[yolklab]

hi
thought these photos might be of interest to someone who wants to convert a BF46.

machine arrives in crate:


first inspection:


planned retrofit in solidworks:


centroid/ajax components arrived:


cabinet/cabling (should have chosen a bigger cabinet)


installed ball screws (hiwin)


installed limit switches and gas springs (not really necessary as motors ave enough torque)


limit switches on X and Y


machine running for the first time


machining mounting plate for additional high speed spindle, elte 2.2 kw


mounting plate machined


high speed spindle installed

[Spinnetti]

Very nice..

[dovo]

beautiful conversion, very nice machine, have you some video?

[yolklab]

thanx. not yet - will shoot one soon

[LUCKY13]

Dude that is a very sweet setup. The machine looks like it is well built also.


I have not seen one of these machines, what are they compairable to ? Is it the same size as a RF-45 ? It looks a little bit smaller but its hard to tell in a pic. The way it is built I would expect it to be bigger than a RF-45, but again a pic is just hard to judge by.


By all means, we need vids of this baby cutting and running. Also very interested in the performance of the Centroid system. It should rock.
Infact the system as a whole should be quit the performer.

Jess

[LUCKY13]

I just found alisting for one of these machines, it appears to be of the same size as a RF-45.


In the listing is quoted it as being "CNC Prepaired".
What does this mean exactly?



One thing is for sure, these are nice machines that come equiped quit nicely.



AGain, we need video's, LOL.

Great built.


Jess

[yolklab]

the machine is a bit bigger than the rf-45 and heavier - 480 kg=1058 lbs naked, before the conversion, without the base-cabinet.
mine does 10" travel in y, but travel is a bit shorter in x than the rf-45, roughly 19".

the centroid controller is great. i had a cnc router with a dinky stepper controller/motors and i hated it. so i wanted a good controller. for this machine it's a bit over the top - but it was the only machine i was able to get down to the basement in parts. would prefer a pratt&whitney wolverine - maybe next time
you can see some great centroid conversions here: [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyfqrDtY4E"]YouTube - ‪CENTROID CNC retrofit tour by CNC Design and Electronics, Archival video.‬‏[/nomedia]

cnc prepared means: saddle and x-axis have enough room for 25mm ballscrews. in very early models you had to cut into the iron to make space.
also you can buy ballscrews from optimum that will fit the machine and they sell their own cnc conversion kit. it's a stepper solution so i was not interested.
had my own hiwin ballscrews made to my needs and threw away all the bearings and replaced them with proper ones - where the balls are not cubes but actual spheres

[yolklab]

maybe this image helps a bit better evaluating the size - on the table is a ISO40 taper with a 20mm (.78") roughing end mill.

it's not really big compared to a serious mill but suits my needs of doing prototyping in aluminum.

[yolklab]

silly test
5083 aluminum, 8mm ball nose cutter, parallel and spiral finishing with side attached elte spindle at 12K

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srSQPSGdUWs]BF46 CNC centroid retrofit - YouTube[/ame]

[digits]

That is very nice!

I'm a bit surprised you put the VFD on the head though - are those cooling vents out of the path of any chips?

Is it just the video, or is that Elte spindle nice and quiet, even at 12k - and are you running an air blast in that video, or is there just the pool of lubricant in the well in that part?

[LongRat]

Great looking machine and a very well planned and executed conversion. Very nice work. I would share Digits' concerns about chips in the VFD though, and it is a bit of a shame to lose so much X travel with the large offset between the main spindle and the high speed. Still, there's no perfect solution to that.

[yolklab]

yeah, i should move the vfd.
the elte is quite silent with such light cuts. it can run up to 24k rpm but i always run it at 12k.
myst coolant system arrived yesterday..here i just sprayed a bit of coolant on the part at intervals - hence the slow cutting speed.

you don't really lose x travel you just have to mount the stock very to the left - unless you want to use the big spindle without recentering the stock.

[MrBean_pm]

Hello Yolklab,
Luv your setup, would have liked to have money to go with the Centroid Ajax setup too - just to dear for me though.

May I ask a favor - can you give me model/part-numbers for your servo motors, please? I will investigate the best way forward for me.

How are those motors handling the Mill, especially the heavy head-pack?

Appreciative of your feedback, ta

[yolklab]

hi mr bean

i used the 29 in-lb servos for X and Y
and the 40 in-lb for Z
Ajax CNC Components - Ajax CNC - CNC Control Retrofit Kits for Mills, Lathes, Routers & ATCs - Mach3 ReadyAjax CNC – CNC Control Retrofit Kits for Mills, Lathes, Routers & ATCs – Mach3 Ready

on all i have a 2:1 belt reduction, all ballscrews are 25/5mm
EDIT: max theoretical speed is 125mm/sec..but i capped it at 80mm/sec

i supported the head with gas springs but this is absolutely not necessary - the 40 in-lb has enough torque, i could probably sit on top.

best
david

[photomankc]

Man that is a beatuiful machine. Just beautiful. I just wish they would have gone ahead and used a belt drive on these rather than a gear drive.

If I ever get my outdoor building converted to a shop that would look awful nice out there.

[MrBean_pm]

Hello Yolklab,
Thanx for your reply, appreciated

Tell you what, there are so many options out there.....got a lot more reading/searching to do, but getting into it....I will probably get the ballscrews from Optimum, they're all 25mm to.

Gotta say again, yours is a very neat and tidy setup though, and one of the best out there :flowers:

Kind regards,
Phillip

[LUCKY13]

Hello its been a while seen any post on you rmachine. I wanted to ask a question on the factory spindle/gears setup on this machine.


They quote 3 speeds, with infinately variable spindle speed. Does the spindle motor drive this setup through a direct gear drive or does it have a belt that conects the spindle motor to the gear drive?


ALso how do they vari the speed? Is it a 3 phase factroy VFD setup, or a DC motor? They list a A/C hookup but unless its 3 phase or a DC motor I dont see how they get variable through electronics with this style motors. Anyway some info this would be good.



Your video link is dead, do you have any more video's of your machine running? Its such a cool machine & build would love to see more.



Jess

[yolklab]

the head has a gearbox with 3 speeds: L M H
Low: 65-650 rpm
Mid: 150-1500
High: 330-3300

the variable part is realized with their own VFD.

the gear head is quite loud - over 2000 rpm very loud.
i have seen many rip the gearhead out and mount their own belt driven system.

also optimum's VFD is a bit a maze - not easily linked to a cnc controller. i dial in my rpms manually.

sorry for the delay..and yes will put some new videos up in a month.

[LUCKY13]

Thanks Yolklab, and no problem with late reply. I will be looking forward to video's though,:stickpoke.


I really like this machine, plus the controller. IMHO one of the best combonations out there. The only kick is the short X axis, no big deal really but it would be nice if they had more.


The pics of the ways on this machine are cool. Many people see what they call flacking and think there machine is hand scraped. You can look at this machine is what real hand scraping is.



Jess