[gfacer2]

Nothing to report. Planning to do some work on the vacuum platen one day and move the zones back to relay control with some pneumatic blast gates.

Otherwise working well. The only comment that I have been thinking is that I can't believe the syntec panel isn't showing at least a little wear and tear.

Oh and a little paint flaked off on the tool changer arm...

That's it.

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[Victorycnc]

Just a quick update.

Everything still working fine. Did take a day to try and get the auto tool height sensor working but ran out of steam before I got it done. Just need to mill a new platform that is at the same plane as the spindle but did not have the right tooling to do it. Added a coolant mister for trying aluminum (worked ok in prelim test) as they were so cheap, I had to try it out.

Still trying to get rid of my little wavy lines when cutting but this is what I consider a 'non commercial issue" for my work. I see it and it annoys me but no customer comments or issues.
Just bugs me that of all the parameters in the Syntec the only one that seems to help at all is acceleration (and even that is limited). BTW. It seems for at least some of the syntec variables you need to restart to have them implemented. I had some homing errors after changing a bunch and then restarting and needed to restore the back up I did before I started fiddling to correct it. Had another homing error afterwards that might have been related where the offset for the x axis went to 18mm when it should have been 0 but for some reason the allowable work area was only -1mm from that home so I could not cut at x0 with my 6mm bit as it wanted to be x-6. Found a parameter in Syntec and adjusted it lower.

At the same time I took a stab at trying to open the .lad files for the PLC ladder but no luck. Ran out of time as it was more of an exploring mission than any real goal.

Anyhow, mainly just a note to say its steady as she goes.

Thanks for sharing so detailed experience on China brand CNC. Can you share what kinds of wavies for your cutting? For the turning corner or others? Maybe we can give some helps.

[gfacer2]

Thanks for sharing so detailed experience on China brand CNC. Can you share what kinds of wavies for your cutting? For the turning corner or others? Maybe we can give some helps.

It's more like oscillation. It's not really noticeable an corners, just flat materials. Really the only time it comes up as a practical issue is when I'm then polishing to a high gloss. Even then, the customer might not care but I'm being picky.

Its maybe a flaw in a component like the helical rack and pinion. To minor an issue for a major change.

Graham

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[Yurtman]

I've just started to setup my Omni 1325, it has a ES951 spindle with labels indicating max 7 bar of pressure, but no air consumption number. What CFM is your compressor supplying?

[allencncrouter]

ES951 9kw spindle more details have been send to your email, hope it help you.

[gfacer2]

Hi Guys - just thought about adding a quick update. The update is basically no update. After the initial failures on a few of the gears on the Y axis the machine has basically been as problem free as hoped for over the last year or so. Still have some "ripples" on my cuts but really only effects one job I do and we've developed a decent strategy to deal with it.

The main thing I am planning to upgrade/modify is my table support. They really needed to add a bar or 2 going lengthwise in the middle of the frame to support the table. I find the 'phenolic' grid flexs too much as it is. I plan to add some supports and then pour a layer of leveling epoxy over everything and mill it flat. They rebolt on the table (and move back to PLC controlled vacuum zones with 2" air blast gates).

Nothing that's urgent and need to find a week where I have nothing to do (so might be never).

[gfacer2]

So another little update. The machine has been working hard this year doing covid shields etc. I did a major rework of the support under the grid table and it has been a major major help. This was about 10 months ago now. In reviewing the old posts I see that Rusty's machine has a center support where mine did not (so if you are writing notes - add that).

It was actually quite a large project and also involved redoing the zones with pneumatic blast gates to use the original zone relays on the controller (I had switched to manual valves that were a larger diameter for vacuum flow).

So in steps

1) removed vacuum table
2) wired 2 sets of air valve relays to the original 1" valve wires. The air relays then led to 8 new pneumatic blast gates which I got for a bargain on Amazon (pretty sure they had them priced wrong - about $65 each).
3) redid the vacuum piping (to one central run of 4" with side runs of 2")
4) added square steel tubing to the middle of the table so that the 2 phenolic grid plates would rest on that - no welding just screwed on angle iron and then the tube on top)
5) scraped off the factory leveling compound and applied new leveling compound (a smooth on modelling epoxy that was like clay) to the whole perimeter and the cross members and the new middle supports.
6) used the spindle to level the epoxy relative to the spindle.
7)re-attached the phenolic and the new spoilboard.

Originally the phenolic grid was supported on a ladder of cross members under the table. But like a ladder it was only supported in one direction. Well like all materials, even rigid ones, if they are only supported in one way they will flex in the other direction. So with this change I went from support along 6 strips to 12 boxes and the phenolic was supported in both directions. This has made it much more consistently flat rather than flat right after resurfacing the spoilboard. I should have done it years ago. Redoing the vacuum zones with electrical relays again was just a bonus that could haven when the table was ripped apart.

Otherwise the machine is running well, the controller is running well (maybe a crash every few months but since the homing is consistent even those are not a big deal - its always when loading a program). The one servo gear I had not changed (x axis) needs to be changed but its not urgent.

The next thing I might try and do is figure out a way to cut the spindle airflow when the machine is not in use. Oh and maybe try and rig up the tool touch off again (wired)

So would I buy it again. Yeah probably but not without looking around still. There are still other vendors that could produce a similar machine.
Just remember a few things: It will always take longer, there will always be a lack of communication, get photos, have detailed specs (know what you want), and they are not 'turnkey' you need to know your way around a bit to troubleshoot things.

Anyhow - I'll post again in a year or so...

[Bkaitz260]

I joined the club - 5x10 quick change... kinda wishing I got the ATC instead. Still in process of setting it all up. How bad was leveling the table? It's still on car movers...

[gfacer2]

Well I didn't really level the machine on it's feet as I couldn't get the threads going and ground seemed flat enough.

Level of the table was fine basically though I might have reskimmed it to remove glue at some point.


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[gfacer2]

On another note, had fun the other day when I forgot to remove a shop vac off the rear of the table.

The machine finished a cycle and moved to the middle rear (my finish position) but it couldn't get there without hitting the shop vac. So instead of crushing the shop vac (against the frame of my dust collector) it pushed the shop vac against the dust collector and basically pushed off of it (and the wall behind it) and slid forward across the floor. So basically the y servos pushed the machine along the floor.

Strong shop vac, strong servos.

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[gfacer]

I joined the club - 5x10 quick change... kinda wishing I got the ATC instead. Still in process of setting it all up. How bad was leveling the table? It's still on car movers...

The other gfacer here, brother and business partner. I ran a two head unit like that for 18years. If you can touch off the tools quick you can do a lot with the setup and it's more simple overall. Work the crap out of it and upgrade later....I don't recommend tool change as a DIY upgrade tho, not saying that......but upgrade, I mean the whole machine.

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[gfacer]

The other gfacer here, brother and business partner. I ran a two head unit like that for 18years. If you can touch off the tools quick you can do a lot with the setup and it's more simple overall. Work the crap out of it and upgrade later....I don't recommend tool change as a DIY upgrade tho, not saying that......but upgrade, I mean the whole machine.

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Further to this......you could try to buy a chinese HSD knockoff and use as a quick-change spindle rather than a full ATC. Cheap enough and worthwhile as it would up your flexibility quite easily, but mounting would be completely different. See my posts for a thread with my experience with this type of spindle......I would still set up your machine first, but it's an option if you find yourself more limited than you hoped.