Habor frieght x2 vs x3??????

[outlaw paintbal]

Hey guys i have started to do custom gun bodys on paintball guns.I have been using a friends bridgeport but now i am in the market for a new mill for myself.I am looking to spend under 1100 for the mill, I have most of the tooling i need so thats not in the 1100 dollar figure.Here are some pictures of what i am trying to achieve



That is the work i will be trying to do.

Do you think than i would be better off to buy the sieg x2 mill and put a DRO readout on it or should i buy the sieg x3 whenever my local harbor freight gets one in stock? Or i am open to any other ideas for what mill to buy in my price range.

[SMW Precision]

Hey guys i have started to do custom gun bodys on paintball guns.I have been using a friends bridgeport but now i am in the market for a new mill for myself.I am looking to spend under 1100 for the mill, I have most of the tooling i need so thats not in the 1100 dollar figure.Here are some pictures of what i am trying to achieve
[That is the work i will be trying to do.

Do you think than i would be better off to buy the sieg x2 mill and put a DRO readout on it or should i buy the sieg x3 whenever my local harbor freight gets one in stock? Or i am open to any other ideas for what mill to buy in my price range.

Your doing production forget the X2 way to light! If you are strict on that budget go for either an RF31 or RF40 Geared mill/drill. Dump a heavy stand under it and you will get decent frabrication speed. I have an X2, RF40 & RF45 and will pickup an X3 shortly. Which sounds strange until you know I make DRO systems for Import machine tools. Its tough/impossible to design a kit without kit without actual machine.

Ken

[outlaw paintbal]

I will not be making the bodys from scratch but doing mill work on bodys, they all start out like the top black body and they go from there...

[Deviant]

You need to figure out your work envelope size, then you need to decide how fast you want to machine out the part.

You could do the parts on the x2, if they fit.

But, you should buy the biggest machine that you can afford.

[phil burman]

I would agree with this but you have to be careful about the definition of biggest. You can only stretch 800 lbs. of cast iron so far, then things start to become rather flexible and precision is lost. If you take two machines of similar configuration and weight, where one has 10% more travel in the x, y and/or Z axis, which one do you buy. Not necessarily the one with the largest envelope, it will by definition be more flexible and less therefore precise. If you want to compare machine stiffness for similar machine layouts you should look at the total weight divided by the traverse envelope (that’s: x times y time z). The number you get will be in lbs/inch^3. The higher the number the stiffer is the design. Of course this is only a rule of thumb an depends on the skill of the designer to but the cat iron in the right places. Anothe dimension to look at for stifness is the table length compared to the table travel. The closer these numbers are the more narrow must be the suporting structure. For example a 30" table with 20" of travel has the possibility of a effective base of 10". whereas a 30 " table with 24" travel has an effective base of only 6".

If you need the extra travel then you don't have much choice but to go for the dimensionally bigger machine, but if you are looking for the better machine lbs/in^3 and table size to travel dimensions are useful comparisons.

However, be careful in comparing machines of different configurations. For example a BP would give a good lbs/inch^3 number but has a lot of its mass in the base, which adds little to the effective stiffness.

Regards
Phil

You need to figure out your work envelope size, then you need to decide how fast you want to machine out the part.

You could do the parts on the x2, if they fit.

But, you should buy the biggest machine that you can afford.

[outlaw paintbal]

Well the max size that i will be working with will be 10in X 3.75in Y and 3 Z. I have started to see that i will be needing the x3 size. Does anyone know how big of a cut the x3 can make in 6061 alluminium with a 1/2in 2 flute cutter? Also are there any other mills you guys think would work better that are in the same price range?

[lakeside]

if you can aford it buy a used bridgeport

[outlaw paintbal]

Its not that i can't aford a bridgeport its just that i do not have the room for one! or of a way to move one.I would like to stay under 1000 lbs if i can thanks for the imput guys!

[Deviant]

I think 10 inches might be tight on the x3.

When you start to figure in the hold downs. It's possible that it would work. Worst case, you'd have to spend extra time moving the part and resetting it up.

I don't the cutting depth will be too much of a problem. With a 1/2 inch mill your only going to be taking 1/4 or so cuts at any one time, with the step over. I suspose you could takewider cuts, but the depth would be less.

I agree with the bridgeport if you can get one. Maybe an old knee mill.

I bought my x2 to make parts similar to paintball. I wish I had gotten a slightly bigger machine. I may get one of the rf40 style machines. Or a bridgeport.

That or I may make a bright style mill with linear slides etc...

For a store bought mill, I think the x3 is going to be the one of the closer to your 1100 dollar budget. Just keep in mind, that if your planning on cnc'ing it.. You need to adjust your cost to include that.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42827

This mill has more travel and has the same 999 price tag of the x3 from HF.

Also, each month HF gives out a 20% coupon that would drop your price 200 dollars +/-.

I haven't looked into how you'd convert the z-axis. ANd I don't have any experience with this one. However it should fit your needs.

625LBs on the weight also.

I've seen a few conversions of this style also.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=33686 ((I think this is similar to the rf40 one))

You just have a tube for the z column. For whatever that is worth.

[Deviant]

Sorry inversed my numbers..

The last two mills are the rf 40 and rf31 styles.... ((I think))

Someone else will have to give more info on those.

[phantomcow2]

Get the x3, no buts about that.
Like others have said, get the largest you can afford.

If you are wanting to spend 1100 or less, you could buy the X3 from lathemaster or Grizzly. These ones have a longer table, by 3" I think. You may not thing 3" is a difference now. But in a few months time when you have a job and your table is 1 or 2" to short, you will wish you had spent that extra hundred dollars

[outlaw paintbal]

does grizzly ever offer any discounts through there emailing list you sign up for when you order there catalog? My friend told me a long time ago that grizzly sent sout free shipping through there mailer? Anyone know?