Re: [GrizHFMinimill] Opinions about mini-mill mod
Tom,
I too have an S2 and like mine quite a bit. Before using it I changed to a belt drive (I made the parts on my lathe, table saw (with proper Al cutting blade) and a friends mill. I also upgraded the bearings and scraped it down, with a little left to do on the dovetails.
I have a air shock mostly installed and plan to add the column stiffener plate in place of the washer. I don't know the order but these and DROs are IMHO the most common mods.
Scrapping the column connection IMHO really helps. I work mostly in Aluminum and plastics and can climb mill if I want to with no ill effects so far. Table is tight, but not overly so. It's doing well enough I don't feel pressure to get the plate on the back of the column.
This is a light weight machine, so big cuts in steel aren't in it's sweet spot. You can buy a machine that does your work or work within your machine. IMHO the S2 does OK on the latter... and is priced accordingly.
Several people have bolted the the S2 to 1/2 steel plate... that would be my solution if worried about the base flexing. As others have said, lots of ideas from others, though few have numbers or analysis.
Hope that helps... all the best.
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Posted by: gregj@eclipse-t.com
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