The Y dimension of the X2 is considerably smaller than my X1. 3.7" vs 5.375".

Do any of you find this to be a problem? I've been unable to find any remarks to that effect. Just seems like it could be a bit limiting for mounting some vises and projects. Are any of you using aftermarket tables w larger Y dimension? Don't see such an item at LMS.

Do you find the stock X2 table adequate? Somehow I feel more comfortable w the broader table on my X1.

Thanks in advance.

With a little grinding at a few key places you can get more travel out of an X2. Im not infront of my mill right now so I cant state exactly what I get, eventhough mine has ballscrews and is cnc'd it shouldnt make much difference. Hoss' a frequent contributer on here and a big X2 innovator has made several modifications that allow alot more travel that doesent cost alot of money. You can find his post on here I think its "X2 finished for now" or his site www.hossmachine.com. A guy on here was "making" a larger assembly to increase travel but I dont know if any were ever delivered and alot of people had problems getting refunds. Another option I have seen done is to buy a X2 head and column and buy a X3 table. Me personally I will probibly do as Hoss has done and adapt another base to increase the Y and use a modified Z column for a X with a tooling plate on top. Hope this helps.

if you fit an x axis lead screw to the y axis and machine a bit of clearance at the bottom of the colunm you can increase the y travel ,this works on an x1 ,may work on an x2

if you fit an x axis lead screw to the y axis and machine a bit of clearance at the bottom of the colunm you can increase the y travel ,this works on an x1 ,may work on an x2

Thanks Mike,

The X1 is what I have at the moment. That will be an excellent mod to "cut my teeth" on.

With a little grinding at a few key places you can get more travel out of an X2. Im not infront of my mill right now so I cant state exactly what I get, eventhough mine has ballscrews and is cnc'd it shouldnt make much difference. Hoss' a frequent contributer on here and a big X2 innovator has made several modifications that allow alot more travel that doesent cost alot of money. You can find his post on here I think its "X2 finished for now" or his site www.hossmachine.com. A guy on here was "making" a larger assembly to increase travel but I dont know if any were ever delivered and alot of people had problems getting refunds. Another option I have seen done is to buy a X2 head and column and buy a X3 table. Me personally I will probibly do as Hoss has done and adapt another base to increase the Y and use a modified Z column for a X with a tooling plate on top. Hope this helps.

Max,

Many thanks for your referral to this goldmine of X2 info. That's got to be about the most definitive treatment in existence on X2 mods. Searching by "X2 finished for now" didn't seem to work for some reason but it wasn't difficult to do a user search for hoss2006 and come up w the thread. It appears that Hoss' web site has expired; a pity. Fortunately the thread probably supplies all I am likely to want to know about the X2, cnc or otherwise. What a find! I am forever grateful! You folks on this forum are quite amazing!

You can use hossmachine.info (http://www.hossmachine.info) for now.
Can't get hossmachine.com registered with godaddy till April.
Pain in the kiester.
Hoss

Travel is one thing, but table size is another. In general, bigger would be nicer, but that being said, I've never really ran into any major problems with the small Y dimension of the table. There's no problem mounting vices and rotary tables of different sizes on it.

Just my 2 cents.

Paul

You can use hossmachine.info (http://www.hossmachine.info) for now.
Can't get hossmachine.com registered with godaddy till April.
Pain in the kiester.
Hoss


Hoss,

Once you are up and running in April, you will wonder why the hell you didn't start their in the first place.

Customer service is top notch!
Prices are VERY NICE!
My site has never been down!
Lots of Administration bells and whistles!

You will see!

I just need to find the time to do a serious update. Lots of Fantastic 4 II movie 1/8th scale Fantasticar models and full scale Fantasticar photos to add to the portfolio.

Bill

With a little grinding at a few key places you can get more travel out of an X2. Im not infront of my mill right now so I cant state exactly what I get, eventhough mine has ballscrews and is cnc'd it shouldnt make much difference. Hoss' a frequent contributer on here and a big X2 innovator has made several modifications that allow alot more travel that doesent cost alot of money. You can find his post on here I think its "X2 finished for now" or his site www.hossmachine.com. A guy on here was "making" a larger assembly to increase travel but I dont know if any were ever delivered and alot of people had problems getting refunds. Another option I have seen done is to buy a X2 head and column and buy a X3 table. Me personally I will probibly do as Hoss has done and adapt another base to increase the Y and use a modified Z column for a X with a tooling plate on top. Hope this helps.

Max,

Many thanks for your referral to this goldmine of X2 info. That's got to be about the most definitive treatment in existence on X2 mods. Searching by "X2 finished for now" didn't seem to work for some reason but it wasn't difficult to do a user search for hoss2006 and come up w the thread. It appears that Hoss' web site has expired; a pity. Fortunately the thread probably supplies all I am likely to want to know about the X2, cnc or otherwise. What a find! I am forever grateful! You folks on this forum are quite amazing!

Well, it would be a problem for me. I didn't have the money or space to accomodate an X3 or RF-45, so the X1 with extended XY mods has been a winner for my uses, which include cutting a lot of profiles in aluminum in .250-.750 thickness.

It seems to me that by the time you're done modding the X2 to get to the same work envelope, you're going to be spending enough to get you into X3/RF-45 territory. I honestly wonder if the Sieg guys have a formula for coming up with Y axes that are just not quite big enough so they can sell you the upgrade.

Even an inch more on either the X1 or X2 wouldn't require that much iron/added cost but it would add a lot of utility. Either that or somebody needs to import the X1 with the extended axes. Or maybe make a kit to attach our Harbor Freight drill presses to all those unused stock XY units out there!

I hear ya sansbury, why wouldn't they make it just a bit bigger?

More and more I think the X2 is just a kit wating to be unleashed....So many cnczone members have done cool things with theirs. I've cnc'd 2 of them, but adding a toolchanger like hoss is pretty extreme.

Paul

I have 4.7" of Y travel on my X2, and it wouldnt take much machining to get it up over 5". I have seen people modding the X2 to have more then 6" Y travel. It doesnt really require that much machining, but you will loose som rigidity at the ends.