[ChrisAttebery]

The drawbar on my machine has always bothered me. As I tighten it down it gets cocked to one side and causing vibration at higher rpms. The original pulley I had machined had a bunch of runout too. I had a friend bore a new pulley for me and it is spot on. I had him bore out the top so I could use a 7/16 bolt for a drawbar. I also had him make me some top hat shaped bushings that keep the drawbar centered in the spindle. The bolt wasn't as straight as I would like but the vibration level has definitely been reduced.

[ddragon]

Hi,
Can I ask how the belt gear attaches to the spindle?
Thanks

[ChrisAttebery]

It's precision bored to slip fit over the spindle. There's a 1/4-20 set screw that clamps it in place.

[ChrisAttebery]

Today's project: I finally made a tramming tool. I used a piece of 1/2" drill rod for the shank. It's pressed into the tool. I've also been wanting to use a round over on something for a while. It came out great. The indicator is held in place with a 8-32 x 1/8" set screw for now. I'll probably swap it out for a 1/4" long cap head with a pressed on plastic knob.

Attachment 216814

[ChrisAttebery]

Since I built my mister last year I've played with the pressure and found that it works best above 40psi. At that pressure my 60 gallon compressor was kicking on about every 15 minutes. It was a Campbell Hausfeld 3hp single stage unit and it was nice but it was way overkill for what I used it for. It was also fairly loud at ~95db at 6'. I was restricted to running it before the kids went to bed since it was directly under my son's room. I saw Hoss' post about California Air Tools compressors and got bit by the upgrade bug. I put my compressor on Craigslist about a month ago and finally sold it over the weekend. The price on that unit had gone up quite a bit since I bought it so I actually sold it for what I paid for it 15 years ago.

I've got a CAT 2hp 10 gallon compressor on order. It should be much quieter than the CH I had. I'll let you guys know how it works out.


Chris

[ChrisAttebery]

I finally received my California Air Tools CAT10060-22060 compressor. They've been out of stock for a couple months and the store I bought it through tried to send me a 110V version twice. It is MUCH quieter than the 3HP CH unit I had before. I downloaded a dB app for my iPhone and the old compressor was 98dB at 6'. The new compressor is 85dB at the same distance.

I also decided to try out a Ethernet Smooth Stepper on my system. I can hear clicks and clunks as the machine moves around and I can't find any mechanical cause. I've had to turn the rapids on my machine way down because of semi-random stalls. While I'm at it I want to move all of the electronics into one large enclosure and clean up some of the wiring. I purchased a 7" x 19" x 20" rack mount enclosure which should have plenty of space and room to add a spindle speed control and tach.

[ChrisAttebery]

I've started a new thread in the CNC Related Electronics forum for my CNC controller upgrade(s). You can find the post here:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/genera...ml#post1483858

[ChrisAttebery]

I decided to tackle the upgrade in stages. For the first round I want to get the following done.

1. Add the SmoothStepper.
2. Spindle speed control.
3. Add a Feed Hold button. I ordered a yellow 22mm button and three button enclosure from eBay. So I'll have an EStop, Feed Hold and Cycle Start on the machine.

Later on I want to:

4. Add a relay board to control the Mist system from the controller.
5. Add a spindle speed sensor.


So far I've finished designing the layout of the internals and milled the back panel. I need to cut cooling slots into the side panels next. Once that's done I can start moving the electronics over.

[ChrisAttebery]

I finally finished cutting all of the panels for the enclosure last night. It time to start loading it up.

[ChrisAttebery]

I started moving everything into the new enclosure today. I need another contractor, but they are out of stock at the local distributor right now.

[ChrisAttebery]

I've been making slow but steady progress on the controller. I have all of the equipment moved out of the old enclosure. I'm still waiting on another contactor to show up so I can finish the power distribution. I finally got tired of the excuses from the local distributor and ordered it online. I've got the ESS, C35 BOB and C6 spindle controller mounted on the shelf.

I put the old controller on eBay if anyone is interested: Automation Technology CNC Controller Enclosure | eBay

[ChrisAttebery]

I finished wiring the controller last night. I still need to hook up the ESS and C6 boards but all of the original functionality is working. In addition pressing the E-Stop cuts power to the spindle and axis drives and the Feed Hold button works as advertised. Tonight I'll get the ESS in the loop and tested out. Once that is done I'll get the C6 hooked to the KBMM and start working on the spindle speed control features.

It feels great to see the end of the tunnel on this project.

[ChrisAttebery]

I got the ESS hooked up and running tonight. It was pretty quick and easy to install. I immediately noticed a difference in the way the steppers sounded. They are much smoother (imagine that!) and seem more powerful.

[ChrisAttebery]

I tried changing the step pulse width last night. It didn't seem to make a big difference. The low end speed changes slightly, but it's 50% off at the low end. The output of the C6 is fairly linear but the input of my KBMM needs a bit of voltage just to get the spindle turning. I'm running the KBMM off a 220V source with a 90V motor. On the manual setup I had the MAX pot turned all the way down and the MIN pot turned up a bit to get it working. The C6 allows you to turn the MAX voltage down, but there isn't any adjustment for the MIN voltage.

If I'm not too tired I'll build the summing amp tonight and test it out. I think it will cure my problem.

[Fastest1]

I am having issues too with the ESS/MX3660 combo in regards to accurate spindle speed control.

I do believe part of the problem or misunderstanding is that the ESS varies a 0-5v signal, not 0-10v like the KBMM wants or needs. There is an ability to scale that 0-5v within the KBMM or Mach ( I am not sure of how to do it just yet). Or that is what I understand as the problem.

[ChrisAttebery]

I'm using a CNC4PC C6 Speed Control board to convert step/direction pulses to a 0-10V input to the KBMM. The spindle chain in my system is ESS->C35->C6->KBMM.

I was too worn out to work on the amp last night. I have everything I need, so I'll try to get it together over the weekend.

It looks like I forgot to add a picture of the upper level of the enclosure with all of the low voltage electronics mounted. I'll try to post one soon.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I am having issues too with the ESS/MX3660 combo in regards to accurate spindle speed control.

I do believe part of the problem or misunderstanding is that the ESS varies a 0-5v signal, not 0-10v like the KBMM wants or needs. There is an ability to scale that 0-5v within the KBMM or Mach ( I am not sure of how to do it just yet). Or that is what I understand as the problem.

The ESS outputs nothing but a TTL-level PWM signal. It is up to the BOB to convert that to a properly scaled analog voltage. It *cannot* be done in Mach3 or the ESS.

Regards,
Ray L.

[phomann]

I am having issues too with the ESS/MX3660 combo in regards to accurate spindle speed control.

I do believe part of the problem or misunderstanding is that the ESS varies a 0-5v signal, not 0-10v like the KBMM wants or needs. There is an ability to scale that 0-5v within the KBMM or Mach ( I am not sure of how to do it just yet). Or that is what I understand as the problem.

Page 14 of the Manual for the MX3660 is very clear. The PWM signal from the ESS needs to be on pin 14 of the DB25 that connects to the MX3660.

The MX3660 will produce an isolated analog voltage that is a ratio defined by the PWM signal. A 25% mark/space ratio PWM signal will produce an analog voltage (on the 0-10V terminal) that is 25% of the voltage connected to terminals +10Vsc and EGND. This is shown in section 14.3 on pages 15 - 16 of the manual.

It states that the voltage that can be used can be 5-15Vdc which means that you can use KMBB to power it.

Also note that the maximum voltage that can be produced out of the MX3660 is 1.1V less that the supply fed to it. For a 10V supply from a VFD, you will only get 90% of the top speed out of the spindle, which may be a bit limiting and disappointing in some cases.

Cheers,

Peter

[Fastest1]

Ray and Peter, Thanks.

Btw, I am using a Bardac 1600i and not a KBMM though the set up should be very similar if not the same. I can also get a 10v supply from the Bardac.

Peter, I was reading about that 1.1v loss. I am curious, if I used an external power supply of say 12v and turn it down to 11.1 to account for the loss. Would it give me the full range of 0-10 and or would it damage anything with this approach?

I do get the full rpm without any issue even with the lower voltage being output but the rpms are off as I go thru different S commands. The pulleys are set up correctly within Mach.

Is it necessary to have an index or timing sensor connected and working for accurate rpms?

[ChrisAttebery]

I didn't have much time to work on my machine this weekend. I did get a circuit soldered up, but I found a flaw in my design and need to add a couple resistors to the board. I did manage to take a picture of the electronics tray though.