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Software and Information for Machinists |
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CNC Lathe To Do
This page is my running To Do list of tasks to finish the project.
Phase 1: Minimum Necessary to Run Under CNC
Assumptions: No control panel, coolant, or spindle control. Driver enclosure connectors all installed so no further machine work is needed on the enclosure in later stages.
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Home and Limit Switches: Decide how to mount the Z-axis switches. |
| Purchase and Procurement |
| Driver Enclosure |
Finish rear panel connections: Mic connector for coolant controls (installed now, wired later) Mic connector for spindle controls (installed now, wired later) Mic connector for Limit Switch (installed now, wired later) Mic connector for spindle sync sensor (installed now, wired later) Stronger bracketry for control panel connector. Better bezel as well. Finish relay delay system for DC supply and switched AC receptacle. |
| Enclosure Rack and Control Panel/Screen/Keyboard System |
| Drill rack mount ears for rack bolts |
| Photograph the rack for the web site |
| Testing and Operation |
| Clear area to make room for Lathe electronics rack |
| Assemble the enclosures in the workshop. |
| Configure Mach 3 Turn |
| Test the motors and limit switches before installing in the lathe |
| Lathe Mechanicals |
| Make Z-Axis Step Motor Mount: Needs an M6 bolt and trial fit |
| Mount steppers with cabling to X-Axis and Z-Axis Mounts |
| Mount home/limit switches on X-Axis and Z-Axis |
| Install Igus chain for Z-axis cabling |
| Final Lathe Testing and Configuration |
| Fire it up and try some turning and facing operations |
| Design and execute an accuracy measurement regime. Tune up the lathe to improve the accuracy as well as possible. |
Phase 2: Add Control Panel
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Purchase and Procurement |
| Knobs for Pots: Or make some? |
| Construction Tasks |
| Fabricate back cover from sheet metal. |
| Mount 5K Pots to Control Panel |
| Find and attach some knobs to the pots |
| Wire Panel |
| Wire GRex to DB-25 printer connector |
| Attach Panel to Rack Framework Below Monitor |
Phase 3: Add Spindle Control
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Where to mount motor speed controller? Behind control panel? Behind lathe? |
Spindle Circuitry incl. Load Meter What to do about analog isolation for GRex on spindle speed control? Status of Hohman board? Experiment with the load meter to see how well it works for the lathe. Will be mounting in the motor electronics box. |
Going to need a box for motor electronics and coolant relays. What connections will that box need from the driver electronics chassis? - Analog output controlling speed. Will go to a Hohman board in the motor electronics chassis. - Spindle on/off - Spindle reverse - Power for motor controller to come from a switched AC receptacle on the driver chassis. Power to be switched along with stepper DC power for E-Stop. |
| Purchase and Procurement |
| Mechanical Relay for Coolant, Because it's going into the same box as the spindle relays. |
Phase 4: Add Spindle Sync Sensor for Threading
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Wait for GRex firmware upgrade and subsequent Mach 3 update to support threading with GRex. |
| Spindle Encoder. GRex requires an encoder for threading on the spindle. Need to decide what encoder and how to mount it to the spindle. |
| Noise Suppression: Insulated metal flex conduit from VFD to motor, grounded. Shielded cabling into VFD. Ferrite cores as needed. |
| Purchase |
| Appropriate encoder or sync sensor |
| Construction Tasks |
| Install sensor and cable back to the driver enclosure |
Phase 5: Add Coolant Control
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Construction Tasks |
| Start out with an air jet or fog buster type coolant system |
| Build an enclosure and move up to flood cooling if desired. |
Phase 6: Ballscrews
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Consider mounting X-axis ballscrew on the rear of the machine. This can be set to preserve manual operation if desired. |
| Going to have to think hard about the Z-axis ballscrew. There's almost no room for a conventional approach. Suggestion is to attach the ballnut to the rear of the slide so that we only need to find clearance for the nose of the ballscrew under the slide. This could also be done in the front if desired. If it is desirable to preserve manual operation, engineering this ballscrew to work like a taper attachment seems ideal. |
| Construction Tasks |
Other Embellishments
| Design & Research Tasks |
| Construction Tasks |
| PC Front Panel Power & Disk LEDs: Purchase 5V units and wire them up to the mobo |
| Add filter pad to fan and orient for positive pressure in case. |
| Plug original HD mounting holes by making a name plate and mounting w/ socket heads. |
| Play around with making an optical limit and see how well it works. If it's repeatability is better than the roller switches, make a second one and replace the mechanical limits with optical switches. |
| Custom engraved and CNC front panels for both enclosures. |
| Collet closer |
| Gang tooling |