Newbie- Almost set on a mill, but some Q's first.

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by Crevice Reamer It is possible to fairly easily increase the X3 spindle to table height to 18 inches during CNC conversion. CR.

Is the X2 mini-mill required to do it?? :-)

Regards,
Ray L.

[Crevice Reamer]

Originally Posted by HimyKabibble Is the X2 mini-mill required to do it?? :-) Regards, Ray L.

Naw! That was just some fun.

CR.

[rezcar]

This is getting better all the time!
I'm hoping HF will let me use the 20% off coupon in store!

[pete from TN]

I have the Lathemaster milling machine from Bob Bertrand and I am pretty happy with it. I looked at the smaller machines and to be honest if you intend to do any kind of vehicle or engine work I would think that the smaller machines would not be too good. I recently bought a small knee mill and have found that all of the things I was able to do on the knee mill I could do on the Lathemaster. I am currently in the process of converting my Lathemaster mill to cnc control and I am gonna keep the knee mill manual. The size and weight of the lathemaster makes for a pretty rigid machine and mine has been accurate and cuts aluminum and steel with relative ease. I cut aluminum all the time and while the spindle speed is a little on the slow side I have had not problems. I am aslo aware of the possibility of converting to a three phase motor and vfd which will allow considerably higher spindle speeds. The working envelope is Much better than the x models and while I have not owned one I cannot think that it would be anything but much more rigid than these smaller machines due to it's sheer mass. This is not a small machine and it is not lightweight either. I like to say that these machines are as close as you can get to a knee mill without the added weight and cost. I have owned this machine for almost eight years now and I am gonna convert it to cnc so that should tell you that I am pleased with it. Having owned four different smaller mills before this one I wish it had a belt drive mostly because it is a little quieter but it is also nice to be able to shift gears quickly. I have put this machine thru some serious cutting over the years and have not been easy on it and it still works as good today as the day I bought it.

In short, I think when it comes to machine tools, buy the largest and highest quality machine your money can buy that will fit in your shop and don't look back. You will not be sorry... I have bought as I said three smaller machines and now I have two larger ones, one for manual and one to be cnc. Wish I had just bit the bullet and went large from the start, I would have saved a lot of time and money and probably learned more about machining then how to make a smaller machine do what the machine I should have bought does..... Good luck man...

[caleb105]

Pete,

Are you referring to this $1500 mill?

http://www.lathemaster.com/HEAVYDUTY...E%207045FG.htm

[pete from TN]

I have a Lathemaster mill I bought from the same fellow but they have since changed the machine. Mine is a little stouter than their current offering but it still has the same basic design features. As you can see from the specs the travels are considerably larger as well as the weight is also heavier and the head tilts altho the x3 may tilt I dunno about that. It is however a pretty stout little machine and mine has made me pretty happy for some time now. The size of the head and mass of the carriage are pretty substantial for a benchtop machine. I think it would be hard to beat it's capabilities without spending a considerable amount of cash more on another machine. I am just saying that with this fellow saying that his needs are automotive related that the X3 machines would be a little on the small side. Especially when you see some of the parts he is machining on in those pictures. The one I bought also has a power head lift feature that is very nice altho will be obsolete when I go cnc so I may need to sell that part... The parts I have made on it have been coming out very nice and the machine will just hog metal unlike some of the other machines I have owned. If you are going to spend anywhere near the $1000.00 mark for a new machine I say that this one is a good value.... Peace

[rezcar]

Success! They accepted the coupon!
I went ahead and got the 1yr svc plan as I don't know exactly when I'll do the CNC, the coupon wiped out the amount. But I will definitely do the pulley conversion right away.

[caleb105]

Originally Posted by rezcar Success! They accepted the coupon! I went ahead and got the 1yr svc plan as I don't know exactly when I'll do the CNC, the coupon wiped out the amount. But I will definitely do the pulley conversion right away.

Congrats Rezcar! Where are you located? I'm in Michigan, and they let me use the coupon too.

Also, were they able to tell you if there were any in the warehouse? I'm curious if all HF stores use the same warehouse or not. The warehouse that my HF gets stuff from is out of the X3 right now.

[rezcar]

I'm in So Cal. They checked Camarillo and the system said none in stock, but they called also and said that they would get them in soon from another warehouse. I'm thinking they may have one big warehouse that feeds the smaller warehouses?

[rezcar]

As of 2/23/09, none in Camarillo yet...One is backordered, so it must be yours.

A friend's husband is a long shoreman, and according to her. Work is SLOW, very slow. I wonder if the ships aren't going to sail unless a certain number are ordered?