Made an adapter plate and wired the Y axis encoder. Connected both X and Y axis servos to the actual ball screws. After some fiddling, I can now move in X-Y and the [shitty] video from my cell phone shows the table cutting circles in X-y.
formatting link
This is the mill executing my first ever file with g-codes.
i
I'd suggest picking up some 3/4" MDF to use for your first test cuts, it's cheap, easy to mill, doesn't need any coolant and you can collect the dust fairly easily by holding a shop vac hose next to the cutter.
MDF is also good for future use testing your G-code before loading an expensive piece of metal or a one of a kind part. I did a bunch of test engraving on MDF before running some aluminum parts I had anodized
Yuck! VERY messy, the dust gets into everything. If you ever want to use coolant, you will regret MDF or other wood fiber products. Even just cutting a little bit into some wood back-up material in a one-time fixture makes some mess when it gets into my coolant system.
Wax can be machined, and the fuzz collected and remelted for another try. There are a bunch of formulas for prototyping wax, but plain candle wax works pretty well.
The Axis preview on EMC2 is so good, I rarely get as far as starting the machine before I realize something is wrong in the program. Because the screen is cumulative, you can actually load two programs and see the way they fit together. For instance, a program that mills pockets and a program that drills mounting holes. You can use Axis to view both programs together to make sure they have the right relationship. (Just an odd use I did today to cross-check two programs.)
I've milled a bunch of MDF and not had a problem. My ordinary shop vac does a great job collecting nearly all of the dust. If I were running it on a CNC mill, I'd make a collection nozzle with brush perimeter to go around the spindle, but on a manual mill, just holding the shop vac hose next to the end mill works fine.
Wax is fine too, just not as cheap and readily available.
Dry runs with Z inhibit are also good for testing.
I did wire it properly last night. I am still not sure how it works, but the empty pockets seem to slowly move along the translucent lines. They move very slowly and I am not sure how much lube was really delivered to the moving parts.
I tried searching through the several posts from you on this. I did not see how you were adressing the Z-axis. I assume the series II has a rack and pinion quill, that has a big back-lash problem. But that's why I'm asking, as I have a Index mill that would have this Z-axis as a problem if not solved in some other way. ignator
When you was doing that I thought you would enjoy a CNC machine. For a home shop I think it's hard to beat a machine like you have, you probably would spend more money for a CNC stepper driven sherline mill. The Sherline mill would be more portable though! You could have spent a considerable amount of money fixing the old control and everytime something broke you would be at their mercy to get it going again, darn, another $2000 board. Now I don't think you'll need a repairman for the controls, you'll be able to fix it yourself.
Yes. Exactly. Plus, using the old control, even in the best case, would be so clunky compared to XEmacs/Linux/Perl/EMC2. These guys really did a fabulous job.
The key to repairability is to make a good electrical schematic and label everything.
I actually "broke" something, I tried to wire all limit switches and as a result, the estops and limits stopped working. I will be fixing that tonight.
Size-wise, this is a perfect home shop machine. 2-3 HP, big table, etc. I can get to all of its hardware relatively easily.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.