OK I searched but most of the results were old and it appeared this should have been resolved. I recently picked up an X3 from HF, well went to swap collets and they are wayy too tight. It doesn't appear to be the pin but the spindle. What's my beast/easiest option for curing this?

There is a good article on mini-lathe.com explains how the author dealt with spindle issues. The first part of the article explains how the alignment pin was sticking out to far and what he tried to correct it. Keep reading.

The second part covers his realization that the pin wasn't the problem afterall and the spindle was simply too tight and had to be ground.

http://www.mini-lathe.com/X3_mill/spindle/X3_spindle.htm

that's my fear as I don't want to have to go that far on my new $1k machine! ahh this sucks.

This may help --->
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/prepguides/X3%20Mill%20Preparation%20Guide.pdf

yup the 24mm dia is tight
generally good collets fit but the cheap ones are hit or miss

Well I picked these up from Littlemachine so I thought they'd be good.

Well....I would contact the manufacturer Harbor Freight and tell them the problem and expect them to correct the problem.

OK, got it all apart except the indexing pin is giving me a pain. any tricks/tips to getting that thing out?

OK this has been so damn aggravating, so I found out the problem- there's a rough spot up one side of the spindle. I've spent for ever trying to sand it smooth and making progress but ahhhhh.

where could I order a replacement if I had to?

Call HF customer service they sent me replacement pieces before under warranty.
sieg could drop you one in the mail too http://www.siegind.com/
Wille from seig answers e-mails fast

Also the GrizHFminimill yahoo groop has some good info on you problem
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GrizHFMinimill/message/11600
Re: X3 Spindle Problems


Hi All,
Once you folks supplied me with some R8 taper specs I went to work
measuring the top shank diameters and keyway diameters of my R8
tools. I found a range of 0.940 – 0.949" for the top shank diameters
of my R8 tools. Now the good part..the collets have the smallest
diameter (0.940") but barely enter the spindle before binding while
the boring head with the highest diameter at 0.949" fits easily. So
the shank top diameter doesn't seem to be an issue with my spindle.

When I measured the keyways I found my collets have the highest
keyway diameter at 0.878" (way out of specs) while all my other
tooling that fits in the spindle ranges from 0.844" – 0.845". The
face mill that will go about 2/3 of the way up the spindle before
binding has a keyway diameter of 0.847". If I'm reading the spec
sheet correctly, the tolerance for the keyway diameter is as low as
0.846". So it appears as if my X3 spindle is machined to the low end
of the specification for the R8 and the tooling that I've been buying
is generally spec'd for the low end but not always (collets).

Since all my R8's fit in my Minimill I suspect that spindle is being
machined on the high side for keyway diameter.

My questions to Grizzly by email were usually answered within an hour
and they were helpful in getting me through the start up. They are
sending a replacement spindle and I suspect someday when I'm up to it
I'll replace the one I have (but not before checking it against every
R8 shank I have).

The milling operations that I've done so far produce excellent
finishes. If you need more capacity than the minimill but still need
a bench top machine the X3 is a great upgrade.

Lesson learned: If you buy a new X3 and have trouble with some of
your R8 tools fitting in the spindle, measure your keyway and shank
diameters before removing any metal from the spindle. Thanks to
everyone for your help and I hope this enlightens perspective buyers
of the X3 mill.

Cheers,
Phil