SIEG SX3 HiTorque Mill

[Kevin BennettParticipant @kevinbennett25223]

Hi Guys I am looking to buy a Sieg sxs3 bench milling machine in next month or two has anyone got any experience with it before I commit the funds.

I am looking at this mill because the head adjustment is at a low level as I am disabled. looking at most mills they adjust at the top I have a Chester mill and it is getting more painful to stretch up to adjust the head up and down.

if anyone has experience I will be grateful for your comments

Thanks Kevin

[Kevin BennettParticipant @kevinbennett25223]

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Yes, I bought one a few years back and it is a good machine, needs stripping and re-oiling/greasing and I suggest a curtain over the front of the pillar, one of those concertina thingies from ARC.

The supplied vice is not the best as I had to re-machine and reset the jaws and tighten up the sliding jaw.

I fitted DRO's and can then ignore backlash entirely, also made a pair of slide way stops to keep withing bounds of the DRO's. Useful range of speeds and I use TC cutters exclusively. The range of the head vertically allows the use of all sorts of large tooling like boring heads etc.

Suggest you get the R 8 spindle fit as Morse 3 taper is a bit outdated now. It iis a heavy machine and you will need help with any lifting jobs. There are for maintenance oil nipples all over the moving parts. For the screw spindles I used copper ease initially and then oiling.

Clive

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

That's one of the reasons I went for an X3, did not fancy reaching up over the machine to raise and lower the head.

Did not strip and clean mine and still going strong after 10yrs

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I used to have an SX3 which was great until it was out of warranty and the controller boards started to give problems. I replaced the x_axis power feed but decided to upgrade to an RF-45 clone when the motor controller started to give problems.

The variable speed brushless DC motor was a good feature but does not have the same torque as a gear or belt drive at low RPM's. Consider adding an extra cooling fan for the motor at low speed as there is not much air flow at low speed to cool the motor. I also found that the coliumn would twist under heavy loads. (I did push it to its limits).

Paul.

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Kevin,

I understand where you are coming from for the location of the Z axis hand wheel. There are are couple of things you need to be aware of.

1. The Z axis hand wheel sits slightly below the base casting. So, if you are thinking of putting it on the bench as is, then the hand wheel will sit off the bench, unless you put riser blocks under the base of the machine.

2. The turning (moving around) of this particular hand wheel is mostly fine for people who don't have a disability or ailment. I have a form of rheumatoid arthritis which effects the strength and movement in my hands and arms at times. At times, this makes the turning of the hand wheel difficult, especially when moving the head up. Unlike the X3, the SX3 does not has gas struts to support the head. There is a great work around for this by introduction of two gas struts, which is discussed on another forum. If this is likely to be an issue for you, I would suggest that you see one of these machines in the flesh and try out this movement. In certain cases, addition of a bigger hand wheel also helps.

I had a similar problem when designing the SX2P. In that case, I had the Z axis wheel moved from the top to the top side, put in a different bewel gear ratio and put in a larger hand wheel. Result is the SX2P you see today which is a lot more user friendly for Z axis movement.

Regarding the points Paul raised:

It is well documented that the earlier models of SX3 had issues with the control board. We only started selling the SX3 after the torque issues were dealt with. We – ARC – consider the brushless motor control boards on the SX3 to be far better and stable then the brushed motor control boards. As far as we are concerned, they are far better than competitors offerings for brushless motor control boards of non-SIEG origin.

The SX3s we have sold to date do not suffer from low torque at low RPM. The torque is controlled from the control board, rather than the motor itself. Non-SIEG boards are still finding it difficult to address the torque issue, so they are solving the problem by introducing a high/low belt drive to such arrangement, but we believe that there are still consistency issues with such non-SIEG brushless motor boards.

Column twisting… Paul was probably doing something extremely heavy, as this comment is extremely rare, specific probably to a select few… for which I cannot comment. I could understanding the necessity for adjusting the gib on the head to reduce/remove the nod, but column twisting… generally No. I can confirm however that there was an article about another machine review in the MEW back in the day of David Clark where the reviewer of the non-SIEG machine made mention of this, but from a person who made such comments based on what he was told by the seller of the machine being reviewed, to which I fail to agree.

Powerfeed – the one which Paul had – was crap. We didn't sell it. The new one is supposed to be better, but we still wont sell it, until and unless we are happy with it. From our observations, the camp is split 70/30 in favour of the new powerfeed. So, if you decide to buy the SX3, you can either buy whatever is available from other sellers of SIEG machines, or make your own.

We are happy with the SX3, and this is probably the only machine in our range which we warrant for light industrial use – one step more than hobby use.

Whatever you decide to buy, good luck with your choice.

Ketan at ARC.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I'm not sure about the SX3 but my X3 has the 4 holes in the base threaded and the supplied leveling feet raise it enough to get the handwheel above the bench without trapping your fingers. may have changed over time and from different suppliers as mine was not via ARC.

As Ketan says even the X3 does need some effort to raise the head.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

The SX3 which I had was fitted with a brushless DC motor and Yes, I did some heavy machining with it. I am building a 6" scale traction engine and the mill was probably on the small side for what I was doing.

One of the main reasons for changing machines was because Sieg is no longer supported by my local machine supplier which made it difficult to get service. Although not perfect, it was a good mill and if you can get support from a local company, I would recommend it.

My SX3 was only available with 3MT spindle and I would recommend an R8.(you do not have to bash the drawbar as hard to remove cutters) Also the extended X-table if available.

Paul.

Edited By Paul Lousick on 15/08/2017 13:02:00

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Jason,

Just double checked an SX3-MT3 we have in stock, and yes they are still supplied to us with these feet… picture below… but most of the people we have sold to have been putting riser blocks and bolting the machine to their bench.

Because of the way i saved the original image, i cant scale it down. Sorry.

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Paul,

Glad to read your clarification for heavy use. Looking at your album on 6" Ruston Proctor, I am glad that SX3 dealt with a lot of your issues, considering that it may have been a little on the small side for your purpose.

Personally, I would not recommend the use of a longer table for this machine, or for any other machine in this size from any other manufacturer. Regardless of what anyone says, it has become a fashion statement 'my one is longer than yours' which makes zero technical sense in terms of how such tables are supported/rigidity – bowing. If it is bad on a Bridgeport (ask people who REALLY know), how can it be good for any machine in this size bracket.

The problem is.. the user always wants to do more than a machines capacity… when technically this thought process is questionable…. But then the importers get in (with zero technical knowledge), and it becomes a war on my one is 6" longer than yours!.

Ketan at ARC.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I've never felt the need to bolt mine down, suppose if people have a warped bench and want to get it flat buy pulling it up to the underside of the mill casting then that may help them.

If worried about it falling over when working on something large it is far better to support the work piece and also puts less strain on the gibs, much like not hanging an extended table out to one side with a vice or rotary table on the end.

[Kevin BennettParticipant @kevinbennett25223]

Can I thank everyone who gave me feedback on the ​Sieg SXS3 bench milling machine​ I have been away so I had some reading to do and found it very useful on making my mind up.

I will take Ketan advice and look at one I live not far from Axminster store at High Wycombe​ just to look as the price is very high compared to ARC

A big thanks Kevin

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