Minimill Belt Drive Upgrade Part Two
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ต.ค. 2011
- makermasters.com I walk you through the Belt drive upgrade to Minimill X2. I show how I installed a Stirling Steele belt drive upgrade kit on a Sieg X2 Minimill. I plan to and CNC next. You can watch PART ONE at • Minimill Belt Drive Up... .
- วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Thanks Bill, this well presented video really made the conversion on my mill easy! Your video is so clear and easy to follow. One picture is truly worth a thousand words. Thank you! - Tom
Thanks Bill. I just destroyed that plastic gear in my mill while machining up parts for my CNC conversion. I needed to see exactly how to take the mill apart (to measure the spindle shaft) to see if this kit would fit.
After seeing your video, I took it apart, got the measurement and ordered the kit. Thanks for posting!!!
Bill, Thank you for the videos. My kit is due in tomorrow and although I did not expect any trouble installing, it is really helpful seeing it done once before.
Thank you for making this video. I recently bought this conversion kit and I was really glad to see a simple video explanation of the installation. Kudos.
Excellent older vid that still makes sense today. Thanks Bill!
Dave, I'm glad the video helped. It easier to see it done than to read about it.
Very thorough and easy to understand video. Seems like a simple conversion. Well presented. Thank you.
That was a good video. I just received Little Machine Shops belt drive kit. I am going to make a cup of coffee and head out to my workshop and install the belt drive on my Harbor Freight Mini Mill!
Dan Moreton it is not difficult. It will make a world of difference.
Verne, you won't regret it. Stirling Steele did a good job on this kit.
Great video. As soon as I got my Harbor Freight mini mill I ordered the belt conversion right away and installed it. Works fine. thank you
Your welcome. The upgrade works very well.
Glad it is working for you Edsel.
very informative video,thanks Bill,thanks for sharing.
i haven't got a mini mill yet, but when i do get it im doing this conversion, thanks for sharing,
Great Job Bill!
Great video Bill!!! Just purchased the same mill this morning, and want to install the same kit. Can’t find this kit on eBay yet, but still looking.
Thanks again for your video!
Littlemachineshop carries the kit.
Thank you. There are many sources for info on converting a minimill to CNC. I plan to do a conversion using plans from the same company that made the belt drive kit. Stirling Steele. There is a link to my blog in the video description box. Search for minimill. I published it in Oct 2011. TH-cam won't let me post a link.
Mr. Matic, that is great news and you are very welcome. How did you improve it?
Bill
Good video, looks like you fly RC planes !!
Sweet video, I am picking up my Harbor Freight Mini Mill this weekend. I will look for one of these conversion kits. Thanks for showing how easy it is to install.
Are you considering installing digital readouts on the mill? I think that might be a good and useful project.
Thanks for the vid!!
Thanks for the vid... just bought my MiniMill and already going to upgrade it..... not a fan of the sound or the plastic gears Grizzly G8689
Excellent Bill, thanks for a great video. You got your self a new subscriber. Did you ever do the CNC conversion on this mill?
It always get's me how quiet these are after the belt drives fitted. Beforehand they're as loud as a concrete mixer full of bricks. :D
Nice job, when I get one that will be the first thing I do on it:-)
Your welcome. I hope the video helped.
I plan to add DRO to the mill along with CNC. I already have the parts.
Can you add more information on the DRO's you intend to use? I am looking at a simple and inexpensive magnetic DRO setup in all three X, Y, and Z-axis. However, my first concern is where to place the X axis DRO; in front or behind the slide table? I think that placing the DRO behind the table will limit the travel of the Y-axis in one direction.
Have you considered these issues and if so, what have you chosen and why? Thanks for helpful videos.
Found this older video but seems to me unless you take our the gears you will still be turning them from the main shaft. A lot more work to take out the internal gears to make it quiet.
There are some good plans available from stirlingsteele website. I can't include the address but just add a period and com. I am working on a conversion using these plans.
gpruitt54 The DRO I plan to install are from a kit from Shumatech. It is the Shumatech DRO375. It uses inexpensive scales available on ebay or Amazon. If you want more information, go to my website and contact me from there. Maybe I will do a video of the install.
thanks for posting this..I just got this mill and I am converting it before I even plug it in for the first time.. I got a kit on e-bay but it is not nice like the one you got from little machine shop it had no cover and the bottom plate was not trimmed on the corners also there was no plastic hose to put on the shaft to prevent gears from falling down... needless to say I am ordering a kit from little machine shop when I get my next check...also I think the belt on yours looks a bit wider then the one I got. P.S my kit came from turkey ...go figure lol
Your welcome. There are several copy kits but this one from Stirling Steele (Little Machine shop) is the best one I have seen.
I think the kit you got from little machine shop is great and will look at this as lesson learned ..you make really good videos and hope you will keep posting them..
@John4566442 Thanks for the kind words.the conversion was easy. Folks from any skill level could do it.
Great idea. Wish someone would create one for my Grizzly G0704 which also has a plastic gear - that I keep replacing.
There are several for the G0704. Have you seen the one by Benchtop Precision? th-cam.com/video/qI_kbzUeeQI/w-d-xo.html
You mentioned you initially had a thicker base and this one has a thinner base, why did you switch? I want to make one but I only have 1/2" alum plate rather than the 5/8" as called out in the plans.
I know this is an old video but I just ordered the Sieg X2 with an air spring, and the belt drive conversion. I ordered from Little Machine shop during my break at work yesterday. Before start machining anything important, I want to practice on scrap. Would you know where and how I could get some aluminum pieces just to mess with so I can get acquainted with my mill?
rdsii64 There are many sources for aluminum online. including ebay and amazon. Do a search for aluminum bar or aluminum plate. If you still can't find what you are looking for tweet me at @BillGriggs.
What part are you referring to?
while I'm waiting on my mill and tolling to be delivered, I'm trying to figure out my mill stand.
what did you use? Can I build one out of 4x4's and a really thick top?
rdsii64 I got a mill stand made by Shopfox. It is fine. I see no reason you couldn't make a stand from lumber.
Where did you get the kit?
Are you still able to use as drill press after mounting belt drive also?
I have quantum bf16 mill, i dont know its class but although it seems like x2, quill end on top bearings are very different.
ps: what i meant by drill press, drilling by pressing quill...
Yes. You still have full quill movement.
Thanks for all the good comments. I got my conversion kit from littlemachineshop website. The parts are made by Stirling Steele dot com.
Great tutorial. I think I will do this to my X2. The internal gears are still engaged, right? Have you thought about removing them to make this run quieter?
Many people do remove the internal gears. I just never bothered.
Bill Griggs I see. Thank you for your reply.
I think you put the High/Low gear selector in the middle, and this will disengage the remaining gears.
You are correct.
Dave McAnulty
Oh cool! Thanks.
Where did you get the replacement plastic white gear?
Little machine shop carries them.
Thank you so much
Do you get a lot more spindle speed with this belt conversion?
+GunsNpolitics 4300 RPM.
Bill Griggs That's much better than 2500. Thanks!
Your welcome.
i'm watching it now. or rather again.
I don't know why you didn't remove the redundant gears, that's one the main benefits of the belt drive conversion, the silent running of the machine, with the gears still in there you'll still get the chatter from them
I didn't know better at the time.
Plesae give methe link to buy this kit
Little Machine Shop carries them. littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2560&category=
the top of the quill shaft is always going to be southpaw. At least you're smarter than the last guy I watched do this process he pulled the quill key out and forgot to replace it.# Golling on the pulley
why belt drive?
I work in an actual machine shop for 40 years. Guess what newbies a Bridgeport mill is LOUD because it has a geared head. I am not willing to give this machine less torque than it already has. If anything I will buy the metal gear set for it
That is certainly an option. Best wishes to you.
I got the kit at Littlemachineshop. Look for their com address
why not just change the plastic gear with the metal gear and that's a 123 job, right?
+En Liri Several reasons. Increased speed ranges. Quieter running. Easier repair..... Changing a belt is asier than changing a gear.
+Bill Griggs a plastic gear would break first before the metal gears. IOW, the plastic gear is a kind of safety protection for the motor
you can, they are available but the gear will strip a tooth before shattering your bit which happens if the tool takes too big a bite. plastic gears are a cheap safety feature, much the same as comes on mini lathes
l want the gears teeth gears and teeth belt, that would be best, l have this mod already. China lazy’ness will never produce a great unit of anything.
It's torture to watch you use tools.Wow......
That was 10 years ago. I got better. LOL