Buying a new CNC machine is always a big decision. It is not just about spindle speeds and travels. It is about trust, support and the confidence that the machine will actually fit where you need it to go.
That is why stories like Mike Morris’ SYIL X7 journey are so powerful. They answer the real questions shop owners and serious hobbyists have. Will the machine fit in my garage? Can I handle the rigging myself? What is it like to buy through a SYIL distributor?
In this article, we walk through Mike’s experience from first visit to final placement, and we highlight what it says about the SYIL X7 as a compact, capable and genuinely customer friendly machine.
Mike runs the Gorilla Shop and had already been machining on a Tormach 770M for about seven years. When he realised he needed a second machine, he started looking for something more capable that would still fit in a home garage environment.
He chose the SYIL X7, working with the Titans of CNC team as his dealer. From his perspective, the buying experience was one of the best he has ever had:
By the time he got back on the road to drive home, the machine choice felt right. The only thing he was still worrying about was not technical at all.
On the drive back, a very practical thought hit him:
Is this machine even going to fit in my garage?
On paper, the dimensions lined up. The X7 has a compact footprint of about 1800 by 1600 by 2250 millimeters and weighs roughly 2200 kilograms. 
But real life is more than numbers. There is the crate. There is the pallet. There is the garage door. There is a sloped driveway. All of those can change how easy the day of delivery really is.
When Mike went online to find videos of people putting an X7 into a garage, he found very little. So he decided to document his own experience in detail to help anyone else considering the same path.
When you buy a machine like the X7, it is your responsibility to get it off the truck and into your shop. For Mike, that meant solving four key challenges:
Mike initially contacted a local rigging company. The quote: around three thousand dollars just to unload the crate and place it inside the garage.
Instead of spending that, he went to a local rental company and arranged a forklift. He expected a low profile forklift that he could use both outside and inside. What arrived was a tall T lift which could unload the machine but was too big to move it around inside the garage.
To solve that, he rented a pallet jack from a local hardware store. This combination of T lift and pallet jack became the backbone of his rigging plan.
Here were Mike’s constraints:
That last number is the key. At 90 inches tall, the crate was never going to pass through an 81 inch opening. So he knew he would have to:
Uncrating was straightforward. With a hammer and pry bar, he stripped the wood in about thirty minutes. Underneath, the machine was wrapped in metallic protective material. Once removed, he found the three machine feet bolted to a steel pallet. He:
The clearance was tight: about half an inch. But he did not need to remove any major components from the machine to get it through.
For anyone asking the same question, his rule of thumb is simple:
Once the X7 was just inside the garage, the T lift was no longer useful. Instead, Mike lifted the machine with the pallet jack. At around 5,000 pounds, it was heavy enough that he could not push it by hand at all.
So he went back to an old lesson in leverage. With a 4 foot piece of 2x4 under the rear of the pallet jack, he gently rocked the machine half an inch at a time, repeating the motion 10 to 15 times, resting in between.
It was slow, but it worked. On his own, he moved the X7 from the door to its final spot on the far side of the garage.
Would he recommend doing that solo? Probably not. A couple of friends would make the job much easier. But his message is clear: it is absolutely possible for a determined owner to install an X7 in a garage without hiring a rigging crew.
With the machine roughly in place, there was one more obstacle to address: ceiling clearance and the garage door opener.
Mike’s ceiling is about 102 inches high. When the Z axis of the X7 moves to the top of travel, it passed very close to the garage door rail. To avoid any risk of contact, he removed the automatic opener, rail and motor.
The door still works manually thanks to the springs, so he can easily open it when needed. But now the Z axis can move fully without risk of bending the rail.
For owners with lower ceilings, he has seen other creative solutions. Some people have cut a small notch into the ceiling to give the spindle head a little extra travel. That is a personal choice, but the underlying point is that the X7’s compact size is what makes these options possible. With travels of 400 by 300 by 380 millimeters on a 700 by 300 millimeter table, the machine fits where many traditional VMCs simply cannot. 
The SYIL X7 is Mike’s second machine. His first was a Tormach 770M, which he used for about seven years. Moving to the X7 brings several key upgrades:
There is a learning curve moving from PathPilot to Siemens, and Mike is honest about that. Even simple things like how to power up, how to jog with the handwheel or how to use the coolant controls took a little time to figure out.
But that is why he is now considering making more beginner friendly videos about the X7 for other new owners. The same spirit that led him to document his rigging process is now extending to his control learning journey.
Beyond the forklifts, pallet jacks and garage rails, Mike’s story highlights a few things that matter to anyone considering a SYIL X7:
Most importantly, the X7 is not just a machine. For many owners, it is the tool that lets them take the next step in their business, move from one machine to two, and turn a side hustle into a full time operation.
If you are wondering whether the X7 will fit your space, your work and your budget, Mike’s experience is a great reference point.
👉 To find out more, visit https://uk.syil.com/x7
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