesn’t seem to make reference to this. I can probably add it later if I can feel any rocking. Although the table is riding better than it was before. Either way I’d have to have scraped it since the was initially ground with 2 corners being higher than the others. Cheers
@Artisan Makes just add some reales scrapping in a middle of these surfscess.
Will do next time I have the table off, cheers
Glad to see your mill. after a long time when i first see you get it and i got mine weeks after yours.
I would say ,
Even though brushless motors is noisy but at least you can repair the brushes when worn , i know 2 people who have had Brushless and after a while they had problems, as the small motors don't like the strain, but bigger brushless motors seem to be good.
but still when a brushless stops it needs to be replaced, but as a brushed motor, 99% of the time you just spend a few bucks on new brushes and your good to go.
Anyway i like seeng what you have figured out, and is nice for some one like you to do videos on these small machines and follow up on how you have got on, as it is inspiring for those who are thinking about getting one.
Cheers, interesting to hear your perspective on the brushless versions
A single cut file drawn perpendicular to that bed would have kept the material removal where needed without using that improvised scraper. Draw filing or using the proper scraping tooling is what us Millwright’s do.
Bonus point for being right on the handle removal but minus two for using a slip-joint plier instead of a hook spanner.
The X2.7 looks pretty good. Most people (myself included) have the X2 or equivalent, which is slightly smaller.
Hi you may know the guy I wish to refer you too ! CEE CUTTING EDGE ENGINEERING AUSTRALIA MAKEING A LINEBORING HOLDER !
But your would be a little smaller in size in the mini mill however I am thinking of the possibilities !! Thanks for the hours of enjoyment you give to people like myself besides introducing us to new skills we did not know we had in us CHEERS BRIAN
QOL upgrades like these are the best! you'll probably thank yourself daily ^^
Definitely get sealed bearings next time, as in the orientation they are in they wont retainant luberication without the seals. So glad you look after your equipment properly. Kudos
Wont sealed bearings keep out the lubricant....
Very cool. Haven't seen anyone do manual scraping in awhile. Love the content 👌
Gday, the mill has definitely served you well and it really does a great job, the project you do prove the mill stands up, great video mate, Cheers
sorry about loosing the bearing but thank you for showing us how'd you take it out!
Some u tube creators have a lot to answer for introducing scraping to the masses. You listening Adam! To scrape successfully you have to be finer than that mate. When I was a aprentice one of our first jobs was to create a cube 1 inch on all sides. + or - half a thousand using a hacksaw, a couple of files, scraper and surface plate and square. This was out of a lump of rusty plate 1 and a half thick.
I dont know who you are referring to, this is straight out of my fitting and machining book. Had to be done since the diagonal corners were high. Either way end result is better tram and better fitting table and nicer surface finish. Cheers
Funny, I'm using the exact same rectangular storage container as a reservoir for my hydroponic setup. Even has a pretty similar looking pond pump in it. I ended up using cheap 13mm irrigation fittings to plumb it all through the top of one of the sides to keep the lid easy to remove for drain, refill and checking nutrient concentration etc.
Sealed angular thrust roller bearings are probably best for the top. But parallel roller bearings are probably best for the bottom. However, one way to find out would be to study the specifications of far more expensive milling machines and copy their setup.
Looking forward to doing my mill, but it's a bit bigger - and I want to scrape all the dovetails as well. Only thing stopping me: A 900x600 granite block is $2200.... it would become the most expensive item in my workshop.
great tip with always grabbing the handle farthest from you. I will certainly be using that one with my new drill press mate
Great upgrade these small mills are very versatile in the home shop
19:19 on the return line to the sump chuck a couple of filter socks in there and it will pickup any particulates that get carried away in the fluid. The bulk will settle out but the super fine bits will act like silt and clays do in a stream.
I love the content man. Wouldn't mind seeing more from you. You make me want to get down in the shop and mess with my machines that have never been used.
If you want a surefire no-rust coolant, try Metalium XDP1000 mixed 10:1. It's a bit hard to find (harder to find than XDP2000 or XDP1800), but it leaves a good oily film on surfaces once the water evaporates.
if you ever get the chance to take some scraping classes with richard king i think youd enjoy it. it did my heart good to see that surface plate come out. well done sir :)
It's a very capable small milling machine. I have to inspect the bearings and adjust the preload on my SX3. Thanks for the reminder 😂
I have a similar setup to your coolant but it pumps oil it seems to make a big difference to tool life but it makes a real mess but im going to make some Perspex splash shields like Blondi Hacks has. I have it on my big lathe & mill. My mini lathe has no drip tray so i just manually add cutting oil. In UK winters the biggest enemy is corrosion from condensation on everything so oil helps a lot with that.
Keep up the good work ive been enjoying your videos like a podcast while cleaning an old Oris watch to hopefully get running tomorrow.
Every time you said "mill" is sounded like you said "mule". Funny English accents from around the world!
Oh, and "fix" sounded like "feeks".
Lol, thank you for the laugh today. You confirmed that my hearing is really bad!
Awesome vid love the milling stuff
I haven't put coolant on my mill yet for the very reason you have said, rusting, so I'm very interested to see how you get on with that new stuff. The whole idea of water around my machines worries the hell out of me
If you use a good coolant and don’t let the oil drop the risk is small. Maybe a small fog buster could work. Coolant for me made a big improvement in tool life. Cheers
Steel putty... OMG, mind blown!!!
As someone who knows jack squat about machining, I love your content. Probably the English accent
Bearings typically have a wear in schedule, and I’ve always seen tapered roller bearings packed in grease. Oil may work too, just need to follow mfg instructions very closely.
Auto differential bearings are lubed with oil so the ones in the mill should be OK. Just need the correct oil.
@@kennethstaszak9990 but they are splash fed from the diff sump. To be successful the bearings would need a few drops every hour or so to get a sufficient film in place because to my way of thinking they will lose their oil due to gravity! I may be wrong because I have only been a fitter for 45 years and believe me, I am still learning. Cheers from Tassy.
@@glennbrown1961 They are still oil lubed which was the OPs point/question. My post reflected that.
@@glennbrown1961 don't denigrate yourself, you're talking complete sense, I would pack the taper roller and the top bearing with a good moly grease for machine bearings ( not auto wheel ones ) and that at least should suffice at least on a yearly strip out and check basis.
Thanks for another great video. You've given me a lot of ideas for improving my mini mill.
Way cover: I cut the dove-tail profile into the bracket, added some magnets and now I can move the bracket & way cover further up when it is in the way.
Great idea! Gonna do that to mine tomorrow. :-)
Great idea building up the vice edges
yay enjoying this but have to go out, bummer, but will watch end when i get back
Nicely done on the scraping.
I would have started with the price to be honest, I am asking myself "how cheap is cheap?"
I'd recommend getting some smaller nozzles for your coolant. They help with restricting flow and can make less of a mess cause you're actually using less
Hopefully this also improves cooling, lubrication, and chip evacuation.
I’ll have to play around with it some day. Might make some with the lathe. I don’t think I’ll get it strong enough evacuate chips whilst not making a huge mess, I think that’s one of the trade offs that I had to make with this set up.
@@artisanmakes An adjustable type nozzle may be handy to play around with. Really looking forward to more of your scraping adventures, hopefully get to check planarity, parallelism, and make your machines as smooth and rigid as they can be.
Thanks again, your motor lathe mod l did, still works great for what l do.
Those were quite the mods. Well done sir.
Well done. May have been good to finish the metal putty with the mill and make it look factory. Your coolant looks like Dettol 😂. You always make excellent videos. Cheers Stuart, Canberra.
Great vid mate, very informative & interesting.
Alright mate. What I enjoy about ur videos is u show us and explain how and what ur doing with ur machines. The upgrades are bloody great mate. Really enjoy ur channel but could u tell me how much this Mill cost? I'm thinking about 1500 quid? If it's cheper then it's a great deal. I sw u changed out ur Mini Lathe for a bigger one recently? or at least it was recently when I watched the video anyways my bro. Great content as always. Thanks for posting the content. It actually helps out so many ppl I'm sure.. I get tonnes f information even though I don't own either a Lathe or a Mill yet. They will be coming in the next 12 months though..
Excellent video. Tons of useful infos there.
Excellent again.
Great video! I like the reasoning for the spindle handle removal as a safety issue. As you seem very conscious of safety, I would recommend wearing long rubber gloves when messing in your coolant tank as the coolant could be carcinogenic. Also I liked the metal putty use. I have a Sieg X2 mini mill and wish I had yours! But got what I could afford at the time. I enjoyed seeing your scraping job you did. I wonder if a Multi-function Tool would work as a power scraper? I think it would being careful not to let too much be taken down. You could grind one of the tools to make the scraper blade or make your own. Maybe a Saws All would as well, but the stroke may be too long.
I’m sure you could get a multi tool to work, but it just isn’t the correct action for scraping, you’d want a forwards and backwards movement rather than a side to side one. Cheers
Hi mate any chance of getting a list of the gear you have so i can setup a similar workshop I only have small area .
The info from your videos is great and more on how to use the equipment would be great
I live in Au also cheers Leigh
You could boil your water first to sterilize it. A metal tank with an immersion heater would allow periodic resterilization of the coolant.
Great video! thanks for sharing. I was thinking of getting one of these
Hi, Traming a head save running gauge over the table slots. Get a gauge block or something similar, set that under the stylus to read zero on 1 side swing 180 other side slide block in take your reading.
Steve in UK
Nice work
Another great video dude. Good too see your pushing this mill to its limits so much so your having to replace the bearings. Just out of curiosity any reason in particular you didn’t go for taper roller bearings top and bottom ??
Thank you. Very interesting and useful video again.
metal putty... Hu, my first thought was a welder, but I can understand why you went with the putty.
Interesting video. Thanks. I couldn’t see how the coolant got from the vise to the reservoir.
10:03 it’s no real Artisan Makes video when the hacksaw doesn’t show up 😍
Always. And when you least expect it :)
You want the slide to be slightly hollow or " undercut" in the middle, as it was.
This is to prevent rocking.
I could add this later. Interesting point though, but my book on scraping and fitting doesn’t mention this for milling machines.
My trade is machine fitting and he’s correct, you scrape the center 30% of any short slides low so you get a positive lock on each axis, so it doesn’t rock when worn and to hold a oil film that can’t dissipate when under heavy lock or if an axis is locked.
Looks like my book is missing that then, ill get around to that next time i have the table off
@@artisanmakes if you mean the connelly book, he never actually scraped a machine in his life its a collation of various machine rebuilders with huge gaps, great source of information but lots of equally bad advice
@@artisanmakes I'll also say that you shouldn't be scraping the saddle independently, you should ideally be using the X and Y long slides as a master and scrape the saddle to match while tweaking for cartesian alignment. christian of @machsuper made the same mistake initially for his optimum but I'm letting him use my plate, straight edges etc to do a best practice rebuild, if near me you're welcome to pop in and use the plate, straight edges biax etc
just as a suggestion, but you can take your surface plate and put it upside down on the mill parts you can't move otherwise
Yeah but it still won’t fit in the dovetails. Cheers
Thanks a lot for your videos and info 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍
Great video 👍
I really hope you fill this mill with epoxy granite, I’m curious what it’ll do for vibration dampening and rigidity on a mill that size.
Spindle bearing like these can be greased as well as oiled. Thrust bearings are self centering, so when loosened they may feel sloppy. Just buy a tube of bluing dye. Really, as Klaufmann said, it’s cheap enough, and Linseed oil is problematic for this purpose. Otherwise, very good work.
Good information! Enjoyed !
Why did you add the scotchbrite that has fine abrasive particles to your coolant. I'm shure that can not possibly be good for the machines.
I would not let that coolant near my machines unless the grit was been filtered with a super fine filter now.
I guess not all advice I get is great advice. :)
Maaybe the day the motor control board kicks the can will be the day to do some diy brushless more powerful motor conversion ?
InMy Opinion ,Bearings are generally fairly inexpensive and i personally always try to purchase the highest quality i have available for that paticular job i like to keep a Journal on all my indivualMachinery and Equipment that gives me the ability to reflect or reveiw on what parts do or have worked the best for that application and whenever possible i like to keep extras in stock to make future repairs or maintenance easier , i do that with Gaskets as a generalrule of thumb also
Nice job fella 👍
Awesome video! The only question I have is...instead of using a carbide bit and stone to plane the header, why not just tack some ultrafine grit wet/dry sandpaper to your inspection plate and level it on there? I just bought a grade AA plate for leveling mating surfaces on small engines and I will never go back to depending on paper gasket covered in gasket maker again. Maybe you guys with years more experience than I have may offer a reasonable explanation? I do get the whole "the small imperfections will help hold onto lubricant" aspect of it. I'm just curious.
Is sanding on a surface plate actually good enough that a gasket isn't needed? I never would have expected that since I intuitively think sanding like that isn't particularly accurate. (edges will be sanded more than the middle of a surface)
Awesome! i am inspired to change the bearings on my SX2.7. Could you tell me the bearing sizes you used or a link to them? Thanks
Good stuff!!! Keep em coming!!!!
Keep making vids they are very good !=8)
You are the best 👍
I suggest neodymium magnets for relocating the way protector rather than having to drill and relocate.
Hey,, great video,, I have the same mill, At the top of the spindle, With the new angular contact bearing, did you put the thrust bearing back , use a spacer or did you only use the angular contact bearing ??
Thanks
oh hell yeah it's This Old Tony's Australian cousin
Another good video
The problem is (was) not with the brushed DC motor as it is capable to produce the nominal torque even at standstill. The problem is (was, again) the open loop drive electronics and the lack of forced cooling.
DC motors are so great that they were even used even in MW power level locomotives.
Maybe the only downside of DC motors are the brushes and the commutator.
Love your vids.
You're an inspiration, dude :)