[BillsBoatRepair]

Hi has anybody got one of these ? I like how they drive the knee instead of that big quill box on most other toolroom mills seems like a good machine for the price there website is cncauto.com

[biomed_eng]

I'm interested in this too. Has anybody here dealt with them before?

I tried to call their number but the phone just kept ringing.

[biomed_eng]

I was surfing ebay yesterday and found that they are selling their mills here:
search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcncm3xQQhtZ-1

They look like nice machines at a nice price.

[peter.blais]

The only thing I see about that, granted I don't know a thing about this retrofit, is that moving the whole knee is probably a bit slow! Also they've got 26.6lb/in servo's on there... I dunno seems a bit ~~ to move a what, 800lb total knee with any kinda speed.

I have a 29lb/in servo on my BP series 1 cnc quill. Just for reference.

That was just a thought though, might be worth asking what kind of speed and rapids they get with that setup.

The extra travel sure would be nice though I just have the usual 5".

[NC Cams]

Moving the table up and down for Z axis it not going to be the optimum for speed or accuracy.

For grins, there is a Bridgeport V2XT advertised in the classifieds at about 2/3 the price that has true 3 axis capabilities. AND, if it is like mine and well should be, it is prewired for 4th axis. The Z axis on the V2XT is the quill and it is a built in not hung on deal, it is servo driven and it has a ball screw style drive.

Simply add a servo amp and a 4th axis servo system and the machine software automatically recognizes and runs 4D.

BTW, the V2XT does not have the monster quill box as it was designed from the get go as a CNC machine - doesn't even have handles on the X, Y or Z axis although X & Y can be added via aftermarket devices. A true "Bridgeport mill" only with brains.

[kb0thn]

It's been a while, but I just saw this thread.

I have a CNC Automation M3X mill. I like it. I would be happy to answer any questions people may have.

[mc-motorsports]

retrofit a bridgeport yourself. It will cost much less than you can buy one for, you can get every single replacement part and you'll know what to do when the thing breaks down, which will happen eventually. And I reccomend the Mach 3 controller, love it... BTW, I'm against automating the knee. Too heavy, will slow down your feed rates and not as accurate as automating the quill. The Elrod quill is very nice, but very expensive. If you spend a little time, you can retro your own quill.

If you do purchase a turn key system, which I have yet to see a turn key Bridgeport, atleast make sure you can get parts. I can't remember which one, but there is an import mill that's commonly retro'd that uses Brigeport parts, or atleast can be replaced with genuine bridgeport parts.

[scepter2]

I think that I will buy this machine(M3X-3S) within week or so. I still may get a Haas if I can figure out how to get it into my garage. I was going to buy a Haas minimill but I can no figure out how to get it into my garage. I plan on getting the snap tool option with flush coolant and tapping adapter, every bell and whistle.

Can you tell me about some general pros and cons. What has been your experience. There is little to no information on the net on feedback for this machine.

I plan on doing some prototype and some short production of archery products(6061 & 303 SS).

Thanks
Chris

It's been a while, but I just saw this thread.

I have a CNC Automation M3X mill. I like it. I would be happy to answer any questions people may have.

[kb0thn]

I've been pleased with it. My company uses it for prototypes in all materials. And we do short production runs modifying enclosures. A few hundred pieces at a time. You can see most of our products on our website and photo gallery at:
http://www.aprsworld.com/
http://www.aprsworld.com/gallery/

You shouldn't have any problem with the aluminum or stainless. When working with stainless (typically 304) I take some pretty agressive cuts with a M42 cobalt roughing mill and rigidity and power are not a problem. I do not have the 4th axis, flood coolant, or any of the bells and wistles.

The control system for the machine was developed by CNC Automation. I think they used to be a software only shop. There are a few quirks and little bugs when using their conversational programming software. But overall the conversational programming software is adequate for a lot of what we do, and seems to be much better than comparable class machines. I'd rate the machine much higher than the Southwestern Industries machine of comparable specs that I have experience with.

You can ask them to send you a PDF of the manual and the software to experiment with. Note that the manual is for the software, not for the machine. As far as I can tell there is no manual for the CNC'ed machine. There's the manual for the manual mill that they build on, but nothing explaining operation of the machine. If you are familar with CNC's you should have no problem. Mechanically the machine is just another knee mill but with CNC control.

Their biggest departure from the norm seems to be driving the kneee. It seems to work okay. I believe rapid is 60IPM, which is a little slower than would be desireable. One bad effect of this is that machine doesn't plunge as well as it should. When plunging hard the quill will sometimes slip and you'll loose your z-reference. I see this mostly with plunging into stainless. I've changed to doing a helical interpolation to cut my holes, rather than a circular pocket.

Here are the problems I've had in the last 1.5 years since getting the machine:

0) The neutral and ground wires were bonded from the factory. There is no reason what-so-ever that there should be a neutral ground bond anywhere besides at the service enterance. My very expensive per hour electrician missed this, but the electrical inspector caught it. I talked to CNC automation and they claimed that that bond should be there, but I disagree.

1) The z-axis home / limit switch was in the wrong placed. On the very first homing the machine drove the z ball screw into the floor and nearly tipped the machine over. The limit switch was about 2" further down than it should have been. It appears they set the limit switch with the machine on the pallet. I was rather scary. I would recommend changing the rapid override to 10% or something before the initial homing operation.

2) The spindle VFD faulted once while milling aluminum. There is not feedback on the VFD fault and the machine kept moving on. With a big rigid cutter doing a deep cut in aluminum and a good clamping arrangement, there was enough force to stall the table. I hit the feed hold button and attempted to unjam the thing. I had to release the vise to unjam the stuck mill bit. The servros on the table then took over and decided to move the table a few inch as full motor RPM. If my hand had been between the workpiece / tool melted combination and something rigid, I would have lost my hand. I've since learned that I should hit the e-stop in that case. I believe that they should take the fault output from the spindle and feed it to the e-stop. I've been meaning to rewire mine that way.

3) Spindle started to fault on M05 (motor off) when going at high RPMS. Their tech support walked me through changing the decel parameter on the VFD and now it is happy.

4) All of the adhesive backed zip tie mounts have fallen off. Inside the panel and outside on the machine.

5) That's it. It's been pretty trouble free. Probably have about 500 hours on it.

There's some picture of the machine in my photo gallery. I can upload a photo of the inside of the control enclosure if anybody is interested.

-James Jarvis
APRS World, LLC

[scepter2]

Thanks for your help James......

Chris

[Al_The_Man]

0) The neutral and ground wires were bonded from the factory. There is no reason what-so-ever that there should be a neutral ground bond anywhere besides at the service enterance. My very expensive per hour electrician missed this, but the electrical inspector caught it. I talked to CNC automation and they claimed that that bond should be there, but I disagree.

According to the code, there should be no connection made to the SERVICE neutral and ground apart from where the service enters the building.
The exception is, is where a local control supply is set up due to a transformer isolation with for e.g. a 120v secondary.
In this case it is permissible to ground the local neutral directly at the transformer secondary inside the machine enclosure.
You might want to check whether or not this is the case.
Al.