Look-See: Proxxon FF230 Micro Mill Part 1
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
- Lets have a look at, take apart, put back together, and test the KT230 compound table of the Proxxon FF230 Mill.
Mill purchased August 2019.
End-mill replacement fund...
/ roomfortools
Excellent in-depth analysis. Nobody on YT has made any similar about the Proxxon Micro-Mill (as they call it).
FF is for FeinFräse (in german: fine mill) The same occur with the lathe PD (PräzisionsDrehmaschine = precision lathe) and so on with other machines
Yeh... I actually figured that out after I shot the video and looked at the box! I always thought Proxxon product names were just a next to random jumble of letters with meaning only inside their factory.
Feinfrase. Frase, usually refers to a router. Although in this case it probably refers to a rotary tool / mill. So, fine mill. Cheers.
Ah, I bought the PD250, FP230 and KT230, now waiting for the workshop to be finished! Look forward to your next video 👍
Just discovered this review on the FF230. Don't know where I've been....lost I guess. Anyway, very in depth and useful. Thanks for what you do.
Very nice!
i m buying one this week
I found the same problem with the GIB screws, so I ended up replacing most grub screws with Allen cap screws. This means that a larger/stiffer Allen key can be used to hold the screw while using a spanner to tighten the lock nut. There may be a small reduction in the overall movement of the table.
I also mounted the base on a piece of 5mm steel plate 200mm X 300mm using M5 Allen cap screws in tapped holes. This permits clamping the mill to a bench or table and increases the stability when used without clamps. I look forward to the rest of the series on this mill.
Great idea about the cap screws, will look into next time I pull the mill out. I also have plans for fixing the mill to my bench, another future video! In the meantime, life.
What a clean, perfectly tidy desk!
Ha, more like mess pushed out of frame!
Thanks to your review I've just placed an order for this beauty! :)
Beauty might be an overstatement. Though it is well executed for such a tiny mill.
this table can be changed a lot: 1、change the brass jibs and use the cast iron，there are two, one is 3.25mm thickness , and the other is 3.28mm thickness, and you can srape them, that is the most important. 2、when you lock the crew, you can put a steel ball in it and it will less damage the brass jibs or cast iron. 3、 change the position of screw lower level， that is number three and four, there are total five screws, so when you move out the table it will keep stable. 4、change the nut of rocker，so you can use the electric screw driver in uniform motion, that is great and simple cnc device.5、when you lock the motor, you can use another screw to make it will not rotate，this is very important.6、make a dust-proof and less dust come in. and even more
Really helpful video and very clear explanations thanks very much.
Excellent! Part 2, please! Also... any thoughts on fitting an after-market DRO to an FF230 ?
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very nice mill
Thanks! The mill is pretty cool, considering you can lift it up and stick it in a cupboard at the end of the day.
If you outgrow this, look into the Taig! Similar design, slightly larger, and available as a cnc as well as manual. I just bought one. I really want a proxxon to mess around with though, but couldn't justify the cost of both a taig and proxxon lol
You should have used an open ended spanner to tighten the locknuts whist restraining the screw with the Allen key
Was looking for a comment like this! Simple solution to tighten it properly.
@@implayingsomebass4753 Just like setting the valve adjustment on an OHV petrol engine. You could even use a ring spanner rather than an open ended one.
excellent, i am thinking of getting a ff230
Nuts that you where titen. You to use box end wrench and also you need to use your alen wrench to hold that adjustment screw so you won't move that set screw. That way you might get closer to what your trying to do.
Hello.
The other day,
I felt that the gap (0.06 to 0.17mm) between the spindle unit
and column of FF230 was fatal, so I glued a brass plate.
I'd like to wait until the adhesive hardens,
try fitting and share if good results are obtained.
Then I'm looking forward to a new video about your FF230.
Yeh... sounds like you isolated the main problem with this machine. I will do a new video soon.
You forgot about Taig when it comes to really small milling machines/lathes.
What I would like to see changed on this machine would definitely be a square column. A round one is just too flexible, and you need all the stiffness you can get with a machine of this size.
You are adjust the "jib" wrong, that's why you don't have consistent results.
Still waiting (hoping) for a part II & III :-)
Will get around to it!! Life.
I have this milling head mounted to the pd250 lathe do you think the kt230 table is a worthwhile upgrade or just stick with my setup I have thanks for a great video
I found your video very helpful! I just received mine a few days ago. I have about 3/16 of an inch of play on the feed lever. Is there anyway I can adjust this? Also when the feed lever is returned to its original position, the motor moves a bit (this is without a drill bit). Can you tell me where I can tighten the motor mount down.
Cheers,
Deanna
i have a sherline lathe, and a sherline mill. ive not found its consruction to be an issue with cutting steel! its true i refuse to cut cast iron on it. but ive even done that twice. that proxon has a one round bar upright. those tend to pivot while you are milling! the sherline has a dovetail upright. dovetails dont pivot during a cut!! but just a quill, and pretty looks dont a good tool make!!!!! poppy's workshop says HI
Yeh, the Sherline does look sweet. Still need to do a video on the z-axis of this Proxxon. Its table is swell, but column only so-so. But, not because it is tubular. Other reasons.
@@RoomForTools ill be watching for more in this thread. poppy's workshop says HI
Proxxon is good quality but my go to company is by far Sherline
Sherline's do look nice, and a universe of options.
They are very very expensive for what they are. I had an MF70, which I sold and some other proxxon machinery which didn't last very long. Some other people may have had better experience with this brand.
I really like that compact indicator setup. What base, arm and indicator are you using there?
Noga LC Mini and indicator is Starrett 709MALZ. Noga holders are great.
Inca data se adevereste ca "jucariile ornament "sint numai grozav de scumpe si imprecise. Daca dupa "refurbisare " are prblemele astea cum poti monta DRO care are sensibilitate de 0,001mm la o masa care are pe y sau x diferente de 0,15-0,18 mm ?? Cam cum va functina??
Backlash with a lead screws is a fact of life.
I am wondering, if it would be possible to replace the hollow round column with an identical solid one?
seems like it is a simple round pipe without any sophisticated structure? should be possible to machine one from a solid piece of round steel rod?
A solid column would add to the robustness of the mill, I think?
Not too easy as the column has a turned step down to fit the table and a key slot for the milling head to ride. I am not sure it would be an improvement anyway as I believe the rigidity weak spot is in the quill to quill-block. Video soon.
Fill it full of epoxy grout
Hi, I purchased this machine recently but I am not able to fit the mill bits that are less than 6mm. I am trying to purchase the standard ER collets - please can you advise which size ER collet will fit into the stock nut of the FF230? It's a bit confusing for me. I am wondering if I need to change the stock nut to the ER one as well.
Sorry for slow reply, but this little mill uses proprietary collets only available from Proxxon. The sell them directly.
@@RoomForTools WOW! You are right. That's why I'm glad I went with the (much less common) ff 250 bl which has er 16 collet.
how much does the Z axis travel? couldnt find those infos anywhere
thanks in advance, and awesome video by the way!
Quill travel is about 30mm, though height above table is somewhere around 9 inches. Will measure more carefully in my next video, sometime in July.
I found in translated manual that the column is about 400mm high and the usable Z travel is about 200mm. See p.2 in www.proxxon-tools.com.au/downloads/manuals/24108%20FF230.pdf
So is potencial for costume table and attach the mill over? Great reviews by the way 👍
The table can be purchased separately, if you can think up some alternative column and head. For instance, it should be too difficult to put a Sherline column and head onto the table. Thanks!
Can this do small projects with stainless steel?
For sure! I have a video or two machining stainless steel.
made in chuina assembled in germany?
Perhaps. Very good fit and finish on the table though does not match Chinesium I have seen.
No not China, if proxxon haven't built this mill entirely then i think a lot of the parts will have come from Korea, from manix machine tool, this mill is equivalent to the manix mm140 mill, you have to research the origins of the design of this mill which goes back to the saki camera company in Japan who sold the rights to manix after the owner died, im just not 100% sure if proxxon have some manufacture rights or if they get stuff from manix in Korea, but defo not China.
Is this going to be another one of those video's where a very expensive machine is bought, has loads of problems & issues, but all are forgiven because it has a brand name & wasn't made in China??? This thing costs nearly £1000 in the UK & for that price there shouldn't be a wobbly anything!!! I fell for this brand name & the made in Germany allure, ordered 4 of their hand tools, including an expensive hand drill & flexible shaft. The precision drill had loads of play in the spindle, the flexible shaft vibrated like a jet engine with a bird stuck in it & overheated to be too hot to hold in seconds. Only thing I kept was the vibro pen sander as that worked ok.
Is it a piece of shit? some guy said that couldn't use a 3/8th endmill and that it could barely mill cardboard and we're better off with a Chinese one that could take a 3/8ths endmill.
It is complicated, future video in about a month. The collet system sucks, and there is no 3/8" option, and even worse no 1/2" either. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a mill that you can pick up and stick into a cupboard at the end of the day, the options are few.
@@RoomForTools
Is a millimeter end mill available in the United States?
The collet chuck of the Japanese specification FF230 mill is
It was 6.0mm (0.236 "), 8.0mm (0.315") and 10.0mm (0.394 ").
These shank diameters are common in Japan and are not a problem.
Damn, I want to introduce you to the Japanese market immediately as the same FF230 user.
There are a lot of end mills made in Japan at this Amazon.
Millimetre end mills are not a problem to come across. But, half inch shanks open up a world of other accessories.
@@RoomForTools
So that's it. Thank you.
I would be happy if there was a collet option that could chuck 1/2 ”or more, at least 13.0 mm.
@@RoomForTools I bought imperial collets for this mill 1/8 1/4 3/8 about 10 yrs ago from a shop in the USA, im in uk, no idea if you can still get them today.
I only want voxxon because it's not chinese or Taiwanese, which is china rebranded
good vid thx! Please do also such a detailed review of the main part of the mill (head), would be awesome. check at 1:05 your yellow painted part no. 24104-19 (flange for quill) - it has a verticl screw in it. Strange…never seen before, must be a design change. or did you modify it?
Now check here
ruclips.net/video/YMkSfrg4Qys/видео.html
at 2:45, this is how my version (bought 2020) looks like and compare - no vertical screw there. Explanation?
The X range is perfectly ridiculous 65mm come on! sherline can do much better at best price...
Not a cast iron table though. Otherwise the Sherline does look sweet.