[jakemestre]

TIG welding can be really tricky, the best thing you can do is just to take your time. I like to have around 5 tungstens sharp so I can quickly swap and keep welding. I also only sharpen one end so the other stays smooth for easy swapping.

My first look at the head it was on my phone, but now that I see it on a bigger screen I can tell you just scribbled it out in MSpaint. I didnt think you had the capacity to print something so large, which is why I had to ask. Additive manufacturing brings a whole new set of possibilities and technical challenges to the game.

I had the chance to watch some machinists at work set up and use a cylindrical grinder, I wouldnt trust the minilathe steady rest if I were you. Do all the work on the chuck end, and support the other side with a live center/bullnose. You also should not have cut the spindle to length so soon, an inch or two of chuck waste is usually very helpful, but of course im not setting up the machine so I cant see any size constraints.

Im no expert, take my advise with a grain of salt.

Good trick with the presharp tungstens! I have a terrible habit of toughing the electrode to my work. I'm working on it. Thanks for the advice on the grinding. I actually did leave a couple extra inches after the cut. The spindle was just too big to fit in my machine. The spare cut serves as a way to see how the whole process works before I go grinding on the main spindle. There aren't any machine shops in Reno that will take on the spindle grind. So I'm on my own and the only tool I have for the job is my 9x20. I've been doing research on the process and it looks like super shallow cuts are the way to go with ~50% of the wheel cutting new material. Basically 100rpm .0001-2"DOC and 18"/min travel. It can take the entire day if necessary, that's the beauty of letting the CNC do its happy thing. I keep saying I'll get it done, but other projects keep cropping up this week. It's driving me a bit crazy. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the words of wisdom.

New to this forum and just read this whole thread from start to date. MOST IMPRESSED!!

I build motorcycle parts for a living all manual so far and nothing that needs to be as precise as your lathe. Just bought my first CNC Mill. I know nothing about CNC and have A LOT to learn but am very impressed with this project and your knowledge. You talk a lot of Greek as far as my brain goes but that's how I learn.

Thank you for sharing your project!!

Keep it in a wheelie, Jim

Hi Jim,
Thank you for the kind words. This has been a very in depth learning process for me. Almost none of this design process is part of the mechanical engineering education system. I find myself having to research even the simplest of things like how to pick a bearing, or a belt. Wish they had given us a course or two on how to actually design something real. The spindle motor has been the biggest hurdle to date. Finding something that would provide enough umph, while not breaking the bank or taking too much space was a real challenge.
The reason I've been posting is several fold. First I enjoy sharing knowledge, I want to show people that while it's a lot of work it can be done, and even on tools that aren't as good as the pros. Secondly, this forum is a vast resource of people doing great things. If I get stuck there's usually somebody that's been there and done it. And once I'm done maybe somebody will need one for their own shop.....
Have a good one, and keep building cool stuff
Jake

[jakemestre]

More design work done.
I found a great model of a person on grabcad. I figured inserting a positionable human would give scale, and help me see where to position windows/doors/etc. Then I started in on the sheet metal design. I've never done a sheet metal structure in the computer first, mostly because I don't have the sophistication or tools in most things I've needed to make from sheet. Pretty designs don't work when all you've got is an angle grinder to cut material..... So the sheet metal design has been a bit of a slow learning curve. Here are the results so far.


I've spent most of the time working on how to get a conveyor into the structure, while allowing it to be easily removed for cleaning. I like the idea of easily being able to find something I drop inside the machine. I figure that if I have two rollers, a bit like bicycle training rollers where there's an external frame and the drums are inside, I can house all the drive unit and keep chips on top of the conveyor pretty easily. We'll see.

I'm shooting for two doors. One that slides to allow easy access to the chuck, and one that opens gull-wing style over the turret. I found that having to open a heavy door hundreds of times on my current machine is exhausting. Most of the big machines have sliders, but no easy way to change inserts or tools on the turret. I hated having to crawl around inside the machine to swap an insert. And if I drop something it will be quite simple to open the door and pick it up. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Jake

[hive8]

I was reading in a few posts before, that you use leadshine hybrid steppers and the turn up to 3000 RPM, have you tested them on that speed or anything over 1000 RPM.

[jakemestre]

I was reading in a few posts before, that you use leadshine hybrid steppers and the turn up to 3000 RPM, have you tested them on that speed or anything over 1000 RPM.

Good question. The Easy Servos are guaranteed to 2000rpm and the sales tech I spoke to said that if I actually tune them I should be able to get 3000. Not that it really matters, its something like 400"/min at 3000rpm. We'll see. I'm wiring things now so as soon as I have power and control I'll let you know and shoot some video.
Jake

[jakemestre]

I've been working on the control box quite a bit this week. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out where things should go to minimize power and signals running together. I work on it on the bench and then I stuck it in position to see how it will feel to work on post hookup. Sometimes the unforeseen interferences cause the greatest problems.


The computer is built into the bottom right corner of the box. I have plans to shield it with mesh. I also need to get filters for the fans. One is mounted under the computer, and the holes above the VFD should allow for a circular flow and nice cool electronics.


Every once in a while life throws you a bone on a build like this. Magically the 5i25 PCI card fits perfectly to the 7i76 using a gender changer that I happened to have on hand. Good thing I've got the printer to make some custom standoffs for the 7i76 break out board. It's those small details that take so much time.

I also got the touch screen working with Linux. That was a chore. I wanted to make sure the computer was working before I went and mounted all the electronics, so I hooded up the touch. Still need to get LinuxCNC working with boards, but that's coming as soon as I have power.
Happy weekend.

[zamazz]

What brand is your touchscreen? I have an Elo that had given me fits with Linux, perhaps you had the same problems.

[Fastest1]

Zamazz, What kind of problems are you having with the touchscreen?

[jakemestre]

What brand is your touchscreen? I have an Elo that had given me fits with Linux, perhaps you had the same problems.

Hey Zamazz,
My touchscreen is an ELO SCN-A5-FLT17.1-Z01-0H1-R. It's a screen with a resistive touch panel over it. I found them on ebay for $35 a piece so I bought a couple for my Tormach and future projects.
Actually for the benefit of people wishing to use LinuxCNC maybe I'll do a quick post on how I got a touchscreen working. I am absolutely no expert or even good at using Linux. In fact I'm a complete noob, but I'm really good at using youtube and google to find answers.
Jake

[zamazz]

Zamazz, What kind of problems are you having with the touchscreen?

So the screen works great, but the USB touch functions are off. I've installed the drivers from ELO's website, but when I attempt to run the calibration program it fails for some reason. So a touch at the lower right hand side of the screen thinks I'm touching the middle, and the upper left hand corner is correct.

I'm competent in Linux, but certainly not good enough to do much debugging, so if you'd be willing to post what you did that would be awesome. If yours is USB then I'm sure the electronics are pretty similar. Thanks,

Zach

[Fastest1]

I didnt have any issues connecting my ELO but I dont run Linux. I tried it once. There is a learning curve with either product. I understand Mach, well at least as much as a 6th grader. EMC maybe like Kindegarten.

[jakemestre]

Hey guys,
I need some help with pulleys and belts. I was thinking of a polyV or even timing belt but I don't know the first thing about picking one. I also need to find a good supplier. Would an automotive belt be a good way to go? Thanks.
Jake

[jakemestre]

Control interface is mostly designed.

I really do need some help with belts. If anybody has good reference material, links to other design threads, or info it would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Wizbaa]

You've got the right idea for belts, we covered power transmission(belts, chains) in my last bout of schooling, Im an Apprentice Millwright.

What is your spindle motor rated at? The PolyV is a multi ribbed belt, usually used for high power applications. I think you could use a regular Vee belt, or the more modern deep groove V belt or narrow V. Classic V belts are sized by letter A,B,C, etc, narrow Vs are 3V, 5V, 8V etc. They taught me about belt construction and applications but not where to buy them, typically I dont purchase parts at work i just install them. My textbooks are in storage, when I get at them I can give you some more details but I wont have access to them for a few more weeks. The biggest drawback of the V belt is how much tension you need to put on the belt, as the wedging action of the belt into the sheave is what transmits the power. Too much tension or excessive vibration will go right into your bearings so you need to be sure of your alignment and tension settings.

Timing belts will be good on the servos, as they have very low backlash. Just fit the widest belts you can.

Have you tried using gas shocks to assist opening the gull wing on your 9x20? If those dont help, build the door out of aluminum to save some wieght.

This fella has done some nice work on his build, check out his console!
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...-progress.html

[Wizbaa]

To summarize my jumbled thoughts, timing belts will be good for the X,Z axis and I think you could use a 5V narrow V belt for the spindle drive but I need to know your spindle motor output.

[jakemestre]

You've got the right idea for belts, we covered power transmission(belts, chains) in my last bout of schooling, Im an Apprentice Millwright.

What is your spindle motor rated at? The PolyV is a multi ribbed belt, usually used for high power applications. I think you could use a regular Vee belt, or the more modern deep groove V belt or narrow V. Classic V belts are sized by letter A,B,C, etc, narrow Vs are 3V, 5V, 8V etc. They taught me about belt construction and applications but not where to buy them, typically I dont purchase parts at work i just install them. My textbooks are in storage, when I get at them I can give you some more details but I wont have access to them for a few more weeks. The biggest drawback of the V belt is how much tension you need to put on the belt, as the wedging action of the belt into the sheave is what transmits the power. Too much tension or excessive vibration will go right into your bearings so you need to be sure of your alignment and tension settings.

Timing belts will be good on the servos, as they have very low backlash. Just fit the widest belts you can.

Have you tried using gas shocks to assist opening the gull wing on your 9x20? If those dont help, build the door out of aluminum to save some wieght.

This fella has done some nice work on his build, check out his console!
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...-progress.html

Wizbaa,
Thank you so much. The spindle motor is 5hp, and it has encoder feedback to the drive. I'm thinking I'd like to close the loop with the control for live tooling and rotation positioning of the spindle. That's why I was leaning towards timing belt for the spindle. From what I've read the V belts require quite a bit of tension to achieve good power transmission, especially with 75ft-lb of torque. With a timing belt I wouldn't have to tension the belt like crazy to keep it from slipping. Am I approaching this incorrectly? The poly V seemed to be a good candidate for general turning because of the surface area. I doubt I'll be doing any crazy milling on my lathe, but sometimes I have this offset threaded stud job and it'd be great to threadmill that sucker without moving it to the mill.
On the gullwing I'm sort of trying to keep from working on that machine if I don't have to. Sort of taking one step backwards to stand still on the new machine... I might revisit the 9x20 when the new one is running and cutting metal. Good idea with the gas strut, I'll install one for sure.
Thank you for that link, I've never come across that build before. Beautiful work for sure. Now I've got to go read the whole thing...
Thank you again for helping me with belts. There were like 1000 views from when I posted asking for help, and no responses. I'm getting close to having to make a decision, not that I can't change it later. Have a great day man.
Jake

[Wizbaa]

Heres a PDF about timing belts, Page T6 has a graph comparing the horse power rating of the different sizes of belts:
http://file.lasersaur.com/docs-third...ming_Belts.pdf

If your going to do spindle indexing go for the timing belt, according to that graph the XH size belt is the one you want, able to handle 5hp down to 100rpm. But at .875 pitch your going to need some big pulleys. When choosing your drive ratio keep in mind the amount of belt wrap on each pulley, you need at least 6 teeth engaged at all times.

Is 5HP overkill on a lathe this size?

[URSTech]

really beautiful work here, been following the thread for a while now. I am curious how you plan on covering the bed rails/ball screw? The few Haas we have in our shop seem to have a piece of sheet metal that retracts into the headstock/tailstock area, but I don't think that would work on your machine since the rails come down below your headstock edge. Blight has a pretty cool telescoping cover on his build.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...c-lathe-5.html

[jakemestre]

Heres a PDF about timing belts, Page T6 has a graph comparing the horse power rating of the different sizes of belts:
http://file.lasersaur.com/docs-third...ming_Belts.pdf

If your going to do spindle indexing go for the timing belt, according to that graph the XH size belt is the one you want, able to handle 5hp down to 100rpm. But at .875 pitch your going to need some big pulleys. When choosing your drive ratio keep in mind the amount of belt wrap on each pulley, you need at least 6 teeth engaged at all times.

Is 5HP overkill on a lathe this size?

Perfect, exactly what I was looking for. You da man.
I don't think 5hp is overkill. This machine is quite rigid, the weakest link I think will be the 1/2" tool holders. I might have to machine my own holders that'll fit in the 3/4 tapered slots in the turret. HAAS's little office lathe, which was the basis for my design is 7.5hp with a 5" chuck. Last thing I want to do is stall the spindle. It happens frequently on my 9x20(mostly a lot of combined factors including poorly designed belt system, and uncalibrated VFD) It's a royal pain to break inserts and components when the spindle stalls. Tim the toolman Taylor has a good philosophy,"More Power!"

really beautiful work here, been following the thread for a while now. I am curious how you plan on covering the bed rails/ball screw? The few Haas we have in our shop seem to have a piece of sheet metal that retracts into the headstock/tailstock area, but I don't think that would work on your machine since the rails come down below your headstock edge. Blight has a pretty cool telescoping cover on his build.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...c-lathe-5.html

Thank you very much.
Yep, telescoping covers are something on the long list of things to make. That'll be one of the later components. I had forgotten about that little lathe The Blight built. Beautiful work. There are a few good threads out there on how to make em.
Jake

[jakemestre]

Hey guys,
Long time no see. Sorry I've been MIA for a bit, had some really awesome projects come in the door with time sensitive requirements. Anyway, back at it now. I managed to fab part of an arm and control panel yesterday. It still has a ways to go.


After a ton of experimentation on the short test section I decided that an annealed surface would be grind-able on my flimsy lathe. This was probably one of the stranger tools I've put in my toolpost.

I'll edit with a short video of the torch being moved based on the thickness of the material. Slower for thicker, and faster over thin for an even temperature. I took it to a gray, almost orange glow which should have been about 800-1000 degrees. Fire extinguisher was in hand the whole time. lol

[DICKEYBIRD]

Well now, aren't you the clever lil' devil! Where did you find the CAH software? (Computer Aided Heating)