[dwessels]

Has anyone trammed the head on an X3? It looks like my head may not be to tram... when I fly cut something, I only have line going one direction like it is cutting on one side.

How do you tram it? I am guessing something like putting shim somewhere?

Thoughts?

Thanks

[cadmonkey]

You'll want to setup a swing arm in the spindle to run an indicator at the corners of the table and then, as you guessed, loosen the bolts for the column and slide shim stock under the mating surface of the column to base attachment point and keep retorquing and adding shims until you get the right amount. I used .015 hardened steel shim stock and made U shaped pieces doubled over on themselves to keep adding until I had acceptable results. Make sure you have the bolts torqued tight before you do the first measurements - I found there is enough vibration that the bolts work free. I choose to run mine without thread locker and tightening the bolts is on my routine maintenance list.

It's not all that hard, just time consuming and the more meticulous you are the better your results will be. My first indication, since I didn't measure it when I first disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the mill, was uneven flycutting - I had kind of scalloped paths when flycutting since it was cutting only on one "edge" of the flycutter and now it cuts fairly evenly between the leading and trailing sides, sufficient for my needs. I could get it better but I still have a number of modifications I want to make so I haven't been too aggressive.

Good luck - you shouldn't have any problem.

[HackMax]

Well from my recent experience of tramming from the same problem I'll tell you how I did it.

First square the column by running the head with a dial indicator on extenders in the spindle up a couple of angle blocks or something similar that that can be squared with the table. Set these blocks in both the x and y direction so that it makes a corner. Then shim the column where its bolted to the base on each side where it needs it and test again. Moving the shim from front to back will adjust the column forward and backward. I used about 1" square pieces of paper as shims and you'd be surprised at what the thickness of the paper will do. Make sure you run the head up and down from both angle blocks, x and y, rotating the dial indicator. It is really difficult to get this at zero because if you shim for front to back you also shim for side to side at the same time. With the head you only have the front to back movement to worry about after you tram the column. Also make sure you have the z gibb tight enough to allow movement in the z direction but not too loose.

Once you get the column squared you can tram the head. First make sure the z gibb is tight. When you're fly cutting you need to make sure the z gibb is tight when you make the pass if you want to make the surface as smooth as possible. Set the center the table to the spindle. Using your dial indicator set the gauge at the front of the table and then rotate it to the back. If it is out of tram then loosen the bolts holding the head to column. You have to put paper in the proper area either near the bottom bolt or the top bolt evenly on both sides. Moving the paper shims up or down and tearing them up smaller will help offset minor discrepancies. Then tighten back up the bolts tight. Check the tram again. Do the same thing over and over again until you get it where you're comfortable but even .001" will show in a fly-cut I noticed. I was tired of working on getting it closer and just lengthened the tool bit to cover the whole piece.

Rick

[dwessels]

Thanks guys,

I bought some shim stock (0.001 and 0.003.) I figured it may help with this.

I will give it a try and see if I can get it close.

Thanks!