Messages

41

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Testing new KX1-PC with Chinese version control system

« on: July 02, 2007, 04:52:41 AM »

Sparkling,
Is that the DOS based controller that I saw on Red Bull's stand at the China export show recently.

If not can you share what operating system it runs on DOS, Linux or Windows ?

Thanks

John S.

42

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Testing new KX1-PC with Chinese version control system

« on: July 02, 2007, 03:35:48 AM »

Sparkling,

Hi, Nice layout of the machine.
I like the way you have copied the free design service from Arc and myself 



Does this one have angular contact bearings inside ?

John S.

43

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Gcode line number utility??

« on: July 01, 2007, 08:16:48 AM »

Discriminator from http://www.cncedit.com
Will do that plus a lot more.
It's also a good back plotter so you can see the code it's cutting.

The download is free and un-crippled but lacks a couple of features that the paid version has but it doesn't cripple the program for normal work.

Well worth a look and it's saved my bacon on a couple of jobs.

John S.

44

Tangent Corner / Re: cutting threads?!

« on: June 24, 2007, 06:37:06 PM »

Just get a tap of the right pitch and grind all the flutes off except one.
far cheaper and does the same job.

John S.

45

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need some engraving motor advice

« on: June 23, 2007, 03:01:42 PM »

Scott,
Have a look at the Kress milling spindles.
They are like a Dremel on steroids, I have some of the old fixed speed ones, 28,000 rpm and to be honest they are noisy but not as noisy as a router.
Recently bought one of the new 800W models which goes from 10,000 to 30,000 in 6 thumb wheel stages and in 1,2 or 3 they are very quiet.
They come with an 8mm collet as standard so it gives an idea on the build.
They also do a 1050 W model.

John S.

46

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Our SR-X3 CNC MILL in the China Machineries Exhibit in Manila

« on: June 21, 2007, 07:37:24 AM »

FPV_GTp,

Actually, I am not selling this SR-X3 CNC MILL outside of the Philippines at this point and that is why this is posted under the "Show N' Tell".

Allow me to explain the situation:
1) The basic unit is a Sieg cnc-ready mill called KX3-NU and it is basically an X3 mill retooled for cnc. It is not a retrofit at all. In other words, the Sieg factory installed all the ball screws/nuts, stepper motors and mounts (but not including the stepper drivers), one-shot lubrication line/pump, limit switches, the spindle with 1:10 taper with collets, spindle 1000W DC motor with variable speed controller that accepts 0-10VDC analog input, and the wiring/connectors ready for connection to the cnc controller system to be provided/used by the end-users.
2) I know you have seen variance of this cnc retrofit done by another company in China but this is entirely a different story.
3) In other words, when an end-user buy the KX3-NU, all he has to do is make his own controller system which will be composed of stepper drivers, breakout boards, spindle board to change PWM steps & directions ttl pulses to analog 0-10Vdc, relays, wirings, computer, Mach3 software controller and he is ready to go.
4) As to prices, since we are not equipped or prepared at this point to do re-export, no prices will be posted. However, just for indication, when this product is officially launched by Sieg in the rest of the world, I believe it will be very competitive against the SuperX3 cnc-retrofit you are presently seeing in the market.
5) My intention here is simply to show what this SR-X3 based on the Sieg KX3-NU is all about. And will welcome any request for additional info so that you will have a better idea of the machine.
6) Also, as part of our own on-going test of this machine, we will welcome your sending us a GCode file for actual milling test.

Best regards,
WT

Very nice Weedy, really impressive.
Here's a file for you to play with.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stevenson.engineers/lsteve/files/sieg.tap

47

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Re: Wizard for clockmakers.

« on: May 15, 2007, 01:21:32 AM »

No, what they class as crossing out is removing the bulk of the wheel in a horizontal plane to create spokes.
Here's an example.



Besides all the usual tools, feeds and speeds etc a simple wizard will need ID, OD, number of spokes, thickness and radius of the corners.
Possibly a method of selecting just the inner corners as the outer is usually determined by the cutter diameter.

On this page is a free piece of software called Master CNC Utilities that can do this and other useful wizards.
It writs direct to the PP and doesn't produce usable code that can be transferred but the "Cut spoked wheels " is something that a lot of model engineers want. Not just restriced to clock wheels but also useful for loco wheels.

http://www.colinusher.info/Software/

48

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Wizard for clockmakers.

« on: May 14, 2007, 05:01:13 PM »

At a recent show we had a Sieg X3 on show running Mach 3 and it attracted a lot of interest in the various applications it can do, especially the wizards.
One question we were asked quite a few time was if there was a wizard for crossing out clock wheels ?

Basically this is one operation carried out by clock makers all over to turn a plate wheel into a spoked wheel.
I'm afraid I don't know a lot more but can contact some clock makers if someone wishes to have a go at doing the wizard ?

John S.

49

Tangent Corner / Re: Harrogate,UK Model Engineering Exhibition May 2007

« on: May 14, 2007, 04:56:36 AM »

Thanks for the pic's Graham.
I was there at the ArcEuro stand with the X3 mill in the pictures.
It was attracting a lot of interest. Because of lack of guarding [ to be addressed later ] and the crap it throws off we weren't allowed to cut metal.
So during the day we kept swapping jobs over are air cut above them. The helical gear was one and we also had a herringbone gear that attracted a lot of interest.
Mach 3 was also attracting a lot of interest and we picked up three conversion jobs to swop from DeskCNC to Mach 3.

All in all a good show but very busy. The organisers said on Sunday that 24,000 people attended and 12,000 of those were on Friday.

John S.

50

Mach Screens / Re: Any MOUSELESS screens out there?

« on: May 05, 2007, 08:40:26 AM »

Wayne,
Getting round this at the moment by using a touch screen off Ebay with no problems.
Only plug the mouse in when using other programs that's on the machine PC.

Need to get a better 4 axis touch screen but the standard one we have slightly modified to give bigger buttons works OK.
So far not seen any screen's I like for 4 axis, most are too arty farty and certainly not thought up by anyone who has to employ operators.
Even the best ones have missing controls on the main screen for just operator control.

Not really got into hot keys yet except for F5 for spindle and G for GoTo zero'(s)

John S.

Edit (oopps ) just read the bit about "without a touchscreen"