[3space]

Well, I guess if you are going to only cut aluminum and also run it that slowly, you might get by with the little $200 box. My last experience with surfacing hot-roll steel using Tormach speeds and feeds is what I was thinking of. NO chips escaped my full enclosure, but without it that would have been intense.

@CR: Yes, I am sure you are right. Do you have pics of your setup? Do you have a table under your mill, so the plastic curtain goes from the ceiling to that table, then when you remove the curtain, you just sweep off the surface?

Tormach actually uses a similar plastic box, so I'm sure it would be ok for general milling. But you can't beat a full enclosure, even a circular surrounding shower liner. Plus it costs so much less.

I suspect I will do exactly that. Would like to see pics though, if there is another thread where you have posted them.

BTW, it was you that converted the old bed frame to a bad-ass lathe stand, correct? (I read that about 4 months ago, so I might be remembering wrong)

[3space]

I picked up a 4" bore Bimba air cylinder from eBay. Does anybody know whether there is any practical difference between a 12V and 24V switching power supply to control the solenoid for a pneumatic air cylinder-actuated power drawbar setup? Yes, I know about he spindle bearing loading, but I'm hoping my extremely modest use of this equipment will mean I wont have to replace them for a while. From what I hear, the expenditure wouldn't be the end of the world.

Thanks!

[Crevice Reamer]

@CR: Yes, I am sure you are right. Do you have pics of your setup? Do you have a table under your mill, so the plastic curtain goes from the ceiling to that table, then when you remove the curtain, you just sweep off the surface?

Actually, my mill sits over a big plastic tub, with sheet metal floor. Chips sweep up nicely:


PIG® Utility Containment Tray - PAK919 | New Pig

You can't see it in the pic, but the tray angles way down at the back right corner for drainage. The rear of the enclosure is sheet metal. The front door is sliding 1/4 inch plex. Left and right sides are heavy shower liner. It WAS plexiglas, but the curtain can move if something long encounters it. None of it looks this clean and new anymore.

I suspect I will do exactly that. Would like to see pics though, if there is another thread where you have posted them.

BTW, it was you that converted the old bed frame to a bad-ass lathe stand, correct? (I read that about 4 months ago, so I might be remembering wrong)

Yes, that was me, although not a bedframe but 1 1/2 inch angle iron from some industrial shelving that I picked up cheap. That angle iron built both the lathe stand and the mill stand. Both were designed for flood cooling from the start.

Page 89

CR.

[3space]

Nice, thanks CR.

[3space]

I ended up purchasing a second cylinder from eBay, this one is a Fabco 4" bore, 2" stroke, 3-stage, double-acting one. It has side-mounting option installed, but I'll convert that to a bottom mount.

[3space]

Hey all,

I have mounted a (good) dial indicator to a (good) mag base. I placed the indicator on the back outer edge of the table, and zeroed it on x=0. I then moved x to max, and got a 0.0075" change. Is that likely a problem with where I bolted down the ball nuts, that I didn't align at 90 degrees? I measured with a caliper, but it's hard to get extreme accuracy that way. Or, is the outside of the table a bad indicator? In other words, should it be a high tolerance dimension?

Maybe a better question is, "What is a good way to properly/accurately position the ball nuts relative to each other (x and y), then relative to the mill base (y and mill)?"

Thank you!
David

[Aaron Powter]

Very nice setup you have there. I see you have picture of Luke's Titan TM20LV mill. Luke is a good mate of mine and we actuall purchased three of these machines. Luke opted for a CNC fusion conversion kit, where me and my other mate built our own. Cheers, Aaron.

[Aaron Powter]

I built a chip tray too for my TM20 mill. I used sheet metal on the back and sides. I used a sliding polycarbonate panel for the front and fitted two kitchen handles to it for easy removal.

[3space]

Hey guys, finally getting back to this thread. I have been working on a drawbar setup, received all parts, and tested the cylinder on its own today. Not complex, but everything worked first shot, which is always nice. No leaks in other words...

I then attached some limit switches, and wired them up. They also worked first shot. Will upload pics tomorrow.

[3space]

X--/X-home, Y--/Y-home, Z--/Z-home limits installed.

Comment: I saw no benefit to connecting each to its own input, so I strung them all together in series. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't think so.

X:
Attachment 188648

Y: (Note: the ball screw is not in front of the stop, it is beside. Parallax issue...)
Attachment 188650

Z:
Attachment 188652

QUESTION: Would best practice be to introduce an offset between each limit and home, like a few mm?

I wired everything up yesterday and had the diagnostics confirm that the inputs were being captured properly. I played with the homing/limits for a few minutes this morning to get the homing process working. Homing was easy, but wondered whether I was doing something wrong when hitting the limits without homing, as I had to do a manual over-ride to get it working again. That is normal apparently, and probably a good thing. Before I found this setting, I switched the config to "Active Low" true, moved off the limit switch (at which point, as you would predict, it stopped again), then set it back to "Active Low" false. Anyway, simple, just took finding that toggle.

I'm now working on a power drawbar. Yesterday I received a Fabco-Air double-acting, 4" bore, 2" stroke, 3-stage cylinder. I just need to convert the mounting option from "feet" (mounted laying on its side) to vertical (piston on the bottom side).
Attachment 188644

My current Belleville setup is: ()()()(()). I chose this because somebody on YouTube (rainman229 maybe?) suggested it would be a good starting point. I will have to test and adjust configuration to achieve optimum load/deflection characteristics:
Attachment 188656

In real-life, before adding the 3rd () pair - so the configuration here is ()()(()):


I chose this cheap 5-port, 4-way, 2-pole solenoid. If it is garbage, it's easy to swap it out for a pricier one later:
Attachment 188638

I also purchased a cheap moisture filter, and here is the subassembly:
Attachment 188640

Here is the set-up I'm targeting, but I haven't yet finished modelling the spring movement (probably tomorrow):
Attachment 188642

Bench Test #1 was successful (manual solenoid control):
Attachment 188646

I'm missing a relay to power the solenoid. If anybody has relay suggestions, I'm all ears. I don't have another parallel port, but of course, I could install a PCI one if your relay suggestions require one.

I also need additional connectors to get the wiring looking better.

I have some nice Neutrik SpeakOn connectors (twist-lock) that I use for the axes. However, I'm struggling with whether to modify the black SX-3 housing to accept the mating panel mounts, or whether to keep the black metal as is, and attach a box behind or beside the mill. Opinions anyone?

As always, thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions.

[Aaron Powter]

Hey, the power draw bar set up looks great. Can't wait to see a video of the beast up and running. Are the gas struts to the head standard? Keep up the good work. Cheers, Aaron. PS: did you get my email and information (youtube vid) about the chip guard?

[Luke_Frederik]

Hi David, I received your PM and came to check out your build thread

Looks like a nice machine and when you have it operational with PDB you will be living the dream... the CNC dream.

I saw the reference to enclosures on the previous page and would like to add more information after testing this for some time after fitting now.

It really depends on the height of the machining operation. For example, if I am fly cutting, or milling a large (tall) billet in the vice, it is more likely that chips are going to clear the top of the enclosure. However, most of the milling jobs I have completed are rather low profile, in this case it really is ideal and saves a LOT of cleaning up. I highly recommend, and I think Aaron will agree with me here.

One feature I might add, is flaps which can be hinged up or inserted on top of the existing enclosure (not behind though) to avoid them jumping the fence.

But yeah, as mentioned previously, if you are going to fly cut steel, really going to want to protect yourself. In my experience fly cutting aluminium, the chips aren't hot and here in Australia we repel them with our bare chest... hehe.

Looking forward to seeing it generate some chips, keep up the work mate!
Cheers

[3space]

Hey Aaron, I thought I responded to your post. Sorry. I'll respond tomorrow.

I got my gas strut (single one, 75 lbs) from CNCFusion. The asymmetry doesn't seem to be a worry of the posters who have installed one as such. Hopefully it is fine.

Thanks for the response!

Cheers!
David

[3space]

Hey Luke,

Yes, an additional optional piece on 3 sides is exactly what I was thinking, implemented by either vertical dowels or by a hinged mechanism. This solution seems preferable to a taller fixed-height one, as it would provide added height only when required. Thanks for your comments on that. Additionally, I will also most likely try a removable shower curtain for taller jobs, or those involving the milling of steel. My basement workshop has the first floor joists exposed to it, so installing a few hooks to support a curtain would take seconds. I also happen to already have such a spare thick clear shower curtain liner curtain. On that note though, I'm likely sticking with Al for most of what I'll be doing at the outset.

One question that I also posed to Aaron was whether 1/4" acryllic might be sufficient for a design like yours. I think you used 10mm polycarbonate. I am asking about the thinner material because I have access to a laser cutter, and that is the thickest material it will handle. What do you think?

Starting July 1st, I will also commence efforts to become HSMXpress-cool.

Thanks again for your comments!

L8r,
David