[rlfervan]

Can anyone tell me if the spindle is actually R8? I want to order some tooling.
Thanks

[ihavenofish]

Can anyone tell me if the spindle is actually R8? I want to order some tooling.
Thanks

wisp's photos clearly show an r8 spindle.

[cncJerry]

anyone want to defer theirs to San Francisco, let me know. Mid June is almost next year in my book. I might lose interest.

[robcap]

Enraged, you might just get yours much sooner than that. I called a few days ago and they told me April 1 (no kidding) and now mine will be here Thursday...go figure?

Same here. I called to check on my order and they told me they wouldnt be getting any until Mar 11, got the call from UPS yesterday and picked up my mill at lunch today.

[simila95]

same thing happened with my g0602 lathe. Took 3 months to get that thing. Was just about to order the sx3 from grizzly when i saw this post. Sooooooooooo should i get this instead? Planned on getting the setup CR recommends on his site for the cnc conversion. Any advice?

[simila95]

The machine itself is about 100 pounds lighter than an X3--That's not a good sign for rigidity. The base is about the same size on the bottom, but much less beefy.

The table is larger and so is travel, but that saddle looks very skinny. I doubt the table will hold the 150 pounds that the X3 will.

The X3 is also taller. The X3 Throat is almost 2 inches larger and it has a bit more spindle height above table. The 1 HP motor should draw more than 3.5A, so I don't think that is real.

Drilling capacity & end mill capacity are only 3/4 that of X3. Dials are calibrated .002 compared to X3 .001 and .0005 on Z.

For Grizzly to be able to sell this WITH stand for about same as X3 means cost savings happened that probably decrease its utility.

All in all, I get the impression that this mill is lighter duty than X3. I place it somewhere between the X2 and X3--And certainly below the 1.33 HP SX3.

CR.

so yea that cancels out my last post. guess ill be ordering my sx3 on monday then. I know people say to do the x3 and not the sx3 for cnc but it seems like a better built mill untill i get around to going to cnc.

[madtownrob]

so yea that cancels out my last post. guess ill be ordering my sx3 on monday then. I know people say to do the x3 and not the sx3 for cnc but it seems like a better built mill untill i get around to going to cnc.

You stopped reading too soon! Keep reading the first 2 pages of this post.... nearly everyone agrees that this is a better mill than the X3 for a number of reasons...

[ihavenofish]

so yea that cancels out my last post. guess ill be ordering my sx3 on monday then. I know people say to do the x3 and not the sx3 for cnc but it seems like a better built mill untill i get around to going to cnc.

dont let anything crevice reamer says influence your decisions

i wouldnt touch an x3 myself. many fundamental design flaws. weight isnt eveyrthing.

[Crevice Reamer]

The machine itself is about 100 pounds lighter than an X3--That's not a good sign for rigidity. The base is about the same size on the bottom, but much less beefy.

The table is larger and so is travel, but that saddle looks very skinny. I doubt the table will hold the 150 pounds that the X3 will.

The X3 is also taller. The X3 Throat is almost 2 inches larger and it has a bit more spindle height above table. The 1 HP motor should draw more than 3.5A, so I don't think that is real.

Drilling capacity & end mill capacity are only 3/4 that of X3. Dials are calibrated .002 compared to X3 .001 and .0005 on Z.

For Grizzly to be able to sell this WITH stand for about same as X3 means cost savings happened that probably decrease its utility.

All in all, I get the impression that this mill is lighter duty than X3. I place it somewhere between the X2 and X3--And certainly below the 1.33 HP SX3.

CR.

I apologized for that post, because I knew nothing about the mill other than the specs.
After seeing some of the first hand accounts, it seems that just about everything I said is true. I now stand by my comment that this mill is sized somewhere between the X2 and the X3. It DOES have larger X travel, and is made very well though.

The only design fault I know of with the SX3 is the column flex, and that is totally taken care of with a proper brace. I would recommend the new SX3 with 21 inch table travels if you need a larger mill.

https://www.machinetoolswarehouse.co...L-p-16279.html

CR.

[simila95]

dont let anything crevice reamer says influence your decisions

i wouldnt touch an x3 myself. many fundamental design flaws. weight isnt eveyrthing.

bout to order monday so either way the sx3 is instock and ready to ship. Im trying to go with grizzly since i have a credit there from them sending me a broken belt sander. Plus shipping from ca is silly most of the time and thats where machine tool warehouse is.

[ihavenofish]

The only design fault I know of with the SX3 is the column flex, and that is totally taken care of with a proper brace. I would recommend the new SX3 with 21 inch table travels if you need a larger mill.

its more than column flex. the rear mounted ball screws, short z saddle and tiny shallow dovetails make for binding and twisting on the z. throw in that the ways are often not even parallel and you have limited accuracy on the Z. the gibs are not taped like the weiss models and the Y axis dovetail is inverted which has its own issues with gibs.

so, yes, the weiss is smaller, but i would venture to say its more capable based on everything ive seen of it.

anyhow, not the point here to knock the x3 as wel lall know is worked well for many. the point was that one shouldnt discount the g0704 mill because of your incorrect comments

[ihavenofish]

bout to order monday so either way the sx3 is instock and ready to ship. Im trying to go with grizzly since i have a credit there from them sending me a broken belt sander. Plus shipping from ca is silly most of the time and thats where machine tool warehouse is.

i would myself, but dont listen to me, listen to the guys that have the machine now. hoss has a thread on his.

[Crevice Reamer]

its more than column flex. the rear mounted ball screws, short z saddle and tiny shallow dovetails make for binding and twisting on the z. throw in that the ways are often not even parallel and you have limited accuracy on the Z. the gibs are not taped like the weiss models and the Y axis dovetail is inverted which has its own issues with gibs.

I have not experienced any of these problems with my Grizzly SX3. Maybe the HF models had them. The SX3 has a full tapered Z gib--Not the same on the X3. I would love to have them on X and Y as the G0704 has though.

so, yes, the weiss is smaller, but i would venture to say its more capable based on everything ive seen of it.

Maybe so, but smaller is less capable in many ways.

anyhow, not the point here to knock the x3 as wel lall know is worked well for many. the point was that one shouldnt discount the g0704 mill because of your incorrect comments

Please explain which of my comments are incorrect and why?

CR.,

[Crevice Reamer]

bout to order monday so either way the sx3 is instock and ready to ship. Im trying to go with grizzly since i have a credit there from them sending me a broken belt sander. Plus shipping from ca is silly most of the time and thats where machine tool warehouse is.

Might be worth it to get the longer table. I'm sure Grizzly will soon have it also though. If the new table fits the original X3 saddle, (And I think it will) it may also be available as an upgrade to the original.

CR.

[Crevice Reamer]

its more than column flex. the rear mounted ball screws,

What rear mounted ball screws? What rear mounted screws? What mill are you actually describing?

CR.

[ihavenofish]

What rear mounted ball screws? What rear mounted screws? What mill are you actually describing?

CR.

the x3 has the ball screw / lead screw in the back of the column. it uses 2 arms to reach around the column to the z saddle.

[simila95]

the x3 has the ball screw / lead screw in the back of the column. it uses 2 arms to reach around the column to the z saddle.

yea yea just keep talkin about the 2 arms reachin around.....

[ihavenofish]

yea yea just keep talkin about the 2 arms reachin around.....

well, thats what you get from sieg.



i kave the kx1, which is the same design but smaller. the weiss design is simply better. if your concerned with being too light weight, they make bigger models as well.

[machinechick]

The main reason I choose to buy a BF20 mill a year ago was I already owned a Seig X2, and wasn't greatly impressed (spent more time adjusting it than using it, in all honesty needed a bigger mill). I also previously owned a couple of Seig mini lathes which were also less than impressive (mod heaven, always adjusting this or that, again needed something with more base capability). In my opinion design and build quality trumps weight when the machines are in the same general size class; and from my experience, as well as others in the thread, the BF series has a good design and build. (When I need a mill all I have to do is set the job up and run with it, the mill is ready to work). To be fair, I have never owned a Seig X3, so I can't comment from experience on this particular offering from Seig, just as I would imagine people who do not own a BF series can fairly comment on a machine they have no practical experience with. Also, in all fairness the Seig X3S does appear to correct some of the deficencies of the original design, for about a $400 price increase. I am however glad people in the USA are now being offered reasonably priced Chinese machines from more than just one supplier/factory/school of design, maybe the Chinese are becoming Capitalists after all.

[hoss2006]

Ah, Grizzly has started a small mill battle it seems.
Lets compare shall we.
G0704, for $950 you get 1 HP, 2250 rpm, nearly 19 x 7 travels, 7-1/8 x 26-5/8 table and a free stand.
G0619, for $1295 you get 1 HP, 1750 rpm, about 16 x 5.75 travels, 6-1/4" x 21-5/8 table, no stand.
Seemed like a no brainer to me too.
Now one can argue about bracing this and modding that to try and even things up, but what can be done
to one can also be done to the other.
Sieg must be getting worried, they came out with the extended table for the X3 as I pointed out
a couple weeks ago at MTW.
The BF's have had L versions for quite a while.
Betcha HF unloaded the X3 to make room for a BF too.
I said it before and I'll say it again, the BF's are our future.
Hoss