Proxxon Tools

[SKULLYOTA]

Anyone have experience with Proxxon stuff? kinda interested in one of their mini mills, are they better than the Seig X2/Wen clones?

This was the one I was looking at:

Amazon.com

The Wen:

Amazon.com

I should say that the only reason I’m really looking at the Proxxon is because there’s one on eBay for $900

 

[arse_sidewards]

Same factory, different paint. Probably.

 

[Lee]

I've had the HF version of that Wen for about 10 years. I used a 25% off coupon back before they had so many restrictions on them.

I did some of the typical Little Machine Shop upgrades, best thing I did to it was the gas strut. Folks claim the spindle drive gears are fragile, I figured I'd have done the belt drive upgrade by now, but I'm still on the original gears. I'm also not an idiot trying to hog out 1/2" at a time with a 3/8" end mill.

I did the iGaging DROs for all the axis, I just bought the DROs on eBay or Amazon and made my own mounts, didn't do any kind of kit.

Biggest issue, the backlash is significant, I often think about how much I'd like to do the ball screw upgrade for X & Y, but it probably make more sense to get a different, larger, better mill, at least for me.

The little thing is handy when you need it, but its limitations often make me wish I had gone larger. If you've got limited space and need a mill though, they're better than nothing.

 

[SKULLYOTA]

Same factory, different paint. Probably.

the Wen is the same as the Eastwood, HF, Seig, Klutch etc.

The Proxxon's are made in Germany I think. They make a real tiny one in the $400 range.


My only other idea was to get a milling attachment for my old 10" atlas lathe but it seems really limited

 

[SKULLYOTA]

I've had the HF version of that Wen for about 10 years. I used a 25% off coupon back before they had so many restrictions on them.

I did some of the typical Little Machine Shop upgrades, best thing I did to it was the gas strut. Folks claim the spindle drive gears are fragile, I figured I'd have done the belt drive upgrade by now, but I'm still on the original gears. I'm also not an idiot trying to hog out 1/2" at a time with a 3/8" end mill.

I did the iGaging DROs for all the axis, I just bought the DROs on eBay or Amazon and made my own mounts, didn't do any kind of kit.

Biggest issue, the backlash is significant, I often think about how much I'd like to do the ball screw upgrade for X & Y, but it probably make more sense to get a different, larger, better mill, at least for me.

The little thing is handy when you need it, but its limitations often make me wish I had gone larger. If you've got limited space and need a mill though, they're better than nothing.

I have not heard about the gas strut mod, I do know of the belt drive conversion kit. Mills just never pop up for sale around me and the few that do go quickly.

Are you referring to backlash in the handwheels? Does that cause a lot of chatter and movement in the work piece?

 

[arse_sidewards]

Does that cause a lot of chatter and movement in the work piece?

It's just a pain in the ass, makes it hard to use the scales hand wheels for measurement. You gotta be religious about taking up the slop. A DRO solves it for 99% of situations.

 

[Lee]

I have not heard about the gas strut mod, I do know of the belt drive conversion kit. Mills just never pop up for sale around me and the few that do go quickly.

Are you referring to backlash in the handwheels? Does that cause a lot of chatter and movement in the work piece?

Gas strut replaces the torsion spring with a gas strut that mounts through the column. It replaces the stock Z rack with a slightly longer one too, so you get a little more Z height.

Air Spring Conversion Kit for Mini Mills | LittleMachineShop

Used to convert torsion spring HiTorque mini mills to air spring, this air spring conversion kit includes all the necessary mounting parts. Order today.

littlemachineshop.com

Yes, X & Y axis has a lot of slop when you need to change directions. I think the DRO is pretty well mandatory for any precision work.

 

[Lbhsbz]

The only reason to own one of these is space constraints....if you have the room, get a heavier machine. The mini machines are VERY limited in depth of cut, and you can buy a big boy machine used for the same price or less in some cases than one of these little toys. I had a HF mini mill and mini lathe as my first machines. One part I needed to make on the lathe took me over 8 hours. Made the same thing on a 14x40 real lathe in less than 10 minutes.

As said, they're slightly better than nothing....but not very good at all.

 

[SKULLYOTA]

Well I ended up buying the Wen and ordered thru Home Depot and had it delivered to my local store. Took forever to get here and sat at the store for 4 days before I called them enough to get them to admit it was there and just sitting

Definitely a lot of backlash in the y-axis handwheel but from what I research it can be tightened up and fixed. It’s fucking heavy for how small it is.

Ordered some cheap Chinese endmills, cheap Chinese collets to get started. Need to clean all the cosmoline off too 🤮

 

[Lbhsbz]

I had the Grizzley version of that (looks like a Seig unit)....and it was OK. The first thing I would do is return your cheap china endmills...get a good HSS 4 flute 1/2", 3/8", and 1/4" from McMaster....you don't need to run anything larger than that, and even 1/2" is a bit much on this machine. It will work a lot better using a smaller endmill and taking smaller bites. Get you some way oil (Mobil Vactra).

Does that one have the buttons on the quill handle for reversing while tapping?

 

[SKULLYOTA]

It does not have tapping reverse that I know of. I haven’t even turned it on yet lol. I need a better mill vise and some parallels too. In time.

Should I mount this on a work bench for maximum stiffness or do people have good luck mounting these to a tool box roller bottom?

 

[Lbhsbz]

It does not have tapping reverse that I know of. I haven’t even turned it on yet lol. I need a better mill vise and some parallels too. In time.

Should I mount this on a work bench for maximum stiffness or do people have good luck mounting these to a tool box roller bottom?

I had one on a toolbox...was a shit show. Mount it to something solid, but maybe with some spacers under it. As I recall, the handwheels are pretty close to the base and you'll get your knuckles into the workbench without some spacers when running the handwheels.

The biggest problem I recall with those machines (I had a harbor freight mini mill, then a larger Grizzley unit...can't tell which yours is) is that when the gibs are adjusted snug enough to get rid of slop in the table, it's too tight for the handwheels to move freely...it was a constant battle. The larger endmills will put more of a load on the table and move it around, so will shitty china ones that don't cut for shit. 1/4" and 3/8" should be your primary tools in that thing.

 

[SKULLYOTA]

Lbhsbz this mill is a direct copy of the HF mini mill. I definitely plan on buying the LittleMachineShop.com upgrades over time like the better lead screws and belt drive. And better tooling as I use it more. For now I just had some small aluminum projects in mind.

I was thinking about building a square tube frame table with a poured concrete top and then setting a small tool chest underneath.

 

[Lbhsbz]

Lbhsbz this mill is a direct copy of the HF mini mill. I definitely plan on buying the LittleMachineShop.com upgrades over time like the better lead screws and belt drive. And better tooling as I use it more. For now I just had some small aluminum projects in mind.

I was thinking about building a square tube frame table with a poured concrete top and then setting a small tool chest underneath.

That was my first "mill". It's great for drilling holes.

If I was to do it again, after having the next step up and now a big boy mill (Tree 2UVR) and learning how real machines work....I'd run that thing with no bigger than a 1/4" endmill. It would probably do OK with that. Get a cheapo universal hold down kit...and rig up some clamps with a piece of angle and a long travel cheapo dial indicator....it can be a very accurate machine, but you need to take very small bites....don't try and cut more than about .010" per pass, and listen to it...it'll tell you when you're asking too much of it. You won't brake the plastic head gears if you run small cutters and take small bites....I did not know this when I had mine.

There's another website called Mini-lathe.com that is a great resource with these machines. I would encourage you to buy a "membership" or whatever he calls it....it's cheap and well worth it.

You'll spend more in tooling than you did for the machine....get ready for that.

CDCO tools is a decent resource for cheap fixture tooling....it's kinda shitty, but more than good enough for the hobbiest.