[BubbleOne]

Hello everyone,

I am planning to convert a TITAN TM16V milling machine to CNC, I am waiting on delivery
of the machine which is being shipped monday along with a TL210V Lathe which will also be converted.

I have the ball screws and ball nuts, 5mm pitch, though they need to be cut to length and machined.





Here is a link to Titan Machinery for anyone interested
Titan Machinery

I have recently received my Geckodrive G540 controller, 378 Oz-In Motors, 48v 12.5 Amp PSU and wiring from

AusXmods - Modify Your World

Their prices were good.

I took a number of photos of the controller. After close inspection I noticed not all of the transitors made good contact with
the back plate of the housing. Since this back plate provides a medium for heat dissipation I decided to disassemble the
controller and add some silicone heat transfer paste to the Transitors. I don't recommend anyone else doing this as it
may void any warranty, do at your own risk.

The motors I have choosen are rated at 3.5 amps, the max power handling of G251 controllers inside the G540 so efficient
cooling is important.





Back panel removed, also two of the four G251 controller boards removed from housing, two remain.



Showing the Transistor side of the G251 controller, the side that contacts the rear of the encloser for cooling purposes.



The other side of the controller showing the connector that interfaces with the board housing the DB25 and BD9 sockets etc.







The next photo shows two NEMA 23 stepper motors, the larger, one of four that came with the kit, is a 60mm frame size, the smaller one, one
of two I had laying around is a 57mm frame size.



I will be posting more photos and so on as things progress and will add some closeup shots of various aspects of the project to create a concise visual
experiance of the project for anyone thinking of doing the same with a Titan Mill or Lathe.

[LatheMaster]

That Titan looks like a Harbor Frieght model but there are little differences . Nice pics on the Gecko . I wondered what the inside looked like . Is the column on that mill solid ?

Man , your going balls out . Lathe and mill all at once . Cant wait to get a lathe myself .

[BubbleOne]

Apparently it has a box section column. Prior to buying the G540 I hunted all over the net for some decent photos, inside and out, I didn't really find any. I like to see the details of what I am buying so I thought for the sake of others I would take the photos. There will be plenty more, lots of closeups too!

[BubbleOne]

I recently bought a bench from Hare & Forbes, I am very happy with it, it is very sturdy, has a 50mm top, adustable feet etc, I recommend it!


My Lathe and Mill will probably live on it, eventually within an enclosure.

If your living in Australia and interested in the specs check it out at
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=A420

[BubbleOne]

Man , your going balls out . Lathe and mill all at once . Cant wait to get a lathe myself .

LOL, I am also doing a CNC router too for softer materials. I have the linear guides and most of whats needed, I will be using the Lathe and Mill to produce the parts for it. The usable table size is 1050mm x 500mm with 200mm on the Z axis.

I am going to be busy

[BubbleOne]

Have had the Mill and Lathe for just over a week now. Been busy with the cleaning of grease and gunk from both and enclosure design. Thought I would
upload a few photos I took prior to my upcoming cnc mod posts. You may notice I have stripped off a few parts from the Lathe and Mill already.

[BubbleOne]

I had originaly decided to mount CPU Heatsinks and Fans onto the back of
the G540 Case. As mentioned ealier pulling apart the G540 revealed terrible
contact between the semiconductors of the G251 drivers inside and the G540
aluminium housing so heat transfer paste was added. When trying the CPU
heatsinks against the back of the G540 housing I noticed the back panel was
warped and did not sit well against the heatsinks.

I decided to remove the G251's and mount them directly onto the Heatsinks. Eight holes had to be drilled into the heatsinks and tapped with 2-56 threads.

I did see the paper on the Geckodrive website regarding cooling and the
addition of an external heatsink and results. Between the warped housing
and the bad contact between the housing and semiconductors I am not
suprised adding heatsinks to the back of the case made little difference, I am
sure with what I have done it will.









The Heatsinks with Fans I got on Ebay for $AU1.00 each

Something worth mentioning, the cables that will be connected via the screw
terminal block on the back of the driver all need to be screwed inplace before
the breakout board and drives are pressed together. Also the front panel was
trimed at the sides so not to interfer with the heatsink.

[LatheMaster]

I have that vise you got . The 3" LMS vise . Works great .

I have to send my gecko in already . The number 10 pin has an intermitent connection that trips the home switch . I asked gecko if they thought it would be an easy solder fix that I could do myself without voiding the warranty . They said to send it in . Downtime for me darn it . My Y axis has
.009 of backlash with preloaded balls from CNCFusion and they cut the X and Y 3/8 and the Z 5/16 so I have a $35 coupler I cant use now . Got a new one on order though . I thought checking the size on one screw would suffice . NOT .

I like your Gecko setup . Mine is still mounted on a board with no fans and it gets HOT . Gecko said 80deg celsius is the max temp it should get . Problem with mine is the 10 pin still wiggles after tightning .

What did you get the heatsinks out of ? I have a electronics surplus store down the road . Might rumage around and see if I can find some . What are the dimensions of yours ?

[BubbleOne]

I have that vise you got . The 3" LMS vise . Works great .

I have to send my gecko in already . The number 10 pin has an intermitent connection that trips the home switch . I asked gecko if they thought it would be an easy solder fix that I could do myself without voiding the warranty . They said to send it in . Downtime for me darn it . My Y axis has
.009 of backlash with preloaded balls from CNCFusion and they cut the X and Y 3/8 and the Z 5/16 so I have a $35 coupler I cant use now . Got a new one on order though . I thought checking the size on one screw would suffice . NOT .

I like your Gecko setup . Mine is still mounted on a board with no fans and it gets HOT . Gecko said 80deg celsius is the max temp it should get . Problem with mine is the 10 pin still wiggles after tightning .

What did you get the heatsinks out of ? I have a electronics surplus store down the road . Might rumage around and see if I can find some . What are the dimensions of yours ?

G'day,

I got the heatsinks on Ebay, $1 each, here is the store,

New AMD CPU Athlon 64 HEATSINK FAN SOCKET AM2 939 940 | eBay

They measure 76mm Wide x 68mm High as seen in my pictures and 51mm from the Heatsink edge to the edge of the Fan.

The Vise I have is a 3inch Shoba brand, it's great, love it, used it to hold the Heatsinks while drilling the holes.

The enclouse I am using comes from Jaycar electronics though it is stocked by others too. I pick it up later today.

Professional Bench Enclosure 88x279x304mm - Jaycar Electronics

Hope you get your G540 back and running soon!

[BubbleOne]

IMPORTANT
Something very important to mention is should you decide to remove your G250 drives and
mount them onto heatsinks ensure to isolate the mosfets by means of an insulative heat
transfer tape. I have used tape and thermal paste, it's up to you what you use but
ensure there is isolation between heatsinks and mosfets. As mentioned in the manual G250
manuals the back cover of the G540 is hard anodized and provides this insulation, a standard unanodized heatsink does not.

[Johann ohnesorg]

A few comments on the mill: Clean out the head, there´s a shipload full of dirt and ground cast iron in there, mixed with grease. You´ll find this in the bearings too. The lower bearing is a deep groove bearing that will fall apart (it´s meant to, no damage done) when you disassemble it. Mine went into the ultrasonic cleaner to get all the swarf out. Especially from the ball cage that´s made of Tufnol and incorporates the fine swarf and grinding residues. Obviously, it shouldn´t be like this. Much better runout afterwards. Make sure the upper bearing on the spindle is a tight sliding fit, not a press fit. Not tight, not loose, Schlip but not Schlop. Otherwise setting preload is a royal PITA.
The plastic gears are pretty brittle, alter the drive to a belt drive, otherwise you´ll have to do it later on with no mill at hand. To compensate for the brittle main gears they made the primary gear of a low melting plastic. Mine heated up (don´t ask me why, it had a little bit of play as it should have) and melted during a long run when I was reaming and chamfering a few parts.
I took of the electronics box and relocated it to the column. This left me with a very slim machine head and is great to get light on the work. It also allows easy access to the vise for measuring or for knocking down work with a lead mallet.


And read Degreasers thread on stretching X axis travel to 6 inches before you cut the ballscrews to short!

Cheers,
Johann

[The Blight]

IMPORTANT
Something very important to mention is should you decide to remove your G250 drives and
mount them onto heatsinks ensure to isolate the mosfets by means of an insulative heat
transfer tape. I have used tape and thermal paste, it's up to you what you use but
ensure there is isolation between heatsinks and mosfets. As mentioned in the manual G250
manuals the back cover of the G540 is hard anodized and provides this insulation, a standard unanodized heatsink does not.

Maybe you could edit this information into your earlier post on the matter. Just a tip to avoid people only seeing the first post and thinking it's ok.

[BubbleOne]

Maybe you could edit this information into your earlier post on the matter. Just a tip to avoid people only seeing the first post and thinking it's ok.

Unfortunately we can't edit our posts. I have run my controller and three motors for an extended period of time and have found the heatsinks don't get even luke warm.

[BubbleOne]

A few comments on the mill: Clean out the head, there´s a shipload full of dirt and ground cast iron in there, mixed with grease. You´ll find this in the bearings too. The lower bearing is a deep groove bearing that will fall apart (it´s meant to, no damage done) when you disassemble it. Mine went into the ultrasonic cleaner to get all the swarf out. Especially from the ball cage that´s made of Tufnol and incorporates the fine swarf and grinding residues. Obviously, it shouldn´t be like this. Much better runout afterwards. Make sure the upper bearing on the spindle is a tight sliding fit, not a press fit. Not tight, not loose, Schlip but not Schlop. Otherwise setting preload is a royal PITA.
The plastic gears are pretty brittle, alter the drive to a belt drive, otherwise you´ll have to do it later on with no mill at hand. To compensate for the brittle main gears they made the primary gear of a low melting plastic. Mine heated up (don´t ask me why, it had a little bit of play as it should have) and melted during a long run when I was reaming and chamfering a few parts.
I took of the electronics box and relocated it to the column. This left me with a very slim machine head and is great to get light on the work. It also allows easy access to the vise for measuring or for knocking down work with a lead mallet.


And read Degreasers thread on stretching X axis travel to 6 inches before you cut the ballscrews to short!

Cheers,
Johann

Thanks for the Tips Johann. A belt drive conversion is next on my list

[toranacar]

Thanks for the Tips Johann. A belt drive conversion is next on my list

Are you in Sydney?
Nice thread, very interesting, i would like to do something similar but on a larger scale. I would like the ability to carve out wheel centers but mainly smaller custom interior and exterior parts for custom/modified cars.
How would this retrofit system compare to a factory complete cnc? Is there a price advantage? And what CAD CAM software do you intend to use?
Keep up the great work
Bart

[BubbleOne]

Are you in Sydney?
Nice thread, very interesting, i would like to do something similar but on a larger scale. I would like the ability to carve out wheel centers but mainly smaller custom interior and exterior parts for custom/modified cars.
How would this retrofit system compare to a factory complete cnc? Is there a price advantage? And what CAD CAM software do you intend to use?
Keep up the great work
Bart

G'day Bart, I'm in QLD,

When you say carve out wheel centers do you mean that your thinking of making wheels from scratch and from solid ?

Most alloy car wheels I would say are cast first then machined to minimise waste material and machining associated costs like tooling and time. It would cost a fortune to get a piece of aluminum the size of a full size car wheel and in the correct alloy, take a fair time to machine and you would be buried in swarf lol

There can be cost advantages to retro fitting a machine but if you choose to do so It is very wise to choose a machine that has a history of being retro-fitted, that way you know it can be done, what is involved, what parts are required and the costs. There are so many machines out there to choose from. It is also easy to spend just as much if not more on tooling and accessories. I am sure there is someone on CNCZone that is doing larger scale work and could help you far more than I.

Something to consider when buying a machine is what you will be making with it, how large the items will be, and how much power you will need, also how you will actually go about machining them, will you need to mount your parts in a vice, on a rotary table etc, then consider the size of that vice, rotary table, or other device and ask what size machine that can handle that weight and size of both of material and work holding gear, how much material will be removed, the size of cutters involved and the power requirements to do it.

For example a 100mm rotary table can weight anywhere between 4 and 10 kg's where as a 250mm rotary table could weight 45 kg's or more, if you needed to rotate a car wheel I would imagine you would be looking at a table of 500mm in size, you would need a crane just to mount it! From the tool marks seen on wheels I think many are also turned on a Lathe as well as milled.

How my retrofit would compare to a factory complete cnc I guess would depend on what you were comparing it with, there are some less exspensive setups out there, some are retro fittted machines with frills, while others of comparable size, such as Wabeco machines are beautiful precision made machines, most here would start drooling at the thought of owning one lol but they cost a packet!

What ever you do, don't be discouraged, do some research, and keep posting on CNCZone

[toranacar]

G'day Bart, I'm in QLD,

When you say carve out wheel centers do you mean that your thinking of making wheels from scratch and from solid ?

Most alloy car wheels I would say are cast first then machined to minimise waste material and machining associated costs like tooling and time. It would cost a fortune to get a piece of aluminum the size of a full size car wheel and in the correct alloy, take a fair time to machine and you would be buried in swarf lol

There can be cost advantages to retro fitting a machine but if you choose to do so It is very wise to choose a machine that has a history of being retro-fitted, that way you know it can be done, what is involved, what parts are required and the costs. There are so many machines out there to choose from. It is also easy to spend just as much if not more on tooling and accessories. I am sure there is someone on CNCZone that is doing larger scale work and could help you far more than I.

Something to consider when buying a machine is what you will be making with it, how large the items will be, and how much power you will need, also how you will actually go about machining them, will you need to mount your parts in a vice, on a rotary table etc, then consider the size of that vice, rotary table, or other device and ask what size machine that can handle that weight and size of both of material and work holding gear, how much material will be removed, the size of cutters involved and the power requirements to do it.

For example a 100mm rotary table can weight anywhere between 4 and 10 kg's where as a 250mm rotary table could weight 45 kg's or more, if you needed to rotate a car wheel I would imagine you would be looking at a table of 500mm in size, you would need a crane just to mount it! From the tool marks seen on wheels I think many are also turned on a Lathe as well as milled.

How my retrofit would compare to a factory complete cnc I guess would depend on what you were comparing it with, there are some less exspensive setups out there, some are retro fittted machines with frills, while others of comparable size, such as Wabeco machines are beautiful precision made machines, most here would start drooling at the thought of owning one lol but they cost a packet!

What ever you do, don't be discouraged, do some research, and keep posting on CNCZone

Thanks mate
I have a cousin in Qld who worked on CNC Centers
So a wise thing to do would probably be start from the company who sells the steppers and controllers and work out the power i need, the machine i need to use for retro fitting compatibility and material i want to cut etc
The wheel center is basically the center face of the wheel which can be welded or bolted onto the outer pre made rim/hoop.
The mill i want to use is the Hafco, roughly $7000 mark, pretty solid unit i think. Any thoughts?

[toranacar]

Thanks mate
I have a cousin in Qld who worked on CNC Centers
So a wise thing to do would probably be start from the company who sells the steppers and controllers and work out the power i need, the machine i need to use for retro fitting compatibility and material i want to cut etc
The wheel center is basically the center face of the wheel which can be welded or bolted onto the outer pre made rim/hoop.
The mill i want to use is the Hafco, roughly $7000 mark, pretty solid unit i think. Any thoughts?

Something like this
240V
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...tockCode=M603D
Or
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...tockCode=M604D
Or

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...tockCode=M607D

I think these would be solid enough?

[BubbleOne]

Ok, it's been a while since I made a post, been busy elsewhere. I wound up stripping all of the paint and putty from the lathe bed (The headstock is next) so that I could see clearly what was under it but also because some of the paint was falling off which lead me to believe it was rusty underneath, which it was. Most was done with paint stripper and a wire brush but I also used electrolysis to finish the job (I'll add some photos and info soonish).

The saddle that came with the lathe is rubish so I'll be making a replacement from scratch rather than trying to fix and modify the old one, since it's going to be a CNC machine it's easier to rebuild then modify to take the new parts, ballscrews/nuts ect.

I also need to make a new Tailstock, original also rubish, so there will be plenty of pictures to come.

Also, rather than use the Gecko drive as is, I have decided to mount the individual drivers elsewhere, perhaps near the motors and discard the idea of having the drivers and power supply in a single enclosure. I'm also going to get some smaller faster steppers and drive the screws via a belt drive setup to get the torque, the motors I had already purchase are too heavy but will come in useful for something else.

[port_huon]

So how is the mill CNC going?