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Wanted - mini mill
- Thread starter DavidR8
- Start date
Not enough room in the shop for the current mill? Or too much room now and you need to make it more crowded?
@jcdammeyer and @Hruul
I’m interested in building a CNC mill unless someone can convince me to convert my existing mill to CNC and somehow retain manual capabilities.
Or I put a low speed spindle on my CNC router.
I’m interested in building a CNC mill unless someone can convince me to convert my existing mill to CNC and somehow retain manual capabilities.
Or I put a low speed spindle on my CNC router.
If you have the CNC mill set up with a good MPG the need for the manual side of things tends to drop dramatically. It all depends if the manual mill has power feed and the ability to move the end stops so the power feed can be started and it stops when you want.
Having said that most shops with CNC tend to still have an old manual mill sitting in a corner.
KeeponDragon
no problems... just challenges
Are dual shaft servo motors a thing?
DC Servo Motors usually have two shafts. One keyed at the drive end and a smaller (1/4") at the other end for an encoder. If you pop over in the next few days with the saw guide I can show you a number of different DC Servo motors and controllers.
I think I still have a Packard Bell Keyboard like that one.
One issue with handles on a CNC is if it uses ballscrews (and it should) then you need to lock any axis you don't have a hand on as its going to back drive and lose position on you fairly easily. Keeping your hands away from spinning handles when cnc driven is another concern.
slow-poke
Ultra Member
Can you expand on this? I assume you mean that IF you are using ballscrews and IF the servos are disabled that the table moves with less friction than with a leadscrew?
If I was setting up a machine for both CNC/manual use I think I would simply add a toggle switch to lock the axis via the servo. That being said I pretty much never feel the need to go manual perhaps with the exception of drilling holes ( where I want to feel what's going on), and I use the quill to do that.
One feature I find very useful is having a potentiometer to dynamically control feed speed. Quite common for me to dial down the speed before I start the first pass and then dial it up to a comfortable but faster speed when I see and hear how the chip formation is going. Better finish than changing feed speed in hard increments, or trying to maintain a steady speed with a hand wheel. That feed speed knob gets a lot of use.
I used the original lead screws on my first CNC conversion and although not as good as "good" ballscrews I would not hesitate to use the original lead screws and upgrade later if you feel the need.
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A friend of mine in the UK makes these and is waiting for the Pi5 version before he does the next crowd funding.
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The simple AXIS user interface has sliders for each of the working parameters.
The MDI screen lets you type in or re-use previous lines.
What's missing is a screen with the ability to do what MACH3 had for standard operations. For example, to face a piece clamped in the vice. An easy operation with a manual lathe that has power feed on the X axis. More tedious without power feed but you still need to watch it.
The "Wizards" in MACH made so much of this easy. Since the Linux People tend to be anti windows and love using the archaic 1970's command line to do everything there are lots of programs to generate G-Code to do the facing operation. But graphically it's not as smooth as MACH unless you can modify the
Apparently Tormach's Path Pilot screens (LinuxCNC under the covers) does have wizards or sort. But for some reason that has never migrated into the LinuxCNC world. There are touch screen user interfaces but the small 10" touch screen I bought makes all the text way too small.
Project #42 to create something that makes a CNC lathe work as a usable manual lathe while taking advantage of all the CNC features.
Yes, I guess I skipped the details. Most times when someone is talking about using a CNC machine in a manual mode I think they are referring to using it with the control system turned off, otherwise just use a jog pendant if its turned on. The issue is that ballscrews can usually be backdriven quite easily, so with cutting forces the table can move around on you or the head can drop/rise depending on what you are doing.
For drilling holes - I used the jog pendant to line things up on my old mill and the quill handle to poke the holes (so the head was held by the servo as the machine was on). Doing things this way also has the advantage of using the CNC function as a DRO, that is lost if the control system is off.
IF you poke around the internet enough you'll find that most people who converted machines or wanted manual capabilities (handwheels) rarely used them once they had the machine up and working. Always there will be exceptions, but I'm starting to learn that bucking the trend on things like this is a waste of time, theres a good reason most machines don't have handwheels...
Also, I said that a CNC should have ballscrews. Again, you can use a regular lead screw. Its not wrong to do so. It just has its own limitations - higher drag, more backlash and usually a finer pitch that limits your speed.