[jalessi]

Atvracer,

The breakout board in the picture from Keling is a CNC4PC C-10

Upgrading to a C-11 would give you VFD control and a cleaner installation.

As Pete mentioned there are pros and cons to a all in one solution.

If you need VFD control then a Breakout Board upgrade is necessary otherwise the C-10 does a fine job.

Jeff...

[pete from TN]

Well guys after some time in the shop this past weekend I managed to get the machine physically back together. I actually put the millhead back on the machine and mounted the new motor on it. The nice part is that I have been running the machine back and forth for a little while with my cordless drill battery at 19.2 volts. Today was kind of a breakthru for me in that for the first time I ran the Z axis fully assembled with the motor and the spindle and even a cutter holder in the spindle. It is as heavy now as it will ever be. I hooked up the servo leads with some wire to my battery and lo and behold it run up and down nice and smooth and quiet. Now it was not moving terribly fast but I figure with only probably like ten volts running it which is half the pins on the battery leads it would not be. When I went to Bills house to hookup the control unit these same motors getting like 70vdc were MUCH MUCH faster and more responsive. So I am optimistic that with the control finally hooked up this should work great.

I also did a lot of soldering on the connectors and servo cables today and except for one I got them all done. I also got the control unit painted but ran out of paint before I could get the bottom painted so I am gonna get some more tomorrow. Now all that is left is to finish some rerunning of the one shot oiler lines that I was not happy with and putting the control unit all back together in the newly painted box and I should be running this machine!!!!

Here are some pics I snapped tonight after I cleaned up a bit. Starting to look like a cnc mill no? peace

[jalessi]

Hey Pete,

Its looking real good, I'll bet you are happy you are almost to the end of the line now.

Have you made any new air guns lately?

Jeff...

[pete from TN]

But I have been working on a few other projects including sidewheels and things like that. I am hoping that this machine will open up some new airgun possibilities for me when it is finished. The one I posted here is working real nice tho and I am probably going to be taking it to a competition very soon... How have you been man? peace

[atvracer]

Looking good there I like the color by removing all the handles on the heads makes real clean more like a CNC

I’m still waiting on mine oh buy the way I’m a CNC programmer/plant manager just waited to play and parts for my other hobbies RC helis and ATV’s
atv

[pete from TN]

Of course the handles and levers on the millhead are now unnecessary with the vector drive and belt drive conversion as well as the Z axis being cnc control. Of course you probably know that already... CnC programmer eh.... I may have some use for you....hmmmmm peace

[atvracer]

I may have some use for you....hmmmmm

no problem

[arizonavideo]

I have a IH mill just like that and the low 17,000 RPM will just not do..

Can you show us how you fit the spindle drive pulley?

[bill south]

Hey Pete;
Nice looking mill. If it works as well as it looks, I may just be forced to take my down and rebuild it! I like the spindle drive.
On a side note, I wonder how much the head weight can be reduced by skeletonizing (is this a word?) the whole thing. I'll bet a bunch of weight can be lost without reducing the integrity of the head structure!
Looking good Bud. Now make something happen!!!!!
Oh yeah, the db9 mount is in the mail and I did not locate the missing connector!
Have a good one!
Bill

[pete from TN]

I am sure that you probably meant that the lowish 1,700 rpm spindle is too slow and beleive me I can relate. It was the impetus for me to do this whole conversion. The pulley mount is actually a part from another machine. I think I described the buildup in this thread earlier on, but it is the pulley mount for a round column machine called an RF31. I got it from MSC direct and it has the same size spline array as the spindle in my machine. This piece is essentially a smooth turned piece with the spline holes machined isnside it and a shoulder with e-ring grooves on the OD. I then took it and measured it to find the appropriate bearings to fit the ID of the hole inside the quill bore on my machine and to fit this piece. Then I used the original e-rings and machined a bearing spacer to position the piece in the head where I needed it. Then I just machined some custom pulleys to fit my speed desires and a simple mount for the new motor which is a 3hp 56c frame motor and found an appropriate belt to drive it all. It is actually simpler to do than to type about. Took some time to make the pulleys and machine the motor mount tho....

Unfortunately for IH guys tho It seems that Bob Warfield bought the same piece intending to do the same thing and found that the splines on the IH mill are apparently larger or something so it would not fit. It may still be possible to make it work anyways, it is not a hardened piece so it might be possible to machine it to fit your shaft and make it work the same way.....

Right now with the two speed pulley setup and no load I am measuring a low speed of around 140 rpm and a max of around 1800 I think it was and a High speed of around 1100 to 5800 rpm without seriously overclocking the vector drive. I am gonna be hopefully running this machine soon and I will post some videos of it running so you guys can see and hear it working. Hopefully it will be as quiet and powerful running and cutting as it seems just cutting air....




Bill,
Hey man I forgot to tell you that I actually found that fourth connector part in a box on my workbench the other day so you can stop looking for it. REALLY appreciate the plate you made and look forward to getting it and installing it. Cannot thank you enough man....peace

[bill south]

Hey Pete;
I have a couple of questions for you. First, did you buy the Spindle Sleeve for your pulley drive from grizzly (PN P1005007)? In your other thread Mr. Bob W. mentioned that he had purchased one that it would not fit the IH mill spindle splines. I wonder if he wants to part with it (if it will fit my machine)? I'm thinking upgrade to my junker with a spindle drive, oiling system and pinning my axis mounts. Of course this will have to wait until I finish my router.
Also, the mount used by your machine to bolt the head to the column is a bit different from mine. My bolts are recessed and yours are exposed. In the picture yours appears to be quite a bit larger than mine. You have not made any mods in that area have you??? I think it may be an upgrade since my old machine was built. Changing the head tilt is a PITA with the recessed design.
Are you making cnc chips yet? :banana::wave:
Bill

[pete from TN]

Why hell no I am not making chips yet!! I wish I was!!! I am still working on this control unit. I recently got it painted to match the machine and I am now waiting for the little cool part you made for me to arrive. Once it is here I can put the whole thing together and get it finished to the point that I can make some test cuts... Should be done this weekend I hope. Getting excited about it for sure. I just got a package from Allelectronics( thanks for the catalog man) and It has the 120vac plug and sockets I ordered, some more cuss strips, some fuse holders and other assorted electronics paraphernalia. This should be the rest of what I need to get this thing running....

Glad you like the way the machine looks, it has been a lot of work getting it that way. The column is actually the factory Z slide and it came that way. It is basically the same setup as the IH mill has with the 12 inch ring and mine is a very early Lathemaster machine. One of the first ones I ordered it back about eight years ago from Bob Bertrand. Since then they have changed the design to be like yours and most of the non IH mills have that same style Z slide you have with the bolts in the slot behind the head.

As far as the coupler, the one Bob Warfield has did not fit the IH mill as it seems the quill is wider in diameter or the splines are different or something. The coupler I got I can give you the information on if you like or you can try to get that one from Bob W. It should be the same one I have and will most likely fit your machine since it is the same basic model as mine is. Only one way to find out. IF you want to I can measure the quill in my machine and give you the dimensions across the splines and what not. While the belt drive spindle mod I have done here is not proven yet it sure looks like it should work great. Once the machine is cnc I will probably post a video of it running and hopefully cutting something so you all will be able to see what it does for real. It sure as hell sounds nice and quiet and the massive increases in spindle speed are gonna be a welcome sight once I am cnc. Machining the pulleys was kind of a pain since there is a taper involved but not too bad..

Gimme a call if you have any questions and I will help you any way I can, lord knows you have helped me out...peace

[pete from TN]

Well guys, it has been a very long day out in the shop working on the cnc conversion. I managed to screw up something which is not surprising but the good news is that once I realized that I soldered the encoder wires for two of my axes at the encoder plug wrong and mixed up the wires which was causing me a hard fault of the geckos I was able to ohm out the lines and get them fixed. Then I loaded mach and tried to configure the system. Once I figured out how to get the charge pump output from the computer setup all the pretty lights on the C11g BReakout board started to light up like a christmas tree, it was rather beautiful.... Anyways, Then I figured out how to wire the E- stop button on the breakout board. I then tried to configure the servo motors to mach3 and started with a guess of about 10000 steps per inch and got the machine working!!! JOYS HAPPY HAPPY!!!! Then I got the Y motor wired and working and set it up.

Then I got all excited and forgot to turn off the power supply before I plugged in the Z axis motor and let some of the magic smoke out of the Z axis Gecko or at least that is what I think happened. I cannot get it to work right now so I am kinda bummed about it. Those little babies are not cheap ya know.... I will try again tomorrow to get it working but I have my doubts. The Fault light does come on tho and it seems to be getting the right voltages at the pins so I dunno....

Anyways, I decided to dwell on what is working and tried my hand at the auto calibration technique Hoss showed in one of the sweet videos he posted and got the thing to repeat to within .005!!! VERY COOL!!! Then I calibrated the Y axis the same way. I got to run the Famous Roadrunner program and watch this bad boy run at least 2 axes.... Man am I excited to finally have movement and control. I tried to hook the Y servo cable and encoder line to the Z axis for a test run and it seemed to work fine so I just gotta either fix that Z Gecko or get another one....

So to make a long story short I have gotten the cnc mill working and built the control box with the extremely patient and kind help of Art Eckstein and Bill South without whom I would have never made it here.... Thanks to both of you and I look forward to many more interesting conversations as I go thru the steep learning curve of this cad cam software.

Once I get the Z working and get the Teco Vector drive wired into the BOB I will make some youtube videos of the machine running so all of you that are interested can see it run. I gotta say that it has been a real PIA>>>. I was very frustrated earlier and especially when that drive popped like that. Man that was disheartening, anyways, the machine still has a lot to do like finishing the one shot oiler, replacing the Z gecko or fixing it, figuring out how to get these nice optical limits to work, wiring the spindle motor, getting all the way covers and guards put back on, and I am sure a bunch of other stuff I have not thought of. But the great news is this is finally a working cnc machine!!!!! I cannot believe it actually works and I built it.... I am not sure how to change the jog speed or the rapid speed in mach yet but the table moves pretty fast and almost got away from me when I ran the roadrunner program. Scared the tar out of me when it nearly crashed the Y into the column... Need some limits pretty soon. Glad I got the e-stop wired right huh.... Peace

[Bubba]

Pete,
Congrats. I know you were frustrated last night when you found the wiring problem. Glad it was as simple as that. Hopefully the gecko is not hurt, but then again doesn't sound good. As for the tuning etc, follow the manual and you will get there.

[bill south]

Hey Pete;
Great News! Almost there. I popped a Gecko when I was building my first mahicne. They repaired it for nothing. I was astounded and very happy. Those folks are a true class act.
Find out how long it's going to take to get it repaired and if it's going to be a while, I'll loan you my spare. Just let me know.
Bill

[pete from TN]

Thanks for the kind offer, if there is gonna be a long wait I may take you up on that.... I took out the Z axis Gecko this morning and actually took the cover off it to see if I could see any obvious problems or burn marks or anything but found nothing. I am still redoing my encoder cables so that all three are wired the same way so I can safely change encoder cables back and forth for troubleshooting purposes. The X and Y are working great!! I am really happy to be able to jog and run simple programs and such with the machine now. The wiring to all three geckos is getting redone right now as I decided to change over to the shielded cabling in the box just to not have to do it later. SInce I am back in the soldering and wiring gig I figure make it right so I do not have to mess with it again. Perhaps when I get the Z servo hooked back up it will work hopefully. We will see soon. Having a bite to eat right now...peace
:cheers::cheers:

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi Pete,

IIRC, on the gecko website there is a quick way to determine if the drive is bad with an ohm meter. Might save you the trouble of sending the drive back.

I know how nice it is to see it come "ALIVE" for the first time.

Mike

[pete from TN]

Hey guys...... I am famous!!!! check it out....peace




[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ha-3hzgFiQ"]YouTube - Lathemaster cnc mill first test run[/ame]



sorry about the crappy cellphone video quality....couldn't find the good camera!!! Peace


:banana:

[Teyber12]

wow that white paint looks HAWT, seems to be working great! you must be so damn happy lol, im very happy for you!

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Pete,

Congrats! Looks good! And those are some mighty fine lookin' limit switches! :-)

Regards,
Ray L.