[Flenser]

so you would put washers between the flange and the aluminum block?

Actually, I was thinking of the socket head bolts that hold the mount against the casting. That's a pretty small surface area for hardened steel to press against 6061 aluminum.

Jeff

[mattmark]

Actually, I was thinking of the socket head bolts that hold the mount against the casting. That's a pretty small surface area for hardened steel to press against 6061 aluminum.

Jeff

hey jeff - ahh, i get it thanks. will fix that...

i'm hoping to get this up and running and redo almost everything via cnc.. i'm obviously not a good machinist, but i've learned a lot about the "feel" and sounds of good/bad feeds from the experience

how's your conversion coming? i just read about your bad motor

matt

[Flenser]

hey jeff - ahh, i get it thanks. will fix that...

i'm hoping to get this up and running and redo almost everything via cnc.. i'm obviously not a good machinist, but i've learned a lot about the "feel" and sounds of good/bad feeds from the experience

how's your conversion coming? i just read about your bad motor

matt

We are all amateurs here... (well, I am anyway). I figure by the time I get enough experience to consider myself a good machinist, I will be interested in something else.

I did get the Y ballscrew chucked in the lathe and used a ceramic insert to machine one end. I discovered I had some PVC conduit just the right size to make a sleeve for the chuck. That ended up slipping a little while I was cutting, so I need to make an aluminum sleeve before I continue. It cut very well, though - 300 RPM, 0.005 DOC and 6 IPM. I'll probably be able to use the same cutting edge for all the ballscrews.

I also forgot I didn't have any bearings, so I'm sort of waiting for them to arrive before I finish the process. I ended up using bearings with a 17mm ID instead of the 15mm I would have preferred (and already have). I need a larger difference between the bearing ID and the 0.5" pulley ID to thread for a nut to clamp the bearings.

Jeff

[mattmark]

got the z-axis cnc'd now, and was testing the saddle. really need to get loctite involved. the LMB threaded bold isn't gripping enough with the set screws.

Finally bit the bullet and got my oiler system set up..

Bob, you mentioned drilling all the way to the dovetail for your oil ports on the table saddle. do you find that with the tapered gib installed, is the oil getting there ok?

i also had issues finding affordable check valves at the time, but have realized that it's not going to work well without them. i found some stc 1/8" tube/npt 1/8" for $9 each on ebay recently.. will probably get 4 for the manifolds that i've made one to split from the main line and 3 each to the left way/right way/ballnut.

has anyone ever heard of an npt tap that is cut short so that only the wider part is threading (for shallow holes)?

pix to come later..

jeff, glad to hear that you're getting progress on your conversion

matt

[Flenser]

1/8 hose barb, 1/8 npt $2.35 ea. I just bought a bunch of these this morning.

1/8" check valve $3.65 ea. It will probably ooze a little, but for the price I can live with it.

[BobWarfield]

Yep, you definitely want check valves, as the oil drains back without them and then you pump like crazy to get rid of the air bubbles.

Flenser, I wonder about those barb fittings on the plastic check valves. My impression is that the system creates a fair amount of back pressure. It'll be a real nuisance if the hoses can pop off, and the oil will certainly lubricate that possibility. (chair)

Probably the biggest problem with these systems is getting the metering right. The amount of flow resistance in each circuit is quite a bit different, and the oil wants to all go the path of least resistance. It's really hard to get things adjusted so that a pump delivers equal amounts of way oil to all the circuits.

I'd love to have something less bulky and geeky looking than all the flow valves on my mill, but I think figuring out a bunch of metering orifices would require a lot of trial and error. OTOH, it surely would be sweet when you got done.

Matt, in answer to your question, all axes are getting plenty of lube on both ways. I pump until I see it ooze out on all sides. Someday soon I will write a warm up g-code program to cycle all the axes throughout their travel while I am pumping the oil.

Once the machine is all lubed up it will run for hours without needing more oil. But, if I let it sit for a week and try to fire up without any way lube it will often servo fault on very short moves due to stiction.

Cheers,

BW

[Flenser]

Bob, I've used plastic barb fittings on some low pressure (100 psi) hydraulics with pretty good success. I did have to use hose clamps, though. I figure the oiler is low enough pressure I will be able to use a tie wrap for a clamp. If they blow off, well I'll have a mess to clean up

For restricting the flow, I'm thinking of clamping the hose with a ring and set screw. A friend uses something very similar to irrigate his tomato plants evenly from condensation out of his A/C. I know the oiler will use higher pressure, but it's worth a try. It sure won't the dumbest thing I've tried lately

On the through-hole to the dovetail, did you drill through the gib as well? I had been tossing around the idea of cutting oil slots in the gib. It seems like overkill, though.

Jeff

[gd.marsh]

Matt,

Glad you're moving right along ..

I'm not a big fan of doing things twice .. but it does seem when CNC'ing a mill if you can just get it up & running, you can re-make many of the parts much easier & better with CNC.

I'm still dinking around with the head on mine .. haven't even started messing with any of the axis yet .. but I'll get there eventually.

Gary

[mattmark]

thanks for all your encouragement and suggestions.. i think i really like the push fittings on the valves i picked up.. i experienced some of the back pressure you describe bob, on the brass fit "faucet" (controlling volume of flow) valves.. the photos & video will describe it best... i figure even though i've made some booboos on video, it'll encourage ppl to keep moving forward.. i realized i made some of the lines probably too long a need to get a bigger tube for the main line to the first manifold.

said boo boos:

oh yeah, i have the same question as jeff - bob, did you drill your tapered gib?

gary, it's definitely been a challenge to make a piece, realize it's not quite right and have to fudge the last 20%

for the z-axis mount, i basically drilled out the top panel thread locations and tapped for 1/4-20.

here's the saddle in action:


Matt

[mattmark]

went all out and mounted the head, retighted the ballscrew end nuts and used loctite.

did some step tests with the x and y using the indicator and 1-2-3 blocks. i could have tweaked the x steps, but didn't bother for this test.

tried the pencil test and it didn't work out too well..

played around with the circular pocket program and tested it without the spindle going and with the z-axis up.. and pretty much went for it.

2" diameter, 3/8" 6061 aluminum
1500 RPM, 5/8" 4-flute rougher.
feedrate 25 ipm? (i recall changing the default 30 to 25)
.25" of a step down.

doesn't seem to be any ramping. just used the default program and tweaked some of the settings.

very exciting.. almost a perfect circle, but i can tell something was happening during some of the cutting.. anyone have ideas about the slight stall? backlash?



Matt

[Flenser]

Looks great, Matt. Watching that mill cut a circle is almost painful when I think of how many times I turned the handles for half an hour to match 2 pages of numbers. And I still ended up with a jagged looking circle.

I couldn't detect the slight stall with the video running on this PC. If your circle is round, though, I don't think it can be backlash.

Jeff

[bill south]

Hey Guys;
Looking good Matt! Regarding metering valves, those little needle valves are fine but there are special valves that are automatic and have built in check valves. I refuribshed an old bridgeport which included the oiler system. All the little metering valves were gummed up from lack of use and I replaced them all. I was told that the old valves would not clean up very well. Long story short, there are various sizes of valves (orifaces) depending on the oil requriement of that particular section of machine. Worked wonderfully. I don't have any part numbers handy but a good schematic of a bridgeport oiling system will have all the reference numbers. Oil is your friend!
Bill

[mattmark]

thanks jeff - not sure if the cuts were too deep for the RPM or the feed, etc..

there are a couple of slightly flat parts on the circle. i wonder if a finish run would smooth it out.

gotta rewind a bit and get everything measured, ie backlash, etc.

hey bill - thanks, would this do the flow control direction and volume?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Deltrol-Flow-Con...c#ht_519wt_939

i hesitantly bought the needle valves.. but yes, i agree, just buy the proper stuff to start.. i even joined everyone on the kluber isoflex nbu 15 for the vfd/belt conversion..

also, what about these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/STC-pneumatic-fl...9#ht_500wt_956

too many little projects to do (want to get the lathe axis running eventually). anyone have any suggestions for solenoid valves (ie mach control of air lines) for disc brake?

matt

[BobWarfield]

Guys, I didn't drill or channel the gibs. There seems to be plenty of oil fling around this thing, LOL.

Cheers,

BW

[mattmark]

hey gang,

anyone using modbus (ie homann) to drive an ATC? or another way to get more step & direction out of mach3? from what i'm reading, doesn't look like this is what it's for.

in my current (crazy?) vision, will probably add a turrent tool post to the left side of the mill head and atc to the right so even for the 4-th access control and turrent that's axis 4 and 5.. in the fadal design of an ATC there's a down, across and rotation of the tool holders. could down and across be done via pneumatics?

in the next couple of days, will try and mount up the 4th servo to the lathe head... in the future aiming for a set up similar to simpson36 on the machsupport forums (disc brake and index pulse). anyone using the cnc4pc c3 pulse card for this or spindle tach info?

Matt

[mattmark]

Anyone have any good suggestions for solenoids? want to do a mach driven air piston...

any thoughts on these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Burkert-NC-24V-D...ht_5004wt_1137

Got the steps calibrated on the 3-axis.. the Y and Z seem to have very little backlash and i'm using 0.004" compensation on the X right now (still need to remake the ballnut mount)

next up is the lathe plate - bought some 1/2" steel plate to mount to the table (the old setup was just clamped to the table).. going to make some basic t-nuts to secure it.. i really want to get the servo driven 4-th axis going..

any suggestions for "affordable" 3d and cam software?

matt

[ninefinger]

Anyone have any good suggestions for solenoids? want to do a mach driven air piston...

any thoughts on these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Burkert-NC-24V-D...ht_5004wt_1137

Matt,

Says 7psi max....really depends on how you use the air piston but at 7psi max you won't get much in the way of force out of it, and probaly not much speed either.

Mike

[gd.marsh]

Matt,

Not sure what your requirements would have to be, but you'll probably find something here that would cover what you need ..

https://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.a...r&keyword=AVOC

On the 3D CAM software. We use Vectric 2D & 3D and they both do a really good job for us ..

Gary

[mattbesquare]

Anyone have any good suggestions for solenoids? want to do a mach driven air piston...

any thoughts on these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Burkert-NC-24V-D...ht_5004wt_1137

Your better off with one of these.. but you cant have that one because I already won.

So then maybe order some of these.

I ordered 3 and they arrived yesterday. they are 100 psi max, but that is enough to work with. I got my 24v power supply off ebay here and only god knows when that will arrive.

You said you already have an air cylinder right? I have an extra 2x2 inch bimba..

[mattmark]

hey guys,

thanks for the responses on CAD/CAM and solenoid valves.. been re-prioritized to the backyard work =)

i guess for solenoids - thinking one for a-axis brake (still not sure if i need this), one for a pneumatic tool changer and possibly for a mist/fog.. probably don't need too much pressure for these?

I'm thinking of getting a 7x11 vertical/horizontal bandsaw - if you could have 1 tool to remove/cut stock, which would it be? i've seen some interesting morse cutoff saws+blades that look pretty neat, but for what i've been doing so far, bandsaw seems to be the best fit (set it up horizontally and just let it go).

Any thoughts on this:
http://kbctoolsandmachinery.ca/product/show/6-280-005

it's all ready to go with coolant and i can go pick it up - sorta similar to grizzly's equivalent:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-x-...-Bandsaw/G0561

Matt