X3 Supplier Question

[CrewCab]

R8 tooling without question, as you say, the only reason to for MT3 would be if you had a lot of MT3 tooling already. As for the cost of ARC preparation, I'll defer that question to those who have that model, they'll be along before long ... however, I don't know if you've already found This

Good choice imho, better still if you get the "Super"; it was the alternative to the 6x26 on my list, in my case the 6x26 won though 8)

CC

 

[JimM]

I think the full step by step details of the Arc preparation service are on their website so you could do it yourself. If you did go the DIY route one positive is that you would get to know the mill very well

Never used ARC myself but have only ever heard good things about them and when I was considering purchasing the X3 they responded to emails quicklyand were genuinely helpful

And to echo CC - R8 is the way to go

Jim

 

[firebird]

Hi

I bought my X3 from arc. Absolutely no problem with arc at all. Yes definitely R8. I have a lot of MT2 tooling from my Myford lathe and X1 mill. I Just bought the R8 to MT2 adapter. You can do the prep work youself. On mine there was not a lot of grease on it and it cleaned off easily. After cleaning a couple of checks with a DTI and I found no adjustments were nec. I am well pleased with mine, its a great machine. I'll give a couple of tips if I may. These machines are heavy. It took 3 of us, myself, Julian and his daughters boyfriend (a rugby player) to lift it onto the bench and it was a struggle. Removing the X and Y tables (not a big job) will take a lot of weight off. Fitting DRO's to the X and Y tables transforms the machine. These are available from arc. Fitting a motor of some sort to the X table saves an awful lot of muscle power.

Cheers

Rich

 

[chillybilly]

i pass by ARC regularly in my job often nip in for the odd sleeve vice etc etc have never purchased a machine however ,they seem to take a lot of pride in getting the preps of the machines right .
i am know way commercialy connected too ARC just found them a very helpful well organsed place to visit ...
Good luck with your new purchase

 

[SBWHART]

Hi

I got an X3 supper from axminster as Arc don't supply the supper, Arc are very good I've got a lot of kit from them, but I must say axminster were very good to, I had a problem with my machine which they sorted out with no problem, one thing in axminsters favour they are the main UK importers for Seig.

I stripped my machine down into five main lumps,:- switch gear, table, head, columb and base, to get it into my shop, and assembled it with no problem.

Some pics of stripped machine her http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=691.0

Its a great machine very pleased with it performance, will be fitting DRO and power feed in a couple of months.

Hope this helps

Stew

 

[hudmut]

My X3 is from axminster and if yours breaks down within 50 miles of derby and you want some one to came and fix it for you it will be me but i all so use arc there great to deal with even if you don't get your machine from them they will help you out no end.. Id say pull it to bits your self and have ago there very simple and if you get stuck there is a few on here that will help. what i would say is if you going in to the head fit new bearing in the gear box as the one that come in it are cheap junk a set of nsk's will make it run a lot better and don't over grease the head bearings it will make it run hot...

As for dro's and power feed the dro's are great but not a must but they do make for faster work and arc will be bringing a power feed out soon that will use a stepper motor witch is going to be way better than the proper X3 power feed iv just fitted a bridgeport one my self...

Have ago you cant make a mess of it it wont cost you any thing and you might have to take it to bits to move it in the first place ?

 

[user 1618]

Hi One and all,

Thank you for the feedback, Jim, your right about learning the mill and £255 would go someway towards the tool fund that will be required.

Stew, you would say the extra features on the SX3 worth the additional cost?

I will call Axminster as they only advertise the MT3 version.

regards
Ian

 

[user 1618]

Just spoken to Axminster and they only sell the MT3 version. :wall:

 

[Babba]

My X3 is from axminster and if yours breaks down within 50 miles of derby and you want some one to came and fix it for you it will be me

You have a PM

 

[SBWHART]

Stew, you would say the extra features on the SX3 worth the additional cost?

I will call Axminster as they only advertise the MT3 version.

regards
Ian

Hi Ian

Pro and cons the supper has a variable speed motor 1 HP + ish which is a higher rating than the X3 but its fixed speed motor gives a higher torque at lower speeds if I understand things correct.

The supper has a tilting head I've used this feature a number of times and found it very useful.

This is the feature being used to chamfer the edge of the cylinders on my Loco engine

There are other ways of doing this but the tilting head makes it easy, especially when you re tram the head using a tram like this.

With this it only takes a couple of minutes to get the head dead square again.

Which ever way you go you'll get a very nice bit of kit.

Hope this helps

Stew

 

[JimM]

Stew, did you make that tramming tool yourself ? They look really useful but the commercially available ones seem way overpriced for what they are.

 

[SBWHART]

Stew, did you make that tramming tool yourself ? They look really useful but the commercially available ones seem way overpriced for what they are.

Hi Jim

I did make it my self I used scrap yard ally and a couple of cheep DTI costing £10 squid each.

These are the instruction I followed

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=822.0

And this is how I made it

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=1077.0

Cheers

Stew

 

[CrewCab]

IIRC the "Super" also has a "Tapping" facility ............ don't know any more about it but I recall Steve (Cedge) was impressed by it (he has one) ........ drop him a pm Ian, he'll be more than happy to share his thoughts on the machine, and without a doubt he can sure put it to good use :bow:

Have a look

CC

 

[user 1618]

Thank you all for info, and links to further information.

much appreciated
regards

 

[mnewsholme]

As for dro's and power feed the dro's are great but not a must but they do make for faster work and arc will be bringing a power feed out soon that will use a stepper motor witch is going to be way better than the proper X3 power feed iv just fitted a bridgeport one my self...

Hi

any idea of a timescale to the arc power feed? john stevenson mentioned something similar on one of forums six month or so back. Also do you have any idea if it will be possible to interface into the powerfeed at a later stage and control it with step/direction signals? Thinking is to add power feed to X-axis initially then later add a stepper to y-axis and z-axis to upgrade to CNC control gradually.

Matt

 

[Julian]

Hi, The power feed will be available very soon from Arc I beleive as a kit of parts and full instructions. The instructions were written so anyone can build it.....as long as you can do sound electric solder joint or two. If you email Arc they should know the timescale better than me as I only wrote it and built the one that was in use at the last Harrogate Show. Firebird has my first build working on his X3 mill. It will not be hard to link to a computer to run as cnc. If you wish a very simple easily built system just build three (one for each axis) and then link all three to a breakout board then to the computer. If you decide to go this way I can help you with guidance as I have done it already.

Buy the mill as is and clean it yourself. There is normally not much to do and you will have to check it if you have it prepared then have to strip it to carry it. It is a very good and quick way of learning the mills ins and outs.

Arc are also a large official importer for Seig in the UK. They spend alot of money along with Seig on the research and developement of these machines...probably more than anyone else. If you want advice just ring them they are very knowledgable and helpful. If you are passing pop in you will not regret it.


Julian




Julian

 

[Ketan Swali]

Hi,

We are finalising a few things on Julians powerfeed and we hope to offer it "in some form" within two to three months.

We are expecting to recieve the SX3 with R8 spindle by end of next week. If we are happy with it, I will add it to our range.

Ketan at ARC.

 

[tornitore45]

R8 for sure, cheaper tools.
Instead of end mill hoder (with screw) get collets, you gain about 40mm in Z.

Cleaning and prepping, in my opinion is not a good idea.
If you are of moderate strenght you need to take it apart in manageable chunks to move it from the crate to the bench.
Second, disassembling, cleaning, lubing and giving some TLC will make you intimately knowlegeable of the working innards and help in future maintenance.

Mauro