My KX3, tweaks and various stuff

[Guldberg]

Hurray. Yesterday it arrived in a giant crater. My very own brand new Sieg KX3.
This is going to be my log for the various tweaks and mods i plan to do.
Here is the stuff i plan to do:

A solid stand and full enclouse
Bolt the coloum to the wall to increase rigidty
ATC, Hass style

Well, now for the pics (there are plenty more if you follow the link to the picasa album)

The mandatory crate pictures. I got it delivered at my home. Since i live in appartment it had to spend the night outside.

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Today the carrier picked it up and transportet it to the student workshop where i do my hobby. Off the crater went, and look what i found inside

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The pallet was 1m and the door 0.9m, so i had to fine tune it with a jig saw. Anyway, this is how it looks right out the box

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The first thing i did was to remove that strange splash protective thingy around the table. Hereafter I noticed that the limitswitches was set a little to the safe side, thereby loosing some travel, so i adjusted them properly. Also i removed that hideous red grease. At least it was only a thin layer in most parts.

Of cause I had to open it up and have a look inside. Neetly wired. Look at that huge power supply

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A look into the back, where all the spindle hardware is hidden

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I also took off the top cover, you can get a glims of the spindle motor

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First program running. Just a simple circle test to hear it humming.


And lastly the goodies i bought along with the mill. The wooden box is a complete set of parallels.

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Thats it for now. Maybe ill do a small test cut tomorrow, but before it sits bolted to a solid stand its hard to make a judgement

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[dfmiller]

Got mine direct from Factory. I am in Canada. Serial number is 0234.
I have not done too much with it yet. Make sure you get the updated Seig Logo file from the support site. Also I suggest getting the updated driver files from the support site also. I found the disk shipped had issues with what they shipped. Also I found don't try to upgrade to the lastest Mach 3. use what is on th esupport website.
My experience is by doing this you will save yourself several days of hair pulling.
I am really happy with the machine and need to find time to use it more soon
Dave

[Guldberg]

It says 3/08/0157 on the front, not sure if that is the seriel number

As for the xml file it worked right out the box,. Cant remember what version of mach im using.

[dfmiller]

I believe the 0157 is the serial number. I am glad you have no software issues.

[Guldberg]

Its not that i havent been busy in the workshop, my girlfriend just went away to Italy for 3 weeks with my camera. So not so many wip pictures. I almost finished the frame structure for the enclosure.

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When i was welding, some sparks hit my hand and i accidental drop the torch, which swung around and apprently pierced my leg. I kinda noticed my green pants got dark. A thin layer of fabric is no match for a red hot wire.
A very odd injury, my pants got soaked in blood in less than 10sec and then it all stopped. Hurray for coagulation...

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[Guldberg]

Now in stylish white

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And with door sliders installed

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Closed

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And tadaaaa open

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[zephyr9900]

Looking good, Jacob. Those slides look a lot like Accuride. If so, very high quality--I've used them in a commercial product. I'm glad that you have blood that coagulates quickly!

Randy

[Guldberg]

I think it is accuride, the quality seams nice and they are payable. Wheels on a rails like in the commercial cncs would have been better, but it seams to work for now

[Guldberg]

Got most of sides welded on

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[nlancaster]

that is a great looking enclosure. how do you keep the swarf/coolant from going out the slot for the door?

[Guldberg]

There is something like 80cm from the spindle to the the slot, it would take some crazy blasting to make it spash all that way. I also welded on an angle to stiffen the side on the inside, which blocks the direct "line of sight" from the spindle to the slot. Anyway, what is a shop floor without a little coolant and some swarf..

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[Guldberg]

Finally finished the welding. First layer of paint applied

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Will make a drawer for tools etc., not the first job in line though

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Today i made the "big lift". It was kind a nerve wrecking since i just used a bolt i found in the sealing :-) First i made eye bolt out of some scrap to fit the KX3

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Wrench attach and ready to go

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Scary stuff! I removed the pallet and as i lifted it I put sheets of plywood and some square tubes underneat, so if it broke it would only fall a couple of centimeters... at least that was the plan, glad never got to see if it had work.

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Finally it was sitting were its suppose to

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Ups, a minor clearence issue, will have to redo the power drawbar mechanisme to make use of the full travel

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Eager to test it, i went and milled out the two bars for the power drawbar

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More pics in the picasa album as usual

[hedgehog23]

great build , nice work with the cabinet.

[Teyber12]

i would love it if you went into comprehensive detail on the power drawbar, i think many people would pay you something for the plans to make it worthwhile

i think you did a insane job with the enclosure...

[Guldberg]

The drawbar is almost so simple that its not worth mentioning:-) Its a pneumatic cylinder acting via an arm on the drawbar pushing down the bellevil washers. Just like the most of the other designs around. The total force to release the tool is around 5000N

Im getting really tired of doing sheet metal work, today i made one of the backsides, so my guess is that there is a day or 2 worth of work left before i can call it finish

[ImanCarrot]

Very nice work indeed! Thanks for sharing.

[Guldberg]

Sheet metal job finished, its starting to look like a tiny VMC. A layer or two more of paint and some silicone and its good to go

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[nlancaster]

That is brilliant! Love the look of that setup and yes it does look like a little VMC. You should post plans for that enclosure for everyone else to get Ideas from.

[Starleper1]

Phenomenal enclosure. I will be doing something very similar for my mini VMC. Great work.

[Teyber12]

serious that is great. I would love plans too