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ArcEuro X3

So somebody asked me to report in on the ArcEuro X3 that I bought a few weeks ago. Here goes:

Ordering was a very straightforward process. Delivery was bang on time and *very* well crated.

I got the thing set up and have been using it for a couple of weeks or so.

"Bad" things: None.

"Not great" things:

One of the mounting points on the supplied base wouldn't line up. Nothing that a drill and a nut & bolt wouldn't sort out, but a minor niggle.

The handwheels seem to be a bit out on their graduations. I've fitted a

3-axis DRO and I'm mildly surprised by how "out" the wheel graduations are. I've checked against various micrometers, calipers, etc, and as far as I can see, the DRO is pretty accurate. Having said that, I've never owned a DROed machine before, maybe they're all this way?

"Good" things:

It's a very capable machine. I can hit tolerances very happily with the DRO fitted. I can also achieve acceptable (to me!) finishes by playing with feeds & speeds. The built-in speed control really helps.

As a hobby machine I can recommend it with little hesitation. I would

*definitely* budget for a DRO, but given that, it's a nice bit of kit.
Reply to
Nigel Eaton
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I cant honestly say Ive ever used the handwheel graduations on my mill (came with a DRO), but there have been Chinese machines with weird leadscrew pitches and mismatched graduations in the past. IIRC it was something like an imperial leadscrew with a metric dial, which doesnt quite add up. (factor of 127 somewhere). The other great thing about a DRO is the backlash in the leadscrew is not important anymore (DRO mounted to table measures table movement), so I tend to ignore it until it gets much worse that I would otherwise be able to live with :)

Dave

Reply to
dave sanderson

Where did you purchase the DRO from and how much work did you need to do to fit it to the machine?

Reply to
Mike

In article , Mike writes

I got the bits and pieces from Chronos (they're pretty close to me).

Fitting it was a pretty simple process or making some spacers, a bar for the front of the machine and a mounting arm for the readout.

I went with DROs that were bigger then each axis, since I don't want them to be a limiting factor.

I faffed about for a while trying to fit the Z axis to the quill, then realised that this means the "arm" that joins the quill (rather than the milling head) to the DRO ends up unreasonably long. I settled for fitting it to the head, on the assumption that I really only use the quill movement for drilling.

A few ally 'L' plates to act as swarf guards and I'm happy with the result.

Reply to
Nigel Eaton

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