X3 Spindle Issue?

[chns]

I have an X3 I purchased from grizzly a little bit ago but I'm having some issues with using collets. There is a notch in the spindle that slides down the side of the R-8 collet (sorry, not too clear on the terminology for that stuff). The chuck and cheapo face mill I got from grizzly fit in there fine, but all the collets I've tried using won't fit (R-8 from various companies including buck, and some from enco), the slot in the side of them is just too small. So I'm wondering:

First off, is this a standardized thing and if so is it the X3, or much more unlikely the collets that are at fault?

Or I'm guessing it isn't standard in which case I'm wondering if I should approach it by attacking the collets, or the X3. Of course with a lot of work I could machine all 25 of the collets I have to fit. On the other hand, as much as I hate to modify the machine, this seems like a horrible inconvenience and I'm wondering how hard it would be to remove the spindle and just file down the notch a bit - I figure its not all that useful anyway. And any chance anyone has any info on how I'd do that? I'd hate to damage the spindle taper trying.


And while I'm at it, one other unrelated question. Lets just say... totally hypothetical of course... some idiot happened to run the ballnut off his screw from CNCFusions X3 Premium ballscrew kit (despite all the dire warnings), and well... his balls dropped (sorry, couldn't help it). Does anyone know where I'd go about buying another one of these ballnuts (all I could gather is the ballnut says 1065 on it), or if there's any trick to actually fixing this one up?

Thanks guys!

[dneisler]

For the ballnut I would just contact CNC Fusion, he is a great guy to work with. I bet can get you lined out quickly.

[philbur]

This problem comes up from time to time. I think the easiest approach was to use a dremel or similar to carefully grind a bit off the key.

If you search around a bit you will probably come across other threads on the topic.

Some people run R8 spindles without the key.

Phil

Originally Posted by chns I have an X3 I purchased from grizzly a little bit ago but I'm having some issues with using collets. There is a notch in the spindle that slides down the side of the R-8 collet (sorry, not too clear on the terminology for that stuff). The chuck and cheapo face mill I got from grizzly fit in there fine, but all the collets I've tried using won't fit (R-8 from various companies including buck, and some from enco), the slot in the side of them is just too small. So I'm wondering: First off, is this a standardized thing and if so is it the X3, or much more unlikely the collets that are at fault? Or I'm guessing it isn't standard in which case I'm wondering if I should approach it by attacking the collets, or the X3. Of course with a lot of work I could machine all 25 of the collets I have to fit. On the other hand, as much as I hate to modify the machine, this seems like a horrible inconvenience and I'm wondering how hard it would be to remove the spindle and just file down the notch a bit - I figure its not all that useful anyway. And any chance anyone has any info on how I'd do that? I'd hate to damage the spindle taper trying. Thanks guys!

[Crevice Reamer]

Here's a teardown site that includes spindle removal:

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projec...on%20Guide.pdf

Here's a pdf for replacing balls:

http://www.gdsinstruments.com/suppor...t%20-%2033.pdf

Good luck!

CR.

[XboxMeister]

Yes, I agree. I knew this guy (who oddly looked a lot like me ) that did exactly the same thing when upgrading his X3 with the CNCFusion ballnut kit.

The trick is basically to unscrew the ballnut so that you expose all the tracks that lost the ball bearings the first time and start filling them up, track by track. At first it may seem like you are letting even more out (those that didn't come out originally) --- and you are --- but you can put them all back in. A small screwdriver helps gently push them into the track. Don't take the ballnut entirely off but just unscrew it so that the top of the screw is low enough that you've exposed the tracks that lost bearnings.

Load up the lowest track until it can't take any more bearings. Carefully turn the screw to cover that track and proceed up until you fill them all in. There are about 12-15 bearings per track. I (er...this guy I knew) got them all back in without any problem in about 30 mins. Just takes some patience. The ballnut seems to work fine on my (er...his) machine now.

Guy from CNCFusion offered to let me send it back to him and he would reload it for me but once I got going it wasn't as hard as it seemed.

Best of luck!!

Originally Posted by dneisler For the ballnut I would just contact CNC Fusion, he is a great guy to work with. I bet can get you lined out quickly.

[Thorpydo]

I initially had the same problem with the spindle of my X3.

Be forewarned that this definitely isn't 'best practice' but it worked for me without issue. I really didn't want to break down the spindle. I took one of those angled plates used to remove the chuck from a morse taper spindle. I lined it up with the pin and lightly tapped on it. The key moved in ten or twenty thou and that was all it needed.

[Crevice Reamer]

Originally Posted by Thorpydo I initially had the same problem with the spindle of my X3. Be forewarned that this definitely isn't 'best practice' but it worked for me without issue. I really didn't want to break down the spindle. I took one of those angled plates used to remove the chuck from a morse taper spindle. I lined it up with the pin and lightly tapped on it. The key moved in ten or twenty thou and that was all it needed.

This sounds like an excellent suggestion.

Remember also, that you have a one year warranty from Grizzly. If this doesn't work, you might want to give their tech support a call.

CR.