[stemulator]

I purchased a Grizzly G0619 mill last week for a CNC conversion and it will arrive next week. I have already purchased a deluxe kit from cncfusion to start the conversion and have a few questions about various other aspects of the conversion and for my future plans. This will be my first CNC conversion and the X3 had readily available kits and seemed like a good place to start. Originally wanted a RF-45 clone but I don’t think I have the skills to do that conversion or tools to fabricate the parts since my shop is a cabinet shop. Here are a couple of questions I have.

I have access to a Baldor IDM3661T motor and would like to replace the BLDC stock motor with it and a VFD when I can. This motor is considerably heavier, like 90 lbs heavier! So, would it be possible to use the Baldor if I added a couple of gas springs/struts and column reinforcement?

What would be the best electronics package i.e. steppers/servos, driver, and power supply? I was planning on using Keling products for my conversion. Here are the components I came up with based on the Baldor.
Steppers:
(1x) KL34H2160-62-8A 1810 oz-in for Z axis
(2x) KL23H2100-30-4BM 495 oz-in for X and Y

Drivers
(1x) KL-9082 for Z
(2x) KL-8060 for X and Y

Power Supply
KL- 7220

Break out boards
SmoothStepper USB Motion Control read it now has backlash correction
C23 - Dual Port Multifunction CNC Board

If I can’t use the Baldor then I’ll downgrade to smaller units like the Sieg kit offered by Keling. I’ll also be adding a power drawbar asap, so more weight there too. Would I better off with a servo kit over steppers in conjunction with the Baldor? If the Baldor is just wishful thinking on my part, any suggestion for the motor would be appreciate I’d like to stay in the 2 to 3hp range. I know I’ll have to fabricate a mount to place the motor on the top of the mill, but I could also add a dual ratio pulley system at the same time.

On the BOB. What is the advantage of the dual port board over a single port board C23 v C11? Is the second port for pendants, touch probes, and other input devices? i read the manuals on both and didn't see a whole lot of difference.

Going use the Tormach Tooling System too. Any suggestions on a quality VFD in the $750 range or less to go with Baldor? I think with a good sensoreless VFD I could get by with a 1:1 pulley system and be happy. I'll be using Mach3 so I'd like the VFD to interface Mach easily.

Sorry for the long post but wanted to provide as much info on my plans to the pro's out there in cnczone land.

Link to Baldor motor specs
Products: AC Motors: IDM3661T: Baldor Electric Company, a leader in energy efficient electric motors, linear motors and adjustable speed drives industry

Thank you,
Greg Stem

[cornbinder23]

WOW!! 2-3hp on an SX3?
I am not trying to neahsay here but I doubt you will ever see enough mass and rigidity to utilize that HP on the SX3.(I bet you will be surprised by the stock BLDC capabilities, minus no mach control. Its a strong motor)
I have a 1HP baldor motor and VFD set-up, on my SX3 and It seems to be the perfect fit. I am matching it with this sensorless vector drive from factory mation 7300CV Series Compact Vector AC Drive 1/2 to 10HP
And as far as electronics packages go, I personally would go with the G540 from geckodrives, matched with 2 nema 23 381oz and 1 906oz nema 34motors from keling, and a 48v power supply.
The 906oz motor detunes to 520oz with the 3.5 amp limit on the G540 but with pulley reduction it bumps back up to 640oz-670oz, and with the gas strut I reach 150ipm rapids reliably.
Have you seen Page 30
If you ordered the CNCFUSION deluxe kit make sure it comes with the "CR" option. Although I believe now all you have to do is tell Michael you are using a G540 and it will be shipped with the proper pulleys for the Z.
Here is a link to my ongoing build, keep telling myself I need to update but been really busy lately:tired:http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...eady_go-5.html
Anyway, what are you going to use the machine for? What materials are you going to cut?
Also, when did the SS get backlash comp? Is it an update for existing users or will they have to buy new for the new features


JTCUSTOMS

[stemulator]

For anyone who wants to check out the smoothstepper backlash update this is what I was able to find.

Warp9TD Downloads

Looks like the update was released on 5-21-2011. I'm new to all of this so I may be wrong. I came across it while researching for conversion. I'll be posting pictures once I have my supplies. Keep the recommendations coming!

Thanks for the replies,
-Greg

[stemulator]

Any recommendations on limit, home switches, and placement? Looking at the Honeywell SZL-VL-A for limits, but seems I read they don't work well on Z axis due to size. Any suggestions for Z axis limts and what home switches are most commonly used?

-Greg

[cornbinder23]

Personally I would not get caught up in wiring limit switches on a machine of this size, you are using steppers so they will stall if they come into a hard stop, If you were using servos or looking at 500-1000ipm rapids then they would probably be a good idea, You can just use home switches and set up soft limits in mach3.
Or... you could use home switches and also use them for limits as well.
I would just use 3 limit switches, as it simplifies the wiring and makes things nice and tidy, also putting the switches at the extents of the travels might eat up a quarter inch or so of travels and we all want as much travels as we can get!!

JTCUSTOMS

[stemulator]

Received the mill today. Looks good, no damage, and lots of packaging goo/grease to clean. Now the waiting game begins for parts to arrive.

-Greg

[cornbinder23]

Personally I would not get caught up in wiring limit switches on a machine of this size, you are using steppers so they will stall if they come into a hard stop, If you were using servos or looking at 500-1000ipm rapids then they would probably be a good idea, You can just use home switches and set up soft limits in mach3.
Or... you could use home switches and also use them for limits as well.
I would just use 3 limit switches, as it simplifies the wiring and makes things nice and tidy, also putting the switches at the extents of the travels might eat up a quarter inch or so of travels and we all want as much travels as we can get!!

JTCUSTOMS

I meant to say home switches not limit switches sorry

JTCUSTOMS

[stemulator]

Parts are starting to arrive and I think I may have made a major mistake and need a little help before I start opening thing. I ordered 3 Gecko G213V drivers for (2) Keling 425 oz-in Nema 23s and (1) Keling 1200 oz-in Nema 34 motor. I also ordered an Antekinc PS-15N70R5 70 Volt 1500 Watt power supply. I have (2) 36k and (1) 270k current resistors that the Gecko manual calls for on each of the motors. What concerns me is the power supply it seems way to large. The Gecko manual says to calculate the PSU unit using the formula 32 * (Square Root of inductance (mH)).

Motos wired parallel
425 oz-in: (7.5mH^0.5)x32= 87.64 Volts
1200 oz-in: (6.5mH^0.5)x32= 81.58 Volts

Have I totally jacked up my PSU calculation? Can I use this PSU even if it is too large? I don’t want to connect all the electronics and plug it in and watch the “magic smoke” come out of everything.

Thanks
Greg

[stemulator]

Installed my cncfusion premium kit and I have a horrible banging/clicking noise in the z axis. The noise only occurs when the z axis is being raised and there is no noise when the z is being lowered. It is quiet loud and it's definately coming from the ball nut area that attaches to the mill head. I made a video but can't upload it to this site because it's 1.5 megs. I can email it to anyone who is willing to take a look/listen.

Thanks,
Greg

[doorknob]

Parts are starting to arrive and I think I may have made a major mistake and need a little help before I start opening thing. I ordered 3 Gecko G213V drivers for (2) Keling 425 oz-in Nema 23s and (1) Keling 1200 oz-in Nema 34 motor. I also ordered an Antekinc PS-15N70R5 70 Volt 1500 Watt power supply. I have (2) 36k and (1) 270k current resistors that the Gecko manual calls for on each of the motors. What concerns me is the power supply it seems way to large. The Gecko manual says to calculate the PSU unit using the formula 32 * (Square Root of inductance (mH)).

Motos wired parallel
425 oz-in: (7.5mH^0.5)x32= 87.64 Volts
1200 oz-in: (6.5mH^0.5)x32= 81.58 Volts

Have I totally jacked up my PSU calculation? Can I use this PSU even if it is too large? I don’t want to connect all the electronics and plug it in and watch the “magic smoke” come out of everything.

Thanks
Greg

Your PSU is rated for 70 volts out while your stepper motor voltage calculations are both above 80 volts.

Your PSU is not too large.

[doorknob]

Installed my cncfusion premium kit and I have a horrible banging/clicking noise in the z axis. The noise only occurs when the z axis is being raised and there is no noise when the z is being lowered. It is quiet loud and it's definately coming from the ball nut area that attaches to the mill head. I made a video but can't upload it to this site because it's 1.5 megs. I can email it to anyone who is willing to take a look/listen.

Thanks,
Greg

There's a good discussion of ball screw/ball nut noise in this thread:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...sion_done.html

[hoss2006]

I made a video but can't upload it to this site because it's 1.5 megs. I can email it to anyone who is willing to take a look/listen.

Thanks,
Greg

Upload your video to youtube and then post the link here.
Hoss

[LazyMan]

Personally I would not get caught up in wiring limit switches on a machine of this size, you are using steppers so they will stall if they come into a hard stop, If you were using servos or looking at 500-1000ipm rapids then they would probably be a good idea

I have to agree with this. I was planning on wiring limits on my mill just for the feeling of safety, but I never use the homing function on a mill and it just takes up travel. Glad I didn't bother because it really wouldn't be protecting anything on my machine.