[Al_The_Man]

No (legitimate) posts were removed?
There were some that reported that the thread had changed from a bench top machine to the Cincinnati, (wrong) so the thread was moved to the appropriate forum.

Al.

[pete from TN]

Well thanks for so kindly informing me of this, and thanks for the inappropriate remarks too..

The only reason I was posting there is because many of the folks on the benchtop forum were very helpful to me along this journey and are essentially what made it possible for me to get to where I am currently in my CNC journey. I posted those pictures there so that others who know of my intentions and dreams would be able to see the machine I finally got for my shop. In fact several were commenting that they were wanting to see what becomes of this and how I get along with the new machine. That is why I posted the Cincinatti progress where I did. If I just started a new thread in the Cincinatti forum those kind folks may never know that I actually sold my RF45 and purchased this new machine.

Pete

[FannBlade]

Thread moved or not I'm still interested in seeing this build come along.

[mattmark]

Still will be watching your progress!

Cheers,

Matt

[BobWarfield]

Heh, only slightly disoriented from having been teleported to an entirely new forum, but I'll get over it.

(chair)

Can't wait to see that Arrow doing some cool stuff. I've heard a lot of good things about these Cincinnati machines.

Cheers,

BW

[pete from TN]

Thanks Matt, Bob, and fandude.... I am really excited about this machine and what it will hopefully be able to do for me. I am trying to find information on post processors for it as at least initially I hope to be able to continue using my sheetcam program for it. It has treated me well and is easy to use and has done everything in the 2.5d realm I have needed so far. I am looking very seriously into RHinocam for the 3d stuff. I think it is around a grand for it and it looks very good. The fellow I bought this Cincinatti from also uses it to do all of his mold work and he does some very nice work so I suppose if it works for him it should work for me too. Plus he PROBABLY has a working post processor for it. I need to ask him about giving me a post for the machine that I can hopefully work from for the sheetcam side of things.

In other news.... I received the really nice heavy duty GWM Digi256 20HP rotary phase converter I bought from a Practical Machinist forum member for a really good price. It is a big heavy bastard but my engine crane made short work of unloading it and moving it into position just inside my shop doorway. I am now trying ton figure out the best way to power this monster because I was under the impression I could run it off a 60 amp dual pole single phase breaker but the manual for this thing says it needs to be on a 100 amp dual pole breaker and run with number 3 wire!! I thought I had number six in there but I gotta check because I had been running this circuit for my Tig welder on a 50 amp breaker and never had an issue with the 325 amp Tig. Never blew a breaker and never felt a warm wire or breaker with it. I will probably pick up a dual pole 100 amp breaker and some of the four gauge wire and run that the twelve feet or so to where the rotary will sit. Anyone here running a Cincinatti on a rotary I would LOVE to hear from you on what kinda circuit you are using and how you wired it and whatnot. I was planning to use it like the previous owner did and just turn it off with the breaker but it says in the manual that is a bad idea. I know that they now sell breakers designed to be switchable but not sure yet. I suppose I can always put a box out in the shop with a contactor lever or something like a rotary switch or magnetic switch. This big machine stuff takes some BIG power and wiring so I hope I do not have any problems here. My house only has a 200 amp service. I am pretty sure the previous owner of the rotary said he ran it off a 60 amp service with number six wire running a VF1 haas machine. I will have to call him and see what he actually used for sure. Nice fellow.

Still working on the best way to bring the machine here and get it leveled up and whatnot. I will post some pics of all that once I get to it.

Looking forward to some more action on this Cincinatti forum so that we can all learn from each other here. It seems pretty dead so far. ANYONE OUT THERE!!! hehehe Peace

Pete

[Al_The_Man]

Well thanks for so kindly informing me of this,
Pete

Mods here are kept pretty busy when they do log in, what with spammers, Insulting post and also answering many P.M.s and reported posts, often O.P's do not get notified of the post move, regular posters do not see the policing that has to be done behind the scenes, for your benefit I may add.
I am sure you would not appreciate this Forum being reduced to what some out there are ! :violin:

[skray775]

Can you repost the pics here? I didn't see them.

[pete from TN]

Hey man actually the pictures are posted in the first page of this thread in post number 12 I think. It shows the machine and the control enclosure all jumbled up from me trying to re-install the modules and it is needing the Z axis drive replaced and the cabling tidied up badly. It will hopefully be the reliable and accurate machine with a toolchanger I have been dreaming of. It sure as hell needs a good bath that is for sure.


Al, Thanks for changing the thread name for me I appreciate it. peace

Pete

[FannBlade]

Do the electronics run on three phase power also?
Just wondered if something like you have could run off VFD instead of rotary converter.

[Connor]

Mods here are kept pretty busy when they do log in, what with spammers, Insulting post and also answering many P.M.s and reported posts, often O.P's do not get notified of the post move, regular posters do not see the policing that has to be done behind the scenes, for your benefit I may add.
I am sure you would not appreciate this Forum being reduced to what some out there are ! :violin:

Al,

There is such a thing as over moderation. Pete already stated he was planning a new thread and simply wanted to keep his benchtop friends in the loop. Moving those posts was not necessary. Also, I think the tasteless remarks at the beginning of this thread should probably be removed as it's OFF topic as well.

Pete, keep up the good work!

[pete from TN]

Fannblade,
Actually this machine is a full on commercial machining center and thus was designed and built to run off three phase commercial power. At this stage of the game I am going to try to repair the control as it is still supported from the manufacturer of the control. Cincinatti the company is long gone as is fadal but both makes are supported at least somewhat by Mag inc. So there are parts and support available at least for most things. If not there is always the used market. My intentions thus far are to try to repair the Emerson Control Techniques FNC control so that the machine will run the way it was designed to run. If at some point in the future the support or parts stores dry up I may be forced to do some kind of retrofit because from most accounts these machines are well built and from what little I have seen of it so far I have not reason to doubt that, and I can only hope by that time things will be available that make it easier. Right now it would be possible to retrofit this machine with a PC based control such as Mach3 or EMC2 or others but it requires a lot of leg work and sorting out which motors and drives will work and are powerful enough to run the machine. Honestly it has already been done a few times that I am aware of and there are also some companies that specialize in retrofitting the machine with their own controls. So it is totally doable if all else fails to varying degrees of cost and difficulty.

Connor,
Hey thanks man for your input. I kinda felt the same way and I guess some folks on the benchtop forum complained to Al and he did what he felt best. Personally I thought it could have been done much more professionally but Al was kind enough to change the name of my thread to what I wanted here and since he is such a helpful guy and has such a knowledge base when it comes to electrical and wiring and other stuff I am kinda apprehensive to really light him up. He is a good guy and does a thankless job here moderating the many forums and threads. I am good with it now and I am looking forward to getting this machine running soon. Peace

Pete

[FannBlade]

Thanks pete. That's what I figured on the 3 phase. Commercial machines way out of my realm BUT I want one! So I will have to live my dream through your build.
Keep chin to grind stone and keep them pics coming.

[pete from TN]

If a three phase machine is in my league.....then it is in anybody's league.... hehe If you have heard of a shoestring budget then this is a shoethread budget. If I was not getting such a good deal on the machine I would not have it at all. I just hope I can get it working soon. I sure as hell will try my best. hehe peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

I have received word from the control manufacturer that they can indeed repair the Z drive despite the damaged board and for no more cost thankfully. I will be sending it out soon here. Getting the machine delivered is another story however. The fellow who has offered to loan me his truck and trailer is only available on the weekends and the forktruck rental is closed on the weekend. They can deliver the forktruck on friday and pick it up on monday but they cannot move it over the weekend without a large fee. I am needing it moved to the location the machine is at currrently to load the machine, then delivered to my shop to UNload the machine and then pick up. SO I am trying to find another option. Gonna be a short while before I can get the thing here I guess to work on it. It is ALWAYS something it seems. Good news is that I have been given an older laptop(thanks Art) to reload the parameters with and I received the Null modem cable to hookup to the machine yesterday and Joe has been kind enough to send me all of the information and programs to load into the machine.

I spoke to a tooling supplier in Alabama that has some good Japan spec tooling for reasonable pricing and I am hoping to place an order for some of it soon. Kinda bummed out that it is gonna be a week or so before I can bring it here but honestly I have a lot of moving around to do in the shop anyways. Peace

Pete

[overflowmachine]

Hey Pete. Looking forward to following you on this adventure. I have two Arrow 750's They can be a bit odd in some ways but once you get through the learning curve they do a fine job. I use Master/Cam and they had a post. I can get you a sample program so you can get an idea what the control wants to see. Also check out US Shop tools for your tooling. Is it a BT-40 or Cat-40 spindle ? Many came with BT spindles. Check out Craig's List for tool holders and vises you can save a boat load of money buying used.

Ron

[pete from TN]

Hey man thanks for the reply. Dunno what control you have but mine has the Emerson Control techniques FNC control. If yours has the same I would love a post from you. It seems most of those have acramatic controls. My machine has Cat40 spindle and I will check out US shop tools. I am going to have to buy a Vise too as I sold my last one with the old CNC mill.. So yeah Craigslist is a resource of course. Thanks man and feel free to post pics of your machines and parts you make if you can because THIS FORUM IS DEAD!! Still working on transporting my Arrow 500 here so hopefully it will be here soon so I can start playing with it. hehe peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

Hey man thanks for the reply. Dunno what control you have but mine has the Emerson Control techniques FNC control. If yours has the same I would love a post from you. It seems most of those have acramatic controls. My machine has Cat40 spindle and I will check out US shop tools. I am going to have to buy a Vise too as I sold my last one with the old CNC mill.. So yeah Craigslist is a resource of course. Thanks man and feel free to post pics of your machines and parts you make if you can because THIS FORUM IS DEAD!! Still working on transporting my Arrow 500 here so hopefully it will be here soon so I can start playing with it. hehe peace

Pete

[mike_Kilroy]

GOOD LUCK. nice machine

[pete from TN]

Thanks....I think....peace

Pete