Convert a manual grinder to auto feed?

Yup, I got the refund also.
 
At the other end of this. It has now been a full week since I tried to contact Tiny Controls about the TNC-G10 Surface Grinder Controller. Has anyone else tried to contact them about this? It may take enough interest being shown to get them to run a batch. I have no clue how many inquiries it will take to get them moving. I may try calling them (Hopefully someone speaks English) but they are 10.5 hours ahead of us in time, so I will have to call late at night to get them durring "normal" business hours. I did send them another contact today. Last time I used the link on the page for the controller for specific info, this time I used the general "Contact Us" link. It is time to start rattling cages.
 
JimDawson said:
One of these might be an option. I know nothing about them, but look like they would work.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ddcsv2.1&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=7
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They seem to be a decent little controller. There are a couple of threads about them at MadModder. One fellow there has modified the firmware. I have one sitting in a box but haven't gotten around to doing anything with it yet. With the pendant, it would be easy to do adhoc grinding jobs.

bob
 
I think I am getting very close to totally giving up on that nice looking Surface Grinder controller from Tiny Controlls. For 2 weeks now I have been trying to contact the company and have gotten no signs of life. I cave used their contact page, sent emails, and even trid calling at 11:00 am their time, midnight here. If they are that hard to contact when I am wanting to give them my money, how bad will it be if I have questions or issues down the road?

So starting on a new plan.
Since I have never played with any of this stuff I am going to get a pair of the cheapest steppers and drivers I can find just to play with. I know that I will likely never have any use for them, but they are cheap and if I burn something up, I am not out much.
For control I am going to get one of these cheap and dirty controllers for the table back and forth. That is about all it does. It has an ON/OFF button, a speed control pot and a direction button. I can pull the pot and the 2 switches off the board to put then on a panel and the direction switch at the ends of the table travel. That should get the table going back and forth with variable speed. If I mount the switches to the bumpers then that will set the table travel distance. Then I just need a cheap and dirty solution to advance the cross feed every time the switch at the end of table travel is hit. I was looking at this programmable 1 Axis controller for that part as it has some programability so I can set the number of steps to advance every time the button gets pushed at the end of table travel. These 2 controllers should be a fairly inexpensive option for all the control a grinder needs.

Once I am satisfied that this works as I want it to then I can make a final decision as to size and power for the actual steppers and drives needed. I still do not have a clue as to just how much torque is needed for this job. Everything I read is that to big of a motor is bad and to small of a motor is even worse. My over kill mentality want to get the biggest motor that will fit. But this time that is not the right thing to do.
 
This should help you:

Stepper motors have more torque than similarly sized servos, and most people don't drive them anywhere near their higher range of speeds. On every surface grinder,I've used, very little torque is required. Microstepping the motors will produce less 'cogging' and vibration. So if you belt drive them and gear down, it takes care of both these issues. [The finish will be influenced by lack of smoothness in the drive]

With something like a 4:1 reduction, even smaller steppers will suffice.
 
The table drive will almost have to be a belt drive with reduction. I was thinking 3:1 but 4:1 may also be an option.


Bob Korves said:
Off your current topic, I have a B&S 2L surface grinder, one of the last ones made in 1946. It has power feeds in both X (table traverse) and Z (in and out cross feed) axes. The spindle is belt drive (126" long belt over 5 pulleys and a counterweight). The power feeds are entirely mechanical, via an incredibly complicated bunch of machinery that still works, driven by a separate flat leather belt.

I found the #2 B&S grinder in the 1904 B&S catalogue
archive.org

Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. : Machinery and Tools : 1904 Catalogue : Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

488 p., illus., 14.0 cm, trade catalog
archive.org
same basic machine, set up for line shaft belt power.
I do not know how much older than 1904 they were making the #2. If you can find the serial number of the machine, I can try to help you with the year of manufacture of your #2. On my 2L the serial number is stamped onto the top of the spindle mounting vertical sliding block, on the right side pad for bolting down the magnetic chuck to the table, and on the right side of the base casting above the access hole. Yours may be different...

There is good information on the #2 on http://vintagemachinery.org/, including several manuals for different vintages of the #2 grinder.

Hope this helps...

Question: What is the vertical thing mounted on the left side of the vertical sliding column of your #2?
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I am not sure what the correct suffix is for my #2, maybe a #2B, but that is just a WAG. Mine is not and never has had the auto feed, that is why I am looking to add it electronically.

As for that tube sticking up, all I can guess is that the tube sticking up was for a vac attachment but there is no shoe for the bottom to catch the sparks????? I don't use it, it is just there. I will get the Serno tonight and post it. I am curious to know just how old this thing is.
 
Bob Korves said:
Probably just a #2, that was the usual nomenclature for manual #2 grinders.


What is the serial number? Maybe I can help with that. I stated in post #37 how to find the S/N, at least on my 1946 model 2L.
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The Serno is 2855.
I thought the #2 always has the auto feed and the #2B is the manual one, (but I could be totally wrong) I do not know what any of the other sufixes are or what they might mean.
 
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