[hemsworthlad]

Next time you're round I'll get my daughters guitar hooked up (It's pink Acrylic so real men only ) and we'll make some noise

I gave a Hamster a heart attack the last time I played :lol:

Ok one jamming session coming soon and well see if we carnt give Clarkson one as well!!. . . . . but if you start serenaiding to me i'm off. .Lol

[stk2008]

hi all again well i still not been out in me workshop yet me back is killing me and plus it wont work i have no heater still as i all so have no money to ghet one hehe.

my dad plays the guitar he had no help in learning so he has done very well.

when i get my machine running right i was all so going to make him a guitar.

[Drakkn]

hi all again well i still not been out in me workshop yet me back is killing me and plus it wont work i have no heater still as i all so have no money to ghet one hehe.

my dad plays the guitar he had no help in learning so he has done very well.

when i get my machine running right i was all so going to make him a guitar.

Hi when you teach yourself you get to a point where you cant get any better without structured help.Trust me been there - got the help, now I am semi pro as a musician and make guitars/flightcases for a living.

Regards

Tony

[stk2008]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but its been a year and damn its cold.

I managed to get out there today and the machine really really don't like being cold.

All me axis are stalling I managed to get the X and Y to work after moving them a few times to warm the trapezoidal spindle and nuts up but the Z axis even though it the shortest one just keeps on stalling.

I have no heater again now but that may help a little even though me garage is not insulated.

What other things can I do how about slowing the rapids right down because that`s the only time it stalls when its doing rapids and in cold weather.

In the summer I can rapid all day with no problems.

Thanks

[ger21]

Definitely just lower the rapids.

You might want to try a lightweight oil. I use pnuematic tool oil.

Put $10-20 aside each week, and buy a heater for next winter.

tomorrow it's going to be 10°F. :banana:

[stk2008]

Hi there so others have all so had to lower rapids or have thought about this to help?.

And yes I need to get a heater that is very cheap to run that way I will leave it running 24/7.

[ger21]

Hi there so others have all so had to lower rapids or have thought about this to help?.

And yes I need to get a heater that is very cheap to run that way I will leave it running 24/7.

I have heat, but even when cold I haven't seen any issues. You probably have bearing grease getting thick, and oil getting thick. All I can say is to take it all apart, and remove all oil and grease from screws and bearings, and change to a very lightweight oil.

But first I'd carefully check alignment on everything. Remove the motors, and see if you can get things moving more freely with adjustments.

And running heat 24/7 can be very expensive. Even in my insulated garage, it can cost $100 or more per month when it's really cold. But It only takes 15 minutes to get it warm enough to work without a jacket.

[stk2008]

I use grease made for the linear rails on me trapezoidal spindles so yes I suppose it is kinda thick and even more so in this weather.

[hemsworthlad]

It's been -19 up here in yorkshire. . . Brrrr.

I have a warm up code for my machine that I run when it's really cold, it just runs round spirialing in and out the full size of my bed for 20mins slowly increasing the speeds then finish's with a flat out lap like it was surfacing the table the z axis goes up and down all the time it's going round, it looks like a merry-go-round when it's working.

I dont have to do this and my machine never stalls even when cold, I just do it as a precationery warm up.

[stk2008]

ummm so what sort of grease should I use on me trapezoidal spindles? maybe the grease made for the linear rails are not meant for the spindles at all?.

[stk2008]

Ok got me a thermostat though its not a very good one but gave me an idea.

At the moment its 4:50pm and the temp is 2c.
I checked the surface temp of the machine with an infra red heat gun and its reading 9c does this make sense that the ambient temp and surface temp should be this different?.

I tested the machines spindles,nuts etc etc and all read about 9c

[hemsworthlad]

Seems a big differance to me, are you sure the IR device is working correctly.?

Is the machine in a workshop/shed that has been heated for any length of time, I've just walked into workshop and my machine is freezing compared to the temp in the shop and I used it this morning.!

[stk2008]

I was wondering about the infra red temp gun being incorrect I will bring it in and do a few tests.

The workshop has no heating in it at all at the moment and has had no heater in there this year .

I know that 2c is way to cold really to expect a machine that was machined and built in a heated workshop (my work place) the temp in my workplace must be about 18c.

So moving the CNC back into a garage with no heater at 2c will cause problems I suppose.

EDIT

The whole machine is made from Aluminium apart from spoil board,spindles and nuts

[hemsworthlad]

I would create a warm up routine i'm sure this would get round this problem for you.
I had a similar problem with my machine when I first built it, coupled with new ballscrews and my inexperience of nowing the limits of the motors etc and trying to go too fast I would get stalling when the weather was cold, this is how and why I created my warm up code. It did work and after 15-20mins gently running round then machine was fine for the rest of the day.
I've since changed various things coupled with newness wearing of the mechanical compnents and I dont have this problem any more no matter how cold the temp but i still do the warm up when it's really cold.!!. . . . I dont think it hurts the machine and a gentle warm up run round loosen's things of nicely and i'm sure ease's wear.?

[Geof]

Your machine temperature and the air temperature can be quite different. The air does not have much thermal capacity and it can move, the machine has a lot of thermal capacity and it cannot move. This means that air warms or cools quicker than the machine and cold, or warm, air can flow in from outside.

Actually it is primarily the air that carries heat to and from the machine so rarely will the two temperatures match. The times when they do match is when the air is warming or cooling through the machines temperature.

If you installed a radiant heater above the machine then the machine would warm by absorbing heat radiation, which it does quite well, while the air would not warm as much because it is mostly transparent to the heat radiation.

[stk2008]

Thanks for your input yet again you and many other member's have helped me out lots in the past the other notable person being ger21.

I am using trapezoidal spindles and bronze nuts and in the summer I had no issues what so ever.

Now that its cold I do.

I will do a slow warm up at say half rapid speeds to warm up the machine and see what will happen, that and get a heater hahahaha.

P.S

I will test my infra red temp gun and report back on that.

So you say your workshop is ?c what would you say your machine temp is then?.

P.P.S

Sorry Geof I did not see your post before sorry.
So would you say the machine should be colder or warmer than ambient?.

Thanks

[hemsworthlad]

So you say your workshop is ?c what would you say your machine temp is then?.
Thanks

Sorry I dont have any way to test temp but I can tell you it's very very cold and you wouldn't want to be in there for long with out an heater, My machine as steel box section frame, bed etc and Ali gantry and its very cold to the touch and I would guess it's certainly less than 9c and probably closer to 2 than 9

[stk2008]

No problem thanks for the help.

I will get me a radiator and leave it running 1hr before I go in there and all so do a warm up of the machine.

Thanks

[cornbinder23]

make sure to take infrared readings from non shiny surfaces unless your temp guage has built in emissivity adjustments as this can alter the readings quite a bit
especially aluminum and stainless as the surfaces are pretty shiny

JTCUSTOMS

[lancut]

Very light oil may help, put couple drops on the screw and rapid few times. It does help my machine with .500 Acme threads.