- Joined
- Mar 21, 2013
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- 4,063
Well, it's been a year now (doesn't seem like it...) and I apparently can't leave well enough alone, so...
I'm making changes to my mill. Again.
I'm finally going to install a separate control panel for the VFD courtesy of Paul at CO, and remove the fwd/rev switch and put the front panel back onto the VFD. And I'm going to redo the layout of the one-shot oiling system I put on by moving the manifold to the side of the saddle so I have only one line running from the pump to the saddle. I'll run new lines under the table to de-clutter even further.
But the big move will be the change over to ball screws on the X and Y axis. In the last year I've managed to use up all of the backlash adjustment on the X-axis nut, and instead of just replacing the nut, or designing/making a double-nut replacement like the big boys use, I've decided to just go for it and replace everything. Especially after talking to Paul and him telling me that the difference is like night and day in how the machine feels when you're operating it (they've done this conversion for other customers' manual machines). I went ahead and cheated, in that I ordered the kit from CO so I don't have to fabricate anything other than some bushings/adapters to put my handwheels on the end of the screws. Not sure if I have to do anything to re-use my X-axis power feed. We'll see.
So I've already taken the table and saddle off of the mill, and thought I'd do a close visual to see how things are wearing after a year. The ways of the table barely show any marks. Had to look real close to find any at all. The X-axis ways on the saddle show a bit more in the way of 'bright marks' (table harder than the saddle?), but they appear to be very evenly distributed. The Y-axis ways on the saddle and base barely show anything. Same for the Y-axis screw and nut. Guess we know which axis I move the most. Oh, and when I took this thing apart, the table and saddle ways were sopping wet with oil. Guess the oiler is doing it's job.
So stay tuned, and I'll post some comments and pics as I go through this conversion. The ball screw kit is still about a week or two from arrival (Paul was out of screws when I ordered the kit, but should have them today or Friday).
I'm making changes to my mill. Again.
I'm finally going to install a separate control panel for the VFD courtesy of Paul at CO, and remove the fwd/rev switch and put the front panel back onto the VFD. And I'm going to redo the layout of the one-shot oiling system I put on by moving the manifold to the side of the saddle so I have only one line running from the pump to the saddle. I'll run new lines under the table to de-clutter even further.
But the big move will be the change over to ball screws on the X and Y axis. In the last year I've managed to use up all of the backlash adjustment on the X-axis nut, and instead of just replacing the nut, or designing/making a double-nut replacement like the big boys use, I've decided to just go for it and replace everything. Especially after talking to Paul and him telling me that the difference is like night and day in how the machine feels when you're operating it (they've done this conversion for other customers' manual machines). I went ahead and cheated, in that I ordered the kit from CO so I don't have to fabricate anything other than some bushings/adapters to put my handwheels on the end of the screws. Not sure if I have to do anything to re-use my X-axis power feed. We'll see.
So I've already taken the table and saddle off of the mill, and thought I'd do a close visual to see how things are wearing after a year. The ways of the table barely show any marks. Had to look real close to find any at all. The X-axis ways on the saddle show a bit more in the way of 'bright marks' (table harder than the saddle?), but they appear to be very evenly distributed. The Y-axis ways on the saddle and base barely show anything. Same for the Y-axis screw and nut. Guess we know which axis I move the most. Oh, and when I took this thing apart, the table and saddle ways were sopping wet with oil. Guess the oiler is doing it's job.
So stay tuned, and I'll post some comments and pics as I go through this conversion. The ball screw kit is still about a week or two from arrival (Paul was out of screws when I ordered the kit, but should have them today or Friday).