Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get 2,000+ tool plans, full site access, and more.

User Tag List

Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Mini Mill Belt Drive

  1. #1
    Supporting Member editor@glue-it.com's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    40
    Thanked 476 Times in 136 Posts

    editor@glue-it.com's Tools

    Mini Mill Belt Drive

    I lived with the plastic gears on the mini mill for a while before they broke:

    Mini Mill Belt Drive-gearbox008.jpg

    More details and images showing what you're likely to find in one of these gearboxes: Mini Mill Gearbox – glue-it.com

    I ordered metal gears from the USA (I live in UK) and installed these:

    Mini Mill Belt Drive-gearbox012.jpg

    These were ok, but the noise was high and you could still feel the hammering of the cutting tools and so I decided to make my own belt drive:

    Mini Mill Belt Drive-belt018.jpg

    I've written an article on this conversion with some dimensions that should allow you to modify this idea for your own milling machine: Mini Mill Belt Drive – glue-it.com

    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

  2. #2
    Supporting Member editor@glue-it.com's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    40
    Thanked 476 Times in 136 Posts

    editor@glue-it.com's Tools
    A message for the editor: it would be great if there was a thread on the mini mill and then this could go under that as a sub-page - I'm just not experienced enough on your pages to do this.

    2000 Tool Plans

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to editor@glue-it.com For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Mar 4, 2018)

  4. #3
    Jon
    Jon is online now Jon has agreed the Seller's Terms of Service
    Administrator
    Supporting Member
    Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Posts
    25,446
    Thanks
    7,925
    Thanked 38,619 Times in 11,284 Posts
    Feel free to start a new thread for every tool you've made. You're also welcome to add a link to your website in your forum signature, so that it will appear with every post you make.

  5. #4
    Supporting Member ncollar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    354
    Thanks
    23
    Thanked 180 Times in 126 Posts
    very nice fix and I'm sure you are very happy with the quiet belt drive.
    Nelson

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to ncollar For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Mar 4, 2018)

  7. #5
    Mike Waldron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Posts
    5
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
    Very interested in your conversion to belt drive.
    Also as I have a Sieg X1L that Mike Cox has converted in such a manner as to deliberately avoid strain on the motor bearings. Do you know what type of bearings your motor has?Could be rather crucial.
    I am considering a similar conversion, but haven't taken anything apart on my machine yet to check the motor bearings.
    Bronze plain are likely, but ball would be better,
    Mike

  8. #6
    Supporting Member ncollar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    354
    Thanks
    23
    Thanked 180 Times in 126 Posts
    Mike
    Your machine was made to run those rpm and the tension on the belt and the tooth to tooth contact should be a great liability. My thoughts it would be less, at least the noise would.
    Nelson

  9. #7
    Content Editor
    Supporting Member
    DIYer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    3,056
    Thanks
    772
    Thanked 1,850 Times in 1,652 Posts


    Thanks editor@glue-it.com! We've added your Mini Mill Drive Conversion to our Milling category,
    as well as to your builder page: editor@glue-it.com's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




  10. #8
    Supporting Member editor@glue-it.com's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    40
    Thanked 476 Times in 136 Posts

    editor@glue-it.com's Tools
    I must admit that I didn't look at what bearings were in the motor.
    I've been running quite a light tension on the belt - this small v belt is superb and doesn't slip and I ordered 2 belts at the time and have never had to swap it over.
    The noise levels dropped when I went from plastic to steel gears, however, it was still a very noisy mill.
    With the gears though at low speeds you could feel the backlash in them and the resultant impact on the cutter - not sure how much effect this has on the cut, but it did grate on me.
    The belt drive is extremely quiet and really nice that you can back off the tension even further to allow some slip if you need it.
    Best regards, Nigel

  11. #9
    Mike Waldron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Posts
    5
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
    Nigel:
    Thanks for that. I have a Sieg X1L and noticed from its website spares list that its motor has a ball bearing for the lower pulley end,so firmly suspect yours will be similarly equipped.



    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •