Originally Posted by rezcar  In waiting for my X3 to show up at Harbor Freight, I've been trying to decide on tooling...which seems even harder than choosing a machine! Thankfully, others have posted their want lists as guides for me.
Specifically, when a machine's specs say "face mill capacity 3 inches", is that the overall diameter of the face miller? (Is it the same for fly cutters as that is what I want).
Say the specs show endmill capacity at 1", but if you have a large ER collet, can you hold larger than 1" -not that I am planning to. I guess what I am wondering is, what determines these capacities?
Also, what size Indicol holder fits the X3? A model number or "grip/clamp size" would help. I have a DTI 0-15-0 (I think) but don't know what the dovetail size is (or where to measure).
Thanks! |
The "specs" say a lot of things, much of which is designed to make perspective customers feel good about the "capabilities" of said mill. The realistic version is that you'll never actually use tools that large in a machine that size. Beyond the occasional face mill for small amounts of stock removal I think you'll find your use for larger tools is pretty much unnecessary using CNC.
Machines the size we are talking about here are limited by spindle horsepower, and overall machine rigidity. While you may be able to easily chuck a 1" end mill in the collet, you prolly don't have the horsepower or the rigidity to make use of it.