Hello all:

I am about to buy a milling machine. I have been a member cnczone for some time. I was trying to decide
which route to go in with doing CNC not having much money. I want things as accurate as possible for the money.
I will build prototypes for my inventions. I have decided on a mill, the super x3 equivalent at harborfreight. Does anyone know the
product number for the super x3 equivalent at harborfreight? There is a harborfreight in my city. I want a dro on my mill. Anyone know of a
dro to put on my mill's three axises? The reason why the mill is first I can do a CNC conversion second and build a more accurate CNC router out of aluminum with the mill, third.

andrew888

To my knowledge unless something has changed the "super" x3 is not avaliable at harbor freight yet or anywhere else currently. They do sell the regular x3, item #93885-0vga they had a limited number a week or so ago. The stores do not carry the x3, you have to order it online and they will not order it in, in which case you are better off going to grizzly and ordering there g0463. They both would have to be shipped(best to a dock if you can) and the grizzly comes in slightly cheaper(you need to read the fine print on the HF website) and has much better service. I had an email exchange with grizzly at the same time i did an online chat with HF grizzly does have there version of the regular x3 in stock. Grizzly also features the "super" x3 as a new item but it will be back order untill at least june. See the thread in this section on super x3 at grizzly.

If you do a cnc conversion to your x3, then you will not need a DRO, otherwise the easiest way is to attach a cheap caliper(digital) to the bed and a fixed point. Many people have done it just do a little digging. More then likely also your mill will be far more accurate then any router you build out of aluminum, it flexes too much, so you might want to keep that in mind in your overall scheme of things. Unless its very small(smaller then the mill) I should preface that last comment with.

chris