- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 2,724
Hi All,
I should say this right off the bat. I have been going on the project 2+ years now (it keeps falling on the backburner to life) and I've never shared it. There was some interest in another thread so I'm going to post it here. This project is just about done at this point.
I own a G0704 which I converted to CNC back in 2012 when Hoss's plans were the only ones to be found. Like many of us I enjoyed working on the machine more than making parts for anything else. I had completed a number of projects for it and really wanted to try my hand at building an ATC. I had seen a few carousel (umbrella) type units done before but I had never seen a swing arm unit like those oh-so-fancy machining centers. Since I was more interested in the build than getting a functional unit as quickly as possible, I decided to try to build the swing arm.
I decided on a few basic design parameters:
(Sorry for the last two, those are really awful "screen shots")
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has. I have lots more to write up.
I should say this right off the bat. I have been going on the project 2+ years now (it keeps falling on the backburner to life) and I've never shared it. There was some interest in another thread so I'm going to post it here. This project is just about done at this point.
I own a G0704 which I converted to CNC back in 2012 when Hoss's plans were the only ones to be found. Like many of us I enjoyed working on the machine more than making parts for anything else. I had completed a number of projects for it and really wanted to try my hand at building an ATC. I had seen a few carousel (umbrella) type units done before but I had never seen a swing arm unit like those oh-so-fancy machining centers. Since I was more interested in the build than getting a functional unit as quickly as possible, I decided to try to build the swing arm.
I decided on a few basic design parameters:
- 16" drum (which ended up holding 3,6,9,or 18 tools depending on how many pockets were installed)
- 3-5 second tool to tool time (because why not)
- integration with mach 3
- 2" max tool diameter (4" if you leave 2 open pockets)
- TTS style tool holders
(Sorry for the last two, those are really awful "screen shots")
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has. I have lots more to write up.