[lcvette]

So a little progress this afternoon before dinner.. got the panel hole cut and clean out and made the crossover hole in the stud, knocked out appropriate holes and deburred edges installed panel secure and started the first wire runs... Man it is much more difficult working with 6awg than any of the other smaller sizes I've run before for miscellaneous circuits.. stuff required some special wire snips as pictured below..lol



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[DJEkim33]

Looking really good. You can get Linux to work. It seems daunting at first but the setup wizard makes it alot easier. I will look over your PDF for wiring if I get a chance tomorrow and see if I can help. Don't loose faith. It is easier than it looks.

[DJEkim33]

OK, so i startd screwing around with where i left off with the Linuxcnc configuration and hardware and wiring charts.. I am adding one I did for my lathe as well, even built the cabinet but thats as far as i got before again having to stop due to lack of kowledge on the Linuxcnc programming side of things. the lathe project was another i was supposed to be receiving help on..

Just going over your wiring scheme for the mill and had a couple questions. Are you using standard 2500 incremental encoders or the absolute encoders. If they are incremental then you will not need to use the +5v and ground from the 7i77 TB 3&4 pins (22 &19 on the z axis as an example) to the servo drive pins 38 & 25. That is only required for the absolute encoder option. If you are not using the absolute encoders you can also ditch the external 5v power supply and switch jumper w5 to the left hand position. If using incremental encoders they are powered by the servo drive and the drain on your 5v system is limited and can be managed by the host computer with then jumper in this position. If you had planned on absolute encoders or other uses for a remote 5v supply then disregard.

Did you buy everything to setup all 5 axis or just 3 for now? Also what are you using for a spindle motor/drive and gear or belt ratios etc? I started looking at the input/outputs for the field wiring but it got late, for the most part they look correct.

[lcvette]

Just going over your wiring scheme for the mill and had a couple questions. Are you using standard 2500 incremental encoders or the absolute encoders. If they are incremental then you will not need to use the +5v and ground from the 7i77 TB 3&4 pins (22 &19 on the z axis as an example) to the servo drive pins 38 & 25. That is only required for the absolute encoder option. If you are not using the absolute encoders you can also ditch the external 5v power supply and switch jumper w5 to the left hand position. If using incremental encoders they are powered by the servo drive and the drain on your 5v system is limited and can be managed by the host computer with then jumper in this position. If you had planned on absolute encoders or other uses for a remote 5v supply then disregard.

Did you buy everything to setup all 5 axis or just 3 for now? Also what are you using for a spindle motor/drive and gear or belt ratios etc? I started looking at the input/outputs for the field wiring but it got late, for the most part they look correct.

They are incremental 5000 line encoders... Good info on the power supply, I already have it though just not hooked up. The spindle motor is a 5.5kw spindle servo with drive. It is direct 1:1 with belt drive and no gear, 0-6000rpm range. If g you are interested, I can send you the manual.. I was not super clear on the connections it needed. I did read that it had a self indexing routine with an prior to signaling it has stopped in position which should make the ATC setup a bit easier.

Pm me if you want servo and spindle manuals!

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[lcvette]

Well my good mate Clint from South Africa was able to get his machine powered up before me and was gracious enough to send the short video of the spindle running and some jogging around! I'm super glad he was kind enough to share, a big thanks to Clint!! So without further ado here's the first video of these machines jogging under their own power.

Now all that's left is to figure out the control wiring and I suppose both of us are going for linuxcnc, so any of you gurus out there who would like to take a look at our wiring schematics and pick them apart please let us know what you'd like us to post thanks in advance and here's the video!

https://youtu.be/pw0EuUYYzWY

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[ClintHarwood]

Well I guess I should come good on the promise i made to Chris to post My experience her on the thread as well.
I ordered mine a couple months after Chris. Pretty much the same machine except for a few differences.
-BT 40 Spindle
-4th Axis Driver Installed

My purchase experience was very similar to Chris' so I wont bore you all with that. Here are some pictures of my setup.

Attachment 373472
Attachment 373474

Attachment 373476

Attachment 373478

Attachment 373480

Attachment 373482

Attachment 373482

Attachment 373484

Attachment 373486

I had planned on getting a rotary phase converter for my machine and so asked that it be converted for 220v 3phase. All servo drives and Spindle and drive was then made to suite. I subsequently got 380v 3phase at my shop so had to fork out some more cash on a 380 to 220v thansformer! Guess what Im saying is that you should be sure about your voltage choices

[ClintHarwood]

Here is a picture of that transformer
Attachment 373488

and a picture of the beginnings of my control panel

[ClintHarwood]

If anyone is interested. The base footprint looks like this...

Attachment 373492

- - - Updated - - -

If anyone is interested. The base footprint looks like this...

Attachment 373492

- - - Updated - - -

If anyone is interested. The base footprint looks like this...

Attachment 373492

[ClintHarwood]

Sorry about that triple post. This is what the machine looks like from the back showing how the coolant tank is laid out.

[ClintHarwood]

Chris just pointed out to me that I posted a picture of the bigger machine that the company makes. To be honest, I cannot tell you with any kind of certainty which of the build machines are actually the one I currently have. Its either a case of mistaken identity or who knows what, but I was sent pictures of probably 4 different machines, with Fred claiming it to be mine LOL

It does seem to be innocent, albeit frustrating, errors on their side though.

[lcvette]

True.. I think Fred is a bit aloof when it comes to machines, he just knows the spec sheets and a rough idea of f what they look like..lol. He sent pictures to me off a totally different machine until about 2 weeks before ship d date and then I got actuals of my machine.. it t was a bit bigger and beefier then the previous pictures which was pleasant surprise!

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[stuarttaylor00]

I am hanging out to see this machine at work! How are you getting on with LinuxCNC? I use it with my cnc router running steppers and a G540/Mesa 5i25(obviously an easier setup than yours), it took me a while to work out but it is flawless now.

I just read the entire thread for the second time, and couldn't find the supplier you used for the tooling and servos/drivers.. would you be willing to share that info? the pricing for both is great!

A few questions, which are probably more appropriate once you get it running:

- would you do it all again? iI the machine the level of quality you expected? or do you think similar value could be had with a used Haas or similar?
- what was the quality of the tooling you purchased? It looks great in the photos and the price is excellent.

[seanpc]

Sorry if thhis has been covered already, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Where did you order all your tooling from?

[lcvette]

I am hanging out to see this machine at work! How are you getting on with LinuxCNC? I use it with my cnc router running steppers and a G540/Mesa 5i25(obviously an easier setup than yours), it took me a while to work out but it is flawless now.

I just read the entire thread for the second time, and couldn't find the supplier you used for the tooling and servos/drivers.. would you be willing to share that info? the pricing for both is great!

A few questions, which are probably more appropriate once you get it running:

- would you do it all again? iI the machine the level of quality you expected? or do you think similar value could be had with a used Haas or similar?
- what was the quality of the tooling you purchased? It looks great in the photos and the price is excellent.

Totally worth it in my opinion... I would be afraid of getting a used machine that required major service and be stuck requiring thousands beyond my budget. Obviously that can and to some extent has occurred here with the unforeseen inspection fees during import and the control issue, but if I was seriously pressed to have it up and running I could have used Mach3 very easily as I use my smaller CNC bench mill now. The servos accept pulse direction and are closed to themselves so would not be as feature rich and probably wouldn't have messed with the ATC, but would have had a machine to make parts while I worked out Linux cnc.

The overall quality is good, not great, but if you pull the shirts of any machine and really look under the paint you'll find castings are always prettied up.. I would say the pretty want a high priority for this Maine builder, but it's also at a very acceptable level in my opinion. Only a few things stand out they could have and should have done a better job on.. The enclosure should not have shelves for chips to collect on, a vertical Sean would have been easy and better! The other that was most annoying to me was because it was a first machine and customized, they missed machining the pockets on the table where the bolts for the linear cars are, so the surface is flat but as cast.. This would have been machined as it's a torqued fastener and should have an even head load.

Current machines don't have this issue as the bolts go through the table and into the cars and those holes are milled/bored. So just an insurance on mine. The table surface is impeccable, however the T slots leave allot to be desired and could have had at least a finish pass run on the vertical slot faces, they are rough and a bit tight to the t nuts. Nothing a few minutes with a stone and some emry cloth won't fix.

As far as the rest of the fit and finish, I was impressed. The control cabinet is very tidy and clean, the wiring inside was done very well. The cable routing outside the cabinet could use some tlc and will get it. The door panels on the back are sheet metal and I added some foam strips to keep them from rattling, not required but would be nice if they used them.

All in all nothing that would do me from doing it again.. but if probably go with a control already up and running and dialed in. Would have saved allot of headache and delay!

As for the tooling, I'm impressed with how nice it is but won't have any real experience until I use them.. for $10 a holder... If day they are fantastic!

Sorry if thhis has been covered already, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Where did you order all your tooling from?

The name of the company is tool tree.. it is a Chinese company we address is here:

SiShui Teli Tool Co., Ltd

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[stuarttaylor00]

Totally worth it in my opinion... I would be afraid of getting a used machine that required major service and be stuck requiring thousands beyond my budget. Obviously that can and to some extent has occurred here with the unforeseen inspection fees during import and the control issue, but if I was seriously pressed to have it up and running I could have used Mach3 very easily as I use my smaller CNC bench mill now. The servos accept pulse direction and are closed to themselves so would not be as feature rich and probably wouldn't have messed with the ATC, but would have had a machine to make parts while I worked out Linux cnc.

The overall quality is good, not great, but if you pull the shirts of any machine and really look under the paint you'll find castings are always prettied up.. I would say the pretty want a high priority for this Maine builder, but it's also at a very acceptable level in my opinion. Only a few things stand out they could have and should have done a better job on.. The enclosure should not have shelves for chips to collect on, a vertical Sean would have been easy and better! The other that was most annoying to me was because it was a first machine and customized, they missed machining the pockets on the table where the bolts for the linear cars are, so the surface is flat but as cast.. This would have been machined as it's a torqued fastener and should have an even head load.

Current machines don't have this issue as the bolts go through the table and into the cars and those holes are milled/bored. So just an insurance on mine. The table surface is impeccable, however the T slots leave allot to be desired and could have had at least a finish pass run on the vertical slot faces, they are rough and a bit tight to the t nuts. Nothing a few minutes with a stone and some emry cloth won't fix.

As far as the rest of the fit and finish, I was impressed. The control cabinet is very tidy and clean, the wiring inside was done very well. The cable routing outside the cabinet could use some tlc and will get it. The door panels on the back are sheet metal and I added some foam strips to keep them from rattling, not required but would be nice if they used them.

All in all nothing that would do me from doing it again.. but if probably go with a control already up and running and dialed in. Would have saved allot of headache and delay!

As for the tooling, I'm impressed with how nice it is but won't have any real experience until I use them.. for $10 a holder... If day they are fantastic!



The name of the company is tool tree.. it is a Chinese company we address is here:

SiShui Teli Tool Co., Ltd

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Thankyou for the info, I appreciate the honest thoughts on it. It sounds as though there are a few "fit and finish" type things that could be done better, but for the money it is good value.

I'm in Australia and it would cost me less to get exactly what you ordered, including freight, than to get a Tormach PCNC 770 with no options. Incredible, and frustrating.

I'm sure there are many others like me who can't wait to see you get this up and running, Once we see that I think Runfa Machinery will get an influx of orders!


The last question I had was that you said you also ordered your spindle, servos and drivers from an external company, would you care to pass on the name of that company? the pricing on that gear also looked very good.

Thanks again, Appreciate the time you've taken to share this with us

[lcvette]

Are you planning on getting a controller installed from Runfa? If so, they supply they motors with the controller as a brand kit which is a smarter way to go.. because I went with it a controller, there was a little communication mix up and I ended up have the motors sent to Fred separately because they only supplied a complete control and motor package from their vendor GSK. And didn't sell them separately.

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[lcvette]

Thankyou for the info, I appreciate the honest thoughts on it. It sounds as though there are a few "fit and finish" type things that could be done better, but for the money it is good value.

I'm in Australia and it would cost me less to get exactly what you ordered, including freight, than to get a Tormach PCNC 770 with no options. Incredible, and frustrating.

I'm sure there are many others like me who can't wait to see you get this up and running, Once we see that I think Runfa Machinery will get an influx of orders!


The last question I had was that you said you also ordered your spindle, servos and drivers from an external company, would you care to pass on the name of that company? the pricing on that gear also looked very good.

Thanks again, Appreciate the time you've taken to share this with us

I think this machine is finished as well as a tormach any day of the week from videos I've seen and there is no comparison. If you have the room to fit this machine I would not even be considering the tormach.. there's more mass in just the table of this machine than the whole 770..lol. No way you are going to be able to match the performance of the two in a fair comparison.. The tormach is a great machine but just simply out-gunned here!

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[seanpc]

What software did you use to draw up your wiring schematic/pinout for the lathe? That's nice and clean.

[lcvette]

What software did you use to draw up your wiring schematic/pinout for the lathe? That's nice and clean.

I used two... I did the gross and text in Excel and the imported it into draftsight to make the wire runs with colored line layers, pretty easy really!

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[lcvette]

Quick progress update, I got the air lines connected and finished running conduit to the machine from the new panel.. tomorrow I will start pulling wires.. then fab up a stand for the rotary phase converter and get it wired up. After that it connecting up wires from machine to the 7i77 mess card.. guess we will see what happens!!

Had to play with the ATC to make something move on the machine for a small win..lol. Vid posted below.

https://youtu.be/M2sBDHD3qaY

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