MILL SIEG X3
KEEP IT CHIPPING..
some recent photo of the beast
My mill is a SIEG X3, made by sieg industries, but imported and repainted by axminster, the big uk online shop. The original one from sieg is red and this painted version is more relaxing to work with. I asked axminster staff what colors are those and they replied with these two codes : RAL 9010 and RAL7026. I think this is the best color combination for metalworking machines because fancy colors (red, yellow, green, blue) are not relaxing colors for the eyes. White is perfect, and dark gray is perfect for the bed.
CHOOSING WHICH MILL:
Same as for the lathe I spent a lot of time looking for the right milling machine for me. First of all I was convinced that my machine was the sieg X2, I was really close to buy that and after some days thinking about it I change completed idea and I swapped brain neurons for the bigger sieg X3 . I did not fount many models except the sieg line and this made the choices circle smaller. Few models are available at chester uk, but two of those are sieg machines with a chester paint.
Now I am really happy and I think I made the right choice, there is only one bad point in all the story: the price (double of X2!!, but you can't do same job with two X2s than with one X3!, so is better to buy X3!)
Basically the reason of my chioche is the table size: 40x9 cm on X2 and a 50x16 on the X3.
I thought what I can do with a small table (X2) and I saw that I was not able to laydown a rotary table with a tailstock or a wide metal plate to machine (I mean something like 10x30 cm) !! The X3 table is really more big, is practically twice wider that the X2 one. Also I said again to myself "Dave, if you buy a machine, buy something that will give you satisfaction for all the life, not a small toy!!"..
The choice was made and after 2 weeks the truck delivered these two Egyptian sarcophagus in my driveway. (+- 180 / 200 kg each )(same phrase used for the lathe, I know!!), I want to write that Axminster delivered the mill for free because they delivered both machines with the same lorry (I paid just one heavy good charge, instead two! --- 30 gbp less --- ! !!)
..just note that the lathe is the long one and the mill is the square one!!!
MOVING THE MILL:
20 /06/2006 : I was ready to move the machines from the driveway to the workshop.... a friend (a good man) borrowed me a 800kg crane , and another good one gave me three steel round rods to roll the mill inside...
The mill came inside after the lathe using the same rolling system invented and tested with brother lathe few hours before!
PREPARING THE MILL:
24/06/2006 Now let's talk about the cleaning that you need to do on a new mill that comes wrapped of a sticky cream, called antirust grease... I spent one full day to separate al parts and to clean everything. At the end of the day this was the mill... the rest of it I mean!
I don't want to remove more parts than this, but I know that with few bolts off is easy to remove the head from the column and the column from the bed.
some shots at the electrical system
and few at the head..
this was the mill...
The mill comes with a full box of crap tools (as any machine in the world, no one gives you SNAPON tools or BETA for free!!!), and a 1-13mm drill chuck with arbor, three draw bars, a spare belt and a stupid manual made by some photocopies!!
I just had one TRICKY problem removing the motor bolts: two of those were really tighten hard and I make their head round after few attempts to loose them. I "saved the ship" taking out from the magic hat my DREMEL multitool to make two straight cuts on the X3 motor bolts to be able to unscrew them using a big screwdriver.... moral: the DREMEL is the first tool to buy for a good work shop!!
!! DREMEL SAVE LIFES !!
(two bolts slotted with dremel and one original bolt showed)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The first impression is that the machine is MASSIVE !!
Yes is heavy and well built, but same crap stuff on the paint job (please read the lathe section "impressions" to find more about paintjob), basically the machine is made and painted in same color scheme as the lathe, since comes from same factory.
The table is big and I am sure I can laydown all my parts to machine. As strange thing that is missed (not installed from factory) is the GAS strut on the back that I saw in many enthusiast sites. Some people changed the strut to move the spindle closer to the table: well I will not have that problem because I had not a GAS strut!! Also, the head is fully movable by hand (rotating the handle) easily up and Down, really I don't understand why the strut is included in some X3!! if you have that, bin it!!!!
IMPRESSIONS AFTER ONE YEAR:
good stuff, yes... this mill can do lot of good work, probably better than the lathe, if compared to.
I did some nice jobs on it, and I am really pleased. there is just one thing that must be improved : the DC motor!!! it is only 800w, and it is really easy to get the protection circuit active during hard works, such as face milling with my lovable SECO OCTOMILL 80mm.
so, basically this mill is ok, but a new powerful motor and a good DRO will transform it from a entry level mill to a working beast (pro-sumer machine). The DRO is really useful on the mill because it speeds up any task by 2500%. I am pleased for having installed a professional DRO (meister).
PROBLEMS:
I had a strange problem with the motor, something like smoke and flames coming out when high speed milling, also I had +250 on the earth cable sometimes during the milling operations.
I choose to open the whole motor to see what was the problem and after checking all the parts I fount that the "earth" wire was in contact with the rotating part of the motor, causing at high speed some short circuit.!!
IMPROVEMENTS:
As planned before buy I have upgraded the mill with lot of customizations. first of all a good lever “clutch” that can be used to turn on and off the quill . I have also modified the table to get full X surface table, I have installed a coolant system with many shields around the machine to contain the liquid on the tray. I got a tachulator (rpm and surface counter) also. I have installed a DRO which is the best mods ever !! I would like to go for the CNC but I have no so much time and money to do it, just now. so.-... let’s wait!!
check out these important improvements, and please visit the full projects page (mill section) for complete list of mods on this sieg X3.
control box HOT !
DRO 3 axis
rpm readout + sfm
this is the beast at dic 2007 configuration... ready to eat and chew steel , aluminum and plastic.
