One is always living in fear of one of the plastic gears in the mini-mill
breaking. The procedure for changing the gears is somewhat tricky and as far
as I can tell involves the expense of $25 for a set of new gears (they
recommend changing all even if only one breaks) and a $70 kit to effect the
change (reusable with each change).

OTOH the Little Machine Shop sells a kit whereby the mill is converted to a
belt drive. This is a bolt-on procedure taking 20 minutes (to quote LMS).
The cost: $130.

I am seriously considering this option but would like to know if anyone else
has attempted this and what results they had. Are there any cons to doing
the conversion?

Thanks,

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

I converted to the Little Machine Shop belt drive and it was well worth it.
I purchased it when I broke one of the original plastic gears so I was going
to have to spend some money and tear into it anyway.

Here's an online review of it:

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/...v/belt_drv.htm

In regard to your other message about grease for the gears my recommendation
would be that you order the belt drive conversion kit so that you have it
handy when needed and just run the gears with the grease that came on them
until you have a problem. I would also recommend you adjust them to
minimize the noise and (hopefully) wear and tear too though. You'll find
the procedure on pages 15-16 of the Minimill Users Guide from Little Machine
Shop.

http://littlemachineshop.com/info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

If you order the belt kit from them you might want to order an extra belt or
two at the same time. They're not expensive but they're difficult to find
and I've been through 2 of them already. The first was because I didn't
tighten the pulley well enough on the motor shaft so it slipped down and cut
into the edge of the belt. The 2nd was because I was working it WAY harder
than the minimill is intended to work so I consider myself fortunate that
all that I screwed up was the belt. :-)

And they're definitely more expensive if you have to order them separately
and pay shipping.

One other thing you might want to order from them is brushes for the motor.
Mine quit working one day and when I removed the brushes I found that one of
the springs was discolored in one area and had lost much of its tension
there. I've had that happen on a few Chinese motors from overheating.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall


"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"


"Michael Koblic" wrote in message
...
One is always living in fear of one of the plastic gears in the mini-mill
breaking. The procedure for changing the gears is somewhat tricky and as
far as I can tell involves the expense of $25 for a set of new gears (they
recommend changing all even if only one breaks) and a $70 kit to effect
the change (reusable with each change).

OTOH the Little Machine Shop sells a kit whereby the mill is converted to
a belt drive. This is a bolt-on procedure taking 20 minutes (to quote
LMS). The cost: $130.

I am seriously considering this option but would like to know if anyone
else has attempted this and what results they had. Are there any cons to
doing the conversion?

Thanks,

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

--I wonder how many brand of machines have the monicker "Mini Mill"?
When I hear that phrase I think of mine:
http://www.haascnc.com/details_VMC_N...?ID=39#minivmc


--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Do us a favor and rescue
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : a doggie or three...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

"Keith Marshall" wrote in message
...
I converted to the Little Machine Shop belt drive and it was well worth it.
I purchased it when I broke one of the original plastic gears so I was
going to have to spend some money and tear into it anyway.

Here's an online review of it:

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/...v/belt_drv.htm

In regard to your other message about grease for the gears my
recommendation would be that you order the belt drive conversion kit so
that you have it handy when needed and just run the gears with the grease
that came on them until you have a problem. I would also recommend you
adjust them to minimize the noise and (hopefully) wear and tear too
though. You'll find the procedure on pages 15-16 of the Minimill Users
Guide from Little Machine Shop.

http://littlemachineshop.com/info/Mi...UsersGuide.pdf

If you order the belt kit from them you might want to order an extra belt
or two at the same time. They're not expensive but they're difficult to
find and I've been through 2 of them already. The first was because I
didn't tighten the pulley well enough on the motor shaft so it slipped
down and cut into the edge of the belt. The 2nd was because I was working
it WAY harder than the minimill is intended to work so I consider myself
fortunate that all that I screwed up was the belt. :-)

And they're definitely more expensive if you have to order them separately
and pay shipping.

One other thing you might want to order from them is brushes for the
motor. Mine quit working one day and when I removed the brushes I found
that one of the springs was discolored in one area and had lost much of
its tension there. I've had that happen on a few Chinese motors from
overheating.


Thank you. This is most helpful. It coincides with my line of thinking.

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC

In article , steamer
wrote:

--I wonder how many brand of machines have the monicker "Mini Mill"?
When I hear that phrase I think of mine:
http://www.haascnc.com/details_VMC_N...?ID=39#minivmc

I suppose a straight-across trade for a slightly used Central Machinery
rig would be out of the question?

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/