[Jason3]

Hi all,

If you have a SmoothStepper from Warp9, please share your experiences here - successes, any problems, details about your application would all be appreciated. Anyone considering buying, feel free to ask questions of those of us who have them.

Many thanks,

Jason

[Jason3]

Here's the reason I bought the smoothstepper - my new machine has 2 mm pitch ballscrews and servos with 8000 CPR encoders. With the parallel port I was looking at a maximum of 60 ipm (1500 mm/min) using Mach3 at 100 Khz. The smoothstepper should hopefully allow me at least 150 ipm.

This machine is almost finished, but not quite, so I tested the smoothstepper using my first machine with the same servos but 10 mm pitch ballscrews. Initially I had an issue with my limit switches (there aren't any...) and the settings in ports and pins - the Smoothstepper expects an active high signal by default, and with no limit switches configured I couldn't cancel the E-stop. A quick email to Greg at Warp9 got me sorted out. Just to minimise the chance of success, I used a macbook pro running windows XP to drive the SmoothStepper. I set max speed to 590 ipm and let rip...

After I cleaned up the mess, I slowed it down to about 300 ipm and tried again. I ran a couple of jobs in 6061 alu and everything went well - cutting at 160 ipm with a 1/4" carbide end mill @ 40,000 rpm went fine.

More to come once I have the new machine running...

[skmetal7]

thats a neat little machine you have there!!

160 ipm 40000rpm 1/4" em 6061al WOW!

[Jason3]

thats a neat little machine you have there!!

160 ipm 40000rpm 1/4" em 6061al WOW!

Thank you!

...not as extreme as it might be - only light cuts!

Jason

[Jason3]

While I get my act together and finish the next machine, here's a short clip of the machine mentioned above cutting 6061 Aluminium...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcUqS9t0Yyw"]YouTube - CNC milling 6061 aluminium[/ame]

I hope that works!

[Jason3]

Testing continues...

I've been running the smoothstepper more recently, set to 275 ipm it is fast and smooth. An additional advantage has been the buffer, the machine no longer hesitates when the computer's mind wanders and the screensaver starts up or the hard drive decides to take a nap (I know I should disable those, I was using a different laptop...

Anybody else out there using one yet? Hopefully no news is good news, and everybody is happily cutting at high speed with no issues

Jason

[Jason3]

Ok, I've gone ahead and ordered a couple more smoothsteppers - hopefully no news is good news and they are working as intended for everyone. In any case, my emails asking questions have been answered quickly and I'm pretty confident that the support is there if I run into any problems.

Would still appreciate anyone who has one commenting on how it's going for them though. Anyone?

Many thanks,

Jason

[M250cnc]

Hi Jason

What is the overall dimension of the piece of ali you are milling in the video ?

Phil_H

[Jason3]

Hi Phil,

That part is about 6" x 5" x 1" - not that big. It's the plate that connects the Z axis linear bearing and the ballscrew nut to the spindle mount on the machine in my profile pic

Regards,

Jason


Edit - Here's a better look at it. I haven't bothered to finish the part yet - it'll get cleaned up and anodised with the rest of the bare parts when I'm finished...

[oxford]

Using a SS and loving it.

running 50IPM

[Jason3]

Using a SS and loving it.

running 50IPM

That's good news - what kind of machine is it on?

Regards,

Jason

[oxford]

Emco PC Mill 30.

I took out the old steppers. After cutting out some metal I fitted in some 425 oz in steppers.

They run on Keling 8056 Drives and use a C23 BOB.

[jdr]

Hi Jason,

Good looking machine. Very nice workmanship. Is that a Kavo spindle?
Any plans to add a 4th axis? Have you tried any small 3D moves?

Jack

[Jason3]

Hi Jason,

Good looking machine. Very nice workmanship. Is that a Kavo spindle?
Any plans to add a 4th axis? Have you tried any small 3D moves?

Jack

Thank you for your kind words!

Yes, the spindle in the picture is a Kavo 4041. The spindle in the video is an NSK.

I am planning to add a 4th axis, yes - and a 5th as well. I have been buying parts See pic below...

The machine in the photo isn't actually running yet - I haven't been satisfied with the way covers I've devised so far, so haven't fired it up. I also didn't like the Z axis base plate, so I made the another one - the one in the next photo.

The machine in the video - I have done a bit of 3D stuff, some of it quite fine but definitely haven't stretched the machine's capabilities. One fun thing though - I engraved a sentence with a font size of 0.25mm (0.01"). I couldn't read it without a strong magnifying glass, but magnified it was perfectly legible I wish I'd been able to photograph it, but it was just too small

Regards,

Jason

[jdr]

Hi Jason,

I think you may have the nicest desktop milling machine in New Zealand. You do seem to have sourced some great parts. I think you deserve a "Five Bears Award" for your efforts.

What type of motors and drives are you using with your Smoothstepper?

You seem to be getting a almost mirror finish on the aluminum part your are milling in the video. Can you tell any difference between the Kavo and the NSK spindle when comparing finish?

Also, any more videos of your mill running to post?

Jack

[Jason3]

Hi Jason,

I think you may have the nicest desktop milling machine in New Zealand. You do seem to have sourced some great parts. I think you deserve a "Five Bears Award" for your efforts.

What type of motors and drives are you using with your Smoothstepper?

You seem to be getting a almost mirror finish on the aluminum part your are milling in the video. Can you tell any difference between the Kavo and the NSK spindle when comparing finish?

Also, any more videos of your mill running to post?

Jack

Gosh, you'll make me blush A 5Bears award! Wow. That is really an honour, I don't think I'm worthy of that. I wonder what happened to him (is it Kurt?), he must have inspired thousands to give it a go...

Actually, sometimes it seems like I have the only desktop mill in NZ... Surely there are some others doing this here, but I haven't run into them.

I'm using Allen Bradley Ultra 100 drives and Y series brushless servos. The Y series motors have a 2000 line encoder (8000 CPR). I use mostly the larger of the NEMA 23 size ones, they have a peak torque of about 540 oz-in. These drives actually have a built in pulse multiplier that you can set to electronically 'gear' the servos, but this obviously reduces the resolution of the system. That's why I am so keen on the smoothstepper - I can get maximum speed without losing resolution - my Machine No. 2 has 2 mm pitch ballscrews, which gives me a resolution of 0.00025 mm (0.00001") yet (limiting the ballscrews to a reasonably safe 2000 rpm) still gives me 4,000 mm/min (160 IPM). Pretty good, I think

The finish is good, but I am sure there is some tram error. I need to find time to get in there and sort that out... I haven't actually used that Kavo spindle - I bought the NSK to replace a smaller Kavo that I bent, then later had the opportunity to get that one. I expect it to deliver a similar finish, but it's more powerful than the NSK, and a bit faster. It's just been balanced and had new bearings too, so it should be really good.

No more videos yet, sorry! I'll be sure to make some more soon, but for now I'm stuck drawing house plans - we are altering our house to include a workshop and office. Can't wait

Cheers,

Jason

[jdr]

Jason,

Do you have a picture of your current workshop to post? Might be nice to compare the before and after.

I am going to National Instruments Week convention here in Austin. Alway a few motion control vendors such as Yaskawa and Maxon. Fun to see what's new in motion control.

I do go back to the 5bears website and look at his milling machine build. Kurt does post a little here every now and then.

Do you ever go to any auctions or sales in New Zealand for tools?

Jack

[Jason3]

Jason,

Do you have a picture of your current workshop to post? Might be nice to compare the before and after.

I am going to National Instruments Week convention here in Austin. Alway a few motion control vendors such as Yaskawa and Maxon. Fun to see what's new in motion control.

I do go back to the 5bears website and look at his milling machine build. Kurt does post a little here every now and then.

Do you ever go to any auctions or sales in New Zealand for tools?

Jack

No, sorry I don't have any photos - my workshop is an unused corner of a truck service shop. All my CNC parts and unfinished machines are stacked in what will be my son's bedroom when the new 'shop is finished. There are linear bearings, servos, drives, ballscrews, spindles and cables covering every available space except a small path to the desk - looks like an earthquake hit

Your convention sounds fascinating - take some photos!

I haven't been able to find any 5bears updates from Kurt since mid 2005? Got any links?

And last, I would like to go to some tool auctions here in NZ, but the worthwhile ones are in the big centres, I'm a bit short of time to travel (and space to put anything I bought...) It might be good to be able to actually see what I'm buying though - online auctions tend to lead to mistakes like this...

[jdr]

Jason,

Look for postings on CNCZone by Swede(though he stopped posting in October, 2007 now that I checked).
The NI Week convention is like one big science fair. Lots and Lots of expensive gadgets making life easier in the lab.
Sounds like you have a great stash of goodies for your CNC projects. Why did you decide on the Allen Bradley motors and drives for your milling machine?

Jack

[Jason3]

Hi Jack,

That sounds fascinating. I would be there... if I wasn't so far away. We need something like that here - our only similar event is run every 2 years and gets less than 7000 visitors

I have a great stash of CNC goodies, yes! Now I need to do something with them all, to convince myself that it wasn't dumb buying them. Wonder if I could build more of these little machines & sell em! Now that would be cool... I want to do a lathe along the same lines as well, and a slightly smaller mill still, portable perhaps. Wow - I'll have a product line

Why the Allen Bradley gear? Pure chance - Early on I bought a couple of servos that happened to be AB, then went hunting for the drives to run them. Never really stopped buying them - I probably have 15 - 20 sets by now. They are nice - they seem very powerful, well built gear, and nicely compact for the output. I would like to perhaps move to Granite Devices though, when they release their VSD-E drive - it would be more compact and easier to wire. Bit less torque (assuming I use their NEMA 23 motor) though.

Best,

Jason