Sieg X2 convertion advice

[craigrobbo]

Hey guys.

So a while back i did ask about off the shelf kits, however a lot of people seem to be converting these machines themselves.

I mostly cut aluminum and would like to do light steel and my CNC 3040 just ain't/cannot cut it (pun intended)

Right now funds are VERY limited due to the MRS losing her job, but I want this to work for me to help balance out funds.

So does anyone know what the cheapest way of going about this would be?

Thanks

Craig

[Jonathan]

The cheapest (and therefore probably the worst) way to convert it would be to simply put a pulley on each axis and use that to connect stepper motors via timing belts, without changing the original leadscrews. There will be a lot of backlash and the maximum feedrate will be fairly slow, however it would still be use-able and enable you to CNC mill the parts for a better conversion using ballscrews. I put stepper motors on my mill this way, but never got round to changing to ballscrews since the router does most things the mill can do:

CNC Mill, Motor / Driver testing - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVZen2An4&feature=plcp)

[jonnydeen]

Hi craig

limited funds...
i know the feeling, i would have to admit that im in the same sort of situation. although those x2 mills have been converted by countless people and there is a hell of alot of information available regarding cnc conversions

first of all i think some more info would be useful

1) is it a standard x2 or another variant (eg sx2p etc)?
2) how confining is your budget?
3) do you have access to a lathe?

[craigrobbo]

Hi craig

limited funds...
i know the feeling, i would have to admit that im in the same sort of situation. although those x2 mills have been converted by countless people and there is a hell of alot of information available regarding cnc conversions

first of all i think some more info would be useful

1) is it a standard x2 or another variant (eg sx2p etc)?
2) how confining is your budget?
3) do you have access to a lathe?

Hi there.

Its actually the Clarke variant but is identical to the base.model x2. Just colour.

Budget is actually non assistant so I'm scraping the penny jar as I go
I do own a small lathe, a hobbymat md65

Preferably either ball screw or some kind of anti backlash for the current screws is ideal

Thanks in advance

[craigrobbo]

The cheapest (and therefore probably the worst) way to convert it would be to simply put a pulley on each axis and use that to connect stepper motors via timing belts, without changing the original leadscrews. There will be a lot of backlash and the maximum feedrate will be fairly slow, however it would still be use-able and enable you to CNC mill the parts for a better conversion using ballscrews. I put stepper motors on my mill this way, but never got round to changing to ballscrews since the router does most things the mill can do:

CNC Mill, Motor / Driver testing - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVZen2An4&feature=plcp)

I would really like to do it with ball screws but if costs rocket then some sort of anti-backlash for my current setup would be great.

My mill has quite ALOT of bacl lash i would say at least a full turn of the handle so its quite dire!