[DansTrains]

I am new at this I have been a Electrical / Electronics field engineer for a long time and now retired doing what I like with model trains...I have been going through a few surgeries right hand , left hand, left eye I hope they are over for a while.

I am setting up my Mill for CNC

I have DRO's on all axis.

I got the Z-axis motor mounted.

Attachment 367394

New cabinets below the mill.


Changed out the bed,5013 Mini Mill Large Table Assembly, Solid Column Base

Air Spring Conversion Kit

I have a motor control system, Mach3, cabinet is mounted on wall need to install equipment.

The mill and lathe work was born out of my model trains and the repair I have been do. I started out with a Shure-Line and moved up to the Harbor Freight X2. Now that was sure shock to me.

I have some issues with the Mill motor stalling out with load need to investigate that, any help would be nice. It has belt drive.....not sure where that is coming from. Added a forward reverse switch...

I use Little Machine shop for my mill and lathe tools and equipment.

Here is a photo of the Z axis motor it is mounted and seems to manually work...going to test it life shortly....
Attachment 367398

I have to machine the mount for the Y and X axis that is going to be my next major project. I have some ideas and would be willing to talk to folks about their ideas.

The lathe is 8x12 and is mounted to the right of the Mill it is mounted on a two drawer lateral filing cabinet.

Attachment 367412

I am looking for comments on what I have done...I have an Elmer (if you are into Ham Radio you know what I am talking about.) But always looking for input.....O by the way I am a Retired Navy Chief....31 years.....

[ranchero60]

Nice to see people doing something cool in retirement. Have fun. Thanks for your service as well.

[DansTrains]

You are welcome.....Here is a project that I did with the mil, 1934 Lionel M10000..
..Attachment 367494
I had to strengthen the base of the pullmor motor so I make a new base. It came out very well and the motor ran good.
Attachment 367496
This is the finished part, I did replace the hanger with one of all one piece the motor went on to run fantastic....

[DansTrains]

My mill is having an issue with load it seams to stop when load is placed on it.....

[Jim Dawson]

Is it a dual voltage motor and wired for the correct voltage?

[DansTrains]

Jim, Yes it is wired correctly, I saw something I will be checking and that is the speed control and other wiring....I got a new board for the CNC modification and was thinking of installing it and see what it does.....All I did was install the air shock and belt drive and this came up.

[Jim Dawson]

Jim, Yes it is wired correctly, I saw something I will be checking and that is the speed control and other wiring....I got a new board for the CNC modification and was thinking of installing it and see what it does.....All I did was install the air shock and belt drive and this came up.

Did you change the drive ratio when you installed the belt drive? That could cause a torque loss.

[DansTrains]

Jim, I tried both settings on the belt and got the same results, It is the one from LMS...I did notice it was affected by the speed control knob, in that setting the speed down it seems not to load down as much, I did check the belt tension and alignment and it seems to be spot on...I do have (15-160V DC / 12-110V AC Motor Speed Controller Driver PWM MACH3 Spindle Governor) that I was going to use with my Mach3 do you think it would be a good idea to try out that? I have one servo mounted for the Mach3 installation but I have just had too much surgery to move it up and now as things are stabilizing I want to get this done. As wiring diagrams are less than you expect I have to draw on my background to figure this out, I am a Electronics / Electrical Field Engineer now doing model trains....I went from a Shoreline to the X2 and it was a big step for me I have done some good work on it and got some good confidence in my ability. I need to check out the wiring on the control and will do that tomorrow.....I will get back to you what I find out.....
Dan

[Jim Dawson]

Best of luck Dan. This pretty much exhausts my ideas. Looking forward to hearing what you find.

[DansTrains]

Jim, Thanks and I now have some good direction to go too. What about the motor speed controller should I try that too....
Dan

[Jim Dawson]

Dan, I guess it can't hurt as long as it's compatible with your motor.

[DansTrains]

Jim, once I make my test tomorrow I will compile my results and post them to you....
Dan