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General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course
« on: October 27, 2012, 05:53:12 PM »
I've been making progress on the ATC - albeit slowly, due to interruptions. The basic mechanism is proving quite reliable. I've let it run random toolchanges for hours on end, running hundreds of toolchanges along the way, and it has never once made a mistake. And that's running completely open loop! Next week, I hope to get the sensors mounted, so the control program will be able to confirm that each commanded motion has actually fully completed. With the sensor feedback, this thing should be pretty darned bullet-proof.
I have two other project I have to complete before I can actually put the ATC into service. First, I need to complete the new telescoping Y/Z way covers. The current ones are too wide, and prevent the ATC from going fully into its out-of-the-way park position. The second is finally installing a spindle sensor, as I need to be able to ensure the spindle has fully stopped before doing a toolchange. The sheet metal parts for the way covers are all cut and bent, so it's just a matter of about a days work to assemble them, and get them mounted on the machine.
In the meantime, I've started making the "final" ATC parts, to replace some of the existing ones, which were made specifically as disposable prototypes. I've re-made the pivot arm, and air cylinder attachments, and they came out beautiful. The remaining work on the ATC is to re-make a few of the minor parts, mount the "skirt", connect up the door operating cable, and mount the sensors. That will all take some time, but nothing really hard there. I expect when it's all done, I'll either powder coat the whole thing, or perhaps just polish the aluminum.
Regards,
Ray L.
I have two other project I have to complete before I can actually put the ATC into service. First, I need to complete the new telescoping Y/Z way covers. The current ones are too wide, and prevent the ATC from going fully into its out-of-the-way park position. The second is finally installing a spindle sensor, as I need to be able to ensure the spindle has fully stopped before doing a toolchange. The sheet metal parts for the way covers are all cut and bent, so it's just a matter of about a days work to assemble them, and get them mounted on the machine.
In the meantime, I've started making the "final" ATC parts, to replace some of the existing ones, which were made specifically as disposable prototypes. I've re-made the pivot arm, and air cylinder attachments, and they came out beautiful. The remaining work on the ATC is to re-make a few of the minor parts, mount the "skirt", connect up the door operating cable, and mount the sensors. That will all take some time, but nothing really hard there. I expect when it's all done, I'll either powder coat the whole thing, or perhaps just polish the aluminum.
Regards,
Ray L.