12z Version 2.0

That is where the big cabinet helps. Really hard to stay neat when you try to shove it in too small of a cabinet... and then you end up with ventilation problems.

Looks great.

Thanks, I thought it might be too large at first since I'm not converting it to CNC but I'm glad I went with the large cabinet. Especially since the VFD fan really blows, I'm not sure how much heat it generates but its got quite the fan on it. The cabinet fan will move 58 cfm so it will be well ventilated.
 
This is pretty weird, it works perfectly (Coolidge looks astonished). The factory forward/off/reverse switch was removed and the motor was connected directly to the VFD. I added a 1 amp capacity 24vdc power supply, 24vdc relays, push buttons, speed control, dang if it doesn't go forward, reverse, and stop just like its supposed to. Its time for a tall cold adult beverage!


Who here has one of these tools? I used some of my top coat (top coat of silver which makes the wire stiff enough to bend and stay put) Teflon insulated 20 awg wire for the VFD controls. The Teflon is very difficult to impossible to strip with regular wire strippers, this tool makes it super easy, it melts through the insulation without damaging one strand of wire.
 
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Hi
Will the head rotate side to side with the cable carrier fixed to the head ????

No. It could have been installed to allow that with some additional engineering but then I have never had the need to rotate the head so I didn't bother. Consider the untold thousands of 3 and 4 axis CNC mills in operation, none of which have a rotating head. You would have to buy a 5 axis machine. I think the need would be rare indeed.
 
rotating the head on a bridgeport to make an angled cut is convenient, and works so much better than using a sine vice. But the bridgeport is child's play to retram the head back to perfectly vertical, which can be accomplished in a matter of minutes.

On the RF45 style mill, it take a bit longer to get the head aligned back to vertical, which steals away some of the user's willingness to tilt the head whenever needed.

However, if you do need to make an angled cut, you can probably unbolt the back of the wire carrier chain in a matter of a few seconds, and tilt away!

I am not sure the VMC is a good comparison, since I can make my cnc mill cut an angled cut easily, so there is not need (or desire, or capability) to rotate the head.
 
However, if you do need to make an angled cut, you can probably unbolt the back of the wire carrier chain in a matter of a few seconds, and tilt away!

Correct, two bolts probably 30 seconds.
 
Step 1 in the 49 step mill DRO install is complete. I stole this first step from DZ, thanks man you eliminated having to think about it.

This job left me wishing I had a 16x14 lathe or at a minimum VFD variable rpm. The two lowest speeds on my G4003G are 70 rpm which was too (painfully) slow and 200 rpm which safety wise I wasn't comfortable going that fast. It would have been nice to be able to crank it up a bit, 140 rpm even. Second I was only taking .040 cuts turning down that aluminum round (.020 per side) which seemed kind of light to me. I tried to push it more but my insert was not happy. Also the surface finish kind of sucked I'll have to look into that later.

That said the DroPros EL400 DRO proved itself 100% worth the cost again I love that thing!


I took just .010 per side just enough to clean/true it up.
 
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I was only taking .040 cuts turning down that aluminum round (.020 per side) which seemed kind of light to me. I tried to push it more but my insert was not happy.

Your lathe can definitely handle much more than that. You should be able to bury a cutter with no problem. With my PM1236 (& the appropiate insert) I take .1-.15" DOCs (per side) for roughing on 6061 on a regular basis. I have gone up to .2" DOC. I could probably push it more but I haven't tried more than .2" per side yet as I haven't really needed to. Around .15"+/- is usually where I stay for heavy roughing when needed.
 
I'll have to post a surface finish pic at some point. I think part of the problem was the slow 70 rpm speed. Other factors were my 4" round was too long really, and look how much jaw is sticking out from the chuck, I kicked it up to the next speed 200 rpm but wasn't comfortable there from a safety perspective.

My replacement 8" BPA chuck is now inbound, ETA next week I'm hoping it inspires more confidence when turning larger items. Replacement?? Yes :burned up: Grizzly shipping idiots packed a 44 lb chuck in a wimp box with the backing plate and some tool holders only about 2/3 full of peanuts then let UPS throw it around. The back of the chuck was damaged, looks like it got tossed onto some concrete the metal was scraped/pushed up and there was a dent in one of the jaws :bang head:

That said I'm back looking at the G0509G 16x40 lathe where I started.
 
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