x3 opinions

[phantomcow2]

I am looking to sell my micro mill for a larger machine. Considered the x2, but i think the 3 is a better choice.

This seems like a solid machine, will it give a significant increase on chatter reduction as opposed to the x1 micro mill? How good of quality are the spindle bearings?

The effort to raise the head is significantly more than lowering. THis is okay, but its so easy to move the head down that it often will move down by itself if I dont lock the head! Is this a problem with the x3?

How much contact is there with saddle and table, the dovetails. This has been a problem with the Micromill.

And lastly, how hard is this to move? I need something a lot more rugged than the micro mill but it must be able to move. Are the individual components of it (base, saddle, table, column, etc.) movable with one person down some stairs?

Thanks very much for any questions you can answer

[angelballer]

Originally Posted by phantomcow2 The effort to raise the head is significantly more than lowering. THis is okay, but its so easy to move the head down that it often will move down by itself if I dont lock the head! Is this a problem with the x3?

Some of the X3's I've seen have a pulley system that balances out the weight of the head better. If you look at the files on the lathemaster yahoo group under X3 modifications you can see what I am talking about. Seems like an easy cheap fix.

Josh

[phil burman]

I assume this is only an issue if you under power the Z axis. Not all setups I have seen appear to need counter balancing of the head, or am I missing something here.

Best Regards
Phil

Originally Posted by angelballer Some of the X3's I've seen have a pulley system that balances out the weight of the head better. If you look at the files on the lathemaster yahoo group under X3 modifications you can see what I am talking about. Seems like an easy cheap fix. Josh

[phantomcow2]

Oh, and how much does the head of this mill weigh?

[angelballer]

The way he asked about locking the head down to prevent movement led me to believe he was talking about manual operation. If CNC'ed, I think the only issues you might have is if it was underpowered. Otherwise it would just strain the motor more on the way up than down.

[phantomcow2]

Yea this would be used for manual operation. The CNC router is plenty for me

[replicapro]

The x3 has a gas strut to assist in the lifting of the head. It works very well and the hand wheel is easy to turn. For cnc, you would replace the lead screws with ball screws and leave the gas strut in the head, which should make the movement a snap. I say should, because mine is still under construction.

To move the mill fully assembled you need 3 people. 2 people to move the mill and the other to call the ambulance if it falls. I move my mill by taking the entire head and colulm off. Still very heavy, but one strong person can move it.

The mill is very stable and does not chatter (yet) . CNC conversion is easy, but ball screw conversion for me is a challenge. When my CNC conversion is done I will share the drawings for what I did. Im 89% done.

The mill in my opinion is an excelent value and very powerfull. It is new to the market so not allot of info is out yet and the add ons are scarce. But they have tripled in the year I have had mine.

It can handle a 6 inch rotary table and 6 inch chuck. It is very accurate and has backlash compensation on the x and y. The z has almost no backlash because of the weight of the head.

The mill comes apart and back together very quickly and is assembled thoughtfully.
When you get it (if they did not fix this yet) you will need a dremel to grind down a little protrusion inside the quill that makes inserting standard R8's in smoothly. That was the only manufacturing problem.

The new x3 and super x3 have hard wired Estop as well as electronic one. The older one (I have) only has electronic estop that if the motor control board fails prevents the estop from stopping the machine. I was the first to have this happen.

Its a good mill and a good price. Not a you get what you pay for mill like the lower end bench top mills

[phantomcow2]

Thankyou Replicapro, that was the kind of response i was after.
I would not be CNCing this for a while if ever. I like to play on a manual mill. Plus i can use the CNC bridgeport at school for those needs. ANd my router should o most of the work i need.

So what kind of cuts are you able to take?

Im not expecting bridgeport performance, but a decent size cut maybe with a 5/8 end mill would be nice. Is the mill able to live up to its claims? 3" face mill, 5/8 end mill i think it is.
Thanks

[MIKE JEFFERS]

hello
the x3 is a great machine for the money
as replicapro said to move it take it to bits you may want to anyways to clean it
the gears are a little noisey about the same a an x1 but a belt drive would sort
this
don't remove the key from the spindle ,you may get a collet stuck and not get it out
the 24 dia in the spindle is a very tight fit on the collets ,clean the collets thouroughly
maybe even a light polish with emery paper will be required.
mike

[phantomcow2]

WEll if its like the gears of the x1 in regards to noise, thats not awful.
CHances are, i will stick a 1.5HP motor and a V belt to allow for higher speeds on there. This reminds me, when i did this for the micro mill, the stock bearings were shot to hell fast! Im actually waiting for replacements now.
How are the bearings on the x3 spindle?

[wizard]

One thing to consider is what others are doing with the mill. To that end if you cna get recent issues of MODEL ENGINEERS WORKSHOP {MEW} there is an intresting article in there with regards to modifications one individual is doing to the mill. The fact that this is a box column mill gives it certain advantages for some usages. You need to determine if those usages are in line with your needs.

Do consider that a CNC mill is not the same thing as a CNC router. A good CNC converson should be able to do things a reasnoably priced router can not do. That of course doesn't matter if what you are intrested will never involve CNC. If CNC is absolutely out of the question then I'd also consider RF type mills.

As to my personal opinion it has been a while since I've seen an X3, so obviously I'm not a user at the moment. But I will say the mill does have attractive features. I'd be more concerned about its disadvantages and how they apply to the work you expect to do on the mill. The mill isn't all that heavy if you take Griz'es shipping weight into consideration. This brings up the question of stiffness. Since there is a developing following with respect to the mill that doesn't seem to be an issue. I would expect it to be a considerable improvement over your current mill. It probably isn't the optimal machine to use if you are expecting to machine large steel or alloy objects with it.

I'd have to say that I'm impressed with the Mill, it is however not cheap. I'm thinking that for a few $100 more you could get a mill with more capability if you had a place to put it.

Dave

[phantomcow2]

Well this will stay a manual mill for at least 2 years. I i ever need something made, i just use the CNC bridgeport at school.
I much prefer the square column, which is why this mill attracts me.

The weight was a concern to me too actually, im guessing its about 250-275 pounds. But, i htink it looks well designed. The column alone is probably 2.5x wider than my micro mill...

The variable speed really attracts me, thats what I am used to and just cant imagine going to something with 6 fixed speeds or something like that.

I would love to buy a Rong Fu, or the ZAY from Lathemaster, but i just cant justify that cost.