Messages

51

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

« on: April 21, 2010, 04:49:22 PM »

elpablito, please elaborate.

I have Rexroth Star linear guides for this project. 25's for the y axis and 20's for the x axis. They should be large enough. The one thing I did not do that I will be doing with this build is having a machine shop surface all the areas the guides will be mounted to. One of the problems I have with my first build is the gantry binds because the linear rails are not perfectly aligned.



Some more specs:
travels: x 59", y 33", z about 15"
3/4" precision acme screw 2 turns per inch direct driven 1:1 by 1100w ac servos
Full flood coolant system
BT30 spindle rated 15000rpm (I know it will be grossly underpowered, but I want to try driving the spindle with a 1kw Automation direct servo through Machs spindle control)

52

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

« on: April 20, 2010, 10:58:50 PM »

Several years ago I built my first cnc router. It started as a plasma machine and evolved into a plasma/router/light duty mill. It never really was built to mill metals.

So, I decided it was time to build a new machine. This one will be much heavier then the first one. Hopefully it will mill aluminium and steel without too many problems.

The drive system will be AC servos run through a 1856 Galil card and Mach3. As far as speed goes, the goal is 600+ IPM on rapids.

Pictured is the gantry. 6x8" steel tubing, 1/2" thick wall, 70" long. Weighs about 300# with the flat bars welded on. Add the z axis and a spindle and the "mass in motion" will be over 500#!!

more to come...

53

Galil / Galil parameters thru Mach

« on: March 25, 2010, 10:31:16 PM »

Hello everyone.

First off - this is my first post so... Hello everyone. Been using Mach for a home built router for the last few years. The router is powered with steppers and it works ok. But as many of you know, this cnc thing can be very addictive! So, I picked up a few items on ebay. Got a Galil card and some ac servos. I am going to use the ac servos on a home built gantry style mill I just started working on today. (I'll start a build thread soon for those interested)

So, my question...

I would like to use the same computer with the Galil card installed in it on a few different cnc machines. Eventually I will have a Mill, Plasma table and small Lathe. Each machine will require different PID tuning for it's motors. These settings are set on the Galil card. Since I don't see anywhere in Mach that I can pre-program parameters for the Galil card does that mean when I switch machines I will have to make changes thru Smarterm before I run in Mach?

Also, Is there anyway to parse info from the Galil card thru Mach? I would like to use the TE (Tell Error) function to monitor any errors in position while Mach is running - like a DRO that shows the position error from the Galil card.

Thanks
Rob