Messages

81

General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course

« on: February 04, 2013, 10:14:35 AM »

If you decide to go with the BT30 be careful with your fork design. I made mine based off of Lyndex un balanced tools. When I purchased my tools from Mari they have balance holes in the fork groove. I had to rework the fork tips to slide over the balance drill points.

Derek

82

General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course

« on: February 04, 2013, 07:08:45 AM »

The only time I rotate my head is to set the tram. There have been times when I wish it was fixed.

83

General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course

« on: February 04, 2013, 07:03:41 AM »

On My ATC the carousel is the C axis. I jog the axis and load the tools by hand and then do  MDI sending the C to 0 which is tool 1. I started doing it this way until I could do a custom screen set but found it was easy to do so I'll probably continue to use this method.

I don't have a tool setter on the mill. I have one on the router and it's quite accurate. On the mill it's no big deal for me to touch off manually in one way or another so I'll probably stick with that. The BT30 seems to have good repeatability so I don't envision me ever touching off after every tool change.

Just finished a run of 380 pieces. More than 400 tool changes over a 6 day period without a single miss. Without a doubt the ATC has been some of the best time and money I've spent on the mill since the original conversion. The newness has worn off and I don't even pay any attention to it anymore. It just chugs along making me money!

Derek

84

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time to show off my ATC

« on: December 30, 2012, 12:06:16 PM »

That small cylinder next to the aluminum rod in the picture above is it.

85

General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course

« on: December 30, 2012, 07:17:24 AM »

Looking good Steve.
I'm not having any of the issues that you are with the Bellevilles but I suspect that it's because mine are external. The coil spring idea In my opinion is the best way to go. As soon as I get the last bits of my tool changer done I'm going to be redoing the drawbar with the coil spring. I see you used a die spring instead of the valve spring.

I have a question for you about Pull stud tools. Is the gripper supposed to provide lateral support as well as upward pressure or is the taper supposed to take care of that?

Derek

86

General Mach Discussion / Re: BT30 spindle from scratch - with power drawbar and ATC of course

« on: December 29, 2012, 07:15:21 PM »

Nice Ray!
But with the cover on you cant see the magic!

87

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time to show off my ATC

« on: December 29, 2012, 02:34:23 PM »

What type of pull stud do you use with ball gripper? 45deg?
I'm using 45 deg from ctc toolz and have clear marks with less force than you.. Hmm

I'm using a 45 degree. I mostly use the ones from Mari tool

88

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time to show off my ATC

« on: December 29, 2012, 02:19:52 PM »

Looks like 14.2mm then opens up to 17.5mm to accept the shank of the nt30 (17.00mm)

Are you guys running those sort of revs with the vari speed heads or pullies?  I have turned up my inverter 10hertz above standard and to be honest thd vari head doesn't sound like it enjoys it to much so turned if back down.

I don't think 14mm is a large enough diameter. The pull stud head is 11mm. It may be possible though. If you give me some complete dimensions I'll plug that into my model and see how it looks.

I'm using a step pulley.

Derek

89

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time to show off my ATC

« on: December 29, 2012, 02:10:22 PM »

Regarding the drawbar and gripper, did you make it yourself and do you have picture of it? What ballsize do you use?
I have build a 6x5mm ball gripper but I get dents on the pullstud (using 45deg) and don´t know if this is normal since it could affect runout I assume.
I´m using about 800pounds of force from bellevilles springs.

I also have a VFD with 2 pole 3-phase engine and planing to use index signal to orient the BT30 holder. Can you provide more detail about the shot pin, picture of it would be super?

Nothing special on the gripper. Just the same 4 ball that everyone else has done. I'm using .187" balls and about 1000 lbs of pull. I just checked my pull studs and I have no signs of wear.

My mill has a step pulley. I'm using a small pancake cylinder. It was double acting so I took it apart and added a return spring. No chance of it coming down unless it's told to. The rod came drilled and tapped for an 8/32 bolt. I cut the head off of the softest screw I could find and screwed it in the cylinder rod. That way it MAY shear off if there is a problem.

90

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time to show off my ATC

« on: December 29, 2012, 01:30:52 PM »

I've had a few requests for the M6 Macro.