[SmoggyTurnip]

Hi all. I am about to Convert my X3 mill and my g0602 lathe to CNC control. Here are all of the threads that I read about converting the X3:

Bob Berg
09-14-2004
DIY
Servos with 5/8" 5 TPI Rockford Standard Grade Ballscrew and Ball nuts
CNC Conversion of a Sieg X-3 Mil

jl123
07-06-2006
CNC Fusion kit
3 Gecko 202 + G100
Pics of ball screw ends on page 11
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht..._them_all.html

Greolt
08-15-2006
Syil conversion kit
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/syil_p..._kit_syil.html

S_J_H
09-24-2006
DIY
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...its_alive.html


cadmonkey
06-08-2008
DIY NOOK screws
G203V drives
300 oz, 300 oz, 600 oz 2.6:1 for x,y,z
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...onversion.html

Matt McColley
03-12-2009
DIY screws
First attempt at N34 Z axis
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...d_odyssey.html

MRM RCModels
02-26-2008
CNC Fusion x3 delux kit with Crevice Reamer G540 option
3 Gecko drives 203V
2 425 oz Stepper Motors (x and y)
1 640 oz Stepper Motor (z)
1000W Power Supply w/ 12v & 5V outputs (1)
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...usion_kit.html

Eternal
08-11-2010
CNC Fusion x3 delux kit with Crevice Reamer G540 option
G540
2 Keling KL23H2100-35-4B 381 oz (x and y)
1 Keling KL34H295-43-8A 906 oz N34 motor for Z
Keling KL-350-48 48V/7.3A PSU
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...ill_build.html

CreviseReamer
Date unknown
CNC Fusion x3 delux kit
Page 29

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And here are all I have read about the G0602:

derekbackus
Start date:06-10-2008
Started with:
CNC4PC C11 Multifunction Break-Out-Board
- CNC4PC C21 Voltage Regulation Unit (supplies power to the C11 board)
- Xylotex 3 Axis Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver "Kit" With Power Supply, 269oz/in Steppers.
then switchwed to Gecko Drive
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...onversion.html


Crevice Reamer
Start date: 06-02-2010
Stock screws
G540
Modified Keling 270 motor for X
Keling 381 motor for Z
Keling 48V PSU
Hall Effect indexing sensor and Home switches.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...onversion.html


Steelpolish
Start date: 12-08-2009
2 Gecko 203V
2 425 oz.in. Nema 23 Stepper Motors
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...onversion.html
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If you know of any other threads that I should look at please let me know.

[SmoggyTurnip]

For electronics and motors I am thinking about using:

X3 Mill:
G540 3 axis package (one G540 + one NEMA 34 KL34H295-43-8B,
906 oz-in +Two NEMA 23 KL23H2100-35-4B (1/4” Dual shaft with a
flat) 381 oz-in + one KL-600-48 48V/12.5A 115V /230V
power supply): $581.95

G0602 Lathe:
The same G540 and Two NEMA 23 KL23H2100-35-4B (1/4” Dual shaft with a
flat) 381 oz-in.

I would have ordered these today but as usual American companys like to make things difficult for us Canadians so I have to email for a quote first and I am now waiting a reply.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I am thinking about ordering ballscrews from these guys:

3 RM1605-250/680/900mm ballscrews + 3 sets BK/BF12 on eBay.ca (item 250543639705 end time 31-Dec-10 06:03:55 EST)

They may be a long way away but all I have to do is click the button and they will ship to me right away. Any opinions on these screws?

[SmoggyTurnip]

I want to use pulleys to drive the lead screws on all the axis of the mill to keep the size of the work envelope down. Similar to the machine shown here PROMiCA - CNCKits. Can someone give me some advice on how to size the pulleys and belts for this?

What pulleys are used for the cncfusion kit with the crevice reamer option for the z axis on the X3?

[SmoggyTurnip]

Now I am confused about timing belts. Which is the best material for this application; urethane, neoprene, or silicone? And which is the best tension member; fiberglass, polyester or kevlar?

[SmoggyTurnip]

I am suprised that I did not hear back from Keling yet. Does anybody know if they are closed for the holidays?

I am also surprised that nobody had anything to say about the timing belts. Its like that information is secrete or something. I have spent hours searching this forum and most threads that metion timing belts say they got them from SDP/SI. But any of the threads that i have read that talk about material say that the best material for tension member is steel but that is not a choice at SDP/DI. So just what are people using?

[SmoggyTurnip]

Thanks HimyKabibble and Bubba. This is great info. I got a response from Keling and I ordered the electronics. 5 steppers, 1 power supply, 1 G540 controller. Total cost was $745.00 including shipping to Canada. I think that is a great deal.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I just ordered 5 ballscrews from linearmotion2008. 3 for the X3 mill and 2 for the G0602 lathe.

RM1605-400mm
RM1605-450mm
RM1605-700mm
RM1605-900mm
RM2005-1000mm

All with antibacklash nuts.

[SmoggyTurnip]

Got my electronics from Keling yesterday. That was quicker than I thought. So far all I did was put 110 volts to the power supply (KL-600-48) and check the output voltages. 48 volts was OK (48.00) , 5 Volts was OK (5.00) , but the 12 volts output measured only 3.4 volts. I didn`t even know there was a 5volt output or a 12 volt output so maybe this is normal? Does anyone know what the current rating for the 5 volt output is? Is there suposed to be a 12 volt output on this power supply?

[doorknob]

The docs don't specify either 5V or 12V outputs, but Keling is not the manufacturer of the power supply, so maybe they supply different base models from time to time depending on what they can source from their Chinese distributors.

http://www.kelinginc.net/KL-600-48.pdf

Upon looking at your photo, it sure appears like the power supply that they sent you claims to have 5V and 12V outputs.

[rwskinner]

It actually would be nice to know if those have 12 and 5 volts also like the ones in the picture on Kelings site, of course he really doesn't provide good accurate descriptions and no matter what power supply you click on they all have the same picture. Having the 5, 12, and 48 all in one box saves lots of room and wiring.

Richard

The docs don't specify either 5V or 12V outputs, but Keling is not the manufacturer of the power supply, so maybe they supply different base models from time to time depending on what they can source from their Chinese distributors.

http://www.kelinginc.net/KL-600-48.pdf

Upon looking at your photo, it sure appears like the power supply that they sent you claims to have 5V and 12V outputs.

[SmoggyTurnip]

Today I wired up my steppers. This is my first experance with steppers. Everything worked without a single hitch! To set the current level for the motor I wired a 5K pot to pins 1 and 5 of the DB9 connector and adjusted the resistance to 3.5K-ohms. I downloaded Mach3 and ran it for the first time today. I spent alot of time watching the mach3 video tutorials on Artsofts web site which were really great. I was able to get my steppers going forward, and reverse at all different speeds making pretty noises etc. Things are looking good. Now waithing for ballscrews from china.

[SmoggyTurnip]

Total cost for 5 ballscrews was $349.00 including shipping.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I thought I ordered 2 extra 381 oz-in KL23H2100-35-4B for my lathe but I ordered two 425 oz-in KL23H286-20-8B instead (Copy and paste without reading I guess) . They should work though. I did want to have the x and y the same on both the mill and lathe so that I wouldn't have to adjust the trim pot on the g540 when switching from the mill to the lathe. For now I will be able to test out both and see which is best and then I will re-order so that I can have them all the same and I will use one of the extras for a 4th axis and one for some future project.

[SmoggyTurnip]

Here is what the ballscrews look like as I received them today. They do not have detectable backlash when examining them by hand. Those 5 little things at the bottom right hand corner are 5 grease nipples that I almost missed when unpacking the screws. I have no idea how they attach to the ball nuts yet. I now have all of the major components for both my conversions. All the steppers, electronics, ballscrews, timing belts and pulleys.

Total cost so far $1301 including shipping. This is for 2 machines.

[SmoggyTurnip]

Using my X3 I made some parts to mount the NEMA 34 stepper motor for the Z axis. Parts for the sides were made from 318 stainless steel and the motor mount plate was from 1018 steel. Aluminum would have been a better choice but I had these pieces in the scrap bin and they were very close to the right size so I used them. I drilled and tapped 4 holes (2 each side) in the z column to attach the side plates. The drilling and tapping was very easy in the cast iron column. The holes were slightly off position, (i didn't use a transfer punch) so I had to do some milling on the mounting holes in the stainless steel which explains why the holes in the pic are slightly oval.

I think I will finish the whole Z axis before I make any parts for the X and Y axis. Then I won't have to crank the Z axis by hand when making the X and Y parts. (Yes I know I am lazy, thats why I'm doing all this work.)

[SmoggyTurnip]

Made this adpapter so that I don't have to take the head off the machine to add the ball screw. Started machining the ball screw for the Z axis last night.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I machined the ball screw for my z axis. I did this on my G0602 lathe. I made an aluminum sleave to hold the ball screw. It had a 16mm id and a wall thickness or .1 inch. I cut a slit in it so that it would expand enough to put the screw into it. I put it in my 4 jaw and centered it by laying a parallel on top of it. One end of the parallel was sitting on the screw and the other end was sitting on my tool holder. The dial indicator was set on the parallel just above the screw. The parallel was wide enough that it covered about 3 threads. This worked very well. When It was centered I could not see the needle move at all. I used an 80 degree carbide insert, 720 rpm, .004" depth of cut untill the case hardend material was removed. After that I increased the depth of cut to about .02". Every thing went straight forward with no surprises. For the last few passes I used a high positive rake insert and then finally some 1500 grit sandpaper wetted with wd40.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I got my z axis all hooked up and ready to go. I started up mach3, zeroed my z axis and ran the z axis up 1 inch at 30 ipm. YES IT WORKS!! OK now down 1 inch YEA SO MUCH FUN!!! Lets go up 2 inches then down 2 inches. YES!! YES!! Lets try 4 inches .... NOOOOOOOOoooooo.

x3 conversion pictures by SmoggyTurnip - Photobucket

It would crash on the way up and then wen I moved down it would crash again after about 6 inches or so. Always at the same 2 places.

I disconnected the side plates so that the only the ballnut and and back plate would move when the axis was commanded to move. It would go the full range. What is going on here?? The problem must be between the head and the ways??