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Author Topic: Denford Cyclone retrofit  (Read 25850 times)

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Offline Hood

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #40 on: December 19, 2013, 07:04:06 PM »
Dolphin Lathe was pretty good but BobCAD is definitely way ahead of it. There have been big changes in BobCAD in the last few versions and Lathe actually got a big update in V26 which was nice but still a few things not quite right. More annoyances than problems though.
Hood

Offline mc

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #41 on: March 02, 2014, 02:13:52 PM »
Progress.


Covers on and blocks ready for boring by mc_mtb, on Flickr

I had a bit of an extended run on needing to make bits, so had been suffering from a chicken and egg situation, in that the little lathe takes too much time/manual input to make the bits, so I've not had time to get this up and running, and then when I have had time, things have stalled due to needing some stupid part I should of ordered weeks ago.
The tool holders have now been milled to the correct height, and the other faces tidied up to look a bit neater. Took a couple weeks to get hold of suitable length bolts, as they need to be a specific length, and the supplier sent them to the wrong address.

I was going to risk just relying on the grub screws to hold the X servo pulley in place, however after I realised just how much effort it takes to get all the slideway covers off/on, and that I really want to minimise knocking any of the tooling of line by anything slipping, I ordered up a suitable broach set, and took the pulley back of.
Everything is now back on how it should be.
I'll take the Z servo pulley of and broach it at some point, but I'm in no rush as it's far easier to get into and not as critical if it does slip.

I've got a dedicated computer setup now, so have been working on the final coding, during which I discovered an issue with the PLC ladder causing the toolchanger to go into an endless spin if an invalid position was requested. That's now sorted, so that it shouldn't do anything if an invalid position is requested, and if it does somehow go into an endless spin, it should stop after 10 seconds (I could probably reduce this, as the maximum change time should be sub 3 seconds).
Thanks to Hood, I've also added some extra lines to the tool change macro so any program should halt with a warning message if an invalid position is requested during a program.

Main things I have left to do are bore the tool holders, and properly tune the servos. I done a quick tune earlier, and have the X-axis holding sub 50 pulses, and the z about 14 pulses, but I think X should be better.

I also need to make a proper stand, but that won't stop it working!

Offline Hood

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #42 on: March 02, 2014, 03:24:39 PM »
Good to see the previous owner drew you some info on axis direction ;D

Looking good, you will love the turret.

Hood

Offline mc

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #43 on: March 05, 2014, 06:34:11 PM »
X axis following error is now sub 10 counts.
After not getting much improvement in Speed mode, I tried Torque mode, but despite trying all sorts of PID values, the results were even worse. So swapped it back to Speed mode, and with a bit filtering and further PID adjusting, managed to get a reasonably good result. 10 counts works out at 0.0025mm of error, so I'm pretty happy with that.

I also had an issue with the spindle VFD, in that it started tripping the RCD while I was in the middle of changing settings in the servo drive. I just turned it off so I could tune the servo. I took the cover of to check for anything obvious, but other than lots of dust it all visually looked good, so gave it a blow out and it's working again. I'm hoping it was just the dust and a bit dampness causing the problem.

Just got the Z-axis to tune, and then I might get to cut some metal with it.

Offline mc

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #44 on: March 14, 2014, 03:27:16 PM »
Last weekend I managed to get everything pretty well tuned, got the tool holders bolted on, and managed to get them drilled out to 20mm before the spindle ran out of torque, beforing swapping to the boring head.
I got to around 24mm before I had to sharpen the boring, then proceded to rezero things, and command a tool change without moving the Z-axis back to clear the tool holders. All I'll say is the tool changer won, and I now have another paperweight  :-\

Being the last boring bar long enough to get full depth through the holders, I ordered some new ones, however they've still not shown up.
I needed 1/2", and given 99% of the time now I only use insert tooling, I found that Chronos do a 1/2" boring bar set that take inserts, so thought I may aswell give them a go.
However I should of known Chronos are still hopeless at sending things out in a timely manner, so I'm still waiting. I used to use them a few years ago, but got fedup with them taking four days to even bother sending the stuff out, even if I'd paid for express delivery, and it looks like they've managed to downgrade their dispatch times even further.
I'm a bit annoyed because finishing up the tool holders is all that's need to be able to get the lathe making parts.

I may just bite the bullet and order up a boring head that takes 12mm bars, as I've already got a couple 12mm insert bars lying around.

Offline Hood

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #45 on: March 15, 2014, 05:47:08 PM »
Never had that issues from Chronos, always been next day for me even with just standard post, then again not ordered too much from them, only maybe 4 or 5 times. RDG on the other hand...........

As long as the toolchanger won thats the main thing, having a draw could turn out expensive ;D

Hood

Offline mc

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #46 on: March 20, 2014, 07:48:16 PM »
The tool holders are finally bored!

I gave up waiting for Chronos (the excuses have started, and it was meant to be dispatched on Tuesday...), so ordered up a 12mm boring head from RDG which arrived next day, and got the toolholders bored inbetween keeping the Conect running today.
Just need to get them drilled and tapped for the lock screws now.

Then I can get some drills mounted, along with a boring bar and get some more ER collet holders machined up to mount all the drills I'll need.

I can't wait to get it up and running fully, and only have to deal with loading stock, instead of continually changing tools!

And yeah, I'm glad the tool changer won!
Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #47 on: March 20, 2014, 08:36:20 PM »
I have a few more of these Cyclones if anyone is interested
Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #48 on: March 20, 2014, 09:45:33 PM »
I have a few more of these Cyclones if anyone is interested

Where are you / they located ?

Thanks,
Russ
 :)

Offline mc

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Re: Denford Cyclone retrofit
« Reply #49 on: March 21, 2014, 05:55:31 AM »
Where are you / they located ?
Wales.

Angel tech, any 8 position turrets on them?
I'll live with my 6 position, but am curious to see an 8 position.