[Semus]

Hey guys,

I know that I don't post here very often and most people don't know who I am or what my company is all about, but that's OK. If you're interested in finding out more about ProtoSimTech, you can watch the videos on our YouTube channel for more info.

That said, we were waiting on some tools to arrive and needed something to do, so we decided to tackle a little side project. We had a 4" diameter round bar lying around the shop and figured that that would be a perfect piece to build a spindle lock for our G0704.

This is just our little version. I know there are several other versions out there and you can even purchase one from LMS for about $50. We decided it was more cost-effective to make our own. This is a variation of a spindle lock that we saw right here on the CNC forums (my apologies for not knowing which thread it was).

Here's a short video about how we made ours.




Chris

[hoss2006]

You got the idea from kd4gij 12 days ago in my thread, you commented about it.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...ml#post1410018
Hoss

[Semus]

You got the idea from kd4gij 12 days ago in my thread, you commented about it.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht...ml#post1410018
Hoss

Haha, you're absolutely correct!

My apologies for not giving credit where credit is due. Thanks for correcting me, Hoss!

[hoss2006]

No worries, I remembered you saying something about that hunk of aluminum and then remembered your post.
Nice job by the way.
Hoss

[Semus]

No worries, I remembered you saying something about that hunk of aluminum and then remembered your post.
Nice job by the way.
Hoss

Thanks, Hoss =)

[rs4race]

What is the purpose of this? Sorry still a bit of a noob with this stuff.

[Semus]

What is the purpose of this? Sorry still a bit of a noob with this stuff.

You can lock the spindle in place so that changing tools is a lot easier. Little Machine Shop sells these things for about $50. Grizzly sells the same one for about $90.

You can watch the video, and at the end I explain how it functions. I hope I explained it well enough. If not, I'll see if I can write out a tutorial on how it works.

[kd4gij]

Nice job

[Semus]

Nice job

Thanks for giving me the inspiration

[FannBlade]

Nice work!
Now get that CNC conversion going!! :banana:

Hoss is the 704 master on here.

[Semus]

Nice work!
Now get that CNC conversion going!! :banana:

Hoss is the 704 master on here.

Thanks, FannBlade!

The CNC conversion is probably not going to happen anytime soon, I'm afraid. As soon as we start making a profit, that might be something to invest in. We are going to get a power feed for the X-axis, though. That should make life a bit easier.

[109jb]

Good job, but I would put a light spring or something under that bolt to prevent it from working inward due to vibration.

[Semus]

Good job, but I would put a light spring or something under that bolt to prevent it from working inward due to vibration.

Good suggestion. I'll keep that in mind.

[kd4gij]

I have the X axes power feed on mine. Don't no howe I got along with out it. Also Have Igaging scales on it.

[Semus]

I have the X axes power feed on mine. Don't no howe I got along with out it. Also Have Igaging scales on it.

One question I need to ask is, how heavy is that thing? Is there any deflection in the table with it installed? I would hope that deflection would be minimum, but with heavy things on the ends of the table like that, you never know. Just curious.

[kd4gij]

I am not shure of the weight but I have no deflection. It sits flush with the top of the table. I got mine from lathemasters for $40.00 cheaper but I don't see it on there site enymore.

[kd4gij]

Next I am looking to build a power feed to raise and lower the head.Cranking it is getting old.

[Semus]

Next I am looking to build a power feed to raise and lower the head.Cranking it is getting old.

Do you happen to have a cordless drill lying around? If you don't care about precision, you can just use that to lower and raise it. I have a couple of DeWalt cordless drills with a socket attachment that I use to move the table and head assembly when I'm feeling lazy. Just a thought. Again, this shouldn't be used for anything requiring accuracy.

[kd4gij]

I use the quill fine feed for for milling. Use the quil for drilling. Looking for a permanit fix for raizing and lowering the head. looking for a cheap gear motor with verible speed. Not shure howmuch touque I need or weather to mount to the handle or drictley to the lead screw.

[wrljet]

Nice project. I like the way the spindle nose isn't covered up. I like to turn that by hand
while fiddling with tools.

Anyway, purpose of my reply... Instead of milling away that vast amount of material that
took four hours, you could use a saw to rough it out.

-Bill