[dneisler]

Well it has been 2 years plus since I done anything with my X3. Moved once since and it was still in storage until this weekend. Now it is in my shop floor in 100 pieces. I need to build a new stand for flood coolant. It was in a 3' x 5' x 4' box type enclose, it worked, but looking for something a little nicer maybe.

Show me your stand/enclosures for your X3 or similar.

[cjdavis618]

Here is some shots of my work area (Please disregard the mess).

Made out of wood, and fiberglass in this case. Fits the mill into the corner and the doors really cut down on the noise.

If I had to do it over again, I would skip the fiberglass and use sheetmetal for the pan and then fis the drain to allow more coolant and settle the metal to the bottom and then flow over a drain pipe rather than slope it all down to the drain. On long cuts, I sometimes have to get in the cabinet to clean the drain as it is.

The Doors are really simple, I just used some Delrin rod and made 4 (8 total) bushings that are screwed to the bottom and top corners of each door, then I have some 1/2" U channel Al that runs the edge of the cabinet on the inside from side to side. The doors just slide out of the way by following the track.

[Jeff Davis]

I was hoping to see some pics! An enclosure is one of the next things on my to-do list.

[dneisler]

I think I am going to build a modified slightly Tomach DIY enclosure. Lots of pics will come soon.

[yantra3d]

Wow, I love this work area that you have setup for you and your x3! It looks really comfortable. Great job and thanks for sharing these photos!!

[dneisler]

Well I started redoing my old one, it will be a littler different this time. Here is where I am so far. I didn't get allot of time today.

[WOTDesigns]

NICE! your ahead of me still

Blew up the controller today... so your even further out. gonna post a new thread

[dneisler]

Not allot of progress, to many other things going on...

Base shower liner installed, mostly. I ran out of time before I got the back corners done. At least when I finish this i can start assembling the mill again before I deal with sides. That will make it seem like I am making some progress at least.

[dneisler]

Well I made a little progress, I put some red dykem on the Y axis gib and installed it tonight. I played with moving the table for several minutes adjusting the gibs and what not. I then pulled the gib out, and guess what I saw. It has a bow to it. I faced it up like a smiley face, and pushed down on one end, and I could measure at least .012" of air under it, maybe more. So I think I need to do some gib work. Any suggestions?

[dneisler]

Finally making some progress. I got the Y axis installed, and tuned up. I think I have about .001 backlash, but I need to find out the correct way to measure it so I know for sure.

On to the X axis after that.

[WOTDesigns]

.001" is pretty dann good. I have about .0035 from my "zero backlash" cncfusion kit.

to measure just mount something on the table (vice, 123 block, hold down strap) and run a DTI (mounted in the spindle) into the fixed object on the table. go past 0 on the DTI. reverse direction and carefully creep back to zero on the DTI so you are "loaded" in the direction away from the part. zero your DRO. make a 1" move away from the part then a 1" move back. your DRO should be back to zero. your DTI will register exactly how much backlash you have.

I hate how often I hadn't ti adjust my gibs and re do this process. hopefully when I scrape my Z gib, if all goes well, I will order a new set for x & 3 and scrape them too. Your picture of your gib really has me wondering how hunch of my backlash is from the same. if I loosen my gibs I can get almost zero backlash... more work on the mill. yay :-/

keep the pics coming. they beat the crap out of a thousand words B-)

[dneisler]

Well I don't have a table mounted yet, so I had a DTI mounted on the saddle and making contact with the column and did the test. Shows about .001"

Sieg X3 Y Axis Backlash Check - YouTube

[WOTDesigns]

Well I don't have a table mounted yet, so I had a DTI mounted on the saddle and making contact with the column and did the test. Shows about .001"

Sieg X3 Y Axis Backlash Check - YouTube

video trumps picture! nicely done. I'm jealous on the backlash.

makes me think though- you didn't use this manually much did you? I'm thinking maybe half the problem many of us have is from using the lock down handle when manual machining. I know my Z gib is concaved and il bet the others are too.

looking forward to seeing the rest of your machine come together.

[dneisler]

Your right, it was bought for CNC and never did any manual stuff. My gibs are tight, so tight I can barely move the saddle with all my weight. The steppers seem to have no problems with it thought.

[dneisler]

I finally got some time, and now I have all 3 axis running nicely....

X & Y axis I cannot see any measurable backlash with a DTI (001"). The Z on the other hand, I got it down do .003" backlash, I tightened the gibs more, and I got more nod, and more backlash, how strange. So I think where I am at now is the sweet spot.

Next task, relocated the Electronics, and possible put in a KBIC. I need to do some reading on the KBIC now. I want to control the spindle with mach 3.

[WOTDesigns]

GOOD TO HEAR!

You will love the KBIC-125. The installation is very easy, it boosts the spindle speed a little, and controlling it with mach 3 is easy. Just need a separate small power supply (i used a wall wart located in my control box and a relay. Even the power light and e stop still work for the spindle.

as for the head nod: run the head Z+ and sticka feeler gauge between the back of the bottom if the Z gib and the saddle. the couple thou you will find is what is causing the nod. $10 for some scraping tools from grizzly, $8 from mcmaster for some prussian blue, $15 for an ink roller from local arts and crafts store, granite plate or glass is all it takes to fix it. the trick is to blue the gib and only scrape the upper portion a few times then dykem it and throw it back in the mill. took maybe 2 hours for a first timer.

glad to see your still rolling along!

[dneisler]

Can you send me some detailed instructions for that, and what to buy. I may try to do that.

[WOTDesigns]

for the kbic wiring?

I'm completely retarded with electronics- as proof... I blew up my x3 board trying to wire it for mach3 control

you can download the kbic owners manual via google search- VERY well made material.

for the wiring I followed the link in this post (primco something or other)

Yahoo! Groups

I also have a VERY bad memory. Likely because I read 100+ posts and websites a day trying to learn all this stuff. I watched 30 hours of videos this month alone learning master cam, not to mention being in school for solidworks, making parts, scraped the gibs, and designed 6 totally different christmas presents. that said... I cant even remember what the hell the power supply was for without opening up the controller...

[dneisler]

sorry, I was referring to the Z axis stuff.

[WOTDesigns]

LOL!!

Okay. That's easier.

I ordered this scraper set from Grizzly, Prussian Blue from McMaster, small granite surface plate locally from WoodCraft to save the $70 that Grizzly wanted for shipping, and an ink roller (cant find link) locally from a Michael's arts and craft store.

The process is actually pretty simple. The idea is to put a dab of blue on the plate after wiping it VERY well. I end up using my hand to remove what is left after rag/towel/paper towel/micro fiber... they all left fibers. Smear the blue out as evenly as possible by 'sliding' the ink roller left and right as you roll it forward and backwards.

Take the gib and carefully set it face (always referring to the face that rubs the dovetail) up on the blue and gently move around in a circle to transfer the blue. carefully lift strait up and look at the results. If MOST of the gib is blue or is 'sticks' as you pull off the plate you have too much blue. keep spreading out or wipe some off then keep spreading out. you only need a THIN layer.

More than likely you will see 20% or less is actually making contact. Hold the gib (I will post some pics of my set up tomorrow) and gently scrape ONLY the blue areas. Watch some videos of power scrapers and try to imitate the motion. You can gently rub or gouge the crap out of it... truth is it really doesn't matter. Deeper strokes/gouges will play off in the beginning, finesse towards the end. The goal is to get rid of those high spots.

Take a FINE file and hold it in line with the gib so you don't round the edges. file the burs created form scraping. CLEAN the gib with brake cleaner or something similar to get ALL dust, dirt and metal shavings. Any stray crap will throw off all future 'readings'. I cut a bud light 36 pack box and set it over my granite plate while scraping for added protection from dust.

Rinse and repeat. over and over. As you progress the amount of blue will increase which means your getting flatter. This surface just needs to be flatish. shouldn't need more than a few rounds.

next Clean everything and spray some dykem on the face, spray with compressed air to dry and throw back in the mill. I wrote a quick code to move the head up and down 18" 20 cycles. Remove Gib and look at the silver spots on the top (as if it were in the mill) and bottom. The top is all that is touching when you are moving Z- and the bottom is all that is touching when you are moving Z+.

(Being my first time) I took a picture of the results. Used brake cleaner to remove the dykem then blued on the plate to compare (could do this before dykem to save a step). the results were similar so I scraped ONLY the blue towards the TOP of the gib. I did three rounds, dykem, mill, 20 cycles, then started scraping the 'silver' ONLY on the top.

WHen i was getting more even contact I blued the face and scraped ALL the blue (top and bottom) to even out. I did three rounds so that the surface has more contact and checked again on the mill.

my results were that my backlash was similar (but i'm out of z adjustment - remember the thousands of movements with bad gib) but the nod was 100% gone. no movement on a .0005" DTI with the same backlash. My adjustment screw is bottomed out so I stopped. If i had adjustment I would continue 'flattening' the face and think I could get the backlash below .001"

This is the only useful thing I could find scouring the net for a week. Shows what the blue should look like and a progressive example.


post pics of my jig tomorrow.