Messages

1641

General Mach Discussion / Re: Keen to learn mild steel with my CNC router!!

« on: May 27, 2016, 05:17:47 AM »

Most likely looking at carbide two and four flute cutters, limited to <10mm dia.

Give us an idea of what sort of size tool and ill have a play with some figures.

1642

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 27, 2016, 05:13:25 AM »

Lets re-visit this nugget while i'm planning wiring stuff...

I want/need two spindles here - the main mill quill and a bolt on high speed one - this will be clamped to the main mill quill for starters. Yes it will reduce the Z travel a bit but lets see how it plays before version 2. The aux spindle will only be doing thin stuff and engraving etc so smaller Z travel is probably not an issue.

Obviously when i clamp on the aux spindle it will stop the main Z home functioning so i need two Z homes, maybe two Z++ limits as well?

Ideas -
Two Mach profiles will work - The speed setup will be different for each motor, as will offsets probably and other stuff.
A switch for spindle 1 / spindle 2 - changes limits, motor control, vfd power, vfd control lines etc.?

Will only ever use one spindle or the other. I can definitely see two profiles being needed.

Looking for ways to switch all the lines needed -

Vfd supplies
vfd control and fault lines
vfd speed lines
limit switches for Z axis in two positions
homing for z axis in two positions

probably others....

The programming for the CSMIO plugin I hope will be specific to each profile?

This is a big part of the job - I need two spindles. Control is the issue i think - switching the system from one to the other. No problem doing a cold-start for the changeover - it's a boot-up decision.

Maybe choosing the Mach profile can control the spindle choice?

1643

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 27, 2016, 05:06:50 AM »

Explain please, my terminology....

Controller - CSMIO
Drive - the servo amplifier units
Motor - the servo motor itself

1644

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 27, 2016, 04:15:35 AM »

Sketching out my wiring diagram,

Safety:-

A - Use the CSMIO HV O/p to control power to the drives - this drops out when Mach goes into reset
B - Have a totally separate safety circuit with main reset button which drops out power to the drives - this circuit would control Machs' E-Stop system

A would have the drives killed every time Mach went into reset - limits etc
B would only kill the drives if an E-Stop button was pressed - a genuine E-Stop situation

1645

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 27, 2016, 02:11:43 AM »

Ok, thanks, 6A B type should do it then.

1646

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 26, 2016, 04:58:28 PM »

Can't see a max current listed, hence the question

1647

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 26, 2016, 02:31:58 PM »

Will have a play tomorrow, thanks

Couple of build q's...

What size fuse should i use for servo with a 750w motor ?

The PC - strip and build into the operator panel? strip and build into control cabinet? Leave as-is and stick it somewhere

Looks like the main cab will have to be cut and fabricated as it needs to be pretty big to fit all the bits in and big cabs cost ££££. Also sketching up ideas for the operator panel, probably suspended from the side of the main body somewhere so i still have the ability to use both ends of the ram if needed.

1648

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 26, 2016, 02:10:50 PM »

Hi Hood,

I'm not too sure re the tuning - i mailed the seller who asked the supplier and the reply was that it was set by entering the motor code. There may be parameters but thats way beyond me.

yeah i think it will be fine, probably just didn't have enough coffee that day

The wiring will only be a foot or so long and seems to work ok on the bench at 5' long so will give it a go - looks neater with moulded plugs too.

The error may also be because of running flat out with no load on the motor maybe?

1649

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 26, 2016, 10:53:26 AM »

Ok, found it - it seems it does not like running right at the limit of max speed - if kept just below max it all works perfect.

If I set the max at 7500 and command a feed at 7500 it faults, if I set 7400 it works perfectly in all modes.

Wont get that high in real life as the mill bed is not really big enough.

1650

General Mach Discussion / Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?

« on: May 26, 2016, 09:26:34 AM »

Ok, where did I slip up...

Previously had the motor tuning set as book, 2000 steps per (10,000 / 5mm pitch)

When I fit this on the machine it will be at 2:1 ratio so i set steps per to 4000 (10,000 * 2 / 5mm pitch) and set velocity to 7500 (3000rpm / 2 * 5mm pitch) acceleration is at 750mm/s/s

Works ok in jog mode, works ok in code mode at speeds up to 7500mm/min

If i do a "Goto zero" it runs for a while then stops with ePid fault.

It also allows me to set feed higher than it can handle and then goes into ePid fault.

Is there a reason here?