After some extreme milling adventures with my X3, I've got my
compound clamp pretty near done. 1" plate does pretty good. To do it
again, I'd just damn well get some 4" x 1" plate, 5" long (well, 4.7
would be dead on).

Things that I learned:

Get rougher and finishing mills with the same shank and working diameter.

Machine screw drills are sweet.

Grizzly 6" rotary table, H7527, has some issues with climb milling. Do
conventional to cut, then climb for finish.

IMHO, the Sieg X3 will not happily bore 3", the rotary table and a
roughing mill makes large diameters possible.

The SPI trepanning tools that might possibly fit the X3 only use the 5mm
bit, and will only cut down 3/8ths of an inch.

Annular cutters are compelling for masculine machinists, but I could not
justify the $70 or so for the holder, then $135 for a 2 3/8 cutter. Oh,
but it would be tool gloat...

Digital scales are sweet.

Blake Co-Ax enabled me to pull the plate off the table for fitting, then
put it back on the rotary table and indicate it in to less than .001
error. Not bad for a plate with a bored hole on top of a rotary table.

Keeping the bore square to the bottom surface (top surface on the mill)
had me thinking. I popped in my Tri-Dex and took a pass around the top.
NOTE: If you mill near a nut and make a sharp edge, it will slice you
open when disassembling the setup. Ow.

I was so relieved when the clamp and the dial slid right over the
mounting studs on the saddle. OCD is the way to be.

Louis Ohland wrote:

After some extreme milling adventures with my X3, I've got my
compound clamp pretty near done. 1" plate does pretty good. To do it
again, I'd just damn well get some 4" x 1" plate, 5" long (well, 4.7
would be dead on).


Keep posting your adventures with the X3. I want a mini CNC mill to run EMC2 on and that
seems like the machine to modify for space reasons.

Live long and make chips

Wes

On Aug 1, 5:27*pm, Louis Ohland wrote:
..... [Grizzly G9972Z, Sieg X3] ....

How do you like that lathe and mill?
Would you recommend them to a beginner?

My old American iron is about the same size and capacity, and to me
about right for a home hobbyist, or maybe a small company model shop.
When someone asks we pretty much have to suggest equipment that is
currently available even if we prefer the oldies.

jsw

Wes wrote:
Louis Ohland wrote:

After some extreme milling adventures with my X3, I've got my
compound clamp pretty near done. 1" plate does pretty good. To do it
again, I'd just damn well get some 4" x 1" plate, 5" long (well, 4.7
would be dead on).


Keep posting your adventures with the X3. I want a mini CNC mill to run EMC2 on and that
seems like the machine to modify for space reasons.

Live long and make chips

Wes

You do know that the KX3 is available in the US? The KX1 is also
available. Little Machine Shop has both. The KX1 column is like the X3,
it is bolted down, no tilting.