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Weiss VM32 CNC Conversion

DavidR8

DavidR8

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I've been toying with the idea of building another CNC machine. Namely a CNC mill.
I have my CNC router which is amazing for wood and even aluminum in a pinch though the high speed spindle is bit of a challenge. And steel is pretty much a non-starter.
My Weiss VM32 mill, same as a CX601/PM30 is a conversion candidate but I wanted to retain some semblance of 'manual' control to do simple operations like facing or side milling without having to do CAD/CAM.
Spent two hours with a local member of Canadian Hobby Metal Workers (the CDN version of HM) last Sunday talking CNC, steppers, servos, control software etc.

Had a lightbulb moment when John set up a facemill and quickly surfaced a block of aluminum using simple commands into the MDI interface on LinuxCNC.
That was was the part that I was missing; how to do a simple job like that without being able to turn handwheels.

Called Dave at ArizonaCNC as he makes a kit for my mill. Doublenut ball screws and all the motor mounts for three axes. Not cheap at over $1000 USD/$1400CAD. And I'd still need stepper/servos, power supplies etc. But nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

Figured I'd give LinuxCNC another shot since I have a spare PC.

While searching for servo motor spindle motor conversions I ran across a post on Canadian Hobby Metal Workers for the following:

-Masso G3 controller and pendant
-3 axis Arizona CNC kits CX601 conversion kit, machined for:
-DMM servo motors x,y,z axis(z axis has brake). Includes the cabling for motors/encoders/setup usb cables
-DMM AC servo drivers x,y,z axis
-Meanwell power supplies, filter, capacitors, breaker
-Spare R8 spindle with belt drive pulley
-some other parts, oiler, fasteners, air cylinder for toolchanger, (see pics)
-Toolchanger and belt drive was never completed, so all of this was never used or installed.

I immediately contacted the poster, and we struck a deal. $1400 CDN plus $94 shipping.

Let the electronic assembly begin!
IMG_1805.jpeg
 
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After some monkeying around I have movement on one motor.
Was pretty flummoxed yesterday because I could not get the axis to move.
Turned out that setting the motor: distance per revolution to 10mm meant that I couldn't detect to motor spindle turning because the resolution was too fine.
Changed it 1mm and voila, I can jog the motor via the keyboard or MPG.
Happy Days!

On the slight downside, the 48V, 20A power supply has the loudest fan this side of a Harrier jet.
 
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DavidR8 said:
After some monkeying around I have movement on one motor.
Was pretty flummoxed yesterday because I could not get the axis to move.
Turned out that setting the motor: distance per revolution to 10mm meant that I couldn't detect to motor spindle turning because the resolution was too fine.
Changed it 1mm and voila, I can jog the motor via the keyboard or MPG.
Happy Days!

On the slight downside, the 48V, 20A power supply has the loudest fan this side of a Harrier jet.
Click to expand...
Going to have to come over for a demo one of these days.
 
Confident that I'll be able to sort out the magic pixies side of the conversion, I started tearing the mill apart.
Pulled the table off and the Y axis carriage (no idea if that's the correct term.
Ran into the first snag: the bolt holes in the front of the machine don't match the motor mount assembly from Arizona CNC. Not the fault of the kit rather some crappy assembly at the factory.
Two of the four cap screws will engage in diagonally opposite holes. The misalignment is so slight that I can't drill new holes for the holes that don't match when the mount is in the proper position.
I can get nuts on the bottom two cap screws but not the top two because they are too close to the bottom side of the casting.
IMG_1807.jpegIMG_1808.jpeg
I have some 12mm aluminum plate that I could use to make an adapter plate that is bigger than the mount, bolt that to the front of the base then put the mount on the plate but I don't know if I can spare the 12mm on the ball screw.
 
A bit of noodling. The upper right cap screw positions the mount in the right vertical orientation relative to the Y-axis table.
If I through drill the two bottom holes and put nuts on the inside that should be plenty secure.
 
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DavidR8 said:
The mount is a thing of beauty. The problem is the crappy hole placement on the front of the base casting. They are misaligned enough to be obvious :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I guess the blue prints for them are as useful as their owners manuals :rolleyes: It's nice to see that sh!tty workmanship and attention to detail is universal and not just orbiting me. :oops:
 
DavidR8 said:
The mount is a thing of beauty. The problem is the crappy hole placement on the front of the base casting. They are misaligned enough to be obvious :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Welcome to my world of a Far East inexpensive milling machine. The mounting holes for my X axis end plates were also way out. To make matters worse, once they had it aligned (through very large holes in the brackets) they drilled for alignment pins. Fine for original re-installation. Sad for new end plates.

You've now joined a very special club.
 
jcdammeyer said:
Welcome to my world of a Far East inexpensive milling machine. The mounting holes for my X axis end plates were also way out. To make matters worse, once they had it aligned (through very large holes in the brackets) they drilled for alignment pins. Fine for original re-installation. Sad for new end plates.

You've now joined a very special club.
Click to expand...
Also on my list of to-do’s is to deal with the complete absence of any oiling ports. Sigh.
 
Oh one other thing. I discovered today. The Y-axis needs a slot milled in it to clear the ball screw nut.
Sigh.
 
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