- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
- Messages
- 394
A. Mill description
Sieg SXL2 Plus is the common X2 Hi Torque Solid Column Mini Mill, sold worldwide with many variations and under many different names. Different companies sell their variation with their brand name. In my case the SXL2Plus has the 500 Watt (0.67 hp) brushless spindle drive motor, a 3MT spindle but instead of the regular X2 mill table it has the extra long table from the X1 mill.
The Sieg SXL2 Plus mill
My mill
The company that sells it over here in Europe is ARC Eurotrade (I have no association with them) and the main reason I bought it was the extra long table and the powerful motor.
After the long journey of making modifications in order to make it a precision tool (mainly tramming without shims http://www.hobby-machinist.com/posts/268607/ adding bearings to X&Y feed screws and reducing backlash to Z fine feed mechanism) I decided to convert it to CNC.
B. CNC JOURNEY
My initial research lead me to categorize the CNC journey into 4 main categories
1. acquiring the necessary parts
2. make the necessary parts and modifications
3. test and verify the system
4. fit the parts to the mill
As the mill is used mainly for hobby, I tried to keep the costs as low as possible without sacrificing quality and functionality of the whole project.
B1. Parts & costs
I ordered in the last 24 months the following parts:
EUR 45 1x TB6560 controller that proved to be an adventure by itself to make it work as it should (read the full story here http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/retrofitting-the-famous-tb6560-cnc-board.34352/).
EUR 63.00 3x NEMA23 stepper motors 57BYGH56-401B (12.6Kgcm 1.8Degre 4Leads 56mm)
EUR 32.68 1x L500mm CNC SFU1204 BallScrew with Single Ballnut End Machined STS (for X axis)
EUR 22.27 1x anti backlash ballscrew 1605-350mm-C7 (for Z axis)
EUR 23.95 1x anti backlash ballscrew 1605-300mm-C7 with end machined (For Y axis)
EUR 1.59 10Pcs 18mm x 10mm x 5.5mm Silver Tone Metal Ball Thrust Bearing
EUR 10.79 8P 4 Pin Male & Female Diameter 16mm Wire Panel Connector GX16-4 Socket Plug AR (to connect the motors to the controller board)
EUR 8.11 PY4: 3x mm PITCH HTD TIMING BELT PULLEY
EUR 28.00 3mm HTD® Timing Belts 6 mm Width (2 belts 285 mm Length + 2 belts 267 mm Length) ( £ 19.03 About € 28)
EUR 3.26 1pcs 3A Analog Panel AMP Current Meter Ammeter Gauge 85C1 0-3A AK (for the power supply unit)
EUR 1.39 1pcs RED LED Panel Meter Digital Voltmeter DC 0-99.9V new (for the power supply unit)
EUR 7.11 4x IC TOSHIBA ZIP-25 TB6560AHQ (to repair the broken controller board)
TOTAL COST € 247,15
The TB6560 board
One of the ballscrews (Y)
X&Y bearings
NEMA23 stepper motors 57BYGH56-401B
Motor pulleys
Belts
Voltmeter
Ammeter
...To be continued...
Sieg SXL2 Plus is the common X2 Hi Torque Solid Column Mini Mill, sold worldwide with many variations and under many different names. Different companies sell their variation with their brand name. In my case the SXL2Plus has the 500 Watt (0.67 hp) brushless spindle drive motor, a 3MT spindle but instead of the regular X2 mill table it has the extra long table from the X1 mill.
The Sieg SXL2 Plus mill
My mill
The company that sells it over here in Europe is ARC Eurotrade (I have no association with them) and the main reason I bought it was the extra long table and the powerful motor.
After the long journey of making modifications in order to make it a precision tool (mainly tramming without shims http://www.hobby-machinist.com/posts/268607/ adding bearings to X&Y feed screws and reducing backlash to Z fine feed mechanism) I decided to convert it to CNC.
B. CNC JOURNEY
My initial research lead me to categorize the CNC journey into 4 main categories
1. acquiring the necessary parts
2. make the necessary parts and modifications
3. test and verify the system
4. fit the parts to the mill
As the mill is used mainly for hobby, I tried to keep the costs as low as possible without sacrificing quality and functionality of the whole project.
B1. Parts & costs
I ordered in the last 24 months the following parts:
EUR 45 1x TB6560 controller that proved to be an adventure by itself to make it work as it should (read the full story here http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/retrofitting-the-famous-tb6560-cnc-board.34352/).
EUR 63.00 3x NEMA23 stepper motors 57BYGH56-401B (12.6Kgcm 1.8Degre 4Leads 56mm)
EUR 32.68 1x L500mm CNC SFU1204 BallScrew with Single Ballnut End Machined STS (for X axis)
EUR 22.27 1x anti backlash ballscrew 1605-350mm-C7 (for Z axis)
EUR 23.95 1x anti backlash ballscrew 1605-300mm-C7 with end machined (For Y axis)
EUR 1.59 10Pcs 18mm x 10mm x 5.5mm Silver Tone Metal Ball Thrust Bearing
EUR 10.79 8P 4 Pin Male & Female Diameter 16mm Wire Panel Connector GX16-4 Socket Plug AR (to connect the motors to the controller board)
EUR 8.11 PY4: 3x mm PITCH HTD TIMING BELT PULLEY
EUR 28.00 3mm HTD® Timing Belts 6 mm Width (2 belts 285 mm Length + 2 belts 267 mm Length) ( £ 19.03 About € 28)
EUR 3.26 1pcs 3A Analog Panel AMP Current Meter Ammeter Gauge 85C1 0-3A AK (for the power supply unit)
EUR 1.39 1pcs RED LED Panel Meter Digital Voltmeter DC 0-99.9V new (for the power supply unit)
EUR 7.11 4x IC TOSHIBA ZIP-25 TB6560AHQ (to repair the broken controller board)
TOTAL COST € 247,15
The TB6560 board
One of the ballscrews (Y)
X&Y bearings
NEMA23 stepper motors 57BYGH56-401B
Motor pulleys
Belts
Voltmeter
Ammeter
...To be continued...