11 x 26 Conversion With Centroid Acorn control and closed loop steppers

[jumps4]

my lathe was a Wholesale Tools 11 x 26 very similar to the G0602 Grizzly shown but bigger ( 10x22 )
Another build in pictures.
I have been collecting parts for a while now and have finally started to make the required parts to convert my lathe.

 

[jumps4]

The last 2 pics are of the sheet metal brake I had to make to build the enclosure.
The cardboard box is how they shipped my z-axis 2505 double Ball-nut screw ( it was fine )
there is a 2000 line per rev encoder belt driven off the spindle. No more Mach3 for me on a lathe.
Thanks for viewing
Steve

 

[Boswell]

looking good. Looking forward to seeing the build progress.

 

[jumps4]

Today I spent some more time on the enclosure.
The lower front panel will be removable for cleaning.
I have 36" LED lights to install above the spindle.

Thanks for viewing
Steve

 

[TomS]

Steve - good to see you posting again. I'm watching your build closely as I've been thinking about converting a lathe to CNC.

BTW - Why the new build? As I remember you built a 9 x 20 CNC a few years back.

 

[jumps4]

Hi Tom
My wife was diagnosed in April with terminal small cell cancer (less than a month to live ).
It was in her lungs, liver and spine. since then we have been doing treatments 3 times a week and all the cancer is gone for now.
after completing treatments she is back to normal with no signs at this point.

Ya I know I don't need it, I want it. lol
My 9x20 lathe works fine and has made hundreds of parts. Mach3 though has limitations on a lathe and that was the reason for mach4.
mach3 can at times get lost with only one pulse per rev on threads of any length.
I just completed another run of 100 Ford spark plug thread repair inserts on the 9x20.
With such limited time my shop looks like a bomb went off and I have to move three things to do one.
The 9x20 is really a light lathe and limited on pass depth, where this 11x26 has a very heavy, ridged base capable of passes of .050 .
For such a low cost lathe, they put the metal where it counts.
I'm installing a 4hp inverter duty motor controlled by the Acorn board and Centroid software for constant velocity capability and with a 2000-lpr encoder on the spindle
my threading will finally be reliable at greater depth per pass without loss of finish quality due to rigidity .
Thanks for viewing
Steve

 

[jumps4]

What A mess

 

[TomS]

Hi Tom
My wife was diagnosed in April with terminal small cell cancer (less than a month to live ).
It was in her lungs, liver and spine. since then we have been doing treatments 3 times a week and all the cancer is gone for now.
after completing treatments she is back to normal with no signs at this point.

Ya I know I don't need it, I want it. lol
My 9x20 lathe works fine and has made hundreds of parts. Mach3 though has limitations on a lathe and that was the reason for mach4.
mach3 can at times get lost with only one pulse per rev on threads of any length.
I just completed another run of 100 Ford spark plug thread repair inserts on the 9x20.
With such limited time my shop looks like a bomb went off and I have to move three things to do one.
The 9x20 is really a light lathe and limited on pass depth, where this 11x26 has a very heavy, ridged base capable of passes of .050 .
For such a low cost lathe, they put the metal where it counts.
I'm installing a 4hp inverter duty motor controlled by the Acorn board and Centroid software for constant velocity capability and with a 2000-lpr encoder on the spindle
my threading will finally be reliable at greater depth per pass without loss of finish quality due to rigidity .
Thanks for viewing
Steve

Wow! You and your wife have been through a lot. Good to hear she's doing better.

I recently got my mill back running after moving to the Reno, Nevada area. As you might remember it's a virtual clone of your build. I love it!

Keep the pictures coming. I'm enjoying it.

 

[jumps4]

For the few days I have been working on the electrical and electronics.
after a sleepless night caused by no motion from the steppers, I found that the Centroid Acorn board defaults to 200000 steps per second in the setup wizard.
No problem right the closed loop driver say up to 200000kh... they lie
I had to go into the acorns main config and lower the frequency to 100000 steps per second for these drivers and everything works perfect now.
This will have no effect on the motion of the machine at 100000 steps per second, that over 300ipm.
thankfully there were some great videos by "Franco" and others on YouTube showing how to change the settings.
I also had to order a programming cable from China that hooks to my computers serial port to configure some extra features in the motor driver settings.
The VFD is a real HaunYang 4.0kw with an optional braking resister, not a knock off so it will have a 400w braking resister installed to stop spindle fast.
with this I'll be able to ridged tap, instant stop and reverse.
The spindle will stop instantly if either stepper misses steps, something is binding, e-stop is pressed or a crash happens.
Thanks for viewing
Steve

 

[jumps4]

I have made some progress on my new lathe project and everything has gone well.
The Centroid Acorn board and software are a dream come true compared to my mach3 lathe.
I have automatic control of everything working including the spindle and automatic tool measurement.
my next project will be either gang tooling or an automatic tool turret... or both.
The right side screen on the desk are the Acorn lathe also, with extra keyboard and mouse so I can work on cad/cam from a chair instead of having to stand and program. I can run the lathe from either side and I will be able to monitor progress by video.
Thank You for viewing
Steve



Steve