Mach3 and SmoothStepper driving my old Wells Index at 100IPM

[boilerbots]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/tTDpoNrs7rI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/tTDpoNrs7rI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;border=1</a>

This is a very old Wells Index mill that I reworked the electronics. It has the original steppers, Gecko drives running at 76V, and a SmoothStepper. I am using Mach3 right now to interpret the G-code. This short clip is that last little bit of roughing and then a quick finish pass at my max speed of 100IPM. I am cutting with a 0.625 dia Cobalt 3 flut end mill and this let me tell you it can slice this aluminum like butter. I tool path is setup to limit peak spindle horse power to about 1.3Hp, I have a 3Hp spindle but I don't like to push it.

Curt

[Chaoticone]

Good for you Curt, looking good. Thats much easier than cranking a bunch of handels. 

Brett

[bret4]

I know its been a long time sense you posted about your index mill. Still I would like to ask if you have and pictures of the machine showing how you mounted the motors on it. Also wonder what kind of screws you are using. I have a old index of around the 1940s vintage that I may want to convert to cnc one day.

Bret

[boilerbots]

My  mill is from the early 80s and was CNC from the factory. The pieces are cast and would be difficult to reproduce but if you want pictures I can post a few, I think I put somein the image section of the forum.

Let me know.