Help with Sieg Sx2.3 Mill

[Kpar]

I've had my Sx2.3 for a few years now and have been impressed with its performance however it seems to have developed excessive head movement even with a 6mm end mill.
I put a dial gauge on the column only a couple of thou movement but on the head you can actually see the movement .015"+ with the gib locked.
Also I have noticed that when lowering the spindle down to just touching the work then when i lock it in place it seems to lift away from the work.
Could it be the bevel wedge worn. The mill hasn't done a huge amount of work.
Any comments would be appreciated
Kpar

 

[Longboy]

I find that when using the boring bar in the mill I get the "orbit" from dead center too. Doesn't seem to affect the outcome to the stock I'm working on.

 

[Jasonb]

Have you tried to adjust the head gib strip? The lock only applies pressure at one point along the dovetail so you can still get movement if the gib is loose.

I think it is a tapered gib so you need to loosen the bottom screw, wind in the top screw to tighten a bit and then retighten the bottom screw before trying the movement, don't do it with the bottom screw loose as it can self tighten as you wind the head up.

 

[Kpar]

Thanks Jasonb, Will give this a try.

 

[AndrewW]

Hi Kpar
I have the sx2p version which I found is a very capable machine for it's size. The problem with the spindle moving away from the work could be associated with the tension spring on the left hand side of the head. I found massive improvements by replacing this with a gas strut. It's a popular mod and my video shows what I did.

Also when I first got the machine I found that one of the gib strips on the column had been fitted incorrectly. The gibs have small indents for the adjustment screws to fit into. On mine, the screws were not aligned with the indents, so the gib slipped up and down the head. It was a 2 minute job to rectify this and adjust the gib correctly. However, this might not be the cause of your problem.
I definitely recommend the gas strut conversion and hope you manage to get your problem sorted soon.
Cheers
Andrew

 

[AndrewW]

Oops it looks like the sx2.3 is a totally different beast to my sx2p. Please ignore my previous message