[Pariel]

I spent some time reorganizing the shop after several weeks of pretty much total inattention to it. This included finally building a keyboard mount so I can now reach it while close enough to the mill to reach/look in (really handy when indicating stuff in). Not shown are the grinders and other welding supplies sitting in a large plastic bin and nagging me to come up with a real storage system on the wall.

I also made some real progress on the power drawbar. Most of the structure of the system is ready to go. I'm using an air-over-hydraulic system, with an Enerpac cylinder and a 33:1 pneumatic to hydraulic booster. Below you can see the system. The pneumatic valve is in place on the manifold, I still need to wire up the relay, and then I need to figure out the Mach3 side of things. I do think those parts will go quickly.

I also have the materials for the new drawbar, but haven't completed the new drawbar clamping nut, or figured out exactly how I'm going to setup the mechanical components to keep the Bellevilles centered on the drawbar and the drawbar centered in the spindle.
Not pictured is the two attempts at the mounting plate for the hydraulic cylinder assembly -- the first was for fit testing and some critical dimensions were off just a little, the second I cut the wrong size stock and didn't realize till a while into it. Hopefully attempt three will do the trick.
I also did some work to design a fixed ATC assembly I can use once the hydraulic drawbar is installed. This will be a good opportunity for me to test software as well, as I'm sticking with Mach3 for the time being (with the next stop most likely being LinuxCNC, although it's possible I'll go for Acorn Centroid). I've already started on a new screen set for Mach3 which includes an ATC, and expect that will be for sale at the same time the ATC is ready.

[ghulands]

Hi,
Any updates on your build?

[Pariel]

I recently moved to a new job that is somewhat more time consuming (but also more fun! Mostly...), so this project is over and I am actually selling the machine in it's current state, I just have to get around to actually putting it up for sale.