Syil X4 bigger bed

Hi All

I am finding the bed on my X4 to be too short, by the time I have my 4th axis and opposing tail stock fitted my working area is severely reduced.

The simplest way to fix it I can think of would be to bolt a longer tee slot plate on top of the original bed.

I don't need more working area than is already available just to recover the lost area / dead space taken by the 4th axis and tail stock

Does anyone have either a better / easier / cheaper suggestion or a supplier of a good quality tee slot plate

thanks

Tony

You could just fix a X3 long table ontop of the existing one and gain an extra 150mm which is probably about the only source of a tee slotted plate/table you will find.

Other option would be to make a plate to hang the 4th axis off one end that could just use drilled and tapped holes. Then make a riser piece for the tailstock so it can still slide along the existing tee slots.

Hi Jason,

If Antony was to consider your suggestion, ARC would not be comfortable to supply the long table to him for the purpose he intends to use it for.

There are too many variables to consider, and we would'nt be interested to get into a discussion on the subject for his purpose of use.

Ketan at ARC.

Ketan Swali

Whilst I understand your position I find it a bit disappointing; I have been considering the various tee-slotted items you have with a view to use on the plain cross slide of my lathe.

I have had numerous items from you and not surprisingly never been asked what I wanted them for.

I would add the general comment that I very much welcome your willingness to get involved in this forum.

No problem Ketan, I'll just have to find something else to sugget to get my commision

Thinking about it a bit more I don't think the underside of the table is machined true to the top so it would not work anyway and its thicker than really needed so would reduce z height.

Stick with the other suggestion of a plate and riser block

Edited By JasonB on 24/05/2017 11:35:03

How about an aluminium tooling plate? 20 - 25mm thick, drill and tap pattern of fixing holes. Allow to overhang the end of the table by whatever you need. Underside of the overhang could be supported / stiffened by some bolt on beams. Pattern of holes can be what you need and probably as easy to use as T-slots. Think I saw a video of something similar being made on a Tormach for use on that mill.

John

Edit: Have a look ***HERE*** post No.16

Edited By Journeyman on 24/05/2017 11:25:59

I have found this company on line

https://vacuumtables.co.uk/t-slot-plates/steel-t-slot-plates-finely-milled/steel-t-slot-plate-2020-finely-milled

I'm waiting for the cost of one 800 x 200mm

they do both steel and ali

they are on ebay also item number 172257968088

they do state suitable for bolting on to of the bed

Tony

Edited By Antony Powell on 24/05/2017 12:04:48

Edited By Antony Powell on 24/05/2017 12:10:02

Thanks Journeyman that's another option...

tony

Tony a chunk of Eco-cast aluminium plate (ground both sides) 600mm x 200mm x 20mm £50 + VAT from Aluminium Warehouse. You do however have to add your own holes, still that's easy with CNC

John

ega,

What you would be dealing with would be small sizes with small number of variables to overcome.

For the long table, it is not machined underneath true to the top (as Jason said) to enable it to be used in the way Tony would like, as it is not designed for that purpose. So that is one variable - which he would need to mill, along the full length... ideally in one long pass, unless he wishes to consider shimming. Another variable is his own milling table, which may have a certain amount of twist/bend, along the full length of travel. Depeding on Tonys ability/wish/desire/acceptability, he may or maynot want to/be able to carry out this work.

Small lengths of T sloted tables are easily dealt with. Long tables such as these is a different story. You are right in so far as we do not ask 'what does one want a product for' in most cases. However, for certain products we do ask, pre-sale, and there are occassions where we politely decline to supply.

Specifically with reference to the X3 long table, we always speak to the customer pre-sale, becasue they are not a retrofit, even to a standard X3. For those persons, we have to explain to them that the original table on thier X/SX3 is a custom fit, and to fit a new table, there may be some scraping involved - to their saddle for example, to make the new table fit their exisiting X3. Keeping this in mind, we wish to avoid inviting problems when this product is considered for an alternative use.

Ketan at ARC.

I do not have a 4th axis on my mill but have a similar problem with not enough length to machining a shaft between centres using a rotary table (mounted vertically) and a tailstock centre. I plan to use a plate bolted to one end of the X-table and mount the RT on it (similar to Jason's photo). The top and bottom sides of the plate have to be parrallel and I will have key slots and keys to align the plate and the rotary table. No need for T-slots.

Paul

Ketan Swali:

Thank you for taking the trouble to explain.

Hi

got my x4 just after xmas this year first thing i did was order a .5"x 20x10" alloy plate drilled and tapped m8

reamed 6mm in a grid pattern the 4th axis now sets outside the work area giving a greater working area same with tailstock

the vice i drilled and reamed to suit grid now no need to clock vice everytime

got rid of original guard and made my own all works great

over the moon with my machine how are you getting on with yours

all th best \geoff

Hi Geoff

Yes like it , not had any problems as yet only too busy to learn g code properly so limping along a bit still

had it for over a year and it performs the jobs it was bought for flawlessly and repeatedly.

Like the idea of a full plate as it should improve the rigidity of the bed and keep everything level as well

binned the original guard as well it just got in the way

Tony

Hi Tony

will post pics of my subplate tomorrow need my boy to do this

learn g code he hard way back in the 70s early 80s only a calculator no computers then making aircraft instruments

only just got the hang of emachineshop cad and cambam cam does made things easy

been out of engineering for 30 odd years got back into it on retiring 3 years ago

making model steam engines

Geoff

if i can help give me a shout

Hi Tony

sorry no pics my boys having a bit of a problem they keep uploading upside down

we will keep trying

Geoff

Hi Geoff

Yes I had that problem, i uploaded them upside down so that when the came online they were right side up !!

no idea why I'm not big on computer problems it's mainly guesswork.

I bit the bullet and ordered an 800 x 200 mm vac plate with full tee slots from the company I found on line perfectly flat both sides so should bolt on OK probably expensive by most peoples standards at £164 inc vat but i don't have the time to mill my own slots or drill a hundred holes and tap em out.

Will post some pics when it arrives and i get it fitted

Tony

Hi Tony

sorry pics still upside down one shoud be ok part i made today

hope these help

Geoff

pics as promised now it's here and fitted.....

This image shows the plate before fitting to the bed

And this one after the install, makes a big difference and allows items twice the origional length to be worked on using the 4th axis 

Tony

Edited By Antony Powell on 12/06/2017 16:39:06