[SCzEngrgGroup]

Couldnt you use the existing mill to drill the 6 holes?

Or a simple hand-drill?

Regards,
Ray L.

[Bison9]

the_great_snag - yeah I have been reading in more than one spot about the column stiffening mods for the X2 as well. And more than one person has come out the other end not that pleased form what I have been reading.. Even the guy at this link: Reducing Mini-Mill Column Flex (and Column Y-Axis Alignment) - Home Model Engine Machinist says at the end of all of it that it doesn't really do what it needs to do in the end anyways which is get the thing into perfect Y axis tram (also I think "tram" is only and X-axis thing?? :S anyhow, you get the point ). For this reason I am going with that Solid Column kit.

bjones - you are actually totally right here. I was kicking myself when I started reading that there was the SX2 with the column troubles already hammered out. I knew the SX2 was out there but just learned about the column improvements like 3 days ago :S I originally thought the price difference in the SX2 was the improvements they made on the belt driven, brushless motor... It didn't seem like enough justification alone to go $400 more on it. Had I known about these column issues, you bet, I would have gone that route in a heartbeat!

Lastly, I have actually gone to the belt drive on my X2 also. I did that about 5 nights ago That is the only mod as of now on my X2. When my Solid Column kit comes in its off the races. Going to be adding some DROs , squaring everything up, and will be milling these lowers soon!

Thanks for the replies and keep it polite! I'm just a brand stankin newbie! No need to get into a tissie about it!

Have a good one all!

[bjones]

the_great_snag - yeah I have been reading in more than one spot about the column stiffening mods for the X2 as well. And more than one person has come out the other end not that pleased form what I have been reading.. Even the guy at this link: Reducing Mini-Mill Column Flex (and Column Y-Axis Alignment) - Home Model Engine Machinist says at the end of all of it that it doesn't really do what it needs to do in the end anyways which is get the thing into perfect Y axis tram (also I think "tram" is only and X-axis thing?? :S anyhow, you get the point ). For this reason I am going with that Solid Column kit.

bjones - you are actually totally right here. I was kicking myself when I started reading that there was the SX2 with the column troubles already hammered out. I knew the SX2 was out there but just learned about the column improvements like 3 days ago :S I originally thought the price difference in the SX2 was the improvements they made on the belt driven, brushless motor... It didn't seem like enough justification alone to go $400 more on it. Had I known about these column issues, you bet, I would have gone that route in a heartbeat!

Lastly, I have actually gone to the belt drive on my X2 also. I did that about 5 nights ago That is the only mod as of now on my X2. When my Solid Column kit comes in its off the races. Going to be adding some DROs , squaring everything up, and will be milling these lowers soon!

Thanks for the replies and keep it polite! I'm just a brand stankin newbie! No need to get into a tissie about it!

Have a good one all!

you have the right attitude and it should help you here, please start another thread when you start working on your mill improvement and get away from the bad attitudes posted here.

[the_great_snag]

Honestly, you can be pretty far off on your tram and still finish an AR lower pretty nicely. The key is to make sure the distance from the front of the Fire Control pocket to the Bolt Stop slot is right or you will have a hard time getting the hammer installed. The bolt stop slot and mag release are all in line and make a great datum to set up from. Let me know if you need any dimensions. I have CAD models of a lower that are dead-on.