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.

  Quoted Text Here  
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

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:22:33 +0000, Nigel Eaton
  Quoted Text Here  
Where did you purchase the DRO from and how much work did you need to do to fit it to the machine?

  Quoted Text Here  
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.