Upgrade for the Old Spectralight 0200 CNC Mill

I must apologize, it's been a long time for a real first post. Since the introduction I have moved and added several machines to the garage, but this will be for a later post.

The purpose of this post is to start a series on the upgrade of my small CNC mill. Long ago I purchased a Light Machines Spectralight 0200 Mill, partially on impulse to get back into some metalworking. The 0200 uses a Sherline mill as the base machine, and adds in a nice dose of 80's tech in a complete package that was aimed at schools and the like for STEM education. At the time, it probably worked great.

Spectralight 0200

The specs out of the factory are, by today's standards, well... not great. While max feed rates are listed at 12 ipm, I'm lucky to get that with the steppers on my machine (rapids are out of the question). Accuracy is lacking, both in the worn out leadscrew nuts and stepper system, which seems to have good and bad days when it comes to skipping steps (oh, did I mention there is no microstepping and the motors sounds like they're grinding rocks at the lower RPMs that most cutting is done at).

There's been some minor upgrades along the way, but it's time to do a major overhaul and get this thing ready for some more serious CNC duty. So here's the plan: with a budget goal of $550, working to accomplish the following.

• Upgrade stepper controls (add microstepping, upgrade from 80's tech)
• Upgrade to newer steppers (more powerful and with known specs)
• Add home switches to all three axes
• Add anti-backlash nuts for all axes (similar to A2Z CNC's kit)
• Replace the enclosure shield
• Add enclosed motor mounts
• General repair (repaint, replace E-stop switch)

And, if money holds up, some optional items:

• Variable speed control (for control from LinuxCNC)
• Tachometer (with readout on machine)
• LED lighting within enclosure
• Mist coolant

Stay tuned.