My X1 arrived yesterday. Looks like UPS dropped the whole crate on it's side really hard. One of the bolts that screwed it to the crate bottom came free, allowing the mill to smash against the side of the crate.
When I got it, the top-plate with the motor was hanging on by *1* screw, and the gearbox has a really nasty dent in the side. One of the handwheels is toast as well. Some of the accessories (allen keys, chuck key) escaped through the joints in the damaged crate and are nowhere to be found.

Sigh, bit bummed. The only upside is that the drivetrain and major mechanics appear intact. The gearbox dented and absorbed the force, probably saving the column. The handwheel broke, probably saving the table mounting. I remounted the top-plate with some scavenged screws, and the motor spun up fine.

I've put in a claim with UPS, but I'm not sure how that will go. If they want to write the unit off, it would probably not be worth it, as I got a good price on it and would be out the customs/duty costs of importing it to Canada.
I hope they'll pony up the repair costs instead.

In case they don't, does anybody have a handwheel and two of the handwheel handles (with screws) left over from an X1 CNC conversion that they'd be willing to part with?

David

Ouch! Hopefully it looks worse then it really is. If nobody has any spare handwheels for you, you can get replacement handwheels and whatever else broke at www.littlemachineshop.com for reasonable prices.

A couple of things for you to check. It looks like the X handwheel slammed into the side of the crate. That probably put a lot of force onto the X lead screw. You might want to check that the leadscrew didn't get bent really badly (they come slightly bent from the factory on a lot of machines so slightly bent is not unusual) and that the X axis nut under the table isn't damaged. It also looks like the gearbox / head assembly slammed into the side of the crate also. The gearbox is firmly attached to the spindle assembly which is firmly clamped in the headstock during shipping. The weak point is the Z axis gib where the headstock slides on the column. You might want to check the Z axis gib and gib adjustment screws for damage.

Ah, U)nited P)ackage S)mashing.
When I used to work for a camera chain, we used to receive Leica camera bodies in rounded boxes.

Sorry about the X1, but it's going to belong to UPS now.

I filed a claim for when my ATV was sent back to me. They lost it for over a week, broke mounts off of the frame, etc. etc. I filled the claim but you will find out that you need to talk to the person who you bought it from as they have to file the claim. They get whatever money UPS finally lets go of if any. Insurance?????? I hope they took it out, that way they can just replace your unit.

Have you called the person who shipped it to you?


Smitty

reminds me of this one: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36268&highlight=smashed+x1

poor x2

Now that's disappointing! I can't stand it when shipping companies do this kind of stuff (its not mine, so lets throw it). The worst part is you have to wait another couple of days/weeks to receive a new one. :( I feel for you man. This has happened to me many times with other stuff. I would say to call HF and have them send you a brand new one and tell them how pissed off you are. I would tell them that you had to make many parts, and now you're so far behind that you might not be able to catch up. Then if they act like Di*ks, tell them you want your money back and you're going to Grizzly. Just stand your ground, and they will eventually give in. You might even get a better deal out of it. :)


OR if you have the extra money, get the X2 or X3. This mill is great for little projects or if your budget is not so great (this also depends on what you're cutting). I've converted my X1 to CNC and I'm now trying to make a DIY coolant system for it. The X1 machine is just not rigid enough for my projects. Hell I might even sell mine and get the bigger one.

Sorry this is a touchy subject with me, I can't stand ignorant people.

Last time I flew commercial on Northwest I sat directly over the cargo door. I watched out the window how the cargo was loaded. The guy unloading the wagons grabbed the packages and threw them about 6 ft onto a conveyor that transported the items into the cargo area in the belly of the plane. One of the packages was an HDTV in the original packaging. The guy doing the loading didn't care. This just seems to be the level of service one gets nowadays. Until people like this get fired, things won't change.

Thanks for the sympathy folks.

I pulled the table off, and the X axis leadscrews and nuts appear fine. The Z column and gib seem fine. The Y axis seems a little loose, but nothing appears damaged, might just need the gib tightened.

There *is* insurance on the package. The tricky bit is that I bought this off ebay, and got a good price on it. Even if I got all my purchase/shipping money back, I probably won't be able to get an X1 at the same price, plus I'm guessing I'd also be out the $70+ I had to pay for brokerage/customs/tax.

I had looked at an X2, but they're hard to import to Canada (HF won't even ship them outside the US) due to the weight. Buying them local means you pay 200% the US price, and I'm not expecting to work on anything big for quite some time.

Full repair would cost about $63 USD. I'm hoping I can get that out of UPS instead of them wanting to write it off. I'd think they would, given that they'd have to refund more money if they write it off. If they won't do that, it'd cost me more to accept a "refund" I figure, which means I'd have to suck it up and fix things myself. The spindle and drivetrain appear okay, and the ways and gibs seem like they might just need adjustment. The bent gearbox can be easily fixed, and then I'd just need a handwheel and some screws. After a little fiddling, the variable speed control pot appears to be iffy, so I might need to replace that as well.

So, if anybody has a handwheel and knobs they'd part with, and maybe a dead speed control that I could salvage the pot off of, I'd be grateful. I have to keep my spending to a minimum due to a baby about to be born any day now.

So dis-heartening to score a good price after hunting for a year or so, and then have this happen. :(

David

Not if you call the company that shipped it. If it was thru UPS, they have a $100.00 dollar included shipping insurance not matter what and I believe most other shipping companies do as well. All you need is the pictures, and shipping label.

I'd say head on over to Little machine shop, they have all of the replacement parts you'll need. Don't go thru HF (that's if they'd ship them to you), you'll wait for ever!!


Good luck, and hope to see you making parts soon.

Chris

Sorry to see the damage. But I am just curious if the X1 wasn't damaged prior. Seeing that you got the stuff at a really good price. I tend to be weary. Have you contacted the ebay seller?

Yup, I've contacted the seller, and he's helping me with the insurance claim.

There's really never any guarantees that an item isn't damaged before shipping. The pics on ebay look fine, but whose to say the pics are of the same mill (can't read serial numbers) and quite often sellers use a manufacturer photo for new items. Even HF might have an employee try to cover up dropping a unit by shipping it out normally.

But in this case, the crate was clearly broken and damaged at some point (and even UPS isn't stupid enough to accept broken packaging at the start). The bolt that broke free and allowed the mill to smack against the crate was in the remains of the crate, as was the broken piece of handwheel.

David