Another 12Z owner joining the fold

mattthemuppet said:
are ballscrews recommended for manual machining? I've read in a bunch of places that they're generally a bad idea due to their extremely low friction relative to leadscrews. If you have a DRO then any backlash in a leadscrew should be a non-issue, right?
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A zero backlash preloaded ball screw nut has plenty of grip on a ball screw and short of linear ways the table isn't going anywhere on its own with either type of screw. Remove the screws and nuts altogether and adjust the table gibs to a slight drag setting, it takes some effort to move the table in either x or y, the screws just make it seem like its loose and easy. The only axis I would be concerned with is Z where you have the weight of the head pushing down and motor vibration working against you. I would want that axis locked either mechanically or via stepper/servo motor with either type of screw. A ball screw is going to be more accurate, easier on power feeds, and last longer than a brass nut.
 
Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

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Actuall I was thinking of getting the 1" impact I saw on another thread. Then I can be really cool and yell at my wife, "Say hello to my little fren" in a heavy accented Pacino voice when I use it. LOL
 
Seriously? I find the effort to crank the head upwards on the 12Z to be very similar to that of my PM25. You just have to crank a bit longer given the differences in scale. :)

I have an idea for manually driving a stepper motor for Z that I need to talk to a couple of my engineers about. I'm not giving up positional control of the head just because I need to change a tool bit faster.
 
What are your guys' thoughts on tool holders? Is it better to go the ER route, or just the standard R8 collets or end mill set screw style? How about the Tormach Tool System?

I know Mach 1 is out there too, but I have the belt drive conversion going on. I think I remember reading there's a compatibility issue there? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Appreciate the thoughts.

Also, being I plan on CNCing later, does the CO 4th axis have a "manual" mode? I don't want to buy a rotary table and then have to add a servo to it later on if the CO will work now and later.:talktogod:
 
Gunrunner if you crank the head all the way to the top of the column so you can lean in to clean and oil the ways be careful...yeah its been 1 days without a lost time accident in my shop :cussing: (Coolidge dabs the scabs on his skull with antiseptic)
 
gunrunnerx said:
What are your guys' thoughts on tool holders? Is it better to go the ER route, or just the standard R8 collets or end mill set screw style? How about the Tormach Tool System?

I know Mach 1 is out there too, but I have the belt drive conversion going on. I think I remember reading there's a compatibility issue there? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Appreciate the thoughts.

Also, being I plan on CNCing later, does the CO 4th axis have a "manual" mode? I don't want to buy a rotary table and then have to add a servo to it later on if the CO will work now and later.:talktogod:
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I paid $500 plus for the ETM ER32 collet set. I'm not sure it was the best purchase, the set is very high quality I'm just second guessing how often I will use it. That's the one purchase I wish I had held off on so I recommend you talk to the guys here on the forum and think carefully, don't get in a hurry like I did. I went with Glacern for the 45 deg face mill, I'm really happy with that purchase. I'm a long time Albrecht chuck fan and purchased an R8 shank Albrecht chuck. I ended up buying more measuring tools than tooling to date so I'll be watching this thread for recommendations.

Yes Mach 1 is not compatible with the belt drive kit last I heard you should check with David on that.
 
If you stay with standard shank sizes on your cutters R8 works fine. At least for me it does. Also keeps more money in your pocket for other stuff. :)

Mostly I think it comes down to personal preference. ERs are nice, but as Coolidge pointed out, spendy. So many choices.

Oh and sorry Coolidge: Couldn't help busting up laughing when I visualized what you did. Sorry. :lmao:

If it's any consolation, I've banged into my DRO display several times already when going around the right side of the machine. :angry:
 
What Bill said, I wish I waited until I needed a collet set before purchasing it. And like Bill I don't see what the big deal is on swapping out R8 shank tooling. Now CNC that is another story, I would be looking closely at quick change options and something where you could input tool offsets. I would not go half way on that, either I would stick with basic tooling or go all the way to something suited for CNC, no half measures. That's one of the problems I have with the collet set, there's only one shank and for CNC I'd rather have my cutters in the tool holders permanently with the tool offset set so I could just load it and go.

Oh man Bill I smashed my skull on the head bad lol, thank God I didn't have a tool loaded in the spindle. I feel your pain on the DRO, my Kubota tractor roll bar bends over at 90 degrees so you can get the tractor under the garage door. Its the perfect height if you know what I mean, I probably smacked my head into that roll bar 10 or 12 times in the 2 years I have owned it. A baseball cap brim hides it perfectly from sight.
 
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