Griz

I still use the R8 drill chuck that came with my mill sometimes when I'm doing manual operations, but if I need a hole or two that's bigger than 1/8" when I'm doing a CNC program, I just cut it with an end mill. The stepper motors sound cool when they're cutting a circle. (First thing I did when I hooked up the stepper motors was draw a circle with a sharpie)

TTS is Tormach Tool System. It helps you quickly change tools and the big deal for CNC is that you clamp the tool in the TTS toolholder and the height stays the same when you swap it in and out. With plain ol' R8 collets, you lose your height everytime you change tools. This isn't a big deal for manual operation (though it is very nice to have), but not losing the tool height is critical for CNC. I have a few hundred dollars worth of R8 collets sitting in a drawer... Wasted money now that I have converted to CNC and am using TTS. If you're planning to convert to CNC, just get TTS now. It will cost you $200 to get started instead of $100, but that $100 of R8 collets will be wasted when you go to CNC. Also, I have that 3" vice and it's the biggest I could see using on an X2. You will find that you never use the swivel base because it makes the vice too tall. Even without the base, you'll sometimes end up clamping stuff straight to the table because of height issues.

Relatively cheap way to get started with TTS: http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2454&category=209730719 http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-10pcs-C3-4-ER20A-1-38-Collet-Chuck-Straight-Collet-Chuck-CNC-Milling-Lathe-/251139490102?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160 Buy a couple of 3/8" collets, a couple of 1/4" and a 1/2" You'll likely find that most bits you use will have 3/8" or 1/4" shanks http://www.shars.com/product_categories/search/?search=er20 Later, when you convert to CNC, you'll want a height setter, but you don't really need it until then.

I would not have bought the collets... Knowing what I know now, I would have started with TTS right off the bat and bought a set of ER20 collets instead of R8 collets. You can get ER20 TTS collet holders very cheap on Ebay. Also, you really need a clamping kit. You'll find that work holding is an art and your hands will be tied with just a vice. http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1144&category=2 Edit: Do *not* spend money on a DRO if you intend to convert to CNC... The DRO will end up being a waste of money. (on the other hand if you don't intend to CNC, then a DRO is worth it's weight in gold )

CNC mills are cheaper than ever, but the tools and skill to do what you are doing is a lot more rare. Just having a CNC machine doesn't mean you have top-shelf CAD/CAM and have the ability to model and modify a slide like you have. Speaking of which, what was your process for modeling the slide? Did you blueprint it and build the model from scratch?

It looks awesome and there are a *lot* of high dollar gunsmiths who couldn't do that. How thick is the materal left in the pockets?

I have a dumb question. Why did you put the bottom of the slide against the moving jaw instead of the fixed jaw? I would have thought the other way around would be more accurate in theory.

I'll be interested in a report on how well that face mill works for you. My X2 with the stock motor doesn't have the horsepower to run a flycutter.. I always assumed a facemill would be just as demanding... your lms version of the x2 is a lot more powerful though.

A little cnc pr0n... I having a lot of fun optimizing my program and fixturing for this part which is kind of silly since it's for Open Class Marvel unit 1 .22 Bianchi cup guns. ... I bet there are only 50 or so of those in the world. .. Talk about a tiny market At first I was doing these 1 at a time using 4 tools and 2 fixtures. 2 fixtures meant accuracy suffered a little if wasn't super careful when moving from one to the other. .. then I went to the 8x fixture but still had to use two fixtures. (Was drilling the mounting holes first then using those to hold the part while I cut the perimeter. ) Learned how to use g52 and g51 for the 8x program. . Very cool. Then I got rid of the drill and countersunk tool changes by using the .125 end mill that I need for the lightening slot for the mounting hole too.. This takes a lot longer than drllling but without an ATC it's worth the tradeoff to me. Then after a lot of experimenting and scrap parts I figured out how to eliminate the second setup by leavng .025 tabs... I can snap the tabs off and clean up in about 10 seconds with a piece of sandpaper.

(something is borked with the quick reply feature.... I'm using Firefox on Ubuntu) More details on the barrel fitting fixture please! Will the same fixture work for bull and bushing barrels? Is it as simple as milling out a cradle for the barrel and using that dowel pin for repeating between test fittings? What issues did you find? Any thing you'd change for a rev 2?

bork

bork

Man, that is desperate.... Primers are not *that* scarce! Why not just sell the primed brass?

The Grizzly g0704 is the current hotness for benchtop cnc conversions and is what I would get if starting from scratch.

That's a Harbor Freight 44991 with a CNC Fusion kit (I wouldn't buy the CNC Fusion kit again, I'm going to end up replacing much of it). It's an older, less refined version of StraightUp_OGs mill. His mill and my mill are different versions of the "Sieg X2". Keep in mind that these really are toys for hobby use only, you'd have to be crazy to try to earn a living with them. I've just been figuring out G-code from info on the web, CNCzone is a good place to start... G-code is fairly simple although extremely cryptic. I guess it was designed in the days of punch cards and no one has ever bothered to update it so that it's more human readable. At the most basic level, you can start out just writing down every X,Y,Z move that you would make if you were turning the handles manually. For example if you want to move the X axis 3 inches at the current feedrate, you write "G01 X3". You can figure out new stuff as you go and get pretty fancy with arcs, loops, subroutines, variables/parameters, etc. I'm to the point now where I use variables for almost everything and do the math and trigonometry in the program instead of doing it on paper. That way if I want to change the size of a feature or whatever, I can just tweak the parameters instead of working out all of the moves by hand again.

Here's my first try at making a part with CNC... Wrote the G-code by hand, learning what not to do as I go Cutting the first one: That went well so I decided to try making 8 at a time so I spend less time changing tools: That is a brand new Chinese end mill sqealing like a banshee... No idea what the deal is, I assume it's defective, so I stopped it and will try again later with a known good bit. Here's the finished part along with one I made pre-CNC a year or so ago: marvel sliderackers by brcarls, on Flickr Marvel_slideracker1 by brcarls, on Flickr

I don't know what you're using for a pendant, but I got one with an MPG from VistaCNC... This thing makes manual ops a breeze. I mention it because there is no chance of accidently hitting the wrong button (you can still have a brain fart and select the wrong axis or or turn the MPG the wrong way, but you can do that on a manual mill too ) With this pendant, it turns out that my anxiety over converting to CNC and not having a manual mill were unfounded.. Even if I never wrote a line of G-Code, I'd now prefer a CNC mill with an MPG pendant over a manual mill, no questions asked. It's like having power drives on all axis and precise control over all moves. If I want to move .005, I just turn the MPG 5 clicks and don't even have to think about dealing with backlash.

I didn't notice it until I started trying to eliminate the tool mark I was getting when I ramped or stepped down during a cut, I'd get a mark at the beginning and end of the ramp. I thought it was backlash, but I adjusted all backlash out and it was still there. I decided to retram the mill and noticed it with a DTI in an Indicol arm mounted on the spindle. with the DTI about 6 inches to the side, I could see it happen. I guess I shouldn't complain... Underneath the ballscrews and steppers, it's still just a $400 Chinese mill

DId you give up on doing a frame? Inspired by this thread, I ended years of procrastination and installed a CNC Fusion kit on my X2 and I'm not able to get the head to stop "wagging" side to side when I reverse direction on the Z axis... It's less than 0.0005, but it's annoying the hell out of me. I get tool marks any time I move the Z, so I have to make sure I move the tool away from the workpiece before I retract. If I tighten the gibs (which the crappy Z axis design makes challenging) up enough to eliminate it, then the whole Z axis motor mount moves. I think I'm going to have to redesign the Z-axis ballscrew mount so that it is centered instead of side mounted. Have you seen the same issue?

Banning private sales will be worse than an AW ban IMO.

If the hammer spur or SA notch has also been removed, this "safety device" has no reason to exist... That's like being written up by OSHA for not having belt guard in place on a machine with the motor and belt removed.

In my opinion, the main benefit of that jig that wouldn't be easy to setup without it is the ability to cut the radius on the feet.... How hard would that be to do with CNC vs buying a jig?

At our local 3G match, one of the ROs told me that my Safariland 013 wasn't secure enough. I waved him over to a safe area, took off my belt with the gun in the holster and shook it vigorously upside down... Then I pointed at his Kydex bucket and said "now lets see how yours does". He declined and decided that my holster wasn't a problem

Please forgive the dumb question, but why is your toolpath so pronounced? Are you using a ballend mill? Or is your head nodding? Or are the adjacent paths at different depths?

I didn't read the article so maybe he covered this but the whole point of 9mm major is cheap brass. .. If you are going to use different brass there is already 38 supercomp, 9x23, etc