Messages

11

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 2nd Build - Steel Tube, Gantry Style, Mill / Router

« on: April 22, 2011, 10:34:27 PM »

Managed to get some work done on the spindle. Fabbed up a housing for the BT30 Kitamura spindle cartridge. Was concerned about the weight of the assembly, maybe around 80-90lbs for the spindle & housing plus 20lbs for the motor. Z axis seemed to lift it ok though. May add a gas spring to the Z axis just to alleviate some of the weight.

So, the plan is to use 1:1 on the belt drive. Figuring the motor running on a vfd is good for about 1000-7000rpm. What do you guys think? Sound like a good rpm range? My expected use will be milling, boring and tapping aluminum and occasionally milling some steel. Cutter sizes typically from .125" to 1.00" and ,if the rigidity allows, a small (2.5"?) face mill. Maybe someone could chime in on my plan.

Next on the list is mounting the motor, fabbing a mount for the hydraulic cylinder and making a air over hyd booster. Also have to setup a spindle oiler. What is the correct oil to use for a air lubricated spindle? Mobil Velocite

12

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 2nd Build - Steel Tube, Gantry Style, Mill / Router

« on: April 10, 2011, 10:06:22 PM »

Pic of the cut, showing surface finish.

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Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 2nd Build - Steel Tube, Gantry Style, Mill / Router

« on: April 10, 2011, 09:38:43 PM »

Well, it's starting to get warmer outside and so I have been working on the cnc machine a bit more. Sure wish I had heat in the barn this past winter. could have got a lot more stuff done!

Anyway, I finished the Z axis. Mounted the cable chains for X, Y and Z. All I need to do now is finish the home and limit switches for X and Y and wire up a output to turn the spindle on/off. Also I would like to setup a mist coolant system, I am very impressed with the mist coolant I put on the old machine! It works great and it was free (made it from a soda bottle, an old air soleniod, a regulator, and some clear tubing). I'll try to get a few pics posted in a day or two.


Here is a video of a test cut run on the new machine. Cutting 6061 aluminum at 50 IPM and then 120IPM   Keep in mind the majority of the chatter comes from the Porter Cable router and a dull end mill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a974jExoLak

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma fires and makes Estop

« on: February 26, 2011, 05:56:50 PM »

Glad to hear you got it working. Thanks for the update.

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma fires and makes Estop

« on: February 20, 2011, 09:49:47 PM »

That was what I was saying . Might not be the cause but if all other options fail just maybe. It is like was just said the last answer a lot of things are made in china and I dont think they are conserned about interferance. 

Well, not to hijack the thread, but in my situation I'm running a Miller spectrum 3080 (an older model of their current model Spectrum 875) and it worked fine for several years. Then all of a sudden without any changes to either the plasma or the cnc table or the computer, cabling, etc it just started interfering with the computer. I'm not sure about the specifics of the CandCNC thc so I can't really help the original poster much. If it works occasionally then I would work in the direction of interference in the cabling. Does the THC have the capability to Estop MACH?

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma fires and makes Estop

« on: February 19, 2011, 07:19:31 PM »

Also, are your cables (thc, motors, parallel cable) all shielded and well grounded?  i wonder if it would help to shield the torch cable? Just a few thoughts...

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma fires and makes Estop

« on: February 19, 2011, 07:13:25 PM »

No, I'm not using CandCNC. No torch height control.

Also noticed my plasma cutter will interfere with the computer just by being near it. It's not even necessary to have a connection to the cnc table, although it is noticeably worse when it is connected.

Maybe some ferrite cores on the THC cables will help you?

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma fires and makes Estop

« on: February 18, 2011, 09:41:31 PM »

Wow, I wish I could help you, I have been having the same problem with the plasma cutter on my cnc! I get random windows popping up on the computer and an instantaneous Estop when the torch lights. It has to be noise from the torch. I spoke to a Miller rep and he suggested contacting someone at Miller that may know what is causing this as it could be an internal problem in the plasma cutter. Strange because it worked perfectly fine for years then all of a sudden it won't work right anymore.

Anyway, good luck, I'm gonna follow this thread, interested to see what you find out.

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis brake - how to get Mach to control it???

« on: January 26, 2011, 05:07:28 PM »

I have a similar setup using a kollmorgen ac servo drive and the dspmc controller.
When setup this way the brake releases before the drive is fully "engaged" and the drifting axis causes a following error  before it can "catch" the axis.

You may need to write a brain that applies a time delay to allow the drive to be fully ready when the enable turns the brake off.

On my drive it has an output that says the drive is ready so I am going to try and use that if possible to switch off the Z brake. My brake is built into the moto so YMMV.


Mike

Yeh, I was wondering if I would have a problem with holding position if the axis had to cycle through a motor off / brake on situation. I guess I could just re-home the axis before continuing, although I would prefer not to have to think about that.

20

General Mach Discussion / Z axis brake - how to get Mach to control it???

« on: January 24, 2011, 06:10:36 PM »

So, I find myself needing to install a brake on the Z axis to stop it from dropping when motor power is off. I do not have a brake built into the motor, so I will build a spring loaded pneumatic actuator to press on the motor coupling. This will work just like a normal servo brake, holding the motor when power is released and releasing the motor when power is applied (via pneumatic cylinder)

I'm just not sure how to implement this electrically speaking? I am using a Galil Controller. Should I let the Galil controller handle the signal or let Mach handle the signal? Do I need a Brain or VB code or something to de-actuate the brake during run?

Appreciate any help...