X2 Spindle Light

[ibuildstuff4u]

I made this Friday for my spindle on my X2 Milling machine.  It started off as a square piece of stock and I did most of the work with my mill and rotary table.  It consists of 18 ultra bright LED lights and they are glued in with 5 min epoxy.  This replaces the old spindle cover and uses the same bolt holes to mount.

Dale P.

[CrewCab]

That's a neat idea, thanks for sharing 

CC

[Gerhard Olivier]

Very nice and a good idea.  You can never have to much light when working small bits.

Gerhard

[tumutbound]

Some good ideas.
Picked up this 'UFO' light from eBay a couple of months ago with the intention of installing it on the X2.
It would be a tight fit though as it's 20mm thick and the spindle (MT3) only sticks out 23mm.
I may end up gutting it to get the LEDs as the thickness is mostly due to the AA batteries inside.

[Brass_Machine]

Very cool! Now I have to make one.

Whats the story on your control box?

Eric

[ibuildstuff4u]

I ditched the stock power supply and control box and built a new one.  The new supply puts out a little more volts and more amps to the motor.  End result is a ton more torque and a faster spindle speed.  I can get up to 6200 RPM when the belt is in the high position and 2400 in the low position. 

I love the belt drive, but was very disappointed with the RPM when the belt was in the low speed position.  The mill originally runs at 2500 RPM, but the belt drive lowers it to 1700 RPM.  The new power supply got my mill back up to the stock low gear speed and has a ton more torque with no risk of breaking gears.

The control box has two switches.  One for the main power and the second is for the spindle light.  The silver toggle switch controls the spindle direction so I now have reverse!  On the side of the control box is a push button switch that controls an E-stop relay that cuts the power to the machine.  You have to turn the main power switch off and then back on to reset the relay. 

The new power supply has a bit of a soft start for the motor and I don't have to adjust the speed pot when turning on and off the machine as I had to with the old control box.  I can leave the speed setting where I want and control the spindle with just one switch.  So it's a little easier to turn the machine on and off verses the stock control box.

Dale P.

Did any one see this months issue of Home Shop Machinist?   I just got mine and there is a project very similar to this in the issue. 

[SPiN Racing]

Very cool Light!

I just ordered one of the LED lights for 3.99, and free shipping off fleabay.

Gonna have to turn up a housing for it

[ibuildstuff4u]

I made two of these lights and have the second one up for bid on E-bay, so here is your chance to get one if your interested.

Thanks, Dale P.

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110469915635&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_500wt_1182/url]