Looking for an X2 type mini mill, NOT WORKING. Looking for everything but the gearbox motor assy. Knowing how useless these are, I thought hopefully, there might be some hidden under dust and benches etc.
Kryn
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Looking for an X2 type mini mill, NOT WORKING. Looking for everything but the gearbox motor assy. Knowing how useless these are, I thought hopefully, there might be some hidden under dust and benches etc.
Kryn
Whats so bad about them ?
Was wondering about using some loyalty rewards points to buy one.
Bill
Hi Bill, I have one and had all sorts of problems, plastic gears, electronic boards, switches, to small a usable area X= 265 mm. It was bought from ozemestore (on fleabay), who strip a machine for spares, as they don't carry spare parts. After sales service, non existent from them. I require a new circuit board $200 from China 3 month wait, a new speed controller, emailed last week, still no reply.Quote:
Originally Posted by steamingbill
Parts are available from the USA through Little Machine Shop but postage is quite a killer, when you only get what you need. This unit was given to me by my brother.(No wonder).
This unit or very similar are sold by H&F, Paramount Brown and others.
Kryn
The Sieg X2 milling machine, also known as "the mini-mill", has been THE best selling hobbymill for many many years. It is unbeatable value for the little money it costs. Proof for this is how few there are on the second hand market. If it was a bad design, or too badly executed, the second hand marked would be full of X2 minimills for cheap. Not so. Even people upgrading to a larger mill tend to keep their mini-mill for smallish jobs.Quote:
Originally Posted by steamingbill
Of course it depends what one needs a mill for. It is like with shoes:
- If you need size 12 there is no point in buying size 9, no matter what the bargain - you will not be happy.
- Same if you need a specialized mountaineer boot to climb a 5'000m peak, or ballet dancing shoes, you will never be happy with a generic Chinese tennis shoe.
But if after a small hobbymill to mainly build things like a small Stuart 10, a mini-mill is perfectly fine with plenty of reserves. There is great support for it on the web. Just make sure you get a genuine Sieg, the real thing, not an inferior almost look-alike copy for $50 less. The genuine Sieg already pushes the envelope for price/value to the absolute outer limits. Push a little more and you end up with.... well .... junk. And if one day you upgrade to a larger mill, you will likely get most of your money back when selling the mini-mill - provided you looked well after it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cba_melbourne
The one I've got is a copy, I reckon. My biggest gripe is that spare parts have to come from the US, which I don't mind, but it's the postage that's a KILLER. The one I've got was given to me by my brother, so it's a freebie. As stated earlier I've had to replace a few of the parts, so having to wait a couple of weeks for parts, is annoying. Circuit board and speed control switch at the moment is what I'm waiting on. Anyone know which wires to cut into to be able to fit a forward/reverse switch?
Don't get me wrong, it's a great machine, when it's running!!!!!!
Kryn
My X2 has been quite reliable although I must admit, it doesn't get a lot of use.
I got rid of the gears and fitted a belt drive as soon as I got it, a must for this machine. Just today, I managed to get a bit enthusiastic with a cut and stalled the spindle. If I'd still had the gears, they would have broken for sure.
Still contemplating the CNC option ...
Spare parts for the X2 (and other Sieg machines) are available in Australia from Ausee Machines and Tools.
Reasonable prices and fast delivery!
jchappo,
Thanks for the link. I've been looking for some bits for my Sieg C6 lathe but shipping from overseas was a killer.
Be very careful with adding a reverse switch. Most mini-mills use a fairly primitive DC speed control for brushed motors (only the newest models have brushless motors/controllers, and you would know if this is what you have as its a premium option). The problem with reversing simple "single quadrant" speed controllers is, if you switch direction before the spindle stops you instantly destroy the controller. If you do not really need to reverse spindle direction, I reckon its better not to have this feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore
If you really really need a reverse feature and already have a fried controller that needs replacing, your best bet would be to buy a good "four quadrant" speed controller. This allows reversing by electronic switching, including controlled accelleration/decelleration.
If you really really need a reverse switch and you are locked into the standard speed controller, it would be wise to make some sort of interlock to the direction reversal switch. Or at the very least, put a red "missile launch" safey cover over the reverse toggle switch, to avoid accidental actuation. To install such a toggle switch is actually very easy, it just needs to reverse the two wires that go to the motor. Keep in mind its live mains voltage. Also keep in mind we have 240V here, If ordering from the US you have to make sure they know you do not want a 110V controller. Funny you have to order this from the US, when they are made in China...
Regarding the plastic gears..... at only AU$11 and AU$12 each, one could regard them like a fuse or a shear pin. One can buy many spare gears for the cost of a belt drive upgrade. The belt drive is much smoother though.