[pete from TN]

are there settings that are for the z axis to set what height it needs to be to switch tools? its the mari tool drill chucks that give me issues, if i could have the z axis be about .005 lower then when the drawbar clamped down and pulled the tool up, it wouldnt put so much pressure on the spring inside the holder that holds the tools in place.

right now when the draw bar tightens, it pulls the tool up and the spring is pushing down on the tool..i dont think it should be doing that.

There is of course a tool change height procedure that sets the height relative to the tool carousel. If you change it tho you may have issues with the other toolholders. It is possible you could find a happy medium I suppose. Since your control is different I cannot help you with how to do it tho...

Pete

[thefu]

well the groove is wider on 90% of the other tool holders i have where the mari tool is much more narrow. if i could lower the z axis a touch it would be just fine.

I also have an air leak in the air actuator for the toolholder also now so i have to address that

btw what email do you use for MAG? I can never seem to get ahold of them.

[pete from TN]

Are you sure that all of the holders are Cat40? I have heard that BT40 holders have a different shape slightly and I thought it was the groove that was different....

[thefu]

checked the dimensions and all my holders are cat40 thankfully.

just picked up a bunch of aluminum bar to make some softjaws and some new motor mounts for a cnc plasma table that i have. Just got the servo motors and planetary gears and it needs a new mount to keep it from twisting (helical cut gears are a pain in the ass sometimes...)

[pete from TN]

I am getting some work done on these bronze acorns a fellow brought me here. I should be done with them this afternoon so I can get back on working on the machine. I spoke to the previous owner and he agreed to loan me a single toolholder so that I can perform the spindle orient procedure properly as well as the Toolchange height procedure so that I can finally align the machine and be ready to test it out. Still have not gotten any cash to buy some toolholders and still need to purchase some coolant but getting there day by day. Still have some paying customers waiting for the machine to get ready here and while they have been patient they will not wait forever so I need to get this thing ready for prime time somehow soon. Wish me luck guys! So far everything is going smoothly yet slowly. hehehe Too many Baby Steps perhaps?

Pete

[bill south]

Pete:
Exciting times! The new machine looks great. I take it you got the replacement z axis part you needed (yes I've been following your progress)???
Where did you find a used VMC that was at a price below the insane prices most folks are asking in this part of the country? Everything I've seen within a reasonable distance is way way way out of my price range!
Glad you finally found your machine!
Good Luck.
Bill

[pete from TN]

Exciting times indeed. If it were not for you helping me get my RF45 completed and working I would not be here now. I got pretty lucky it seems so far. I met a fellow who brought me some overflow work I machined on my RF45 and he has a largish backyard machine shop. We got to talking and I told him how much I wanted to get a small VMC in my shop. He then told me about this machine he had sitting in his shop that no longer worked and offered it to me for a very low price. After investigating the machine and researching it online I found that it was something I could use and really just rolled the dice as to whether or not I can get it running. I bought it for such a low price that if it had been a basketcase and not repairable I could sell off a few choice parts for more than I paid for the machine so I thought what the hell... I can't really lose anything but effort. So far the machine has surpassed my expectations and everytime I work on it I find it is in better shape than I thought. I sure looked crummy sitting in his shop but a little spit shine here and there and it is really looking much nicer than the money I have invested. I also figured that if I could not get the control working at all I could sell the good parts and purchase some replacement drives and run the thing off a PC like the RF45. I am very pleased that it is so far working and I have a lot of hopes that I can make some good money with it so I can repair it if it does break down. It also helps IMMENSELY that I know two other people who have the same machine and have been thru reloading the parameters before and also Mag supports it as well as Emerson CT on certain parts.

Have not talked to you in awhile hope you are doing well my friend, I am trying to sell my Hardinge Lathe to purchase another manual mill or maybe even a decent horizontal mill for the shop. heheh peace

Pete

[pete from TN]

Managed to get that work finished and got paid which is nice for a change and met with the previous owner about the machine. It seems that he was able to loan me a very nice looking Shars Cat40 ER40 toolholder. He was even nice enough to remove the Fadal retention stud from it so I can get right to aligning the spindle and the toolchanger height. I am gonna get some dinner eaten here soon (YUMM LASAGNA) and then I will try to get out there and perform these important procedures. With any luck doing these will allow me to finally align the machine and then I can be able to jog and move everything on the machine which will allow me SOME simple machining possibilities once I get some toolholders of my own here and also allow me to test the machine in several areas. With any luck I hope to get some more work in here that will allow me to order some of these Shars Toolholders because they are relatively inexpensive and from the accounts of most who have them they are more than adequate. The fellow I got the machine from does a TON of mold work and even he has been able to use them with good effect. I hope to order some and get maybe ten holders initially and get started making parts and then once I have a few paying jobs under my belt I can order some more. Hoping for a good result here. Wish me luck guys!! peace

Pete

[TOTALLYRC]

Good luck Pete,
Mike

[pete from TN]

I cannot believe this guys but I am VERY VERY VERY HAPPY to announce that IT"S ALIVE!!! IT"S ALIVE!! IT"S ALIVE!!! we just got the problem figured out and it turned out to be a plug that was barely plugged in on the mother board and the spindle came to life and I got my spindle control working. THANKS SO MUCH TO ROB VARNEY YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!! This man knows this machine like the literal back of his hand. He helped me troubleshoot what seemed like a crazy problem and my Z axis motor was screaming quite a bit and he even helped me figure that out. As of this moment the machine has aligned itself, I have complete control of all three axes, the toolchanger, the power drawbar, everything..... I cannot believe it I am so totally stoked!! This means that now I can concentrate on getting the tooling purchased and start making programs and learning the new control. I have waited literally years for this moment and I cannot thank enough to all of you guys who have helped me with this. There are still a couple parameters that need tweaked but the machine is ready to run and fully operational at this point.

Right now I am going to have some lunch with my lovely wife and kids and try to calm down enough to move on to the next step which is figuring out what I need to do to get a workable Post processor for my Sheetcam program for the machine. I think I may have that licked already with some help from my friend Joe. Now if I can just make a few extra bucks here to order some toolholders for the machine I can get started making some chips fly!!! I simply cannot believe it is actually working.... Thank you lord for this and thank you for all the good friends who have helped me along this road. Peace

Pete

[thefu]

awesome!!! pm me your phone number if you would i can help you out with that post processor issue.

[Bubba]

:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:FA NTASTIC!!!!!!:wee::wee::wee::wee::wee::wee::wee::w ee::wee::wee::wee:

I'm stoked and happy for you! Now, mess that machine up and make some chips:})

[pete from TN]

Thanks Art, I tried to call you but did not get an answer. I am really happy it finally works. Now as I said I am gonna need to source some toolholders before I can make any chips. The toolholder Rex loaned me to align the machine with is a Cat40 ER40 and I do not have any collets for it. I am hoping that this fellow who wants the Grand Cherokee parts makes a big order and I can swing maybe two of those sets of shars holders we talked about and I can have maybe half a toolchanger carousel full. That would get me going pretty good and allow me to make some stuff worth talking about. The fellow with that bike invention actually called me this morning or texted me rather wanting to know what the status was and I had to tell him it was not ready yet but now I can call him back and say HEY MAN WE ARE LIVE!!! hehehe

Thefu thanks man I will PM ya here in a second once I remember how to...hehehe Peace

Pete

[Dernest]

Pete, do you have a paypal account?
You can put the address in your profile here to enable the buy me a beer, then we could help donate to your beer (CAT40) fund.
There are those of us living vicariously thru you and would like to help out.
Dernest

[pete from TN]

Hey man that I AMAZINGLY kind of you. I never thought that would even be possible... I sure could use the help and I am not looking for high dollar toolholders here actually just wanted to get some shars ones just to get the machine running and allow me to start making parts. I spoke with Thefu this afternoon over the phone and he is a VERY kind fellow and has a lot of interesting things going on with his business. He even said he might be able to give me a machine job or two to help me get this baby working here. Dunno how to put that number in my profile securely or if it is even possible or legal to do that but again I sure could use the help!! It never ceases to amaze me the kindness of folks on these forums and the internet in general. I try to help with information and ideas whenever possible and have learned much from you guys. If you have any ideas about how to do this safely and legally gimme a shout.

I did some more cleaning up of the machine today and took off the back of the control enclosure to check out some stuff and wound up cleaning a bunch of crud out of that thing. Got it buttoned back up and now I just gotta decide on the best way to run the 110 volts to my control directly since it seems that my rotary is not wanting to play nice or the 110 volt transformer in my machine that creates the power for the control is not working properly. The machine can and has run directly off the wall circuit and the folks at Mag said there is no danger of running it that way so I may just live with it that way at least for awhile. I am NO electronics engineer here so troubleshooting that transformer is not a simple thing for me. I may call up my pal Art about it tho and pick his massive cranium.....really man.....it is HUGE!! hehehe

Met with the fellow that had that SWEET Grand Cherokee today and it sounds like I will be making some sweet nerf bars for the 2005 model he has and probably some other rock protection. Gonna check on the materials in the morning and see what I can do them for. Hoping for a decent profit and the ability to buy a nice vise for the mill. Baby steps guys....BABY STEPS!! hehehe peace

[Dernest]

Pete, in your profile, edit your details, at the bottom under additional information is the buy me a beer box.
You just put in your paypal email address and then save changes.
Buy me a beer will then be to the right of your avatar, right side of the page.
Anyone can then send you $10 for a beer or whatever.
Good luck
Dernest

[pete from TN]

I think I got it done... thanks for the tips man. I am right now trying to get the post processor information so I can send code to the machine and see if it works properly. My pal Joe is working on it with me, rather he is working on it FOR me...hehehe What a great bunch of guys.. peace

Pete

[thefu]

what controller do you have? Ill whip you up a simple gibbscam file

[pete from TN]

My controller is the Emerson Control techniques FNC control and while I appreciate it I do not see how that will help me? I am using my current sheetcam program and hope to use it for the time being until I can afford something 3d as we spoke of. Thanks tho I am appreciating it!! peace


Pete

[pete from TN]

Thanks so much Dernest for the kind beer!! Now if I can just figure out how to verify my paypal account so I can accept it. I tried to do it awhile back and could not find the damn deposits that they did so I am gonna try again I guess. It is apparently either that or apply for their Credit card. Sure appreciate it and it brings me that much closer to getting some decent tooling for the mill. If there is anything I can do for you please don't hesitate to ask.. :cheers: peace

Pete