I admit it, I screwed up on my minimill, lol.

n3480h

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New to machining, but the learning is great fun. So I'm running my shiney new HF X2 on my first milling project, a set of clamps to hold down small parts for CMM inspection at work. Milling an inside radius with a 1/2" end mill, on a 5" x 1" x 2.5" block of 6061. Near side goes very well with good finishes. Sound on the opposite side seems a little different. Its the demonstrated lesson in conventional vs climb milling: Spinning along at about a half inch deep, and then the backlash gets pulled into the endmill, which attempts to take a .120 cut. Snap. Hmm, motor's running, but the spindle's not turning. Long story short, the plastic gear that runs off the motor gear is in 14 pieces. Sorry guys, you tried to warn me that this can/will happen, but apparently I needed a demonstration.:whiteflag:

Not a big problem, because two days before I pulled this stunt I had ordered the belt drive conversion from LMS. Lesson learned, humor survives. The material is still ok because the damage is in an area soon to become swarf.

Tom
 
the good thing is that the plastic gear takes the fall (I believe it's designed to) - so it snaps, releasing the tension from the rest of the machine (spindle, motor, ways). not a bad lesson - and consider it a cheap one.
 
For all practical purposes, I take two kinds of cuts on a mill: Full cuts (such as a slot) and conventional cuts. -I avoid hills like the plague.

Glad to hear your losses weren't excessive.
 
I highly recommend the belt drive upgrade. I did mine when I bought it. Probably the best X2 upgrade you can do.
 
I've read nothing but good things about the LMS belt conversion. Installation appears no more difficult than disassembly to remove the bits of shattered plastic gear. It does indeed seem that the plastic gear, running against the metal gear on the motor, was designed to fail when some noob forgets good advice. Like me. While the belt may offer some protection from noobness, my primary interest in it was how much quieter the mill is when running. UPS says it'll be here Tuesday, and by 6:00 Tuesday nite I'll be back at it, and paying more attention to better procedure.

Do owners remove the remaining gears when doing the conversion?

Tom
 
Kit arrived and its installed without issues. Loving the quieter running.

Tom
 
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