looking for a mill to learn gear cutting- thinking about getting the x3 from grizzly. can't figure out if there is enough movement along the x-axis to allow for 2 3/4" cutter and mounting a 5" gear blank on a dividing head parralel to the one of the slots- my math comes out to 3 7/8" from spindle center to slot center? anyone have one of these mills who can tell me what the max clearance is between the spindle and the far t-slots is ? wrote grizz and the response was "i think that would work" but i want to KNOW if i'm dropping a grand! planning to cut the gears in alum, brass, plastic and wood, but might want to do some steel. can anyone tell me how the x3 does with steel?

I can't answer your question.

My advice, look at a mill as a 20 year investment. If your first project is already marginal, find a bigger mill.

Just my $.02

Karl

Here's some info on the X3 that I copied from Grizzly's site:

# T-Slots: 3@ 1 11/16" centers, 3/8" studs

# Max. distance spindle to table: 14 3/4"
# Table size: 6 1/4" x 21 5/8"

# Table travel (longitudinal): 15 7/8"
# Table travel (cross): 5 3/4"
# Headstock travel: 14 7/8"

I'm not sure what you're asking... exactly?

If your wondering if the hold down holes (or slot) on the indexer will bolt down in the t-slots and still leave the workpiece (part) in the working area of the machine..........?
You could make an adapter plate (piece of alum) to mount the indexer to and then clamp the plate to the machine adjusting it to the working area of the machine.

thanks for the replies!

i thought about making an adapter plate if necessary, but was concerned about the rigidity of it. would feel better being able to bolt the indexer to the table.

what i'm asking is if there is someone who owns an x3 out there who could go to their mill, max out the x-axis (the short way) leadscrew in both directions and put a square on the table and measure where the center of the spindle is to the center of the far t-slot on either side and see if one of the dimensions is equal or greater than 3 7/8" (3.875") along the x-axis (in and out- not sideways)
thanks!

hit send on that last reply, then it hit me- between the 1/2 the travel and the 1 11/16" slot spacing, i will get 4 9/16", so the clearance would be fine.
i shouldn't post before having my morning coffee!!!!!
thanks again guys
if anyone else has any experience using this mill with gear cutters or a slitting saw, or any other type of wheel cutter any info would be much appreciated

Using a tape I got (4.75 and 4.375) from center of t-slot to center of tool (spindle). With the table moved to the end of the axis (Y, short axis) closest to the column, I get 4.750 (eyeball). With the table moved to the end of the axis away from the column, I get 4.375 (eyeball).

Good luck,
Jack

Jack,
thanks for doing that! i have been looking around the forum to find out more about the x3- i'm pretty skiddish since i usually buy cheap used machinery that needs work, and the only mills i have used are larger knee mills. any thoughts on the x3 you would like to share? anything you wish you knew before you bought it? most people seem happy with it- the only thing i have found is that some people change it to belt drive, and someone mentioned sound. is it loud?
thanks again
dave

Dave,

I wish I could say, yea, go ahead and get it, it'll work great for ya, but I can't.
I like the mill just fine (alum. is all I've cut with it), and once I finish the cnc conversion it'll be perfect for my needs.
I got it because I needed a machine I could run from a chair (wheel).

If I could stand long enough to use a Bridgeport knee mill, I would have gotten a used one and fixed it up. You can truly do almost anything with a Bridgeport!

Back in the day!
The only experience I have with wheel cutters is with a 10" diameter by 1/2" thick wheel cutter for cutting a deep slot in a flange. A 1/2" end mill 3" long in Ti took to long and would chatter real bad. The wheel cutter cut great with one pass.
It took a machine with allot of low speed torque. Some of the lighter duty machines had allot of backlash in the spindle (the big wheel cutter generated more torque then the smaller machines' spindle drive).

If I had a 2 3/4" wheel cutter I'd try it on my machine for ya.

The machine has done everything I have asked of it! I'd buy it again!
Jack

P.S. I'd still like to have a Bridgeport (For old Times)

I would like to cut gears also. I am in the market for a milling machine. I am currently thinking manual vertical mill

A couple options I've considered:
1. Old manual horizontal mill.
2. manual vertical mill with slotting attachment (plugs into r8 taper and converts rotary to up and down motion.
3. rotate head 90 degrees on vertical mill

Since i put that post up, i have put together a set-up for milling involute spur gears, and made several gears out of baltic birch ply, and will make some out of aluminum in the very near future. here is the process i went through- hope this helps:

1. bought "Gears and Gear Cutting" by Ivan Law. fantastic book, that outlines gear making for the small shop/hobbyist. It gives many different methods including gear making on the lathe, miter gears, and worm gears. good place to start- it will give a general idea of what you are in for.

2. found a used Harbor Freight Vertical Mill/Drill for $400 on craigslist. it was in great shape and came with a bench, set of mills, vice, collets and a bunch of other goodies (worth $400 without the mill). I have seen these type mills for this price frequently in my area (Boston). I just couldn't justify shelling out $1500+ for an X3 and tooling if i didn't have to. The HF mill isn't the greatest piece of machinery in the world, but with some patience it does what i need it to.

3. Got a dividing head. Grizzly and Enco both sell a small one for around $300. Got to have this for making gears. its a great milling fixture.

4. For cutters, I elected to make my own since money is tight. I found a website on drafting involute spur gears in CAD (requires a bunch of math). I draw all my gears, and use a printout as a template to grind a 1/4" HSS lathe tool bit to the tooth profile. I made a flycutter that holds the tool at 90 degrees. this is not identical, but similar to one of the processes in the Ivan Law book. THe cheapest gear cutters i found were $30 ea. I wanted the freedom to be able to make whatever size or pitch i wanted, which in the long run would cost a fortune.

Its a very involved process, but well worth it when you see two gears meshing perfectly!
oh yeah- you will need to have access to a lathe to turn blanks to precise diameters.

hope that helps, and that i didn't tell you a bunch of stuff you already knew

forgot to include this earlier. i wouldn't buy my HF mill/drill new under any circumstances! if you add up the time that you lose screwing around with it because of its shortcomings over the course of a few projects, you could take that time and get a second job and make enough moneyin addition to the $1100 it costs new to buy a real mill. then you would have a quality machine. I bought mine used because i knew i could get my money back out of it to buy a good mill one day. also, i was in a hurry. (i'm in school, and needed it for this semester)