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Belt drive for mini mill / x2 sieg arc

where did you get yours

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Clive Farrar19/01/2010 19:59:02
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125 forum posts
41 photos
I have just bust the third main gear in the head. I threatened myself that the next time that happened I would bet a belt drive kit.
 
I have looked at Stirling Steel and the little machine shop in the US and the shiiping cost are about £30 with a risk of duty at this end on top.
 
Do you know of any suppliers for this kit in the UK.
 
I have already tried Chester, Axminster, Warco and ARC they do not do them, they like selling the gears to much.
 
I thought i would ask on here before I give in the the mighty dollar.
 
Regards Clive
John Rudd19/01/2010 21:22:08
1479 forum posts
1 photos
Hey Clive....its you...Fancy seeing you here
 
 
I made a belt drive conversion based on the Jerry Rollet design..I can email you the pdf or you can download it from the Minimill group on Yahoo..
 
Nice to hear from you...
 
regards
 
John
Peter G. Shaw20/01/2010 17:07:26
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1531 forum posts
44 photos
Hi,
 
If this turns out to be a duplicate posting, please accept apologies - not sure where the original went.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "the third main gear in the head." Do you mean the third set of gears on the intermediate shaft and the mandrel? Because if you do, then Arc Euro Trade do sell metal replacement gears.  (Look under one of the lathe spare parts, C3 I think.) 
 
Like you I have broken these gears, and have put replacement plastic ones in, but this was before I discovered the metal gears. I have bought the metal gears ready for next time, and as far as I can tell they are exact duplicates.
 
Peter G. Shaw
John Rudd20/01/2010 18:53:21
1479 forum posts
1 photos
Peter,
 
What Clive is saying is that it's the third time he's broken the main gear in the mill head.....
 
Clive, apologies if I got it wrong...
Stub Mandrel20/01/2010 19:43:05
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4318 forum posts
291 photos
1 articles
Interesting stuff. i bought one of the first batch of X2's - I think it's number 3 from memory. Ketan mentioned unspecified mods to solve problems other distributors had.
 
I note that they don't do the X2 any more. Although its the 'sister' of the mini lathe it seems to be flawed. Unlike a lathe, milling seems to demand both speed and rigidity. I can't do over-sized or heavy jobs by just slowing it all down, like I do with the lathe.
 
I haven't bust any gears, but keep it in low gear all the time, but some mounting screws came lose and the controller board shorted out on the main pillar. Arc replaced it FOC, but I got a note published in ME or MEW advising people to pop some insulation tape in the control box, just in case.
 
I have considered the metal gear conversion for my mini lathe, but having done the bearing swap I don't really look forward to taking it all apart again... there's plenty of grease in there now, though there wasn't at first, just plastic dust! (it was a clarke machine).
 
One mod I have done (besides 3-axis DRO's) is to scrape the fit between the pillar angle bracket and the base. the contact area was only about 20% and now its more like 80% and spread over the whole area. It wasn't pretty scraping, but it made the machine much more rigid. I haven't heard of anyone else doing this.
 
I am considering using an epoxy-base resin to make it totally solid, and possibly doing something to take the swivel out of the swivel joint on the pillar.
 

Edited By Neil on 20/01/2010 19:52:43

Clive Farrar20/01/2010 21:17:52
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125 forum posts
41 photos
Hi Gents thanks for the responses.
 
John was correct it is the third time i have popped a gear and i was in the low ratio.
My high low lever does not lock in very well despite redoing the ball seatings twice.
Under the vibration you get with the machine on anything but polishing cuts it jumps out of gear and that slowly over stresses the teath which eventualy go pop!
 
I did have a spring retainer on it to keep it in mesh but i was in a hurry and left it of      BUM !
 
I know of the metal gears and the fact that the two gears  inside the head are identical between the mini mill and mini lathe.
Although you can stall the machine for its size it is very powerfull and i do not fancy the concequences of doing that with metal gears.
 
Hence the belt drive cos that can slip briefly to i hit the e stop.  It also has the advantage of giving and even lower bottom end speed.
 
So finally yes John I would like the drawings , PDF will do.
Do you still have my e mail address?
If not i will PM you in RCMF
 
 
Regards Clive
John Rudd20/01/2010 21:46:20
1479 forum posts
1 photos
Clive,
 
Got your pm on RCMF and sent the info..
 
Cheers
 
John
 
BTW when you strip the gears out, go for the taper roller bearing conversion...Well worth money and I havent looked back..Machine is soooo much quieter...
Clive Farrar13/02/2010 19:29:14
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125 forum posts
41 photos
We chaps I finally got through to M machine , who advertise on here, and picked up most of what I needed on Friday for a very reasonable price.  They have loads of stuff and were very helpfull indeed, and the remaining bit is on order and should be in soon
I would reccomend them to anyone.
 
I now need to cross check the drawing I got from John Rudd and start on my conversion.
I persisted in trying to find the Ali stock because i had heard of the problems with size missmatch from the US machines.
 
I am so glad i resisted the USA option. A large part of that choice was the potential duty and VAT that would be due on top of the purchase price and shipping charges.
 
I shall let you know how I get on.
 
Regards Clive
Peter Wood 518/02/2010 17:50:14
94 forum posts
11 photos
Hi All
 
I have just discovered this forum when searching for info on a different topic. This thread struck a chord as I have also stripped three sets of gears on my Warco Mini Mill and indeed only have low gear on the present set. Apart fom the cost of new gears replacing them is real pain. Like Clive I have had problems with the gear selector lever. Last time the grub screw came loose allowing the selector fork to drop out of its pivot and fall into the gears!!
 
The belt conversion therefore looks very attractive. I am unable to find the Jerry Rollet article in the Yahoo forum. Could somebody post the address pls.
 
Alternately I would be interested in John's pdf drawings.
 
Regards Peter
John Rudd18/02/2010 18:43:11
1479 forum posts
1 photos
Peter,
 
Send me a message with your email address and I'll forward you the relevant drawings
Peter Gain19/02/2010 12:00:02
103 forum posts
Hi All,
This idea of belt drive conversion, I am not familiar with the X2/X3 range of machines. Does anyone know of a set of parts or a drawing to enable a Warco WM16 mill to be converted?
I am very interested in obtaining a usable low speed but a cursury look at the machine does not look as though belt drive conversion will be easy.
Any ideas please?
Peter Gain.
Peter Wood 520/02/2010 17:37:54
94 forum posts
11 photos
John
 
Did you get my e-mail?
 
Peter
John Rudd20/02/2010 19:20:41
1479 forum posts
1 photos
Peter,
 
I've just checked my messages and there's one from you to which I've replied...
 
Didnt receive any notification that I received any messages tho'
 
Good job you posted here...
 
Any how there are two mails I've sent, the second is the JR version...
 
 
cheers
 
John

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