[LongRat]

Well there is my thread on the belt drive conversion that is a massive upgrade I am sure you have seen. I would consider it essential. Generally I haven't done much to this machine though, other than use it a great deal for machining parts.

[comet]

LR can you post a link please to the belt drive thread as i cant find it!

[LongRat]

Sure thing.
The thread quickly turned into a motor problem solving session before I replaced the standard setup with a 3ph motor and VFD. The belt drive has 2 ratios that actually go up to a max speed of about 4000 RPM. With the VFD drive it could go a lot faster, but not without destroying the spindle bearings I fear.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...e_5000rpm.html

[LongRat]

I thought I would update this thread with some of the things I have done to further improve this mill.
Here's a picture of the mill now, you can see my 3-phase motor and the belt drive conversion I did. Also notice the small plastic box on the column where I join all my limit switch connections up:



On that subject, I have now got microswitches on each end of Y, one for both limits in X and a Z+ switch. All switches are wired normally closed in series to a single Mach3 input. My intention was to use them as limits and a reference for fixed position probing, but actually they have proven to be a lot more repeatable than I expected, at least better than 0.050mm. The pic below shows the Y switch installation:



I bought the Mach3 2010 screen set from Gerry (The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010) because I liked the modern look and lack of clutter and especially for the in-built double probing routine for tool length. This is a really nice idea where your movable reference plate is only used to set the tool to the workpiece for the first tool in the job, with all subsequent tools having their lengths set via the fixed probe that is permanently attached to the machine table. As the 30 series machine has such a large table I thought this would be a good upgrade without depriving me of much working area, and it does save a fair bit of time on each tool change. See the fixed position probe plate on a raised pillar on the nearest side of the table in the pic below. The plate is insulated from the pillar using a PEEK rod section (a very stiff engineering plastic). For my movable plate I use a precision ground ceramic cylinder with a press-fit steel cap section on the top.



Finally I made a couple of tramming aids, based on a tip posted by Machine Chick. Just a couple of brackets and jacking screws for adjusting the head angle in tiny and precise increments. I definitely recommend this, it makes tramming MUCH easier. I'm unlikely to ever want to angle the head, but if I ever do it is a simple case of unbolting the button from the casting and the head rotates as normal again. There's an identical one on the other side of the head too.

[digits]

That's looking pretty sorted - I really must make some of those tramming widgets for mine, they've got to be much better than whacking the head with a mallet!

I really think you need to get some insulation on those limit switches though - I'd be worried about piles of swarf or coolant giving you false activations...

BTW were you wandering round the exhibition at Ally Pally on Sunday? I wasn't sure enough it was you to say hi...

[LongRat]

Yes I was there. Not much of a CNC contingent being represented was there?
I don't expect a problem with the switches, I don't use coolant and the air blast tends to move the swarf well off the machine. Maybe I'll wack a bit of silicone sealant over the soldered contacts.

[digits]

Yes I was there. Not much of a CNC contingent being represented was there?
I don't expect a problem with the switches, I don't use coolant and the air blast tends to move the swarf well off the machine. Maybe I'll wack a bit of silicone sealant over the soldered contacts.

I thought it was you - you were the other person between the age of 9 and 67 that was there and not behind a stall

I was rather disapointed to see the only CNC was a whizzy rep-rap making plastic parts that cost more than a kilo of aluminium stock!

It is a bit sad to see the same old manual machines year in and year out, Amadeal were there but they didn't bring any of their rather large Super-X6/7/8 CNC beast which was a shame.

[LongRat]

I thought it was you - you were the other person between the age of 9 and 67 that was there and not behind a stall

I was rather disapointed to see the only CNC was a whizzy rep-rap making plastic parts that cost more than a kilo of aluminium stock!

It is a bit sad to see the same old manual machines year in and year out, Amadeal were there but they didn't bring any of their rather large Super-X6/7/8 CNC beast which was a shame.

Ha ha! You got that right! I'm 31 years old and I still feel like a kid when I go to these shows!
I was happy to see Amadeal too, but you are absolutely right - they didn't bring anything to differentiate themselves from Warco, Chester etc which was a bad move. I wanted to see their bigger machines too.

[ruffle]

Hi Longrat,

Long time no update on this thread.

Did you stick with the 425oz steppers or upgrade them?

[LongRat]

!
Sorry I didn't see this reply. Just for the sake of clarity, yes I stuck to the original steppers and the original 39V DC power supply. In fact the whole controller set up is the same I was using back on my old X2 that I built in 2006-7. How's that for reliability? I can't imagine how many thousand hours this has run. Good old stepper motors are incredibly durable, and as for the Gecko G201 drives - performance and value I can't help but be impressed by.

[Greggan]

Would you mind sharing your cad file?

[LongRat]

Greggan - I have a zip of all the DXFs I used to make a load of the parts for this machine, which has been shared out many times. Happy to send you it if you PM me your email address. It's all 2D stuff, no 3D models or assemblies.
To update this long-lived thread, I'm still using this machine and run it almost every day still. Still running the original setup including the steppers and controller which are now 14 years old. These 30-series machines, with the right mods, are truly excellent.

[davidcperez]

Hi Dear Do you need any parts I can supply Weiss Products and other parts drivers and servo motors
do you have any question please don't hesitate contact with me

Best Regards

David

I thought I would update this thread with some of the things I have done to further improve this mill.
Here's a picture of the mill now, you can see my 3-phase motor and the belt drive conversion I did. Also notice the small plastic box on the column where I join all my limit switch connections up:



On that subject, I have now got microswitches on each end of Y, one for both limits in X and a Z+ switch. All switches are wired normally closed in series to a single Mach3 input. My intention was to use them as limits and a reference for fixed position probing, but actually they have proven to be a lot more repeatable than I expected, at least better than 0.050mm. The pic below shows the Y switch installation:



I bought the Mach3 2010 screen set from Gerry (The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010) because I liked the modern look and lack of clutter and especially for the in-built double probing routine for tool length. This is a really nice idea where your movable reference plate is only used to set the tool to the workpiece for the first tool in the job, with all subsequent tools having their lengths set via the fixed probe that is permanently attached to the machine table. As the 30 series machine has such a large table I thought this would be a good upgrade without depriving me of much working area, and it does save a fair bit of time on each tool change. See the fixed position probe plate on a raised pillar on the nearest side of the table in the pic below. The plate is insulated from the pillar using a PEEK rod section (a very stiff engineering plastic). For my movable plate I use a precision ground ceramic cylinder with a press-fit steel cap section on the top.



Finally I made a couple of tramming aids, based on a tip posted by Machine Chick. Just a couple of brackets and jacking screws for adjusting the head angle in tiny and precise increments. I definitely recommend this, it makes tramming MUCH easier. I'm unlikely to ever want to angle the head, but if I ever do it is a simple case of unbolting the button from the casting and the head rotates as normal again. There's an identical one on the other side of the head too.