Machsupport Forum

General CNC Chat => Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) => Topic started by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 03:05:54 PM

Title: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 03:05:54 PM
This is going to take me a while to do but eventually I want to run this lathe (see below) with GRex and Mach.
 The Lathe is pretty big (490mm swing) and is approx 1981 vintage but came out of a University where it was used to test carbide, CBN and PCD tips machining Titanium. By the looks of it its done hardly any thing, beds dont have a scratch and everything looks to be like the day it was delivered from Churchill.
 I am not sure about the servos but they have resolvers so I dont they will work with modern drives so will have to look out for encoders. Anyway heres the pic of the lathe, will be a week or two before I get it and probably a year or so before I finish it.
Hood

(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/churchillcomputurn290a.jpg)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Brian Barker on August 27, 2006, 04:27:03 PM
Well Hood that is a nice looking lathe! I am in hopes to get one like that some day!
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JDolecki on August 27, 2006, 04:30:49 PM
Are you retrofiting it to keep or do you resell it whan your done? Seems kind of big for average turning.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 04:52:07 PM
Thanks Brian, I just couldnt resist buying it, got it for just above scrap prices :)

JDolecki
 I will be keeping it, its a perfect size for the kind of stuff I do.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 04:54:01 PM
Oh Brian forgot to ask, I dont have a clue about servos and I think you have some experience, I was wondering what type and count encoders I should look out for?

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 27, 2006, 06:11:08 PM
Oh Brian forgot to ask, I dont have a clue about servos and I think you have some experience, I was wondering what type and count encoders I should look out for?


Hood. You need to work out what speed/resolution  you want.  They tend to fight each other when the pulse rate is limited ;-)

My Hardinge uses 2500 cpr encoders mounted on 5mm pitch ballscrews.  This with the original control gave half a micron resolution and 5metres/min rapids.

With the printer port this speed is not possible unless I throw some resolution away by using the drives step multipliers.

I think you should work out the minimum step you need and then work from there. 

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 06:27:41 PM
Thanks fdos
 I plan on using the G100 (GRex) so printer port/pulse rate wont be an issue (I hope).
 I dont have a clue what the speeds of this lathe are I dont know what the ballscrew pitch is but from the quick look I had I would say about 5mm, I believe the motors are on 90v at the moment but the current I am unsure of, there is a plate in the cabinet beside the drives which suggests the power supply is 40Amps, will this be what each motor is running at?
 I have a friend that is trying to find out info about the servos for me so hopefully i will have a clearer picture soon.
 Talking of pictures ;) heres one of the plate on the servos, its all double dutch to me but maybe you or someone will be able to tell me whether the motors will be good enough etc. For a larger picture have a look here http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/ServoMotorPlate2.jpg

Hood

(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/ServoMotorPlate.jpg)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 27, 2006, 06:48:26 PM
Hood

Kind of hard to read.   But what is the peak current?  I see 2.66A or 26.6A not sure.

How big are these motors?  Look fairly chunky to me LOL...

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 07:01:24 PM
Wayne
  dont really know what the peak current is and I dont see 2.66A or 26.6A on the motor plate. Is it the bit that says " Max prqd" that you are reading? if so then I think it says 288 but I dont see a point anywhere but presume its 28.8A. I dont have the lathe here and these are just some pics I took yesterday.
 The motors are big, probably about 7 or 8 inch  Diameter and acording to the nameplate they weigh 38kg.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Brian Barker on August 27, 2006, 07:12:55 PM
If it was me I would think about getting new brushless servo motors :)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 07:18:37 PM
Brian
not sure the budget will stretch to them, I am kind of skint at the moment and shouldnt really have purchased the lathe but at  £300 I thought it too good a deal to pass on. I dont know the prices of Servos in the UK but I would guess they are probably twice what I paid for the lathe.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 27, 2006, 07:19:57 PM
Brian

I wanted to do that on the last couple of retrofits too.   But over here in the UK there's no such thing as an affordable Brushless drive/motor !

When I last priced them up we were looking at something like $3000-$4000 for 3 motors/drives.   Not sure what the automation direct packages cost for you though.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 27, 2006, 07:23:48 PM
But then again as Hood has just demonstrated, we tend to get the machines a lot cheaper ;-)  Especially if you know a few machinery dealers!   

£300 eh hood, you stole it!   I expect it's worth more than that as scrap.

I paid 750 for my Leadwell VMC, and 1200 for the Hardinge.   The latter has swallowed a whole load of cash since though!   Just now waiting for a quote for the new 5 port valves.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 07:32:39 PM
I think it weighs around 3 tonne and scrap is probably about £80 a tonne. I am not getting the drives and the control panel but everything else including the hydraulic power pack (see below) is included :) Also have attached a pic of the Z motor, to give an idea of scale I would guess that the bed is 18inch wide so the motor  is about the same.

Hood
(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/Hydraulic.jpg)


(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/Servo.jpg)

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 27, 2006, 07:43:19 PM
Oh and did I mention it has a six position turret and a four position front toolpost ;)
The front toolpost is about 7 or 8 inch square. BTW thats anti rust coating and not rust itself, its spotless underneath.
Hood
(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/TurretToolpost.jpg)

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 05:29:57 AM
Useful turrets there!   Might take a bit of working out though ;)

I'm sure i have seen this machine somewhere recently, maybe it was on ebay?

So they ripped out the control?   What have they left?    What spindle motor does it have?

The power pack will probably be for the power chuck, and maybe the turrets.

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 12:30:31 PM
The machine is actually complete at the moment but my friend is taking the HiAk drives and boards and the front panel. All the relays and transformers are staying so I should be able to integrate them
 The spindle motor is two speed 11.5/20KW.
 The power pack is for the chuck, front toolpost, rear turret and also the tailstock. The tailstock is manual positioning but has a hydraulic spindle controlled by a spool valve, see pic . I dont think its going to be too hard to integrate the turret and front toolpost but I will have to wait and see. I have all the electrical drawings but afraid I am not great at reading them but I am making progress ;)

As far as I know its never been on eBay, it just came out of Hull Uni and straight to Budget Machinery, you may have seen it on his site, heres the link http://www.budgetmachinery.co.uk/newsite/data/bm/lathes/churchillcomputurn290.htm

Hood 
(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/TailstockRearView.jpg)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 01:36:50 PM
Yes Budget machinery is where I saw the machine.

My HXL Hardinge also has a square turret, it's quite a convoluted sequence to get it indexed, and if it's done in the wrong order it needs retiming!   I had to learn how it worked the hard way!   Looks like someone has started taking the square turret off your machine ;) 

It also has a air operated tailstock. but it's only for use with a centre.  In fact a dead centre as there's already a bearing in the tailstocks quill to make it a live one.   The tailstock on my machine goes though a separate air circuit with a flow sensor.   This puts the machine into "feed hold" while the quill is moving.  The same circuit is used for a parts catcher.   So that maybe something you should bear in mind.

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 01:54:05 PM
Wayne
 The toolpost was removed for the testing procedure in the Uni, they had their own toolpost made up which seemingly was made with a humane stun gun (slaughter house type). From what I understand the tool was fed into the titanium then the gun was fired and this broke off the tip still embedded in the work. Then they were able to remove the broken tip and the attached swarf and do their studies.

The turret and toolpost seem to index via the hydraulics and relays, there is also mention of a rack in the schematics but not sure exactly how they operate.
 The tailstock seems to be independant of the controls from what I have seen so far. I think really all you do is position and lock in place then move the spool valve lever for in or out, not even sure how much travel there is yet. There is a pressure gauge and I presume a blow off valve.
I am away to have another look at the schematics so hopefully I will understand a bit more.

 Found some info on the motors on mine, they are polish made under lisence from peerless, it gives voltages etc but no max current. The continuos stall torque is 20.7NM and the Peak is 187nm. This really means nothing to me but sounds pretty good.
 I have heard that there is a guy that can make a board to convert resolvers to ttl so I will mail him and see if its true, would save me having to try and source encoders as the ones I have found so far are pretty expensive.

 Just been having a look at your hardinge thread, looks like a nice machine.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 02:13:37 PM
The rack mentioned may be part of the square toolposts mechanism.  The one on my machine has a rack, and indexes against an Air Cusioned stop.   I've not been too far into it, other than retiming it severaltimes after getting the sequencing wrong.

I expect your other turret has some form of hydraulic motor.

I'll be watching your thread with some interest too.   Nice to see another lathe being done.  There's far too few of them in the Mach scene!

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 02:21:08 PM
Both turret and front toolpost are hydraulic I think (not 100% sure) and I seem to remember both have mention of "rack in" and "rack out" in the schematics but again not 100% sure. Will go and look soon but they are huge so I will have to spread them out on the floor.
 
Also  I have seen some 2000ppr encoders at a semi reasonable price. I am not sure exactly if I have it correct in my head so I will run through my calculations and would be grateful if you could let me know how stupid I am ;)
 Presuming the ballscrew is 5mm pitch, 2000ppr encoders, motor speed of 1500RPM and no reduction
 Steps per unit in Mach will be 2000/5 =400
 Max pulse rate needed would be 2000ppr x 1500rpm / 60seconds =10,000Hz = 10KHz
 G Rex pulse rate is 4MHz I think so that should be ok.
My resolution would then be 5/2000 = 0.0025mm

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 03:05:48 PM
2000 lines?   Thats 8000 pulses per rev.

Usually encoders are rated in lines per rev, and you multiply by 4.   2000 pulses would be a 500 line encoder.



Where are the encoders to be mounted?  do you have reduction between the motor and ballscrew?

For 2000 lines

If you had a 5mm pitch ballscrew, 2:1 reduction and the encoder were mounted on the motors, then you steps per mm would be

(5/2) = 2.5mm per rev
8000/2.5 = 3200 steps per mm.

If the encoder were mounted on the ballscrews then it's 8000/5 =  1600 steps/mm.

Or for 500 lines divide the results by 4 which is what your example gave.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 03:30:57 PM
mmmmmmmmmmm now I am really confused ;)
 The encoders are stated to be 2000 ppr, their is no mention of lines, just ppr. The encoders will be mounted on the end of the motor and the motors, although driving through a timing belt, are 1:1 with the ballscrew so no reduction.
 So if they are indeed 2000ppr (500lines) then are my calcs correct???????
Heres a link to the encoders. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270023265848&fromMakeTrack=true
Do you think they would suit? Is the price reasonable?
Sorry for all the questions but as you will gather I dont have a clue about servos.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 03:39:14 PM
Just noticed you said your encoders were 2500 CPR so I am presuming that is counts per Rev, the ones I saw are PPR which I presume to be pulse per rev. So I preume that CPR and PPR are the same but just written in a different way.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 03:50:44 PM
Sorry to confuse you!    I use CPR, Lines per rev as the same thing.  PPR is the quadrature output IMO.

Looking at the pic of that ebay listing, it looks like it says 2000 LPR on the encoder, so thats 8000 PPR.  Manufacturers don't usually rate them at the quadrature rate.

They look very much like Heidenhain, but with a different colour case.

Whatever happens you are going to need some serious drives for those motors!   You can run them at below the max voltage at the expense of some speed.   The current is the killer.   Depends on how heavy a cut you want to take I guess.

Something about the Rutex drives always has worried me.   Hence the reason I'm looking at the Teknix drives, at least the people behind them give me confidence.

2000 lines and Gecko's are not a good marriage either.


Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 04:24:49 PM
Ha ha dont worry about confusing me, its very easy to do, i even manage to confuse myself by just trying to think.

I have had a look at the pic and it seems to be a different encoder than the description. There are several differences, the main one is the part number then there is the voltage and lastly the 2000 ??? I see 200LMP or imp, what the heck that means I dont know.
 I am sorry to burden you so if you are getting exasperated at my ignorance please feel free to ignore me :)
 What amount of lines should I be looking for? I think a resolution of 0.0025mm should be ok but then again I dont really know
 The motors are run at 90v at the moment and I was planning to maybe even drop that to 80V as speed wont really be too important.
 On looking at the pics I have I think it is the power supply current thats  40Amps so I would presume that the motors are at present running maybe around the 20Amps.
 I was thinking of running Geckos or Rutex drives at 75-80V and 20Amps but now you have me worried, just wondering if I should think about getting some steppers instead, would make things slower but at least I have experience of them.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 04:32:54 PM
2.5 micron resolution would require on a 5mm ballscrew 500 line encoders.   These would be better with a Gecko than 1000 line +.   The gecko's fault at +-128 counts which is a little fine for heavy machines.

The Rutex drives seem to offer more, but it's just my cynical nature causing me concern.  It seems I've never got the answers I wanted whenever I enquired about them.  CNC Teknix on the otherhand have been very forthcoming, and so far can't fault their enthusiasm.

Don't if you can help it goto steppers on that machine.   The difference is like night and day.

I'll gladly help wherever I can, so no fears.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 04:40:18 PM
Thanks Wayne
 Will check out these teknix drives.
Also been looking at the pdf for the encoders and it does seem that they quote ppr,  in the model number the last two digits, 28 in this case, represent 2000 pulses, so I presume this means they are 500 line.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 04:43:20 PM
you'd need to check on that.   

The usdigital encoders are not that expensive.   Just make sure they dont send via air courier as they did with me years ago!

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 28, 2006, 05:36:41 PM
Wayne I think I will have to clarify what PPR actually means. I have just been look at specs for encoders on click automation and they say1000ppr then in the next sentance they say CPR so looks like they may be one and the same.

 Had a quick look at the teknix drives and the 80v one seems pretty good, especially the 25Amps it can handle.Though  I was a bit surprised to see the other one that can do 200V can only handle 15Amps.

Better go do some searching.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 28, 2006, 05:45:48 PM
Hood

I've seen it (the cpr v's ppr) argued before, and I guess there's no real answer except that I have never seen the count quoted as the actual quadrature output.   In my experience whatever they quote has to be multiplied by 4.

The rating of the Teknix drives is all down to the mosfets.  Same with the Rutex drives I think.

Wayne...

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 29, 2006, 02:38:00 PM
Wayne
 Had a look at the TekNix manual and it calls it ppr but as you say that it must be multiplied by 4. I think it was just my understanding of what ppr was that was confusing me. Now I know whatever the count of an encoder is advertised it is the line count.
Thanks for keeping me straight on this.
 Now all I need is to get some info on the voltage and current that the motors are using on this lathe, that way I will be able to make a half informed choice in which drives to get. I found some info on the motors on the polish manuafacturers site, gives max voltage and holding torque etc but no mention of current. I emailed asking for a torque/current curve but so far no reply.
Hood

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on August 29, 2006, 02:51:43 PM
Hood

Re Current.

Unless you go for very expensive commercial drives you are not going to exceed the current rating of those motors.

You will be limited by the drives max current rating in the case of the 3 different brands of DC drives available from the usual sources.  ie 20A for Gecko's and whatever the two ozzie brands are rated at.

Lower current will just limit the torque available.

My Hardinge uses just 1nM motors with 2.5:1 reduction at 3300 rpm.  I reckon it will still be more powerful and faster than the original 1.2nM motors at 2000 rpm and 1.85:1 reduction.

It's quite strange that your machine uses servo's at 1:1.   But I guess with that torque available they didn't need any!

I always use steppers at 1:1 but they are a different animal.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 29, 2006, 03:10:26 PM
The rutex can go 40Amps but they are a bit more expensive than I like, the ausie drives can go to 25A which I think will probably be more than the motors are at the moment so it looks like my drives will be either Geckos or the Teknix.
 I am not 100% certain that the motors are 1:1 as I never measured the pulleys, but going by the pic above of the motor pulley and ballscrew pulley they look the same size.

 Been looking through the Teknix manual and it explains a lot and has some excellent info for a newbie like me.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Brian Barker on August 29, 2006, 09:45:57 PM
You are going to like that lathe :) It is like the Okuma's that I have run in the past with the two tool changers.. I wish I could have that lathe :)

The Teknics drives do look like nice drives :) I have never tested them so please tell me how you like them!
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 30, 2006, 04:41:04 PM
Brian
 yes I think I am going to like it but at first I will be very scared of it, never used a lathe that big before so using a CNC one will be very daunting.

Been getting some answers through my friend who has a contact that made these machines and it looks like I am going to need more voltage and current  than either the Geckos or Teknix will give me so looks like the big Rutex drives are my only option. He said it will probably run OK at the lower votages and currents but I think its better to get the right things from the start instead of making do.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on September 03, 2006, 07:09:56 PM
Hood. you got the big bugger home yet?

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 04, 2006, 02:46:56 AM
Wayne
 No, its still at my friends place. I actually dont have any place to put it at the moment, I am probably going to rent the unit next door to my workshop so that I have room, I need more space anyway ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ynneb on September 07, 2006, 06:23:36 AM
Fantastic stuff. I must say I am really enjoying the show and tell threads. You guys are generating lots of inpiration.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 07, 2006, 05:49:23 PM
Thanks Benny
 This will be a steep learning curve for me, its going to be a lot harder than the mill I think
 I am hopefully going through to see my computurn this weekend and  hope to power it up so we can get an idea of how the turret and toolpost index. Also want to try and find out how the spindle speeds work as they are clutch driven but there are only 5 clutches and there are 6 speeds within each of the four main ranges (2 speed motor + Hi/Lo range )
 Have also taken the lease on the unit through the wall from my workshop so I now have room for it, entry date is 19th of next month but might actually be able to start moving things in two or three weeks :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 09, 2006, 05:59:54 PM
Was through at my friend place today to try and fire up the lathe. First thing was the hydraulic motor was full of water, it was a good job Mark decided to test the windings before it was run as I don't think it would have worked very well. I think the lathe had been stored under cover but obviously the pump unit had been exposed to a bit of weather and with the connector cover being off it the rain filled it up nicely. Anyway after draining and drying the motor ran nicely :)
 All the rest of the lathe motors, controls etc had never been exposed to the weather so we proceeded to wire and connect everything back together. The parameters were all lost so after entering them and a bit of messing around with the control we (or more precisely Mark) got it to jog. Time ran out before we could work out how to get the spindle rotating and the turret indexing so hopefully tomorrow we will manage that.
 One bad bit of news is there are limits and wiring missing to the front toolpost but should manage to work it out as we have all the drawings etc.

All in all a very good day :)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 09, 2006, 06:44:26 PM
Oh forgot to say, the rear turret looks like it will be fairly easy to integrate, the way it works is a lock pin is pulled up by hydraulics, this then hits a limit switch which energises the hydraulic rack which then indexes the turret. There are a number of limit switches which then tell the control which tool the turret is at depending on their state and thus the indexing will continue until the right sequence of limits is hit for the chosen tool.
 The front indexes in the same way, or would if it was all complete.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on September 09, 2006, 06:59:28 PM
Thats good Hood.    Might want to check all you cables too LOL  (See the update to my thread...

Any idea how you are going to drive those huge servo's or are you able to keep the old drives?

I've got my turret off at the moment to give it a going over.   Almost ready to try the Teknix drives sometime next week too.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 09, 2006, 07:06:06 PM
Wayne
 I think I am going to have to go Rutex, a guy whos worked on these machines a lot has told me 100V and 40Amps is what I should aim for so my only choice is Rutex.
 Wires on mine are all flexible, glad we  dont get any indian snake charmers this far north or they might end up like your encoder wire ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 10, 2006, 03:50:55 PM
Was back through at the lathe today and we got everything working from the manual control panel.
Below are links to a couple of videos of the Turret and the Tailstock operating. Now that I see how the turret works it will hopefully make things easier to integrate when I start to get Mach3 controling it.
 All in all a very good day :)
Hood

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodspages1/TurretIndexing.wmv

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodspages1/Tailstock.wmv
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on September 10, 2006, 06:43:11 PM
Good stuff..   But why you so scared of the tailstock? LOL.....

I'd recommened while you got it working, that you check to see what relays/solenoids etc are being operated and in what sequence when you operate all this stuff.

I had to do it the hard way by trial and error, as I was reluctant to put power on my machine before I ripped the old control out. 

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 11, 2006, 02:06:28 AM
Ha ha that wasnt me at the tailstock, that was my friend Mark, hes a bit of an ugly bas*%$ so was scared if he stayed in shot he might break the camera lens ;)
 I think the electrical drawings may show what relay order is but will check on that, thanks.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 10, 2006, 05:53:56 PM
Shouldnt be too long before I get the lathe now. I got posession of the new unit yesterday and proceeded to knock a hole through from my existing workshop. I have got most of my welding and fabrication gear moved next door and with a bit of tidying I will have enough space to get the lathe in. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to go collect the lathe :)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on October 18, 2006, 02:59:20 PM
Hood

Got your beast installed yet?

No news for me, too busy trying to earn enough to keep the hungry Hardinge moving along!

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 18, 2006, 03:19:06 PM
No not got it home yet. Planning to go through and pick it up on Saturday but that could all change by then LOL
 If I do get it on Saturday it will have to sit outside until Monday unless I can persuade the guy from the boatyard to come in on Sunday and lift it with the crane, I think he may be due me a favour ;)
 Got a nice ELO 17inch kiosk touch screen off eBay for £185, it was still in the packaging unopened so I was quite happy with that deal :) and it will fit perfectly into the control panel box and still allow room for MPG, Feed override switches etc

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 30, 2006, 06:22:32 PM
Went for the lathe yesterday and got it into the workshop today, first job will be to completely remove the lower cabinet and then remove the board that holds the servo drives, Then I can start planning out where my drives etc will go. I will probably be a long time retrofitting this.
 Below is a pic of it sitting outside at my house and also sitting outside down at my workshop. It looks tiny on the trailer but its a fairly big trailer ;) It looks a lot bigger inside my workshop. And to Mark, I know you will be reading this so thanks for all the help loading etc yesterday

Hood

(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/AtHouse.jpg)

(http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/hoodsmachiningpages/AtWorkshop.jpg)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on October 31, 2006, 05:37:30 PM
Hey Hood,
you nearly knocked your house down there when you parked it.

 Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 31, 2006, 05:41:20 PM
Nah thats not my house, thats the posh neighbours house, mine doesnt have felt on the roof and the walls are just made of cardboard ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on October 31, 2006, 07:29:21 PM
Suprised to see it out in the open. I thought it would have a tarp over it. ;D You know what I mean.

Looking good. I'm amazed at the condition of it. It is just like you Hood. FIRST CLASS.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 01, 2006, 02:38:42 PM
Brett,I was also surprised to see it out in the open especially since I want the GE1050 control and Hiak drives back.No excuse,that old leather/pvc coat he wears would have covered the whole machine easily.Never mind I`ve still got the hydraulic unit and a few other bits for the lathe which I`m storing in the canal.
How do you activate the smileys` in these posts?
Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 01, 2006, 02:41:42 PM
Yes that leather/pvc  coat that you gave me a loan of would certainly cover it up, in fact it has been a godsend as it was raining the other night and we were able to drape it over our cardboard walled house ;)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 01, 2006, 02:45:36 PM
Oh and if you use the reply button under a post you will get taken to the full reply form and have access to all sorts of wonderful things like smileys  ::)
 Suppose really at your time of life modern technology is a bit daunting ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on November 01, 2006, 06:31:34 PM
Hehe, glad to see some good piss taking in here!

Now I'll say what everyone said to me when I ripped the original controls out of my machines.

"You don't want to do that, It'll never work again" hehe

To give you encouragement THEY WERE ALL WRONG!  and now have to pick their chins off the floor when they see em running ;)

My VMC has been running 10 hours a day 7 days a week quite a lot recently.

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 09, 2006, 02:51:54 PM
Sorry for the late reply Wayne, been waiting for some kind of comeback from Mark but looks like his age is catching up and his responses are slowing.
 Not got much done, ripped out the HiAk drives, removed the computer box and looked at a few things. Have made up an arm to hold the control screen/panel, it now swings from the top of the headstock and can be hauled round to the chuck or pushed out the way against the headstock. Also took the endplates off the motors and they are like new inside, not even the slightest trace of carbon, just shiny copper and brass :) Will hopefully be oredering some drives, encoders etc soon, I have settled on the Teknix drives, hope yours are still living up to expectations.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 09, 2006, 04:20:31 PM
Wayne,
you can believe Hood`s reply if you like,but in reality I have spoken to him every day.(My phone bill BTW,his woman won`t let him use the phone ;D ;D)
I also got him to throw the first pendant arm he made away and remake it so it didn`t look like something the kids made at Christmas with their mecanno.If he wants to deny this I`ve kept the photos he sent me ;D.
I`m going back up to see him soon if it`s not raining.

Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 09, 2006, 05:22:39 PM
Its OK Mark, if its raining next time you come up I can give you that leather/PVC jacket back, we got a new tarp for the roof so wont need your jacket anymore. I will admit to the arm getting remade at the suggestion of an old Fifer and will freely admit it looks better, then again with almost a century in the machining business its no surprise that I can learn a lot from you.
 Just for the record, heres the first arm and below the new version.
Hood
 
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 09, 2006, 05:38:34 PM
Will it be running for Monday? ;D
Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 09, 2006, 05:41:11 PM
Afraid not Mark, why do you ask? these old CNC's of yours broken down again (http://forums.pcper.com/images/smilies/extras/yllol.gif)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 09, 2006, 06:35:41 PM
No.All running fine Robin.The absolute encoder I made is working a dream even although I had to rework the parts made on an old Bridgie with a Mach retro up in Arbroath. ;D
No I was thinking that if you were using it we could have a conversation,unlike when you are running your last star buy. ;D. Of course I`ll know when your running the Colchester as I can hear it down in Broxburn ;D.
Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 09, 2006, 06:40:38 PM
I bow to your superior knowledge oh wise one (http://forums.pcper.com/images/smilies/extras/worship.gif)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 09, 2006, 06:53:27 PM
Would you be able to bend that far over?Although I`ve just noticed you`ve got the shape right,is that a self portrait?

mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 09, 2006, 06:58:17 PM
Ha ha
I modeled it on an old Fifer that tries to pretend hes not one (http://forums.pcper.com/images/smilies/extras/wow.gif)

BTW remind me again what that fridge magnet, your wife has,  says?
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on November 10, 2006, 03:13:48 AM
Hood asked "BTW what does that fridge magnet your wife has say again"

Do yo mean the one that says "beware of fat,bald headed men in plastic jackets" or do you mean the one that says "I married Mr Wonderful"?

Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 10, 2006, 03:18:07 AM
Seems like your memory is going with old age (http://forums.pcper.com/images/smilies/extras/laugh.gif)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 10, 2006, 04:11:49 PM
Took a pic of the inside of the servos today, they look like almost new to me :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chevy427z on January 01, 2007, 04:35:22 PM
Looking good Hood!

Keeping an eye on this thread, too!

Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 05:41:15 AM
Mark
 Progress is slow as I am waiting for quite a few bits and pieces to arrive, then the fun will begin as I dont have a clue with regards to PLC and Marcros etc for Mach, thankfully there are many here who know better and are wil ing to help (thanks Brian ;) )
 Heres a couple of pics of the control panel (still got a few buttons to add when I decide what they are going to be ;)
 Also one of the computer, breakout and drives etc. The PLC and encoders are on their way.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 05:50:16 AM
Also meant to say I got the clutches for the spindle speed worked out the other day. I had managed to work out from the drawings I have the order the clutches needed to be engaged for the different speeds so went to try it out. Mark McGrath (Gridley51) came along to lend a hand testing and all were working except the first speed, thankfully Mark is more adept at reading ladder logic than me and managed to work out that another clutch had to be used in conjunction with the first one, so in the end we had all six speeds working. Ther is also a low and high ratio which makes that up to 12 speeds and then the motor is two speed so that makes a total of 24Speeds.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chevy427z on January 02, 2007, 01:36:36 PM
Good looking control panel Hood! I like the extra large "cap lock" key on the left :) Is that a touch type mouse pad on the right?

Nice to have good help nearby. I've read a lot of Mark M's stuff around the web.

I may finally have a line on a guy who can help me with my Hardinge HXL boards (waiting for a call back)

Good luck with your project!

Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 03:28:28 PM
Ha ha, actually thats what I thought when I saw it, said to myself WTF is the need for a capslock that size. Once I plugged it in I found out what it meant, there is a LED there that lights when the caps lock is on.
 Yes its a touchpad and the two buttons below are for Left and Right mouse clicks.
Yes Mark McGrath is a know it all, loud mouth Fifer, sad thing is he is usually right, especially when he describes what on the end of his gas welding torch ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 03:30:48 PM
Oh forgot to say its also a touchscreen so the touchpad wont get used that much but it can be handy at times.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on January 02, 2007, 03:32:58 PM
I bet someone is looking for their touchscreen.  ;D  You lucky Devil.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on January 02, 2007, 03:45:43 PM
I object to being called a Fifer,Splat.
Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 04:06:27 PM
Why? could be worse, could say you are from West Lothian.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on January 02, 2007, 04:28:31 PM
Nothing wrong with Broxburn,West Lothian,Splat.After all you were just telling me the other day you originated in Corstorphine,Edinburgh five miles along the road.
Anyway will be back for more fish and chips soon as it`s your turn to pay. ;D ;D

Chevy,Splat also knows now that you have to pull the big red button out before a machine will start. ;D
Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 04:33:26 PM
Nope not me, rich relations are from Corstorphine but world of difference 5 miles can make anyway LOL
 BTW you dont get fish and chips in Arbroath, you only get a single or a supper.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chevy427z on January 02, 2007, 07:22:08 PM
Very cool on the touch screen! I bet that makes using Mach a breeze.

Pardon my ignorance, but I'm assuming a Fifer is a form of musician (and not a derogatory term!!) ?? FWIW, I love bag pipes *and* fish and chips :)

This guy I'll be traveling to London with served in the Army there some years ago. He always makes me watch the drum and bugle (?) competitions held there (big castle). (which I really enjoy, too)

Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 07:49:28 PM
Nope a fifer is a big ugly %$^&* that comes from Fife (Kingdom of) in Scotland ;)
Have a touch screen on the mill and it certainly makes life easier :)
Hood

EDIT
 Oh and you never tasted a fish supper until youve had one from Arbroath, just ask the Fifer, oops I mean West Lothian person ;)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on January 02, 2007, 08:34:20 PM
Hood reckons you cannot get fish and chips in Arbroath so could he please explain what a fish supper is please.I know you can get pillocks in Carnoustie.

Mark (who`s only ugly when he`s not standing next to Hood)

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 02, 2007, 10:06:26 PM
ha ha, well that just proves it, only Fifers and Sassenachs call it Fish and Chips, then again a Fifer is a sassenach ;)
Hood (whos not deluded)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on January 05, 2007, 05:36:02 PM
Oh c'mon Hood you're racing ahead LOL.   Damn wish I could get these jobs out of the way so I can play too, but those annoying customers keep giving me more work.

What touch screen you using?   I thought about them, but my hands always seem to be dripping in coolant these days, how well do they work in a real workshop enviroment?

I'm trying to get sometime next week to get the Hardinge's upper enclosure grit blasted ready for powder coating.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 05, 2007, 07:51:50 PM
On the mill I have a samsung syncmaster with a touch screen addon panel but the one for the Lathe is an ELO Kiosk screen. The ELO is sealed so it will definitely be OK but saying that I have never had problems with the one on the mill.It gets really covered in oil and coolant from my fingers and all that happens is once it gets too smeared to see the buttons I give it a wipe with a cloth ;)
 Resistive screens are supposed to be the best and capacitive are supposed to be avoided, I have a capacitive one on the mill and its never given me a problem. The good things about the capacitive is they have glass fronts so are hard wearing, the resistive ones have a flexible surface like a normal TFT. The ELO is a different technology (SAW) which is somthing to do with sound waves I think, it too has a glass panel but it can be used with a gloved hand or a soft stylus where the mills capacitive cant.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 07:28:55 PM
I bought a 17" LCD for my Anilam retro, got a touchscreen kit.  Can't get the darn thing to work.  Lotsa settings & I don't have a clue.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 07:32:59 PM
I bought a 17" LCD for my Anilam retro, got a touchscreen kit.  Can't get the darn thing to work.  Lotsa settings & I don't have a clue.

In what way? cant get the screen to work at all or cant get it to work with the anilam control? Is it a USB or serial touch screen? Got a link to info on the screen? Does the Anilam run under a windows environment or its own OS or is it not even PC based?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 07:46:51 PM


In what way? cant get the screen to work at all or cant get it to work with the anilam control? Is it a USB or serial touch screen? Got a link to info on the screen? Does the Anilam run under a windows environment or its own OS or is it not even PC based?
Hood

Not connected to the Anilam.  Just sitting here on my desk. It's a USB.  Got it on Ebay, the guy sells a lot of them one at a time.  Here's a link to Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Touchscreen-Touch-Screen-Panel-Kit-for-17-LCD-Display_W0QQitemZ250068727895QQihZ015QQcategoryZ3697QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The Anilam is 1980's vintage.  Not PC based.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 07:54:15 PM
I was actually looking at them but the ELO came along so I got that instead. I dont know how it connects but I would have thought going by the pic all you do is connect the circuit board to the screen and hook up the USB to the computer, it should then be seen as a HID compliant and work right away, you shouldnt even need to have it anywhere near the TFT and it would work like a touchpad ;) You could then load the software so that you can fine tune etc. Is it not working like that or does it have other connections that are not shown in the pics?
Hod
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 07:59:05 PM
I was actually looking at them but the ELO came along so I got that instead. I dont know how it connects but I would have thought going by the pic all you do is connect the circuit board to the screen and hook up the USB to the computer, it should then be seen as a HID compliant and work right away, you shouldnt even need to have it anywhere near the TFT and it would work like a touchpad ;) You could then load the software so that you can fine tune etc. Is it not working like that or does it have other connections that are not shown in the pics?
Hod

No other connections, just like you said, connect the circuit board to the screen and hook up the USB to the computer.  I load the drivers, all goes well, except that touching an icon does nothing.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 08:04:00 PM
does the cursor follow your finger?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 08:12:25 PM
I just reloaded it now.  Asks if I want to do a 4 point calibration.  It's sitting there doing that.  Last time I did that I got runtime errors.  There was an option when installing  to enable another PS2.  I've checked that before, didn't this time to see if it makes a difference.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 08:16:46 PM
Have you tried without loading the drivers? you shouldnt even need them as windows would load its own as it would just be seen as a mouse,touchpad or any other input device. You may need the drivers for things like setting the double click area and putting a right click button on screen but it should follow your finger without.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 08:30:45 PM
OK I unloaded the drivers provided.  Rebooted and windows is asking for drivers. Looking at the list of drivers winbloz has.  Any thoughts on which one to try.  ELO is on the list.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 08:34:21 PM
just let it search automatically. You may have a problem if you have previously installed drivers as it may want to load them. However if its asking then I dont think that will be the case.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 08:35:10 PM
another thought, does the lis have HID compliant in the list? if so try that.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 08:49:20 PM
I pointed windows to the inf file, now whenever I plug the usb for the touchscreen in it loads that.  The mouse is crazy, the cursor follows my finger 2" to the left.  I'll try to find that file and delete it.  Crap
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 09:25:48 PM
OK so at least you know the screen is working now even if it is screwing with the mouse. Do you have a web address for the drivers, there may be updated ones available which wont hang your computer.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 09:35:41 PM
OK so at least you know the screen is working now even if it is screwing with the mouse. Do you have a web address for the drivers, there may be updated ones available which wont hang your computer.
Hood

Downloading Beta drivers now.  The clown I bought from deleted the url for the manufacturer.  I found it.

Gotta go spend some time with the boss/wife, back in a couple hours.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 09:40:37 PM
be quick, ;) its 2:40 in the morning here, need some sleep LOL
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 06, 2007, 09:44:52 PM
be quick, ;) its 2:40 in the morning here, need some sleep LOL
Hood

Tomorrow's another day.  I'll have tried the new stuff by then.  8:40pm here.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 06, 2007, 09:47:30 PM
well hopefully you will get it sorted soon, touch screens are great, I couldnt imagine working the mill without one now :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 07, 2007, 02:19:22 AM
Tried everything.  Even reloaded windows to get rid of that ini file that loaded automacically.  Turns out the install with the product was the beta.  Downloaded the driver they used previous to the beta.  That didn't work either.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 07, 2007, 03:41:18 AM
Might be worth looking through the guys feedback and seeing who else bought one, you could then contact them through eBay and see if they had problems with the drivers. Do you have another computer that you could try it on just in case it is something on your computer that is upsetting it?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 07, 2007, 03:56:46 AM
Might be worth looking through the guys feedback and seeing who else bought one, you could then contact them through eBay and see if they had problems with the drivers. Do you have another computer that you could try it on just in case it is something on your computer that is upsetting it?
Hood

I'm looking at this one
http://www.enablemart.com/productdetail.aspx?pid=329&dept=15&store=10
and this one
http://www.ezscreen.com/en-us/dept_7.html    scroll down to EZ-171L-AGH--AN-W4R

They both have phone support.

I'll put this thing on Ebay for 50 bucks
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 07, 2007, 04:13:46 AM
prices certainly look good on the second link. Still wouldnt give up on the one you have though, try it on another computer just to make sure its not something on your computer that it doesnt like.
Hood
 PS if you put it on eBay let me know, I suspect you will probably get almost what you paid, but if not I always like a bargain :D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: ardor on January 07, 2007, 04:20:58 AM
prices certainly look good on the second link. Still wouldnt give up on the one you have though, try it on another computer just to make sure its not something on your computer that it doesnt like.
Hood
 PS if you put it on eBay let me know, I suspect you will probably get almost what you paid, but if not I always like a bargain :D

Sent you a PM

You had your nap, now it's my turn cya when I get up.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 17, 2007, 06:39:01 PM
Just wanted to say if there is a loud bang heard all over the world tomorrow dont be alarmed, its just me switching on the power for the first time and my lathe exploding.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on March 18, 2007, 03:59:17 AM
Couple of bits of advice before you power up.
Leave the $2 you owe me with Dorothy.
Tell her I`ve to get the indexer and the qc tooling.
I won`t mention the floating head as I already have it.
In return I will help her get $200/ton for the Colchesters and Bridgeport.
 ;D ;D
Mark.

P.S.Also when you get to the shop keep the doors closed so you don`t get any distractions but mainly so no one can nick the tooling before I get there.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 04:09:18 AM
Get on with your work you lazy ba%^$£d
Either that or get up here and give me a hand.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on March 18, 2007, 04:19:31 AM
I`ve been here since before 7am.You know I would come up and help you but I`m too busy trying to get work out the door,additionally I`m allergic to sudden bangs and electric shocks.Just put my bits in a nice tidy heap with a label saying property of EMS before you start.Cover them with the old jacket so they don`t get sprayed with molten metal.
Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 04:24:26 AM
yep, your usual too busy talk, actually means you are spending half the day on the internet and the rest on the phone with a copious amount of tea guzzling and piece munching added :)
Well really I was hoping you would be here to help or should I say stand in between the cabinet and myself, that way I would be protected from any blast.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on March 18, 2007, 06:28:55 AM
You guys are a mess individually. When you two get together, I bet that is one big mess.  ;D

Good luck Hood  ;)

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on March 18, 2007, 12:00:53 PM
Hood..   Is that you causing my workshop lights to dim down here in Dorset?

How you getting along anyway?

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 02:29:42 PM
Things didnt quite go to plan, hooked up the mains and switched on, heard the big transformer buzz for a split second then nothing. Had a look and the fuses had popped and I didnt have any more to try. Must be somthing up with it in any case as previously I had it connected but through a circuit breaker and it didnt trip and it was 16Amp, same as the fuses that blew, so over the next few days I will have to do some investigating :(
 I was however able to power up the hydraulics, spindle etc and was able to test everything out. The front toolpost isnt hooked up to the hydraulics or limits yet so couldnt test it but I was able to index the rear turret and it worked perfectly, told it to go to a tool and it would :)
 Also was able to power up the spindle and go through the 8 gears in both low range and high range but I did have a problem with the macropump. I have the macropump looking at the true spindle speed and if  10% less than the commanded speed it will fault out, only problem is it was faulting out even when the the speed was over the commanded speed so looks like the macropump will have to be modified.
 Overall it was a good day but I was hoping to be able to try out the Teknix drives and the axis motors but until I get the transformer problem sorted it cant be done.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on March 18, 2007, 02:40:39 PM
Hood.   The fuses popping may just be the inrush current on the transformer. Well in fact it's almost certainly that.   

Sometimes they will trip sometimes they won't, it all depends on where the AC cycle is on power up.

You can get iinrush current limiters.  These create a resistance in serses with your supply to limit current, but warm up and change to low resistance.


Wayne.....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 02:51:06 PM
I thought it could be inrush but when it didnt trip a circuit breaker previously I thought there must be a fault as I would have expected fuses to be more robust than the breaker. Will look into getting some inrush current limiters, is that what they are called? have had a look on RS and so far only see PCB mounting ones of max 5 Amp.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on March 18, 2007, 02:59:57 PM
Hood.

Maplin do a 18amp one for a couple of quid.    http://www.maplin.co.uk/Media/PDFs/N96BT.pdf

The 18Amps is steady state current so you might be oK.    The inrush current can be many times this though.

I've seen this blow huge bridge rectifiers, so it's not a small problem.

Wayne....

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 03:05:54 PM
Thanks Wayne, have found these ones on Rapid http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?kw=inrush%20current&tier1=Electronic+Components&tier2=Filters+%26+Suppression&tier3=NTC+Inrush+Limiters&tier4=High+inrush+current+limiters&moduleno=61685
They have a 30Amp one but there are no specs so I am not sure of the voltage they can handle, maybe it doesnt matter?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on March 18, 2007, 04:08:28 PM
It probably doesn't matter.   What you running the transformer from?   Is this a 3phase transformer?


Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 18, 2007, 05:01:36 PM
Yes its three phase, its the transformer out of the Bridgeport.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 30, 2007, 04:37:16 PM
Got the transformer wired up and working properly, getting 79.7V DC which should be OK for the Teknix drives. Tried to move the axis but if I click the MPG one notch the motors take off and I have to hit Reset, E-Stop or turn the MPG a bit more.
 If I  turn the MPG more than one notch the drives will fault out and the drive shows a solid red LED indicating out of position. Tried swapping the motor wires around but that only made it do exactly the same but in the opposite direction. Have a busy weekend ahead of me so dont think I will be able to mess around with the lathe but hopefully next week I can find the problem and get it moving properly, servos are new to me as I have only ever used steppers.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on March 30, 2007, 04:45:59 PM
Hood.

Sounds like a typical encoder signal loss problem

Are you sure your encoders are wired correctly?   What encoders have you used?

Did you get any of the inrush current limiters?   HIf so how well have they worked for you?

Cor lot of "?" there lol..

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 30, 2007, 05:06:28 PM
I think the encoders are wired correctly but will check up on that when I can get the time. They are US Digital encoders and I have the line drivers that convert them to RJ45, the Teknix drives as you know use RJ45 and I think the pinout is the same on both. I have the encoders running through the CNC Building Blocks breakout and cant remember seeing any jumpers for enabling the encoder pass through but I will do some reading to see what I can find.
 If I dont have a wiring problem and cant find a problem I will bypass the breakout and connect the encoders direct to the drives and see if that helps.

I didnt have to get the inrush limiters, I just had to connect the capacitors up correctly (http://forums.pcper.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif) the caps only had a black dot on one of the terminals which I took to be positive but as usual I was wronggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had to get new rectifiers as they had blown along withthe fuses but the caps and everything else were still good.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on March 30, 2007, 08:07:28 PM
Hey Hood, I agree with Wayne, sounds like an encoder problem. This is one thing that makes servos superior to steppers. When you send the signal to turn the motor a set amount, the motor will push to get to that point. If it doesn't see the signal from the encoder, it thinks it hasn't reached it yet so , it keeps on pushing.

Glad there weren't any fireworks today. ;D

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 31, 2007, 04:29:11 PM
Wayne you were right I think, put a scope on the breakouts encoder outputs and dont get a trace but when on the breakouts encoder Inputs there is a nice trace. Seems like the encoder signal is not getting passed through the breakout. Not had a chance to check for correct wiring properly yet but initial checks it looked fine. Will check properly tomorrow if I get a chance and in the mean time I have mailed Ed at CNC Building Blocks to see if he can shed any light.

Brett
 Still no fireworks, thats three days now, must be a record for me ;)



Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on April 12, 2007, 03:06:14 AM
Not good news, spoke to soon when I said there were no fireworks LOL
 I was still having problems with the motors running away and have found out that the encoders are faulty, one is completely dead and the other has a very weak pulse, new internals on the way. Only problem now is my drives blew and I have been talking to Pete at CNC Teknix and eventually I asked him if my motors could be the prob as they are huge motors. Seems they are, the Teknix will drive them but will have to limit my accel which is not really what I want. Should have mailed before I bought with the motor specs and saved myself some heartache (and wallet ache ;) )
 Not sure how I am going to proceed as it all looks expensive from here as big drives are not in my price range.
 Will keep this updated when and if I have info.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on April 14, 2007, 07:12:19 PM
Hood

Thats keyboard you are using I think is one of the Silicone ones?

What height are the keys?   I was thinking of buying a couple of those.

Taking the whole month off in May to try and get ahead with the Hardinge, it was just not happening with all the work I've had on recently.  Have to work 'kin hard this month to get May clear though!

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on April 14, 2007, 08:20:20 PM
Hey Wayne,
     Mine is very much like Hoods. The keys are about .190 tall and the base is about .090 giving a total of .280. Hope this helps. Mine is silicone as well.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on April 15, 2007, 11:37:49 AM
Hi Wayne
 not sure but its not that much, maybe total of 12mm thick for the whole keyboard, can measure tomorrow for you. Wish I had seen this earlier as I am just home from the workshop.
 Hood

oops sorry Brett, never noticed your post.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on April 15, 2007, 12:20:50 PM
What I was thinking was if the keys are high enough and have quite short travel it might be possible to create a thin bezel with holes cut out for the keys to make it into a rigid keyboard.

I'll find out when the two I have ordered arrive.

Just trying to get everything in for the onslaught on the Hardinge in May.

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on April 15, 2007, 01:40:16 PM
I think that would work OK Wayne.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on April 26, 2007, 07:01:02 PM
I got in two of those keyboards from the keyboard company. £19 ea.

Kind of like typing on a Sinclair Spectrum LOL..   I ordered the alloy plate to have a go at making a rigid enclosure.

I think I'll do some surgery on the keyboard to move that bulge where the circuit board is to the back, there seems to be enough tail lenth on the membrane to fold it back.

The key layout is ever so slightly different to yours.   One thing I noticed is mine has no pg up or pg down keys.

There is also a cheap numerical usb keypad in the Maplin shops at the moment I may get one of those and doctor that too.

Where did you locate the little touchpad you have on your control?   Is it an off the shelf part or ripped out an old laptop?


Wayne....

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on April 26, 2007, 07:15:26 PM
Hey Wayne,
    Hoods touch pad is out of a keyboard. He sent me the link the other day. You can get them as a single unit though. Before you make your over lay, push on one of the keys and see if the side of the key swells.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1919&Nav=|c:143|&Sort=3&Recs=10

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on April 26, 2007, 07:33:03 PM
The side of the key does not swell, but they have a thinner section at the base of the key which is designed to.   I shall machine some relief in the case to allow for that.

I shall probably machine a test piece in MDF 1st to make sure I got the key spacing correct and that it in fact will work!

Wayne....
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on April 27, 2007, 11:41:59 AM
heres the link to the keyboard I got the touchpanel out of. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=129054
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on June 23, 2007, 04:43:35 PM
Got some AC Servos and drives from eBay (see below) and have managed to get them figured out. I am going to use the top board from the CNC Teknix drives (That I blew up :(  )to act as step/dir to analogue converters as the drives I have are analogue. I have tested the Tek 10s by hooking an encoder to them and verifying that if I turn the encoder they send out an analogue voltage so all I now need is time to hook it all together. Time is scarce at the moment but I should be finished the big jigsaw puzzle I have been welding up (see pic) and hopefully I will get a few days before the next big job comes around, might even get it finished this year LOL.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on June 23, 2007, 08:23:49 PM
Hey Hood,
    So, you have been working. The ferry is looking good. I'm glad you got the motors figured out. Whenever you get the lathe running, I'm sure it will be nice.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on June 24, 2007, 03:09:33 AM
I will be glad to see the back of the ferry, its been a long drag especially trying to get welding with the wonderful windy summer we are having ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 29, 2007, 03:37:15 PM
Not had much time lately to do much to the lathe but today I got some time to temporarily hook up a drive and motor to the Z Axis. Had it running at 20m/min for a start but it was way too fast so I slowed it down to 10m/min. The original speed of the axis with the original control was 5m/min. Heres  a video of it moving, going from a rapid to feed to rapid to feed etc. The original clip can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqlHS4btXQE
 
Hood

http://www.youtube.com/v/cqlHS4btXQE
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on July 29, 2007, 11:01:23 PM
Good to hear Hood. Looks fast enough for an old fellow, and smooth. LOL Was the music you in the background doing the one man band gig and singing?  ;D

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 30, 2007, 02:53:28 PM
Quote
Was the music you in the background doing the one man band gig and singing?

If only!! I would be a rich kid and wouldnt be messing around with secondhand drives/motors ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: kedwaven on July 31, 2007, 03:15:14 PM
Very good Hood but didnt it do that before it left Broxburn? ;D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 31, 2007, 04:13:08 PM
Well it sort of did, we didnt really get it moving much, there was no point in trying to work out how to programme the ancient control as  just after it left Broxburn the control and drives were removed because they were not mine. Another thing about the original is it did 5m/min (Although I never saw it do anything like that), it is now at 10m/min and had it near 20m/min for a few seconds until I chickened out :D
 If the drives had been mine this thing would probably have been running a long time ago but at the time I didnt  know about pixies so saw no use for them.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Brian Barker on August 01, 2007, 08:18:42 PM
Hood, You need to get this Lathe done or we are going to run out of pages in this thread ;)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 02, 2007, 04:17:00 PM
Tell me something I dont already know ;)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on August 11, 2007, 09:15:04 PM
Gentlemen,today I was in Arbroath,Scotland.There I saw a large Churchill lathe which is undergoing a Mach retrofit (I had never realised it took so long).Anyway the Z axis of this machine was travelling up and down the bed,sometimes in rapid traverse,other times at different feedrates,standing watching it was this little old guy and he had a grin from ear to ear.That grin never left him in the next seven hours I was there. ;D ;D
Guess who it was.

Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 11, 2007, 09:17:48 PM
well I dont have a clue who it was, never noticed him there at all, only seem to remember a great big fat ugly guy from Fife

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 11, 2007, 09:20:07 PM
BTW hope to have the X axis working soon, drive has been posted and should be winging its way over the pond next week :D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Gridley51 on August 11, 2007, 09:25:21 PM
I should have added he was fat and bald as well as old and short.
Mark.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on August 12, 2007, 07:18:17 PM
LOL ........................  ;D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 10, 2007, 04:24:50 PM
Well its been a while but I have done some cutting, still have a long way to go to get it finished. Next on the list will be to get the front toolpost piped up and its switches fitted and wired, so until thats done I cant bore or drill or even use back facing tools.
Hers a pic of the part and heres a link to the video. To give an idea of the size of the lathe the  stock is 70mmDia and 95mm length outside the jaws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSh6j8x4Gc

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on October 10, 2007, 04:37:25 PM
Nice looking piece Hood. The video is good to.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on October 13, 2007, 07:17:34 PM
Well done Hood for at least getting it to cut something.   The old Hardinge won't be too far behind.

Watched your vid.   You running the spindle in reverse for that rear toolpost?   I'd normally run CW and use rh tools upside down.

Have you tried any real heavy cuts yet?

How are the new servo's working out?   I got one of those taiwanese AC servo's and drives here for testing, a 1kW job!

Wayne...
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on October 13, 2007, 08:46:12 PM
Well its actually running M3 in that direction so I suppose its running forward ;) The way the original contactors are set up is that CW is default so obviously its meant for the rear turret.
Cant use tools upside down because of the wedge clamping for the tools, if I put them upside down they would be well below the centre line.
 The DOC in the video was I think 3mm but I have taken as much as 20mm off the Dia in one hit and it didnt seem to bother the lathe. Just dont want to do that DOC too often with the door open and no coolant as the spray of very hot curly bits of steel  can soon become uncomfortable ;)

Servos seem to be working great, seems to be enough power but I suppose my first time pushing a 2" drill into some stainless will tell me if they are OK.

Let me know how the motors and drives look once you test them.

Hood

BTW do clocks run backwards when you get that far down south :D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chevy427z on November 30, 2007, 10:56:02 PM
Good lord... another Mark?? :)

Hey Hood! Just poppin in to say hi! I look forward to doing it in person again! Hope things are well with you! Nice work on the lathe! I am trying Mark's patience as he is trying to help me troubleshoot the old HXL. Keep up the good work and hi to the pup for me!

Mark
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on December 01, 2007, 05:48:29 PM
Good to hear from you Mark, hope you get the HXL working.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: jeep534 on July 23, 2008, 04:35:11 AM
Hood,
I just re read all the thread, how has the lathe been doing. how about an update. also what kind of drives did you end up using.

Happy Hunting
archie =) =) =)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 23, 2008, 04:55:47 AM
Lathes doing great, been using it for quite a while now but its just recently that I have got the front toolpost up and running and that was a bit of a hassle to get done in Mach. Brians working on Front/Rear toolpost selection soon so should be good in the end, at the moment I am having to do a workaround but it also works fine.
 I ended up getting Allen Bradley DSD drives, well one Allen Bradley and one Giddings and Lewis DSA drive but essentially they are the same thing apart from the colour and name :)
 I have 10Nm AC servo on the Z axis and a 7Nm on the X, both copuple 1:1 through timing belt and pulley (original spec)  rapids are restricted to 3400mm/min at the moment as I wasnt happy with the slow speed cogging due to electronic gearing in the drives. Once the threading sync is done in the SmoothStepper then I will put one on the lathe and potentially I could put  the rapids up to 15M/min without any electronic gearing or 30M/min with the 2:1 gelectronic gearing that I have at the moment, I think 10 will be more than enough though :) , the original was 5M/min.
 I have a couple of vids on You Tube of the lathe, noithing exciting but it does show it working, still doesnt really show the size of the lathe, just wish I could get a shot of it and my Colchester Triumph side by side.
You will see the vids here  http://www.youtube.com/user/HoodScotland
Have some pics of the finished  control panel etc but they are at home so will have to add them later.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 24, 2008, 04:37:49 PM
Heres the only pic I can find of the control panel, its still got the stainless cap screws in it, now have black button head cap screws that blend in a lot better. Have also added a few pics of some of the things I have made.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 24, 2008, 04:38:55 PM
and another ;)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: budman68 on July 24, 2008, 07:14:27 PM
 :o Very nice!!!
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on July 24, 2008, 07:49:48 PM
Looks good Hood. You do good work and the machining ain't bad either.  ;D

Some of those pieces look familiar.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 25, 2008, 01:45:04 AM
Thanks guys :)

Yes Brett, these piddly wee pullstuds (one shown in the bottom of the picture) went to some crazy guy in the USA, goes by the name of scrote or something like that. You heard of him? think he has a toy mill that he is doing, Hurco or something like that :D



Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on December 27, 2008, 05:14:09 PM
Started to get the spindle  AC Servo fitted today, first pic is the plate the motor mounts to, second is the bracket that bolts to the lathe and third and fourth are of the motor in place. It is hard to believe that the 20mm wide GT3 belt will take the place of the 6 Vee belts but Gates software assures me that I have actually overdesigned it by quite a bit, time will tell.
 I still have to either machine out a smaller taper bush to 42mm dia for the motor or wait until the bearing suppliers are open again, I will then try the servo out from the laptop rather than wiring through Mach to make sure it is going to be powerfull enough as its a fair bit of wiring to integrate it.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Overloaded on December 27, 2008, 05:43:09 PM
Nice bracketry Hood. Who'd ya get to do the welding for ya ? hehehe

What NM was that again ?

What a HORSE !

 Ridgid Tapping...Here we come !

RC
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on December 27, 2008, 05:58:41 PM
Dont know who did the welding but its a bloody mess. :)
The motor is 83Nm (735 Lb-in) continuous, 152.5 Nm (1350 Lb-in) peak.
Not sure on true rigid tapping as at the moment I still have it through the headstocks backgear so there is a bit of backlash. Not sure how much but think I may need a floating holder. I could go direct to the spindle but that would do away with the backgear and also spoil my intentions of fitting a chucking cylinder when I can find one.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: N4NV on January 04, 2009, 08:31:17 PM
Well its been a while but I have done some cutting, still have a long way to go to get it finished. Next on the list will be to get the front toolpost piped up and its switches fitted and wired, so until thats done I cant bore or drill or even use back facing tools.
Hers a pic of the part and heres a link to the video. To give an idea of the size of the lathe the  stock is 70mmDia and 95mm length outside the jaws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSh6j8x4Gc



I noticed in the video you are turning the spindle clockwise as viewed from the tailstock and your cutting tools are facing up.  I was doing this with my little Taig lathe and when I went to thread, I ended up with left handed threads.  I had to turn all my tools upside down and run the spindle the other way.  How do you do threading?  Run the spindle the other way and put your threading tool in the front tool post?

Vince
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 04, 2009, 08:40:24 PM
Nope I have an cranked  style threading tool, unfortunately I cant put normal  tools upside down in the turret due to the wedge clamping style of it. So yes I run the spindle the other way but tool is still in the turret. I have a normal tool for the turret  if I want to do left handers :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: N4NV on January 04, 2009, 08:49:35 PM
Maybe I missed something.  I just read through the installation manual for the Allen Bradley Ultra 3000 drive and I don't see how you are controlling them from Mach.  What is your setup for controlling the drives?

Vince
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 04, 2009, 08:55:56 PM
They accept analogue(both Torque or Velocity mode)  and also  Follower mode which includes step/dir, step up/ step Down or Encoder.
I use in follower (Step/Dir) mode but may switch to Follower (Encoder ) as the SS can now do that however at the moment I am not sure if there are any benefits as it runs great with Step/Dir.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: N4NV on January 04, 2009, 09:06:25 PM
So you wire your step and direction wires from your BOB to CN1 pins 4 and 6?  It's that simple?

Vince

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on January 04, 2009, 09:10:33 PM
A little more to it than that, but it isn't bad.

Brett
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 04, 2009, 09:13:47 PM
Yes but I actually have differential inputs as the BOB I have  puts the step dir out as that if I want, so I use pins 4,5,6,7 on CN1. You can however just connect them up single ended.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 04, 2009, 09:19:48 PM
As Brett says you can do all sorts of other things and can have up to 8 digital inputs, 4 digital outputs, 2 analogue I/O and then the relay output as well. These outputs can be configured to almost any function you could think of :D
 Very nice drives and very configurable especially the indexing ones as they allow you to do a gated Index homing which is extremely accurate :) Also they would be excellent for toolchangers as they can index to 64 preset positions with only 6 inputs.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: N4NV on January 04, 2009, 09:20:31 PM
So what BOB had differential outputs for step and direction?

Vince
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 04, 2009, 09:24:19 PM
CNC Building Blocks but afraid they are not made any more. Would think it easy enough to do it yourself with either a differential chip thingy, sorry getting late and brain has stopped remebering the proper terms :) or even a ready made one of the type that US Digital use for their encoders to turn them into differential encoders.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: zarzul on January 05, 2009, 05:08:50 PM
I can get you a chip number if you need it still.   I had to do the differential driver for my Kollomorgen driver also.  It is fairly simple,  step & direction in to differential step/dir out.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 05, 2009, 05:16:12 PM
zarzul, although I dont need it at the moment you never know what the future holds so would appreciate if you could give the chip number. Is there anything else needed such as resistors or is it just a case of wiring direct to the chip?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: zarzul on January 12, 2009, 11:03:41 AM
it is a real simple chip,  NTE 2631,  it is a quad input differential line driver,  you can do up to 4 channels of differential output,  4 inputs.   No resistors needed.

Works great, if you need a work-around before getting one you can slave an axis and invert it to get the same thing if you have a lot of outputs and bandwidth to spare.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 12, 2009, 05:35:41 PM
Thanks zarzul, cant see that one in the normal suppliers in the UK but there are others such as this http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=0630875
Not too hot on electronics (although they usually are after I have had them ;D ) is that the kind of thing?
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: zarzul on January 12, 2009, 06:18:54 PM
That the baby, should work fine.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 12, 2009, 06:28:07 PM
great, might grab myself a few just in case my BOB smokes at some point as I like the differential Step/Dir :0
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: N4NV on January 29, 2009, 09:01:38 AM
If you now have a servo motor for the spindle, how are you controlling the speed?  From what I understand, if you have is set for axis A, B or C you can't set it up as a spindle.

Vince
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 29, 2009, 10:17:23 AM
Have it set as the spindle and the drive accepts step/dir so spindle speed is just set via the normal S word and Dir is M3 or M5 like normal.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 24, 2010, 08:08:06 AM
Well after a long time sitting in the back workshop I have finally got time to get the turret fitted to the front of the lathe instead of the 4 position toolpost. I now have 12 tool positions, 6 on rear  turret and 6 on front. The rear turret is slow as it only rotates one way and has to clamp every tool. The front turret I have converted to servo motor indexing and can rotate both ways and go direct to the programmed tool. Still have to make a cover for it and make sure the bars are on centre exactly but it seems to be working well now after initial teething problems.
The other great thing about this turret is the tool holders fit on to the  dovetails and are very accurate so I can set up different tools and just have them sitting ready to replace the current tools if I need them.
 The turret originally came off a Bullard twin turret lathe that my friend was scrapping.
In the video I am running a programme with tool changes and 2 second dwell between each one and have it looping with a M47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geD2jbW9hUY
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: manmeran on September 24, 2010, 08:22:18 AM
very interesting.
 i dont work Until now with lathe but i think is very different .
thx

Amir
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 24, 2010, 09:18:21 AM
Yes I thought working a lathe would be easier than a mill as you only have two axis but it is much more to think about.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on September 24, 2010, 09:23:57 AM
Good work, Hood. Thanks for showing.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 24, 2010, 01:46:22 PM
Thanks Daniel, it had one fault this afternoon where it failed to index properly due to clamping to early, I have now fitted some Honeywell switches and it ran for 3hrs constantly indexing and never missed a beat, so looks like its time to make the cover :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JHChoppers on September 24, 2010, 04:28:06 PM
Nice work, sometimes its hard to get back on a project after sitting for a while.   Stay with it, can't wait to see some chips flying.

JH
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 24, 2010, 05:58:42 PM
Thanks.
The lathe has been used for the last three years but I decided to fit the turret this last week or so. As soon as I started three different people came in with work that I would normally do on the CNC lathe, two of them were not in a rush for it so I that will be the first stuff I do with the new turret, hopefully over the weekend. The other job was a rush so I had to do it on the manual lathe, I had forgotten how much of a PITA it is to face on a taper over 19inch dia when having to crank the compound slide handle. Gets kind of warm as well as the cast iron chips are flying everywhere :D

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 27, 2010, 03:38:21 PM
Turret performed well today, skimmed the flat and taper on 4 pairs of hauler plates today, they are 17inch Dia, finish was good so I am happy.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JHChoppers on September 27, 2010, 03:45:21 PM
Very Nice.... Looks great !

JH
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on September 27, 2010, 04:42:46 PM
Well it will look better when I get the chicken shed of a cover I made modified ;D
Its functional but looks bloody awful but will do for now.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 18, 2010, 05:41:56 PM
Just made a new button panel for the lathe. Got FRO and SRO pots and rotary switches for axis selection and to swap MPG beteeen Constant mode and multistep with 0.01mm, 0.1mm and 1mm steps. Also have buttons for various functions. The buttons were not my first choise but they were a lot cheaper than the EAO ones I wanted and they actually have a nice feel to them as they are snap action. Not sure how long they will last regards coolant covered hands but time will tell.

Hopefully I will get it fitted this weekend and then will alter the ladder for the PLC to suit.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: budman68 on November 18, 2010, 05:50:27 PM
Looking good, are you using the Pokeys to connect all these?

Dave
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 18, 2010, 05:54:32 PM
Thanks Dave,
no I am using my PLC .
The PLC's is 24v I/O and the analogue modules I have for it are 4-20mA type so a bit more noise resistant than the PoKeys as its 5v I/O and 0-5V Analogue, however with care and proper shielding the PoKeys would work fine.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: budman68 on November 18, 2010, 06:01:29 PM
Ah, I'm not familiar with programmable logic controllers, way above my head there,  :D

Dave
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 18, 2010, 06:08:24 PM
Ha ha neither am I really but they are fairly simple things so I manage.
 Ladder logic is simple if you want simple or can get complicated if you need complicated and the Automation Direct DL06's use graphical ladders so it works for me as I prefer picture books ;). The part of the ladder for the new turret took me a while to work out but got there in the end, things like switches and analogue inputs are basic stuff and easy.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: budman68 on November 18, 2010, 06:11:06 PM
Quote
I prefer picture books .  ;)

Now you're talkin -  ;)

Dave
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 18, 2010, 06:12:54 PM
;D
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JHChoppers on November 19, 2010, 11:05:58 AM
Looks great Hood, nice job.  Are you using a pocket PLC?
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on November 19, 2010, 11:53:32 AM
Its a Koyo D0-06DR from Automation Direct.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 15, 2012, 08:43:47 AM
Have decided to do away with the twin 6 position turrets on my lathe and make a new 12 position for the rear and have a fixed block on the front. The reasons are it is sometimes a bit scary when first running code with the dual turret setup, it is mainly because the front turret sits much further forward than the rear and it is the front that holds boring bars and drills so clearance really has to be thought about. If I had managed to sit the front turret further back or if it had been the rear that held drills things would have been a lot easier. It was the dia of the front turret that dictated that it be so far forward as it had to have the tools that far forward to clear the apron.

I have decided on a 12 position rear turret which can hold normal square shank turning tools, have had to go down to 20x20 from the 25X25 I currently use. The turret will also be able to have the tools right way up or upside down which will be a big benefit. I will also have drill/bar holders that can clamp to the periphery of the turret plate and they can hold a max of 40mm dia.
 On the front of the saddle I will have a fixed block, the block will be bored for 50mm dia drills/bars and will also have a dovetail so that I can, if needed, use the holders I presently have on the front turret.
 I have had a frient rough out the turret plate outline for me from a chunk of 380mm x 380mm x 60mm plate on a water jet and hopefully I will get that next weekend and be able to start machining the slots etc.

Below is a pic of what I am proposing, I will still have the hydraulic clamp/unclamp and will aslo use a servo, as I have on the front turret, for the indexing. That will, like the front turret, give me bi directional, shortest route positioning.
It will likely take quite a while to get this project done but now that I have things drawn up I have a clear view of how to proceed :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 22, 2012, 02:10:50 PM
My friend brought through the rough cut turret plate, I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. He had said it was the first time they had cut 60mm thick steel and it had wandered a bit (normally its glass they cut with the water jet), it wasnt too bad and as I had allowed 5mm extra on all dimensions I had given him it is well within spec, kind of wish I had only allowed 2mm now ;D
I had also managed to include 8 drill/bar holders in the dxf I gave them and they too came out above my expectations :)

First job will be to chuck up the plate and face and counterbore the back so that I can fit half of the curvic coupling in, I will then mount the other half on the milling table and this will allow me rough out the slots and then for the final cut to size I will only move in 1 axis with a 40mm cutter and cut to size each slot in turn, rotating and clamping the turret on the coupling each time. This should make things very accurate as the coupling is extremely accurate. I measured it today and when both halves are clamped there is exactly 32.10mm measured over the thickness of the two halves and that is no matter where I measure or whether I rotate and clamp again, so its a nice coupling. Outer diameters are also exact and line up perfectly to each other so that the edges of them have no difference at all.
 Once I have the plate made I intend to make the body of the turret and face the bottom and front true to one another, I will then fit the coupling to that and sit it on the milling table and clamp the turret in the upright position. I will then be able to drill the holes and mill the keyway for the drill/bar holders one at a time, rotating again on the curvic for each one, again this should make things very accurate.
 Once the turret is made and fitted to the lathe I will then use the lathe itself to bore out the holders to the 40mm dia. I have a 39mm U-Drill that I will place in the chuck and once done I will then put in a boring head and adjust that to exactly 40m and hopefully that should work well and mean drills and boring bars will be exactly on centre.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Wallerawang on January 22, 2012, 03:28:38 PM
Hi Hood, would you please give us a little more info on the curvic coupling you are going to use, where you got it, etc. as an aid to us prospective turret builders.
Thanks
Steve
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 22, 2012, 03:48:40 PM
I got the curvic coupling from a friend that had it for a spare for his lathes turret. That turret is the one I have on the front of the lathe at the moment, I got it from hime when he was about to scrap the lathe. Dont know how much he paid for it but it was a while ago he bought it and I think he would have got it cheap(ish) as the company was selling off all spares they had for that model lathe.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 24, 2012, 02:24:06 PM
Got a wee bit done to the turret, faced it off on the lathe, bored for the coupling, the shaft seat and a small recess for the coolant ring. Got the curvic coupling half fitted in and the other half bolted to the milling table and got 32mm of the 60mm depth cut before I  came home. Hopefully will get the rest of the hex cut tomorrow and get started on roughing out the slots.
Pics below and also one of the dog, he didnt seem too impressed with my lathe work ;D
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 24, 2012, 04:13:18 PM
Ah... so this is the little fellow who's been helping you around ;D Looks like he works night shifts ;)

Good progress on the turret. Thought it'd take months till you get there, but looks like it's a matter of weeks.

Will it be pneumatics or hydraulics pushing the coupling? I have always been doubting the stability of such couplings under load. It's always looked to me like if the spring pulling it is not sufficiently stiff then the coupling halves would slip against each other. Would you please comment?

Dan

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 24, 2012, 04:29:12 PM
He does less work than I do ;D

It will be hydraulic clamp/unclamp, no springs.
The cylinder I am making will have a 1.2 tonne pull which should be enough, the one on the front turret is smaller dia I think and its fine. If needed I can increase to 2.5 tonne with the space available.
The curvic couplings cant slide as such, the shape of the teeth centre each half to the other. I suppose it could be possible for it to ride up but that would take a fair amount of force and have never had that happen on any I have and it seems to be the industry standard for turrets.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Chaoticone on January 24, 2012, 06:13:46 PM
Looking good Hood!  The dog looks good too.  Is his coat that shiny because he has been drinking coolant or you feeding him raw eggs?

Brett

Just a wee test :)
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 25, 2012, 01:30:56 AM
Looking good Hood!  The dog looks good too.  Is his coat that shiny because he has been drinking coolant or you feeding him raw eggs?

Brett

Thanks Brett, nah no eggs, its just that crap colchester he lies beside spewing out oil ;D
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 25, 2012, 04:29:10 PM
Got the tool slots roughed out today, have 0.5mm on the wall left to take out and 0.2mm on the depth. Not sure if I will get a chance to do any more tomorrow as I will probably be needing the mill.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 27, 2012, 01:24:05 PM
Got a bit more done to the turret plate.
Have the slots all finish cut , holes drilled and tapped for the clamp bars and have the coolant holes and drill holder mounting holes done.
I mounted the half coupling in the chuck of my indexing head, the indexer wasnt used as an indexer but rather just to hold things in the vertical position. I had a bolt go through the turret and the indexer and when tightened this held the  turret plate tight, I then drilled the holes and then slackened the bolt, turned the turret plate 1/12 turn and clamped back up, that way it was the curvic coupling that was acting as the indexer which is deadly accurate.
 Still have the keyslots for the drill holder location to cut and then 24 holes on the back face to drill, 12 for coolant and 12 for mounting the coolant ring. Once thats done the turret plate is finished and I can then move on to the shaft and turret housing, may get some of that done at the weekend.
Pics are not that great as I forgot the camera so had to use the phone.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 27, 2012, 03:22:35 PM
Hood,

Are you using the Beaver's servo spindle for tapping the holes?

By the way, you've got a good phone, but looks like your shaky hand spoiled the second picture ;D

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 27, 2012, 04:19:55 PM
Yes did tap the holes with the mill but just use a floating holder and a G84 as its much easier to code than mess about swapping axis. The mill has a lot of backlash in the spindle as it goes through a gearbox and also there is a lot of play in the splines. I am thinking of doing away with the quill as Z and using the knee instead, I was going to use both but if I just use the knee then I can drive direct to the splines of the spindle and get rid of the backlash.

Phone is just a cheapo but suppose even the cheap ones nowadays have half decent cameras, think though the second pic was more to do with the light under the head of the mill making it look a bit fuzzy.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JHChoppers on January 27, 2012, 05:26:23 PM
Looks great!  Keep the pics coming.

JH
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 27, 2012, 06:53:52 PM
Thanks, will maybe not get too much done next week as I am working away a few days but hope to make some progress this weekend and next.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 28, 2012, 01:18:46 AM
Phone is just a cheapo but suppose even the cheap ones nowadays have half decent cameras, think though the second pic was more to do with the light under the head of the mill making it look a bit fuzzy.

My apologies then :)

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 28, 2012, 02:13:18 PM
No apologies needed Dan :D

Got the turret plate finished today, slots cut, coolant holes from back drilled and coolant rig mounting holes drilled and tapped. On the way home from the workshop I thought about the turret I have on the front of the lathe (pic attached), it has exactly the same curvic coupling as this new one I am making. I am wondering if I could fit this disc to that turret  temporarily  until I get the new one made, will measure tomorrow and see. Reprogramming the PLC and the indexing drive would not be an issue but whether it will be worth it I am not sure.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 28, 2012, 02:27:50 PM
I am wondering if I could fit this disc to that turret  temporarily  until I get the new one made, will measure tomorrow and see. Reprogramming the PLC and the indexing drive would not be an issue but whether it will be worth it I am not sure.

Why might it not work for you? I mean if all fits, why would it be temporary?

Dan

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 28, 2012, 02:40:18 PM
Few reasons Dan, first I am not  sure what dimensions the shaft and what its mounting holes are so may require making a new shaft up, no big deal I suppose but would mean making another when I do make the new turret housing. Also not sure how the coolant ring would fit in on the old turret, dont think it would.
The reasons I wouldnt want this as a permanent turret are that I want the turret to the rear, also this turret sits a lot further forward than it should be as it needed that for clearance of tools, with the holders its about 400mm dia I think. I could of course remove the turret and fit it to the rear and at the same time make it sit further back onto the slide. Doing that however would be almost as big a job as just making up a complete new housing/shaft/cylinder I think. Will check things out tomorrow and see.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 28, 2012, 02:46:53 PM
Hood,

Thought you wanted to do away with the two turret setup?

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 28, 2012, 02:53:02 PM
I do Dan, want a single turret at the rear and have a block at the front with a 50mm dia hole for big bars/spade drills etc and also will have dovetails on it so I can mount the holders from the front turret if required, see pic.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 29, 2012, 03:21:54 PM
Had a look at the front turret today and still not sure if it could be used or not, will have to dismantle it a bit before I know.
The front flange of the shaft is 85mm dia where mine will be 80 but that in itself wouldnt be an issue as it would have to go on the outside face of the turret plate rather than inside like I had planned. Where the problem would be is the holes for mounting on mine I have made at 65mm PCD and the front turrets is just 60mm. Having said that it looks like the shaft may have the flange bolted to it as there are 3 cap screws in the centre, if that is the case then I should be able to just make a new flange up for the front the correct size to suit my plate, also I should be able to shorten the shaft first so that I can have the flange inside as I had originally intended. The only other thing I see that could be an issue is the coolant ring, I wont know until I dismantle the turret whether it would be possible to make a face for it to fit in.

Well on to the turret plate, after looking at the front turret I saw that the curvic coupling half that attaches to it is fixed from the front via cap  screws, this makes sense as they are larger dia holes than the m8 capscrews and that allows you to clamp the turret and then with the screws slack you can tap the plate round to perfectly align the tool slot with the axis. So today I did the same to my turret plate, I bored the holes right through to the face and then took them out to 11mm and then counter bored the front of them by 13mm depth and 18mm dia, this will allow me to have a 4mm thick washer and still have the head of the cap screws under the surface.
 I also made the coolant ring, at the moment it is 20mm thick but I will turn it down on the lathe to approx 15mm thick but I will wait until I get the turret built up to get an exact size.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 30, 2012, 06:51:02 AM
Pulled the front turret apart a bit and afraid its not going to be any use. If you look at the pics you will see the curvic attached to the turret plate protrudes quite a a bit and the one on the turret is recessed below the front of the turret body casting. I could machine the face of the turret and have the coolant ring bolted to it instead of the plate but it would make the casting quite thin in a few places and as it just Aluminium then its not something I want to do. I would rather keep the turret intact and make a new one up.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 04, 2012, 01:43:14 PM
Managed to get a bit done to the turret housing, face is bored and recessed for the coupling and bush housing, back is machined and base is also machined. I made the front and base from 15mm thick steel and the back is 25mm thick. Hope to get the sides made and all tacked together tomorrow.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 05, 2012, 02:07:53 PM
Got the main parts welded up, had to use 20mm thick for the sides rather than the 15 I had in the design as thats all I had that was long enough. That meant I had to have it protruding by 5mm either side of the back part but wont really matter.
With a bit of luck next week  I will get the outer sides cut and welded in, the  bush housings, bushes and shaft made up  and then it will be on to making the hydraulic cylinder.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 06, 2012, 03:25:34 AM
It's getting heavy so moving it around the shop is getting a serious task ;)

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 06, 2012, 05:04:16 AM
Sure is Dan and its away to be heavier as the only steel I have for the sides is 1" thick, had planned on 15mm ;D

I suppose it being heavy can only be a good thing as it should make it more rigid.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 06, 2012, 06:16:43 AM
Yep, Hood, it's only a good thing or at least as long as you won't have to reduce acceleration.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 06, 2012, 11:26:21 AM
Shouldnt be a problem, the front post I took off weighed in at over 75Kg.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 09, 2012, 06:05:51 PM
Not got much done except getting the outer sides welded on and welds ground flush(ish ;D ).
 Did however have a good look at the front turret today and did some measuring. I think I can reuse the shaft, cylinder, belt and pulleys I have on it so that will save a fair amount of work and some money :)
 I was wanting to keep the front turret intact just in case I find a need for it somewhere else but if I do then I can always make a new shaft and cylinder later on.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 11, 2012, 03:06:12 PM
Made the mounting bracket for motor/gearbox today and then decided to pull the cylinder and shaft off the front turret so I could see what exactly I had to make up for mounting them. Decided I might as well just go the whole hog and pull the complete turret, hopefully I will get  the turret finished before I need to do any serious internal work. I still have two manual lathes that I use quite a bit but anything with tapers or threads, especially internally is much easier on the CNC.
 I mounted the motor/gearbox to the turret and offered up the shaft and cylinder to see how they looked, hopefully tomorrow I will get the bush housings made and may even get as far as mounting the cylinder.
Heres a couple of pics, my lathe looks bare without the front turret ;D
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 11, 2012, 03:09:28 PM
Oh also meant to say, I was surprised how small internally the cylinder is. I was planning on making a cylinder that had 1.5 tonne pull and was wondering if that would be enough, well this one works out at only 0.75 tonne and its worked great :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 14, 2012, 09:41:24 AM
Got a bit more done, got the bush housings made, bushes made, hyd cylinder mount made, cylinder fitted, belt, pulleys and motor/gearbox fitted.
Still have the shaft to cut shorter and make and fit a flange to attach to shaft/turret plate, bore/tap the mounting holes for the turret housing half of the curvic coupling and also have to mount the limit switches that detect the clamp/unclamp.
After that it will  be fitting it to the lathe, getting the final height and then dismantling and machining the base to the correct height, I am approx 1mm higher than it will be, I hope ;D.
Pic below of what I have done and my quality control inspection guy having a look, not sure if its got the thumbs (paws) up but he let me throw the ball for him just a bit later so looking hopeful :)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 17, 2012, 01:41:57 PM
Getting closer, today I managed to make the flange for the shaft/turret plate coupling up and shortened the shaft and got it bored and tapped. Unfortunately the split nut on the back cracked right through whilst undoing it today so I will have to make a new one. Dont think I have a threading bar that is small enough to do a 20mm thread so will probably have to grind up a bit of HSS to do it. Once I have that complete I have the holes to bore and tap for the curvic coupling to main housing and then I suppose its time to remove the rear turret from the lathe and try and fit this one.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 18, 2012, 05:03:26 PM
Got the holes bored and tapped in the housing and the half coupling fitted. Also decided to try and tig the locking nut together and it was a success so no need to make a new one :) Also machined station numbers into the turret plate. Put the turret back together and placed it on the front to see if it looked like it would fit, seems fine. Dont have any olives so cant start to fit it to the rear of the slide, that will probably  have to wait until next week but I still have the macro and the ladder to redo anyway.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Sam on February 18, 2012, 05:59:29 PM
Looks real nice Hood. You sure do have allot of work invested. Quality job you've done there.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 18, 2012, 06:05:14 PM
Yes its been a lot of work but I couldnt find one that would suit me for the price I could afford :D Still got a bit to go yet but its getting closer now, just hope I dont make a balls up of it now ;D
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 19, 2012, 03:51:58 AM
Hi Hood,

Can you please show how the tool is fixed in the slot?

What steel is it? Aren't you going to have it plated? Your weather is the worst one could imagine for machine tools.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 19, 2012, 04:18:17 AM
The tools are clamped by two screws that are threaded into a piece of flat bar. The flat bar will be held to the turret by a capscrew (you can see them at each position) At the moment I dont have the bar bored and countersunk for the capscrew so it is just held there by the pressure of the setscrews against the tool which pushes it up to the top of the slot. The only real purpose of the setscrew holding the bar in place is so that it doesnt fall out when no tool is there. The bar can be placed at top or bottom of the slot thus allowing right way up or upside down tool mounting.
Bar is just made of mild steel and the screws are made of EN8.
Wont bother plating anything, things are not too bad even though the sea is only 10m away from my workshop (sometimes closer ;D ) and the air is full of salt, as you can see the rest of the lathe survives quite nicely without any plating :)
Pic of the clamp bar below.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 19, 2012, 05:16:10 AM
Thanks for the description, Hood. It is a nice solution. Just a thought here - looks like it might be better to have the screws' heads touching against the slot wall rather than the tool, as when tightened they would tend to drag the tool out of position.

So you have to use shims for height adjustments?

Interesting.. the sea here is a few kilometers away and everything picks up rust pretty quickly unless it is a good alloyed steel. Think it has to do with the air pollution levels as it's soaring here.

Dan

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 19, 2012, 05:37:03 AM
I thought that might be the case Dan but so far in testing it seems fine. It is the way a lot of turrets seem to clamp tools, certainly the way the Churhill 4/10's, that a friend has, do it.
If using the bolts the other way I would be concerned they would damage the turret slot (its probably only mild steel) thus making it hard to accurately seat tools upside down.

I may have to use shims although the slots seats should, if plans work out ;) , be exactly 20mm below/above centre. As you know however tools are not that precise especially with standard tips so maybe a thin shim will be needed on some, time will tell.

My last workshop was a GRP cabin and in the summer was very hot and winter very cold, it suffered from a lot of condensation and things got a lot of surface rust but this workshop seems to be a bit better, the coolant seems to leave a film on the ways etc and dont have much of a problem with rust. As you say pollution may well be the contributing factor more than the salt for you, fortunately I am in an area where the air is quite clean :)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 19, 2012, 05:59:01 AM
Yes, using the bolts against the turret would damage it.

You're lucky to have clean air :)

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Overloaded on February 25, 2012, 12:08:35 AM
Hood, my good man ...BEAUTIFUL work !
Been watching this as it progresses but have a couple of questions.
Does the hyd. pressure keep the curvic engaged  .... or does it have a mechanical engagement (Bellville's) ?
If it relies on hydraulic presssure, is there a sensor to monitor the pressure and report to the system if the pressure is inadequate ?
Id like to scale this down but need an alternative to the curvic as I don't see them offered in a smaller size.
Maybe pins and bushings ?  Or keys and slots ?
Again, NICE WORK !
Russ
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 25, 2012, 02:02:29 AM
Id like to scale this down but need an alternative to the curvic as I don't see them offered in a smaller size.
Maybe pins and bushings ?  Or keys and slots ?

Russ,

You need them tapered for it to work at all. Otherwise a small lash and vibrations are inevitable. If you have an accurate enough CNC mill I think it wouldn't be a problem making one. If your mill isn't accurate you should still get around if you have a rotary table which would index one tooth at a time and the mill would cut each tooth at the same location, thus repeatability is guaranteed.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Overloaded on February 25, 2012, 02:24:13 AM
Hi Dan, I see what you mean. I thought I maybe could use round pins in a radial config in place of the tapered bosses. Say 8 positions.
Bolt the pins to the "base" and let the tool plate latch to it.  ? ?
Whaddya think ? I'll try to draw it.
Russ
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 03:27:06 AM
Hi Russ, yes Hyd pressure is all that keeps it clamped, dont have any monitoring of the pressure but there are limits, or will be, that look at the clamped and unclamped positions so if though necessary these could be used to throw an error.
People have made their own couplings up but on a small machine the dowel would be good enough I think, as Dan says tapered pins are the way to go and you can readily get tapered dowel pins and tapered reamers to suit. If going that route it may be a good idea to actually have the pin move via air/hyd/motor so that the turret plate itself  doesnt need to unclamp.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 03:47:37 AM
BTW curvics are very nice, they are ground with a convex on the edge of the teeth on one half and a concave on the other so as they wear in they get more accurate. Think Gleason are the ones that are big in them, they make the grinding machines to make them.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 06:40:17 AM
Russ heres some plans etc for a turret someone else did
http://www.dumpstercnc.com/projects/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=544
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-9J4KsXYwU&feature=related
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/967389-post12.html

Coupling wont be anywhere as accurate as the curvic and curvics seem to hold themselves together where this wont, but think it would still work well enough.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 25, 2012, 09:23:19 AM
Hood,

Nice turret. Wonder if he made the coupling as well.

Any good reason you'd want a curvic coupling dead accurate? Most probably you'll still need to adjust each tool's height so even if it weren't indexing accurately you'd still have all tools aligned in the end. Repeatability will still be there and I think that is what maters in the end.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 09:46:18 AM
I think he did make the coupling as its really a simple one, think there is a taper there on the edges but no convex/concave and teeth also at 90 degrees to the face rather than angled like a curvic.
Reason you would want accuracy is you really want the angle of the insert to be correct as well as just the height of the cutting edge, probably wouldnt make too much difference in the end but the more accurate things are to begin with the better your chance of having accuracy in your work.
 There is a guy I talk to from Iran that has made his own turret up and it seems its on a similar line to that one, he definitely made his own coupling up.
Hod
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 11:19:05 AM
Have the rear turret removed, have placed the new one on and measured how much I need to take off (I hope ;) ) have dismantled it and am now machining that amount off.
If I screw up the worst case is I need to cut the slots a bit wider and shim but I am hoping I dont have to, time will tell ;D
To give an idea of scale the live centre in the tailstock is a Morse 5 taper.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 25, 2012, 04:13:26 PM
Got the base machined to size, cut the keyway and fitted the keys and bored the holes for mounting and got it placed onto the lathe cross slide. It seems to be within 0.05mm on height which should be good enough but may be spot on once I tighten down the bolts and get the hydraulics hooked up and clamping properly.
I still have to make up brackets for the limit switches and make up pipes for the hydraulics and then should be able to test things out, hopefully will get that done tomorrow. Then I will have to make a cover for the turret, a guard ring to keep muck out of the curvic and also will need to finish off altering the ladder. I can use the ladder I have at the moment but it will just index 2 slots at a time until I get that sorted.
 Once all that is done then I will make up blocks for the drills/boring bars and drill them in place on the turret with a drill in the chuck, that way they will be spot on in line and height.
Oh also need to mount the coolant plunger and pipe up the coolant.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 26, 2012, 10:09:01 AM
Have the turret bolted down now and have the hydraulics hooked up and amazingly there are no leaks ;D
I put a 3ft long crowbar in behind the turret plate and tried as hard as I could to unseat it and couldnt even move it. Previously when I had done this on the front turret it had uncoupled. Its the same cylinder and shaft but I have replaced the "O" Rings in the cylinder so I can only assume they had been worn enough to have some leakage.
Well better go see about making up a bracket to mount the limits, once thats done I should be able to test it.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 27, 2012, 06:58:03 AM
Well its raining today so I have a good excuse not to be outside welding Alu so can get on with some of the turret :)

I now have the limits fitted and set correctly and have it indexing away. As mentioned earlier it only indexes to six positions at the moment as I have not altered the ladder, macro or wired the extra input, which is required,  to the drive yet.

Heres a vid of it working and so far its looking good :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRTfxuXf6yk&feature=youtu.be
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on February 27, 2012, 08:00:38 AM
Yes, good indeed, Hood :)

The clamping and unclamping is so quiet and smooth you can hardly believe it's so powerful.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 27, 2012, 12:18:08 PM
The Hydraulic pipes are just 6mm copper, so low volume and thus  the clamp/unclamp is not as severe as it would be with more volume.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Sam on February 27, 2012, 03:16:47 PM
Good job Hood. Indexes quicker than what I anticipated.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 27, 2012, 04:44:16 PM
I have it indexing at the same rate as the front turret did, I could go a lot faster if I wanted but no point in putting undue stress when it wont make that much difference. The setting in the drive is 1000rpm and accel/decel of 100 rps/s The motor itself is capable of 5000rpm and I could probably go well into the thousands on accel/decel.
 Just finished redoing the ladder, quite a bit of work so hopefully I got it right ;D
Good thing is if its not then can easily reload the previous one and rework this one although if it is wrong its likely just a small oversight and could edit in place.
 Still have the macro to change but that shouldnt take long so hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to load the ladder, load the new macro and connect the extra wire and have it indexing to all 12 slots instead of just the 6.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: GMB on February 27, 2012, 09:58:42 PM
I watched the vid on UTube.  Very nice Hood.  I also checked out you testing the Z axis on the Bridgeport vid.  Very sweet.  Which model Bridgeport do you have?  It has a hinged cover casting like mine.  When I first got the mill and opened the cover there were 5 mice living inside.  A good vacuum cleaner made it right in no time.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on February 28, 2012, 03:26:09 AM
Ha ha, poor wee mice.
Mine was originally a Boss 6.1 which is the UK version of a Boss 6.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 02, 2012, 01:38:37 PM
Finally got enough done to run the lathe, the cover is rough and I will have to make a better one before I can use the tailstock. I very rarely use that however so priority is to get the drill/boring bar holders made so I can do internal work. Happy with it so far, here is a quick vid of it making a small brass BSP fitting, dont have the parting tool mounted yet and also forgot to switch on the coolant right at the start. The solenoid valve seems to be sticking or maybe some muck caught in it as when the coolant pump is on the coolant flows at a low rate, it should only flow when the solenoid is opened.
Anyway heres the first part made with my home made turret :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfyQE5125M&list=UUNEcFI4fdD5kV938uchW3sg&index=1&feature=plcp
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Sam on March 02, 2012, 03:49:04 PM
Good job Hood. That lathe sure is quiet, compared to some I've ran. What type of coolant you use? Looks like some oil based similar to what I have used in the past. Was great stuff, until you need to change it out. Being so close to the waters edge, I don't suppose you have much of a problem getting rid of it. :D  :D Have you tried the vegetable based oil? Thought about getting a gallon just to try it out.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 02, 2012, 04:23:02 PM
Lathe is about 1985 vintage but came out a University and had done very little so was like new.
Yes its just an oil based soluble oil I use, never change it, no need as it never goes rancid with the nice climate we have :) Top up is all thats needed.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on March 04, 2012, 04:07:24 AM
Very well done, Hood! It's so much better than the original turret you had, which was stopping each station on its way.

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 04, 2012, 04:28:26 AM
Not just stopping each station, it could only rotate one way so if you were on tool 1 and wanted tool 6 it had to index round to 2 then 3 then 4.....to 6. This one takes the shortest path and goes direct :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: budman68 on March 04, 2012, 01:27:43 PM
Very nice, Hood, it just looks so smooth an efficient. Drooling here just watching..........  :D

Awesome work, my friend-
Dave
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 04, 2012, 02:56:15 PM
Thanks Dave,
happy with it so far, have been milling down my 25mm tooling to fit in and hope to get a few drill/bar holders made in the next few days then I can start getting some of the jobs done that I have lined up..

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 19, 2012, 06:05:29 PM
Got a few toolblocks made for drills and bars. The Drill holders have through coolant to the U Drills and for the boring bar holders I made up adjustable angle nozzles.
Vid on Youtube of me making a part I do every now and then is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MaX2t2x-GQ&feature=plcp&context=C48454f9VDvjVQa1PpcFPCNRIQiwK4b_A-7kIul7Mia3rOySk_6dQ%3D

Couple of pics of the holders with coolant are below.
 I have altered the cover to allow the  tailstock in properly now but its a bit messy so I will make a new one when time permits.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on March 20, 2012, 03:04:06 AM
Nice work, Hood. The adjustable nozzles are COOL! Is it just flat bottom bore with an O-ring? And I assume the bolt head holds it from falling out.

Hard to judge sizes and hence speeds on the video - looks like it's too slow on the Delrin? I machine Delrin with chip-break inserts at 0.15-0.2mm/rev.

Oh.. is it your cross slide or your work bench ;)

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 20, 2012, 03:59:47 AM
The holes are just drilled 8.5mm through and then where the ball sits is 11.5 for the 12mm ball. The  drill provides a taper like seat for the ball and no 'O' Ring is used. The screw is tightened to hold it in the desired position, so once adjusted the screw is just nipped up tight. Oh and its a countersunk head setscrew which hopefully gives a wee bit more contact are on the ball for securing position.

The feeds in the vid for delrin part are too slow thats for sure, roughing cuts were 0.25 and finishing 0.15 if I recall. The finishing tool is 0.2 rad so dont want to go much faster on that but the roughing I could have doubled at least. The threading also could be done in just a couple or three passes I suppose but I am in no big rush really. The code was written originally for stainless as that was what it was originally made from so threading was about right for it.
On the manual lathe I regulary tak very deep DOC in delrin, usiually 10mm or more per pass but I tend to be more conservative with the CNC, not sure why, probably just because it gets on with things whilst I do other things so there is no real rush.

Ah yes, it was my workbench whilst doing this, its all cleaned up now though and the Conect lathe, Student lathe and Bridgeport mill are now my workbench ;D

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 20, 2012, 04:12:41 AM
Next project for the lathe is to fit a hydraulic chuck, the lathe originally had one but it was closed centre so no use to me. I picked up a nice 250mm dia Gamet chuck a few years ago for £50, it was like new. I have been waiting for a hollow centre hydraulic cylinder to come along at the right price and on Sunday I got a brand new MMK one for £100 :-)
 I also plan to make a part catcher, at the moment I just have some stainless mesh fitted between the ways but obviously it catches all the swarf as well as the part so its not ideal, it will be simple enough to just make up a catcher underneath the  bed which moves out with hydraulic cylinder just prior to the part being fully parted off.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on March 20, 2012, 04:16:26 AM
Thanks for the details, Hood. So the screw actually tightens the ball against the taper and so an O-ring is not needed. Slick.

0.25mm/rev doesn't sound that slow :)

I'll have to consider that... must be lathes serve as very good work benches :D

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on March 20, 2012, 04:26:07 AM
0.25 to 0.35 is what I normally use for roughing cuts, in stainless I tend to stick to the 0.25, depends on the dia of material and tip rad really. I have plenty of power in both spindle and axis so I could probably take a larger DOC most of the time but as said why bother as I am not doing production so time is not really a problem, in fact its sometimes the reverse as if the parts are made too quick it just means I have to leave what I am doing to reload. Most of my work is one offs and only occasionally I do short runs but even then 10 parts would be a high number ;D.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on April 07, 2012, 12:54:22 PM
Got the chucking cylinder mounted today. Had the original coupling that fits on to the back of the spindle but had to make an adapter to fit between that and the cylinder. I got a piece of 210mm dia x 40mm thick EN8 from my friend and got that machined last weekend. I have the cylider piped up and its working fine when I toggle the relays manually. I got a B210 Kitigawa chuck from eBay last week so once that arrives I can make an adapter to get that fitted to the spindle then I can get some seamless tube to make up the drawtube.
The lathe only has 72mm up the spindle and the thread in the chuck and also cylinder are 85mm so I will have to make up screwed adapters for either end as well.
 I also have to alter the ladder in the PLC but that wont take long so the hold up now is waiting for the chuck and getting the drawtube made, hopefully it will all be running fine in a couple of weeks.

Pic is a bit crap I am afraid as I forgot the camera so had to use the phone.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 17, 2012, 05:28:37 AM
Well after UPS losing the last chuck I bought the chucking cylinder has been doing nothing but spinning for the last 3 months. I however have just taken delivery of a nice new Pratt Burnerd 250mm Dia power chuck, complete with hard jaws. soft jaws and it even fits right on to my C8 bayonet fitting spindle nose :)

Hope to get a tube made up soon so I can start using it.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 22, 2012, 11:56:06 AM
Tried the chuck on today so that I could measure for the drawtube length. The chuck looks small for some reason, think it must just be the shape of it as in the second pic you can see the normal shaped chuck below it which shows they are the same size, they are both 250mm Dia chucks.

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 24, 2012, 01:53:51 PM
This is turning into a nightmare for me ;D
I have been trying for 3 days to find some seamless tube to make the draw tube but I am getting no where fast. I did manage to get one place that quoted me £150 for 1m of 70mm OD x 3.2mm wall but the spec of the material was different from their website. I have asked what the yield strength of the quoted material is and as yet no reply :(
 Fingers crossed I can get something soon, just cant believe how hard it is to get something like this. Plenty of places have the ideal size advertised online but when you enquire they dont have anything near it. The ideal for me would be 73mm OD with 4mm wall, I could then turn the end down to 72 and thread it for the chuck then turn the rest down to 70 or 71 to pass through the spindle and make up an adapter for the cylinder end. 2½ inch  NB pipe is the right OD but has just over 5mm wall but even trying to get a bit of that is proving difficult, if I bought 6M random length it would be easier but if 1M is £150 I dont fancy having to buy 6M ;D

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on July 24, 2012, 01:55:13 PM
schedule 80 tube should be available.
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 24, 2012, 01:59:27 PM
Thats too heavy walled Wayne,that is if you are referring to Nominal Bore, 2½"  Sch40 is 5.16 wall
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 26, 2012, 05:46:58 PM
Well just like buses some suitable pipe came along in twos :D
A friend managed to source some 2.5 Inch NB Sch 40, I had to buy 2.65m but as it was only £55 for that I wasnt worried so told him to get it. A few hours later I got an email from a company I had emailed a few days earlier and they were offering the same tube but in the 1m length I requested and it was only £20 so more or less the same as the other place. I had already said to get the 2.65m so thats what I will be getting but its a big difference from the original price I had at £150/m for smaller dia and wall thickness tube :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: fdos on July 26, 2012, 05:50:38 PM
Sure it will be fine.    Just be careful setting your pressure!   


I need to start thinking of making a new tool turret for the Hardinge.   Got some material (EN24T) in to make the Curvic couplings, so thats a start!
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on July 26, 2012, 05:57:12 PM
The Sch40 will definitely be fine as I worked out the tube area left after the thread depth and the Yield strength exceeds the cylinders draw tube pull by over 4x so no worries there :)

I was lucky enough to get a brand new  coupling from Mark so thats one thing I didnt have to do :)

Hood

Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 18, 2012, 02:27:45 PM
Got the drawtube machined today. The OD of the pipe was just over 73mm and I needed to turn down the first 80mm to 72mm Dia and thread 1.5 pitch, the other 820mm was turned down to 70mm to give clearance through the spindle bore (71.7mm) and the last 120mm of it was threaded, again with a 1.5mm pitch. I still need to make an adapter for the cylinder end and a locking nut for the chuck end but hopefully will get that done sometime this week.
Just had the phone so pics are crap as the lens is all scratched but heres a couple of pics, one of it on top of the wee conect lathe I am doing and the other with it screwed into the chuck. Really looking forward to getting the chuck fitted and I will again be able to take some heavy feeds.
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 30, 2012, 07:00:29 AM
Got the adapter made for the chucking cylinder, got the draw-tube fitted and chuck fitted then tested it out by working the hydraulic solenoids from the manual actuation on their ends and it worked fine.
 I only had 3 outputs spare on the PLC and they were wired up as sourcing outputs and as usual the relays for the cylinders were needing sinking inputs. Made up a wee relay board so I could then work the cylinder relays from the PLC, fitted and wired that and then altered the ladder in the PLC. I used two buttons I had on the panel that were for the front turret I used to have (one for indexing it and the other for the coolant). I have the buttons interlocked in the PLC with the spindle enable signal so I cant work the chuck unless the spindle is disabled.
 I took a couple of test cuts to see how things were performing and was very happy, took a 5mm DOC off of 70mm Dia EN8 at 0.35mm/rev and it cut beautifully. If I had attempted even 2mm DOC at 0.25mm/rev then the material would have been pushed into the manual chuck no such issues with this chuck :).

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 30, 2012, 10:30:27 AM
Been using the lathe for making some 120mm dia nylon rollers for hanging blocks for fishing boats. Normally they are a real PITA as the nylon gets wrapped round things and if not careful the part can be pulled out of the spindle in the manual chuck. You tighten the manual chuck and its tight but with all the forces acting on the part the nylon gets compressed a bit and the part then becomes loose in the chuck so can easily get pulled out with the nylon streamers wrapping around it. With the Hydraulic chuck the  pressure is much greater for a start but if the nylon compresses then the jaws grip more.
Very happy today :)

Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on August 30, 2012, 11:43:35 AM
Looks you're having great time, Hood :) Only drawback is setting up the jaws for each diameter is a PITA on a hydraulic chuck :(

Dan
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 30, 2012, 01:24:31 PM
Its not that bad Dan, 6 cap screws to loosen approx 1/2 to 1 turn, slide to where you want then tighten them. Certainly easier on a manual if the dia difference is smallish but it takes quite a bit of winding on a 250mm dia chuck if you are going small to large or vice versa and even more if changing external/internal jaws, mix in some swarf to the manual chucks scroll and its a real PITA. The Hyd chuck beats it hands down for both these then you have the big advantage of a button press to open and another to close :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: JHChoppers on August 30, 2012, 03:19:05 PM
Looks great Hood.  As always I enjoy your post!
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on August 30, 2012, 03:31:27 PM
Thanks J and likewise, the Dyna is coming along nicely :)
Hood
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Hood on January 10, 2014, 02:00:14 PM
Got another chuck on eBay for a decent price the last day. It is a 250mm dia Forkardt FNC chuck. The Pratt Burnerd I have on is an excellent chuck but the Forkardt has a very nice feature in that you can slide the jaws or remove them totally just by 1/4 turn with a screwdriver. The video below shows how it works, its not the best as it was awkward to hold the camera and work the jaw at the same time but hopefully you will see how easy it is.
 The good thing also is this chuck has the same dia register and bolt hole spacing as the pratt Burnerd so the only thing I will have to do is machine up an adapter for it to thread onto my drawtube.
Some pics below.
Hood

http://youtu.be/iZ4Qfom8enc
Title: Re: Just got a lathe to retrofit
Post by: Dan13 on January 10, 2014, 02:06:32 PM
This is a very nice feature!

Dan