fine adjustment

[GerryParticipant @gerry23242]

[GerryParticipant @gerry23242]

Hi all, my sieg sx2 mini mill arrived last week, but, the fine feed is not working, is this common with Chinese machines?

 

Any information as to fixing this as opposed to sending it back would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Gerry

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Are you engaging the dog teeth on the coarse feed handwheel by pushing it in towards the head casting, I’m assuming the mechanism is the same as on my X2 clone

[John ShepherdParticipant @johnshepherd38883]

Gerry

A bit more information would be useful but on the assumption that it is the z or ‘up and down feed’ you are referring to, I am not aware that it is a common problem other than there is a lot of backlash.

Not sure what sort of detail is in the manual that presumably came with your mill as they do vary. but If you don’t have a detailed drawing and parts list may I suggest you download a manual from one of the US suppliers like Grizzly, the one I downloaded is much better than the one from the manufacturer.

There is nothing complex about the fine feed and I suspect that with a drawing it should be a quick fix (famous last words).

 

Hope that helps

 

 

[maurice bennieParticipant @mauricebennie99556]

hi Gerry.have you found the button ,left side at the top ,try pushing it in while twisting the quill. it sometimes is a job to find it.I think its a gear or something that the teeth do not mesh.

Good luck Maurice.

[GerryParticipant @gerry23242]

Wow, what a great response in such a short time, very impressed.

I went into shed to check for a button but not found, but I realized on checking that I had not been engaging the dog teeth properly so thanks for that.

 

John I will take you’re advice and download the grizzly manual, the one that came with it was a bit useless although comical in parts due to the translation lol.

 

Thanks to all.

Gerry

 

[David HaynesParticipant @davidhaynes53962]

Hi Gerry,

Just out of interest, which supplier did you get the mill from and are you happy with the service so far. How well is the mill working? How quickly did the order come and did you have to strip and rebuild it? A poorly translated manual is not in itself a reflection of the supplier.

Thanks

Dave

[GerryParticipant @gerry23242]

Hi Dave, I bought it from Axminster Tools, the service is second to none, next day delivery.

The mill is working fine, I think I need to slacken off the gibs slightly on the x axis.

I did strip and rebuild just to make sure that there wasn’t any casting sand on the ways, virtually none found.

 

I’ve downloaded the Grizzly manual as suggested by John, very much better, the one supplied was not very comprehensive but quite funny lol.

 

When looking for a mill I found many similar machines but they did not have the sx2 brushless and belt driven motor.

 

Gerry

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Hi Gerry, glad you’re sorted, I must admit the belt drive and larger motor will be a great improvement over the original X2. I built my own belt drive after shredding the poxy plastic gears on the original drive system. A bigger motor is next on the cards along with the CNC conversion. These are great little mills for smaller stuff. Enjoy

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Hi,

 

From the look of the SX2 on the Axminster website, this machine in the Z department appears to be the same as the Warco MiniMill. In which case….

 

As already been said, to engage/disengage the fine feed it is necessary to push/pull the three-handled lever sideways to engage/disengage the the splines.

 

Unfortunately, it may not end there as on my machine, a friends machine, and that of someone else who asked for help on this site, the fine feed knob, it’s drive rod and the worm drive may well be tight almost to the point of being unusable.

 

If you refer to this thread: Disassembly of MiniMill/X2/XJ-12 Ballbearings started by MarcuSweden 15/04/2010, you will find near the end some photos taken by me showing what I had to do to get mine working half-way decently.

 

Regards,

 

Peter G. Shaw

[jomacParticipant @jomac]

Peter and others, mine is a well used Sieg X2, The fine down feed was giving me problems with too much backlash, so I stripped it down, and redrilled the holes in the universal joint and replaced the pins with with slightly bigger SS nut and bolts, squashed in the mortice and tenons for a smooth fit, and then made up a new better fitting key for the keyway. Because the keyway in the down feed gets worn a lot, the new key is two sizes, one for the shaft the bigger size for the down feed handle, I now have only 2-3 divisions of play as against 10-15. It was a bit stiff to start with, but after a while its now OK.

Merry Xmas and Happy new year

John Holloway

[jomacParticipant @jomac]

Hi again, I forgot the most important thing I did when I refurbished the fine down feed and that was replacing or rotating the pin in the housing, it is a pin, part No 83 in one of the catalogues (they are still available over there) this pin locks the hardened gear shaft in the housing, it is soft metal and wear somewhat on one side, this allows a lot of backlash, As it is some time ago when I refurbished the down feed I forgot whether I just rotated the pin or made a new one, anyway it removed 1/3 rotation of the downfeed knob. Gerry. because of backlash, when drilling or using a slot drill under power, and the headstock is not locked, use one hand to keep a light upward pressure on the main downfeed handle, (clockwise), that will stop the mill from cutting upto 1mm more than you need, ie, you are milling down to a set depth and only need another 40 thou. I did alleviate most of my problems, by purchasing a 600mm long measuring gauge with separate read out gauge of E/bay and was lucky I was the only bidder and got it cheap.

John Holloway

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

John,

 

Unfortunately, although the manual does indeed show it, neither of the two Warco MiniMills that I have seen have the universal joint. Instead it is a straight rod. This I think is part of the problem because the block at the knob end is not accurately lined up with the hole where the worm is. The other problem was that the worm itself is too long for it’s casing such that the keeper plate forces the worm into the hole thus jamming it. I had to insert a washer on the screws between the keeper head and the main block to gety it to work at all.

 

Regards,

 

Peter

[SpringbokParticipant @springbok]

I am sure that all these machines come out of the same chinese factory no matter the flavour and the quality control is next to zero. Being a cynical old 70s age when whomever states something like stripped tested etc; I think oh yes… I have had 2 chinese machines and both needed stripping, testing and in one case new parts made.

I was looking at some of my old ME mag’s tonight and sighed and said to myself “they were the days when you could get decent kit”

 

A good christmas and new year to all

 

Bob

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Bob, its actually the other way round, a central agency distributes the plans etc to a number of factories, and that where the variables come from, some factories are very good, and some create rubbish that the good factories proberbly melt down in their foundries. The buyers here tend to buy off the factory floorto ensure the quality. Ian S C

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Hi Gerry, if you need spares, then you might find Arceurotrade a better bet than Axminster,as they have a detailed understanding of the machines they sell and good access to their suppliers. Efficient delivery is less a test of good service than in life support when you are in a fix…

[David HaynesParticipant @davidhaynes53962]

Interesting point from Steve re Arc Euro and Axminster. I am interested in a X3. Arc have given me 16 weeks delivery for and X3 in red and Axminster have confidently given me 8 weeks lead time for an X3 in white and £50 dearer. But for service, I have heard good first hand for Axminster and also ArcEuro. Arc do have limited spares, but the range is limited to.

Dave

Edited By David Haynes on 18/12/2011 16:15:19

[mickParticipant @mick65121]

Hi. Steve. Sorry to disagree, but I’ve found Axminster’s after sales and tec staff to be on the ball with most things, like when my machine hacksaw suddenly stopped two days out of warrenty, the bloke I spoke to didn’t immeaditly know the cause, but he got back to me an hour later and told me to check a small reset button on the control box, which was spot on. They also supplied a new spindle for my bench drill on next day delivery.

Anyway how’s that engine of yours progressing?

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Hi Mick,

 

Been away so job stopped, but I do have two crankcase blanks with the camshaft holes drilled. I have been fitting chinese scales to the mill ready for the next stages.

 

When I called Axminster to order a chuck backplate for my C6B, they first told me the C6 didn’t have a backplate, the chuck bolted onto the spindle. When I argued the point (I did have one in my hand!) the guy said they had never stocked them. On the other hand, when I rang Arc for a C6 banjo and countershaft, they had the parts sent direct from the factory to my house. Fair enough it is only one example.

 

Steve

[mickParticipant @mick65121]

Hi Steve.

Like all things engineering we all have difference experiences, you pays your money and takes your chance. You’ll never regret fitting readouts to your mill

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