[jcposada]

I am getting to the point where investing in an ATC is starting to make sense. Anyone out there who has one and would consider selling it?

[smokediver576]

Might help to know where you are located......

[jcposada]

Seattle area

[jackieshen118]

I am getting to the point where investing in an ATC is starting to make sense. Anyone out there who has one and would consider selling it?

Hi There

This is Jackie from jinshengxing machinery ,China .

Would you like to consider to order a new one from China ,I can provide you a good price .

Think about it .

If you are interested ,contact with me at my email : [email protected] or my skype:jackieshen118.

[mrmorris]

Hello, Jackie. Name you price, please if it's possible. And another question: how long does delivery take? Thanks (my father asks you).

[CadRhino]

I have been struggling to get mine to work reliably in Mach. Others here have. I almost ready to give it a shot with path pilot. If that doesn't work to my satisfaction I will sell it.
Pm me.
Thanks
Nathan

I am getting to the point where investing in an ATC is starting to make sense. Anyone out there who has one and would consider selling it?

[CadRhino]

I should mention that Tormach tech support has been great and working with me since I bought my machine new. I am just a little frustrated and anxious to get my atc running reliably. The current fixes are to switch to path pilot and to make an atc stepper spindle key way to help with the spindle rigidity.
I am going to be doing these and will report back with my progress.
Keep those fingers crossed.

I have been struggling to get mine to work reliably in Mach. Others here have. I almost ready to give it a shot with path pilot. If that doesn't work to my satisfaction I will sell it.
Pm me.
Thanks
Nathan

[wildwhl]

Interesting Nathan. I've had very, very few issues with the ATC on my machine (though I have broke a few nylon screws from letting them get too loose - that's a modification I plan to address similar as others have). I haven't followed along on your issues but surely they can be remedied.

No intent to threadjack...but I wouldn't sell my ATC unless I sold the mill too

WW

[CadRhino]

Hi WW, I have heard other report the same which give me hope. Are you running Mach or PP?
A fellow on the PP thread just posted he wasn't able to run his ATC with PP yet that is what Tormach is currently recommending so it must be possible.
Believe me, I don't want to sell my ATC and hope to get it working reliably.
I will get all of the updates done and report. I don't want to come across as bad-mouthing the ATC if I can get it to work reliably.
Best,
Nathan

Interesting Nathan. I've had very, very few issues with the ATC on my machine (though I have broke a few nylon screws from letting them get too loose - that's a modification I plan to address similar as others have). I haven't followed along on your issues but surely they can be remedied.

No intent to threadjack...but I wouldn't sell my ATC unless I sold the mill too

WW

[wildwhl]

Hi WW, I have heard other report the same which give me hope. Are you running Mach or PP?
A fellow on the PP thread just posted he wasn't able to run his ATC with PP yet that is what Tormach is currently recommending so it must be possible.
Believe me, I don't want to sell my ATC and hope to get it working reliably.
I will get all of the updates done and report. I don't want to come across as bad-mouthing the ATC if I can get it to work reliably.
Best,
Nathan

Nathan - Mach 3 - Tormach version. I won't say I haven't had it break a few nylon bolts, because it has. However, with basic attention to detail that has all but gone away at this point. I tend to leave it somewhat unattended during my morning coffee break (and other times) with my 80 year old neighbor - that's how much I trust it.

Specifically, what errors are occurring for you Nathan?

Bill

[CadRhino]

Hi Bill
I haven't used my atc since March.
What was happening was several issues. I would have the ATC all calibrated and it would work fine for several weeks then out of the blue it would not retain z reference information and a crash would ensue. After much tech support trouble shooting it was decided to re-load mach. This would work for a while then the same thing would happen - Mach would mysteriously not retain the atc z reference.
The other issue has to do with the carousel not consistently aligning the forks with the spindle and this would cause crashes. I was told by tormach techs that I can make a tapped keyway that would reduce this slop and help with better consistent alignment.
I am hoping that path pilot and making a new keyway will help my reliability.
I will report back with my findings.
Nathan

Nathan - Mach 3 - Tormach version. I won't say I haven't had it break a few nylon bolts, because it has. However, with basic attention to detail that has all but gone away at this point. I tend to leave it somewhat unattended during my morning coffee break (and other times) with my 80 year old neighbor - that's how much I trust it.

Specifically, what errors are occurring for you Nathan?

Bill

[wildwhl]

Thanks for the info Nathan.

I agree the fixing the slop int he ATC is worthwhile and necessary (on my to do list but haven't done it yet). The mysterious z reference is concerning. I've not seen this happen at all. The only crashes (aka broken nylon bolts) have been from carriage misalignment but honestly that has on more than one occasion been from the nylon bolts coming loose, not the carriage slop in and of itself. I intend to attack both soon just as other members have done here, mostly for piece of mind.

In the meantime I give all the bolts a double check every 40 hours or so of machining (10mm socket by hand, no ratchet). Takes maybe 3-5 minutes and I can clean out any chips or junk that has made it up into the carousel area at the same time.

Interested in hearing what you figure out or learn.

Bill

[CadRhino]

Yes, it has been a head scratcher for Tormach. All they could do was say that Mach has issues and that it would work reliably with path pilot. Let's see.

Thanks for the info Nathan.

I agree the fixing the slop int he ATC is worthwhile and necessary (on my to do list but haven't done it yet). The mysterious z reference is concerning. I've not seen this happen at all. The only crashes (aka broken nylon bolts) have been from carriage misalignment but honestly that has on more than one occasion been from the nylon bolts coming loose, not the carriage slop in and of itself. I intend to attack both soon just as other members have done here, mostly for piece of mind.

In the meantime I give all the bolts a double check every 40 hours or so of machining (10mm socket by hand, no ratchet). Takes maybe 3-5 minutes and I can clean out any chips or junk that has made it up into the carousel area at the same time.

Interested in hearing what you figure out or learn.

Bill

[shred]

Thanks for the info Nathan.
I agree the fixing the slop int he ATC is worthwhile and necessary (on my to do list but haven't done it yet). The mysterious z reference is concerning. I've not seen this happen at all. The only crashes (aka broken nylon bolts) have been from carriage misalignment but honestly that has on more than one occasion been from the nylon bolts coming loose, not the carriage slop in and of itself. I intend to attack both soon just as other members have done here, mostly for piece of mind.
Bill

FWIW, According to the designer, the 'slop' in the ATC tray is intentional to make sure tools align properly with the spindle since the forks and tools can move around a bit in operation. The taper on the tool shank should be enough to get it all aligned.

[wildwhl]

FWIW, According to the designer, the 'slop' in the ATC tray is intentional to make sure tools align properly with the spindle since the forks and tools can move around a bit in operation. The taper on the tool shank should be enough to get it all aligned.

I've read, and heard this too. My only problem with that assessment is that there is slop in both the mechanical coupling of the tool tray, as well as the tool slot holders. Seems only one is necessary. I know several have made the connection to the stepper drive more positive with good results, and that is part of my plan. No threadjack meant here Nathan - as it seems your real issue is a Z issue and a stumper for sure.

Bill

[CadRhino]

No worries on the hijack.
I should have added that it was also Mach not retaining fork alignment calibration. Basically Mach would reset and/or loose all of my settings and the only cure was to unload and reload Mach,
That being said, there are mechanical issues that contribute to the problem;
- Too much play in the carousel.
- ATC Forks not being perfectly aligned under the spindle.
- Spindle collet being too tight to smoothly slide over the tts resulting in broken fork. I have had a spindle collet that was too tight once.

I have been too busy to get back to re-aligning the ATC with path pilot but hope to get to it next month. Part of me is afraid that the crashes will continue with pp.
I will post my results.
Nathan

I've read, and heard this too. My only problem with that assessment is that there is slop in both the mechanical coupling of the tool tray, as well as the tool slot holders. Seems only one is necessary. I know several have made the connection to the stepper drive more positive with good results, and that is part of my plan. No threadjack meant here Nathan - as it seems your real issue is a Z issue and a stumper for sure.

Bill

[CadRhino]

Ok, I said I would report back after I upgraded to path pilot and did the keyway retrofit on the atc.
Yesterday was my first day running my atc in months since I was having crash issues.
It worked great. I am excited if theses fixes currd the issues I was having.
I will keep posted if anything changes but I am really excited to see it working without issue.
I feel path pilot is a much more stable platform to run the atc with.
I was told by tormach that all of the new atc's come with the keyway now.

No worries on the hijack.
I should have added that it was also Mach not retaining fork alignment calibration. Basically Mach would reset and/or loose all of my settings and the only cure was to unload and reload Mach,
That being said, there are mechanical issues that contribute to the problem;
- Too much play in the carousel.
- ATC Forks not being perfectly aligned under the spindle.
- Spindle collet being too tight to smoothly slide over the tts resulting in broken fork. I have had a spindle collet that was too tight once.

I have been too busy to get back to re-aligning the ATC with path pilot but hope to get to it next month. Part of me is afraid that the crashes will continue with pp.
I will post my results.
Nathan

[wildwhl]

Thanks for the update. I should really do the keyway upgrade next time I'm in there cleaning etc. For peace of mind if nothing else.

Hope it keeps working as expected for you.

Bill

Ok, I said I would report back after I upgraded to path pilot and did the keyway retrofit on the atc.
Yesterday was my first day running my atc in months since I was having crash issues.
It worked great. I am excited if theses fixes currd the issues I was having.
I will keep posted if anything changes but I am really excited to see it working without issue.
I feel path pilot is a much more stable platform to run the atc with.
I was told by tormach that all of the new atc's come with the keyway now.

[CadRhino]

It was the darnedest thing, I got up to continue making the same parts and I had two crashes. It was the z (head) crashing down on the atc. Tormach tech support had me switch my y and z axis driver and it has been working again. Part of my old problem may be a bad controller. I am still watching it but for now it is working again.whew.

Thanks for the update. I should really do the keyway upgrade next time I'm in there cleaning etc. For peace of mind if nothing else.

Hope it keeps working as expected for you.

Bill