[FannBlade]

Welcome to my CNC Conversion of a Wholesale Tool 3n1

I picked this up for $1050 in the crate as a refurb. from my local WT store. Wasn't really looking for a 3n1...went to buy a lathe,but couldn't pass up the price (although I should have). Quality (as expected) was low to say the least.

Lot of cons and a few pros.

Anyway I ran across this site and was hooked on the possibility of a CNC machine a home. After alot of reading I thought "I can do this". After more reading I realized I really don't need a CNC machine. But it's stuck in my head. Hardware part doesn't scare me to much...but the software does.
So be prepare for lots of questions.

I love to take pics so be prepared for a ton.

Here is my Plan:
1. Stiffen up stand and setup for coolant.
2. Add a bottom and doors for storage.
3. Make a motor and electronics cabinet.
4. Add PC case.
5. Fabricate control panel for switches and VFD panels.
6. Install tool cabinet on right side for more storage.
7. Replace both motors with 1hp 3ph units with VFD’s
8. Of course install 3 stepper motors and necessary electronics.
9. Add 2 ballscrew units. (3/4” and 1/2”)
10. Fabricate enclosure.
11. Most important do it on a TIGHT budget.

Table of Contents

1. Stand started
2. Stand (2)
3. PC Case mounted
4. Front PC cover plate.
5. Control panel
6. Drain hole drilled
7. New mill head location
8. Enclosure updated
9. CNC PC test parts
10. Doors done.



Day 1 right after I bought it.







A shot of the awesome drive system. The pulley on the spindle probably has around 3/8" runout. Gear drives good for .100 backlash,combine that with the couplers and half nut you can add another .200. On that note crossslide had .035 backlash.(more on that later)





Here you can really see just how flimsy the stand is.



Sheet metal brackets held the whole unit.





All cut up ready for stiffening. I will use the 2 pieces of 5" channel for the new bed mount.




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[FannBlade]

Reserved for final pics.

[akraven]

Tagged to keep track of your progress Fannblade. Thank you for documenting it so well.

[txcncman]

Nice looking shop area...except...pegboard is great right next to an open machine for catching and holding chips.

[FannBlade]

Nice looking shop area...except...pegboard is great right next to an open machine for catching and holding chips.

You got that right and it soaks up coolant,I had a sheet metal shield right behind the chuck area to help with it. That's why I'm moving it more to middle of shop and it will make it easier to access the back.

[FannBlade]

More Stand.
Here I flipped the top section and left original braces in place to help keep it square.


Once welded I cut braces loose with cut off wheel.


You can see here I shortened it about 5". Main reason was to bring length down to 48" so I could use one piece of sheet metal for the back.



Next comes some bracing for the coolant pan.


Ready to weld in place. Also moved the bottom braces to line up with side braces so I could but a floor in for the cabinet bottom.



Couple bends in the old bottom and welded in place.





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[FannBlade]

I have a bunch of 1/2" X 1/2" stock laying around so decided to use it to frame motor enclosure originally was going to make it removable but decided to weld it in permanent so nothing would rattle loose.
Also used some flat stock for a motor mount.


Another view how it will mount to spindle head.


Picked up a tool box from a yard sale for $20 to mount to the side for tool storage. Yep welded on!
You can see center uprights to help support center and define door location.


Here is a view of cage to enclose spindle tower.




Not the motor I will use but gives you an idea where I'm headed.


Sheet metal welded on and bracket drilled. Spindle head drilled and tapped for 1/4" bolts to help hold unit and seal from coolant.


Original belt drive cover welded in. I will use this to house CNC electronics.


Still need to make a panel to cover holes and a removable plate to make it easier to mount drivers and electronics.













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[FannBlade]

Not really related to this build but picked this up for $50 when I found the tool box and got him to throw in a box of 8" C clamps (9 I think).


I like to never figure out where I was going to mount the PC case I had laying around...finally came to me when I put the support braces in.




Bent up a filler panel to fill the gap




Couple pieces of old bed frame to secure it to the support brackets.







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[FannBlade]

Here is a shot of the back panel in place.


and some pics of the front PC cover plate.











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[smallblock]

Looks just like my old 1993 Shoptask 1720, except it has a longer bed.

[FannBlade]

Now to start on the control panel. Not sure what all will go here so I made it big enough to hold whatever is needed. I will use a polished aluminum plate to cover the hole.


Here I used some scrape metal to mock up the boxed in area.






and monitor location. It's an older Dell 20" I'm no longer using.




panel bent and welded in place.




You can really see the warped area here. Really should've used pop rivets to mount panels,but don't want things to shake loose and I can work out most of the warps.














Top panel with monitor mounted. This may change,not to happy with the angle when sitting in front of it.







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[FannBlade]

Center panel and bottom in place.




Hole drilled and flanged for the drain.


Tool didn't like the radius but turned out pretty good.


Fits almost flush.



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[FannBlade]

OK here is where one of the big changes start. As some of you may know that fixed round column 3n1 units are way to high to use mill without a very tall vise or some sort of spacer to raise the vise.
Strange it comes with a vise/tool holder but would need an 8" mill bit to get near it.

Another note most 3n1's seem to have a tall spindle housing,while that gives more swing if they would use a std. height unit mill would be useable.
After staring at it for days I decided the only way to bring it down to a more usable height was to mount it on the right side of bed.












After some high tech calculations I decided to drop it 4".
As you guys may see as this goes on I put nothing on paper,no measurements,CAD or any scratch pad drawings. I just go with what I think will work and change plans as go along.
So don't expect any high tech CAD drawings with load simulations and NO I don't really know anything about load calculations for specific materials.


On that note here is what I came up with:
3" x 5"x 1/2" steel tube with 5" x 5" x 5/8" steel plate (3/8" shown)


and a 3" x 3/8" support plate drilled and tapped into tube and lathe bed.




This will give you an idea of how it will work.
Given the load and stress It will have a sent it to a friend to weld this up for me (welder for 35 years(YES he laughs at my welds)) Plus I'm sure my little 110 volt welder wouldn't even warm it up. If all goes well he is going to heat relieve it and grind both ends parallel...lucky for me they just got a new grinder he thinks will handle up to 12". If not I will send it out to have it milled flat.
Sucks when you have to send stuff out to finish a build.


Planing on turning this flat to get rid of the lip and make sure it's true to the column.


Sure wish I would have thought about the round corners before I ordered the support plate.




Do or die move! I will tap these hole 1/2".

Couple drawbacks will be the loss of bed length due to how far forward tail stock will be. Bright side it will lift off without moving mill, but lathe saddle will not so any major maintenance will be a job.

I also plan on installing a hoist above mill just encase and if I need more height I can use some 5" x 5" x 1" spacer blocks and make it easier to remove for maintenance.


Anybody see a problem with this yet?.......handles will be on the wrong side!
Hopefully it won't be to bad to reach around, it will have a stepper motor.



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[GITERDUN]

[QUOTE=


After some high tech calculations I decided to drop it 4".
As you guys may see as this goes on I put nothing on paper,no measurements,CAD or any scratch pad drawings. I just go with what I think will work and change plans as go along.
So don't expect any high tech CAD drawings with load simulations and NO I don't really know anything about load calculations for specific materials.



WHAT!! No fancy calculations- distance to the moon divided by square root of the universe?
You must be planning to actually use this thing!
Looks like you are a few weeks away form making chips- once its done, you can build parts for the engineer types whose machines are still on the CAD drawing board.

[FannBlade]

WHAT!! No fancy calculations- distance to the moon divided by square root of the universe?
You must be planning to actually use this thing!
Looks like you are a few weeks away form making chips- once its done, you can build parts for the engineer types whose machines are still on the CAD drawing board.

Ain't that the truth. There are defiantly some amazingly smart people on here but 90% of it goes way over my head and heck I'm just happy when my unit turns on!
Now if I had a $500,000 Haas things would be different...of course if I had one guess I would have the knowledge required to use it.

I agree it seems like a lot of member's go way to far figuring load coefficients and frame flex for a $1000 router.

Maybe I'm a little jealous I can't do it. It would be cool to see it on a computer screen but really for me seems little unnecessary and trying to figure gravitational pull on my concrete floor is above what my tape measure will do!

[subok]

New milling head position:
I am planning a 3-in-1 conversion; is there any way I can get the images of this thread?

[FannBlade]

New milling head position:
I am planning a 3-in-1 conversion; is there any way I can get the images of this thread?

Start at post #169 for all the info you requested in your PM.

Feel free to post any questions you may have....several other members also doing the same build here. I'm sure one of us can help.

[subok]

That is extremely kind; thank you very much!

[FannBlade]

Had a 240 mm fan and thought that would be a great way to get rid of the thru hole in the door. Almost got it centered,I will probably have this blowing out to pull heat out of electronics area.






Started some mud work while waiting on metal order to arrive. I first used a fiberglass strand to seal for any possible leaks and smoothed the rest with regular bondo.
Once it ready for paint I will use a 2 part urethane primer and finish with 2-3 coats urethane base coat and 2 coats urethane clear.
Haven't really decided on color yet have to see what I have in stock.
But think I will paint lathe and mill white and the base silver with blue stripe across the front and just maybe some airbrush work here and there.
Inside of cabinet and motor area I will do in black bed liner coating for durability and sound deadening.






New panels weld in today for the enclosure.
Still have no idea how I'm going to handle the lid or doors yet with mill sticking up.
Hope to get lathe and mill bolted in next week for final mockup so i can get cabinet painted and start on things I know nothing about!


This is where I'm at for now. I know it may seem like alot got done in 2 days but this has been down a LONG time!
Oh I did get doors done tonight I will post them tomorrow I forgot to take SD card out with me.

Anybody see me doing something stupid let me know....Comments welcome!



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[akraven]

Lots of good progress Fannblade. Have you seen the mill head crank up assembly on this Grizzly mill? G4791 12" x 39" Large Combo Lathe/Mill
I wonder if it could be adapted to allow easier height changes?