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Hi,
do you not think it worthwhile to update from a parallel port? They were ALWAYS a bit quirky even back when parallel ports were common....but it worse now that they are not common.
There are...

Hi,
if its missing steps then by the end of the job the z=0 point will no longer be the surface of the PCB but some 0.5mm or whatever above where it started. Is this the case?
That would prove the...

Hi,
have designed a spindle monitoring board that can interlock the VFD from operating or at need send an Estop command to the CNC controller.

The board monitors the three Tool-in-Place switches...

Hi,
just by way of explanation, the narrowest traces in the above board are 0.3mm. I can and sometimes do use as thin as 0.2mm. The ICs are SOIC ie 1.27mm pin pitch but I can and sometimes do
use...

Hi peteeng,
good work. It seems that 1500kg might be about right for that machine. 100 N/um is pretty damned good and would be a very good match with various industrial machines on the market.
Is...

Hi,
I've made PCBs by isolation routing for over ten years now, and in recent times daily, even several times per day.

I use Autoleveller, a software utility (now freeware) to probe the PCB blank...

Hi,
if milling steel is your goal then your choice of spindle is not easy.

Most hobbyists go for high speed/low torque asynchronous spindles driven by a VFD, typically Chinese made. To be fair to...

Hi,
polycarbonate is a s***t to machine, its so heat sensitive it gums up tools in no time.

You will have to peck drill, I would suggest 0.050 per peck or less with a full retract. Whether you...

Hi peteeng,
I am familiar with calculating the first moment of inertia of ballscrews and that is to the fourth power of radius. That stiffness should follow the same proportionality should be no...

Hi,
I personally am in favour of line reactors as a matter of course, but the vast majority of CNCers do not do so, without apparent harm....unless you consider EMI and nuisance trips 'harm'.
...

Hi,
VFDs and servo drives generate a lot of switching harmonics which can 'pollute' the local supply, those harmonics can enter other sensitive equipment and cause issues. EMI filters are poor at...

Hi,

This is the sort of thing you'd put on the input (line) side of your drive:

https://nz.element14.com/corcom-te-connectivity/10emc1/filter-10a-1-phase/dp/9586474

Note that this is a two...

Hi,
given that there is little happening at work on a Saturday I was able to turn the main isolator off and install a new three phase D curve circuit breaker and a three phase plus neutral socket...

Hi peteeng,



Easy to say, lets see how it actually works out in practice.

I can tell you from personal experience the advantages and disadvantages of a column design, and I don't have to...

Hi,
a moderately strong solution (5%-10%) of phosphoric acid. Paint it on, leave for an hour or so to dissolve the rust, and then thoroughly rinse it off.
This is the basis of quite a few of the...

Hi,



There we disagree, I am firmly in the camp of the more Z axis travel the better. In addition to the vice, workholding and the tool and tool holder, I always intended at some stage to have...

Hi peteeng,
if you were to use a slab of steel I would use it as the base rather than the walls. You could then mill T slots in it, T slots are just so damned useful. You'd probably want at least...

Hi Shane,
I use Delta servos on the basis of performance and cost.

There are cheaper Chinese made servos, and while I have no doubt they work, they have poor documentation, questionable backup...

Hi peteeng,
I follow your calculation but whom, in their right mind, would use a solid slab of steel 60mm thick? Were it a welded structure it could be made stiff and yet a lot lighter. Of course a...

Hi,
just received the oscillating pump from Auckland.

I was correct, the no back pressure flow rate is 1.4l per minute, not the 14 l per minute advertised.
The company whom supplied it supply...

Hi,
my 750W servos draw about 100mA from a 230VAC supply. Only when they have to supply torque do they start using current. My machine weighs 800 kg, so the X axis table weighs about 200kg.
The X...

Hi,
one thing that may influence your design is the use of concrete as a primary material. The most critical structure of a C column design is the column itself and the base. Both lend themselves...

Hi,
my reasoning goes something like this:

With a gantry and the Z axis at its fullest extent and the Z axis central in the gantry is the worst load condition. The gantry is under its worst...

Hi peteeng,
good work.

I might try something similar but with a regular column.

What does surprise me is in fact how similar they are. If this were are far as the design goes then as you say...

Hi,
that problem has been reported before. My understanding is that replacing the battery, while required, will not fix it. Critical data has been lost and needs be repopulated before it will run...

Hi,
why do you think it essential that you have encoder feedback for your spindle?

Is it position capable or something?

I use 750W Delta B2 servos, it was the first time I'd used AC servos so...

Hi Peter,
that spindle looks like the deal OK....and very competitively priced.

My own spindle is broadly very similar. It rated speed is 10,000rpm, so it has an S1 torque of 3.3Nm, which I think...

Hi peteeng,
I know you are wedded, or at least very much favour, high sidewalls and moving gantry designs whereas I favour C column designs.

What I do believe would be very instructive is to...

Hi,
I built a mill, that is to say a C column machine, hopefully rigid enough to cut steel, even if carefully. It weighs about 800kg. Its travels are 350mm x 350mm x 350mm.

Plenty of Z axis...

Hi peteng,
just scanning through the Hass PDF and it looks like a standard (BT40) VF1 is 3200kg while the VF6 breaks 9500kg. Both are still very heavy but not quite 11.5T either.

Craig