Accuracy report on my Harbor Freight Sieg X3

R

rashid11

Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
707
After building a bench and lifting the mill onto it, I got to
accuracy measurements today.


A) .0001 (tens) indicator, mag mounted to table, against exterior of spindle

NO READING. 0 . Yes, I quad-checked I had contact and no stuck
indicator

B) .0005 (5 tens) indicator, mounted in the spindle, lowered for the contact point
to contact table. Eliminated cosine err as much as I could. Full motion in X.

NO READING. 0 . Yes, I quad-checked I had contact and no stuck
indicator . Didn't do Y .

C) same, mounted in the spindle, ~6" sweep of the table. I could not lower
the indicator for the contact to touch the table, so I used 123 block on the
table ($5 variety). I got may be .0002 (2 tenths) needle motion, but I think it is
the block .

Plowed through some 6061 with 3/4 4Fl EM, @ max rpm. It cuts to about .300
DOC, full width. The motor clearly loads up, but the mill is rock solid. I think
it can take 2HP (3Phase + VFD or straight DC, assuming you can find honestly-rated 2 HP DC motor for less than what I paid for the mill). I never hog metal like that anyway, but it is nice to test the limits.


I am in mill heaven ! Long live Harbor Freight and PROC.
 
Rashid, how much teardown and gunk removal did you have to go through?

How did the gear mesh sound?

I'm glad it's made you happy and look forward to future reports. :)

PS, if you would, please include a link to the mill at HF so people searching out this thread will know which mill it is. Thx!
 
Spent about 2hr: removed "X" (top part of table), "Y" base. Some WD40 to remove Sieg's famous red grease. Poured some into a jar, used HF's own 1" shop brushes. Cleaned the leadscrews, disassembled X, Y & Z thrust bearings, washed everything & lubricated. This mill is a pleasure to disassemble, it is designed extremely well. Dowel pins everywhere.

Electronics is all hidden in the back, behind the column. Completely self-contained, easy to remove. Cleaned the Z axis leadscrew .


That's about it.

I moved the RPM POT to front, I am so used to it being there from X2. 10min
job.

Went over screws and bolts, just in case. 2 of ~30 took about 1/8 of
turn, with moderate hand torque.

I broke the gear train in real nice and slow, 10mins @ may be 10 different ranges in HI & LO ranges. I am at all not bothered by the sound it makes. Now, I am used to my X2, which I converted some years ago to direct belt drive and it was plenty quiet. I don't think X3, with gear drive, is much louder. YMMV.

If one is so inclined, you can convert, easily, to belt drive. But, to retain the
torque @ low RPMs, you'd need at least 1.5-2hp motor. I mod my gear quite extensively, but conversion to belt drive is not even on my list :) .

The RPMs start right @ 0 - will be great for occasional power threading. I wouldn't risk anything smaller than 3/8x16 , it will snap smaller taps w/o hesitation.

Now, this is the HF item I got : http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93885

The picture and description as BOTH WRONG. The mill is actually completely identical to this one:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0463

You can buy either one, they are both made @ the same factory and are identical , cept color: HF maroon vs Grizzly's green . I'd call in to make sure they have them in stock. Grizzly's stock is 0 till mid Feb, HF has them in stock. If your local HF has them in store, you can save 15%-20% using coupons and some sweet talk.
 
Thanks, Rashid. Looks like a nice machine. A significant step up capability-wise form a mini-mill and very comfortable for a basement workshop like mine where getting even an 800 pound affair down in pieces would be difficult. I have a Taig but that is tempting.
 
Thanks rashid! I am saving my pennies for one. I will never again deal HF and Grizzly is within driving distance for me. My wife decided to destroy our Honda generator ($3000) so my new mill dreams have been pushed back by several more months. I am still paying for the new transfer case on my 4x4 that she trashed two months ago. Knife making may be expensive but in my case marriage has it beat by miles.:grumpy:
 
Like I said, I am very happy with mine . After removing the table
(X "part" first, then Y, it is safer that way), me and a friend of mine
were able to lift the thing onto 30" high bench I built w/o pulling our
backs. Now, you be careful if you decide to do that, having 3 people
do that is lot safer.

The whole mill disassembles very quickly ;) :

- remove the bronze bushing plate on LH side of X-table (2 SHCS, gentle
tap from inside and it comes off) and the X table comes right off
- crank the Y all the way toward operator, remove circlip at the end
of Y-leadscrew (using HF's own $2 circlip removing tool), Y slide comes
off.
- remove lower plate in electronic assy in the back (6 small screws)
and remove the 2 grounding wire screws. Remove 4 SHCS that hold
electronic assy to the Z-column: 2 on top, 2 on bottom
- remove top cover off the motor unit. 4 SHCS. remove belt, remove
motor - it is attached to the electrical assy.
- 4 big @ss SHCS attach the whole head to the Z-dovetail-assy. I'd crank it all the way down for it,have it rest on wooden block or something. It weighs about 100LB.

When you remove the 4 screws, the head will not drop down on you :eek: - they thought about it and there is a massive round sticking out of Z-dovetail-plate and into the opening in the head. I think it is possible to mod the mill to have the head rotate (horizontal milling etc). Anyway, slide the head assy toward the operator and it comes off. Again , make sure something is there to support it when it drops off the round.
- now all you have left is the base and Z-column. 4 big @ss bolts attach the column to the base. Piece of cake.

Now you have bunch of pieces that can easily be moved around by one person. When it is time to reassemble it, worry not as there're dowel pins
EVERYWHERE :thumbup:
 
Cool!!!!!!

g0463.jpg


93885.gif
 
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