[hoss2006]

Hi Hoss,

What method are you considering to drive the rotation of the spindle box ? I am looking to make the spindle box rotate on a horizontal machine that I am converting to a vertical with a rf45 spindlebox. I was thinking about a worm gear around 8" dia with 2 pinions which would be an attempt at minimum backlash. I am going to use the #50 spindle and bearings as the rotational shaft.

Thanks
Sean

I've noodled on several ideas, a worm drive will probably win out, it doesn't need speed but has to be rugged.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

sorry Hoss here is a pic, did you need to add more threads to the top?

Nope, no changes, used as is.
Hoss

[digits]

I've noodled on several ideas, a worm drive will probably win out, it doesn't need speed but has to be rugged.
Hoss

Could you just use a small rotary table - they're cheap and pretty rugged, but heavy...

[hoss2006]

Could you just use a small rotary table - they're cheap and pretty rugged, but heavy...

yeah, I thought of pirating the parts from mine to make a thinner custom version for it.
Still might whenever I get around to this, not a priority.
Hoss

[duzallcnc]

Hi,

I have disassembled a few rotary tables and all I have seen so far have small worm gears. So a 4" rotary table might have a 1.75 dia worm gear and they don't seem to be suited for use in a vertical position with the weight of a spindle box. I.E. there aren't any bearings to speak of in them and the rotating table is usually secured by a small screw in a slot. The small worms make backlash an issue. I would think that a G0704 would want something like a 4" to 6" worm gear and some kind of ball bearing actually supporting the head to survive , be reasonably accurate and be able to be driven with a reasonably sized motor.

Sean

[digits]

I guess it depends on how much head tilt you need, but I do quite like the idea of the ball-screw driven heads in these Centroid mahcines:

Video of 5 Axis CNC, CNC Cylinder Head Porting Video.

There's quite a good shot of the mechanism about a minute into that video.

[duzallcnc]

That's exactly what I am looking to do. I had considered a ball screw but couldn't come up with a way to make the installation look tidy and professional. Centroid didn't either, but it sure works well!!

Sean

[Maglin]

I noticed that the cutting ball appears to be on the head tilt axis which would make making the post a lost easier I'm sure as the cutting point wouldn't be moving really. That is one nice unit. Looks like it was a purpose built automotive unit. I'd buy one just for head porting.

[hoss2006]

The rest of my push-to-connect fittings showed up so I can get the oil lines run
and get the mill back together today.
I decided to make a couple gaskets for the table end caps to keep the coolant from leaking out,
would rather it drain back down into the tank than down onto the mill pan that doesn't have a drain yet.
Easily printed them out on label sheet and cut them out with scissors.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Eh, made a little progress on the oiling system.
Have to make a couple little manifolds but all the drilling and tapping of the saddle is finished.
Pretty simple actually, just one deep hole along the back side from the right side to the center.
The Y ballscrew will get an oil drip from that hole cluster, it's hole is smaller for some metering or else nothing
would make it to the dovetails.
Made a seal/wiper for the X ballnut mount from RTV silicone, hot glue solidified too quick and was clumpy.
Gives a little reservoir for the oil otherwise it would just run out the bottom.
More later.
Hoss

[photomankc]

You been powder coating your motor mounts?

[LeeWay]

Speaking of PCing. I did try out my Craftsman PC kit.
It isn't going to work for me.
I will sell it as used for half what I paid. Don't recall exactly, but somewhere around $60, so somewhere around $30. I'll throw in some odd powder that I no longer use.

Several reasons this won't work.
The first is it doesn't hold enough powder in the cup for a full oven load of my parts. I have to stop and add powder. Not difficult, but a con to me.
Next is it isn't powerful enough for me to reuse my hooks over and over without cleaning them off. The gun I use is adjustable from about 15K to 50K. Goes through several layers of old powder coating with little trouble.
That is about it.
My issues. I will say it spayed very nicely for not having any adjustments. It would work great for one off items or hobby type stuff.
PM me if interested.

Don't mean to spam the thread, just thinking someone might want a decent gun at a good price.
Oh. The red knob mentioned was broken when I opened the box. It isn't even needed though.

[Maglin]

PM Sent.

[hoss2006]

You been powder coating your motor mounts?

Yep, it does great for powder coating toaster ovens full of parts and doesn't need an air supply.
Next up the line would be one like this.
10-30 PSI Powder Coating System
Columbia Coatings has it in a nice starter kit.
Chicago Electric Coating System
Pretty good for us hobby guys.
Hoss

[djbird3]

Hey Hoss,

I bought one of those Chicago PC systems at harbor Freight last week on sale for $59.95 but they still managed to squeeze $69.95 out of me by talking me into the replacement plan, *******s! I read some reviews before buying and everyone with them seems to be happy so I decided to get one. One thing that's nice about this gun is that the powder cups are cheap ($2.25), in fact they use the same containers to package their powders in. I haven't tried the gun yet but will soon. I received a order for chrome and some translucent colors I wanted to try from Columbia Coatings yesterday so I might play around with the gun today.

BTW, I was wondering about how you are dealing with getting oil past the gibs with your lube sytem? I can't see in your pics what the gib arrangement is but for the X2 the only thing I can come up with is drilling a hole through the gib and making a fitting that seals to it with a o-ring from the front side to get oil to it. A real pain in my opinion considering the limited space involved. Maybe I'll just stick to using my oil can like everyone else

~Don~

[hoss2006]

I drilled a large hole thru the gib strips, the g0704 has tapered gibs so there's no gap
like on the Siegs.
Hoss

[LeeWay]

I bought one of the HF guns and wasn't that happy with it. Again, it works great for hobby stuff, but takes too long to coat a part because of the low voltage. Low as in 12K or 15K. Don't recall exactly which.
The one I use and really like is called a Super Smooth Pony. It looks alot like the HF model, but has an adjustment knob for voltage. I didn't see them at Columbia any more though.

[hoss2006]

Again, I'm just a hobbyist powder coater so spending 10x the money for something
isn't in the cards for a handful of brackets now and again.
The Craftsman suits me to a tee, don't even have to run a compressor line in to the kitchen table.
A tall cardboard box is my booth and an old toaster oven bakes the parts.
Hoss

[djbird3]

I bought one of the HF guns and wasn't that happy with it. Again, it works great for hobby stuff, but takes too long to coat a part because of the low voltage. Low as in 12K or 15K. Don't recall exactly which.
The one I use and really like is called a Super Smooth Pony. It looks alot like the HF model, but has an adjustment knob for voltage. I didn't see them at Columbia any more though.

Caswell sells a gun that is identical to the Chicago but has a variable power supply that works up to 50KV. If I find that I need more voltage in the future for coating larger stuff I might look into building my own variable HV supply or buying the Caswell if it's cheaper. Like Hoss and others though, I'm just doing small parts so the Chicago will do for now.

~Don~

[canwong]

Sounds reasonable.