- Joined
- Jan 3, 2015
- Messages
- 400
It has been a couple of weeks since my last post, so just a little update. I'm rearranging the shop and getting the pieces in place to start taking the Grizzly apart. The big change is in this view of my shop a couple of days ago.
You can see the mill is on a rolling base, the one Grizzly sells for it. You'll note the new wood chip tray is over against the left wall. While I was figuring out how to lift the 350lb lathe and base cabinets with the shop crane (visible at the left), my wife got behind it and found she could push it on the smooth floor. My wife is rather petite: 4'10" and a small fraction of the weight of the lathe on its stand. Between the two of us we pretty effortlessly rotated the lathe 90 degrees to the direction it was in, and slid it toward the right - toward the camera in this view. Guess that means I don't really need the mobile stand I bought for the lathe but hadn't put together.
My big remaining jobs are:
You can see the mill is on a rolling base, the one Grizzly sells for it. You'll note the new wood chip tray is over against the left wall. While I was figuring out how to lift the 350lb lathe and base cabinets with the shop crane (visible at the left), my wife got behind it and found she could push it on the smooth floor. My wife is rather petite: 4'10" and a small fraction of the weight of the lathe on its stand. Between the two of us we pretty effortlessly rotated the lathe 90 degrees to the direction it was in, and slid it toward the right - toward the camera in this view. Guess that means I don't really need the mobile stand I bought for the lathe but hadn't put together.
My big remaining jobs are:
- Fix/build/buy a computer to control this CNC mill. I'm almost definitely switching over to LinuxCNC for this from Mach3, which says the computer will be Linux instead of another XP box like I have. (I use Mach3 to run my Sherline CNC mill and lathe). Because of past Linux experiences, this is a scary step to me. I've run Linux a few times before, and it always seems if you want a computer to just do common tasks, it's great, but if you need anything unusual it can be a total disaster. Unusual things like a Linux driver for a USB-connected motion control board. The computer needs to be a priority now, because I'm going to need the CNC controller to control the next part:
- Build the box to hold the hardware for motion control. I think I have all this hardware, mainly the stepper motors and their controllers from Automation Technologies. I have an emergency stop switch, limit switches, connectors for cables, and all those niceties. The limit switches get built into the next part:
- The CNC conversion to the mill. I'll need to take the mill apart to the subassembly level for this - maybe not to individual pieces of hardware. I'll need to modify the base of the machine with a drill and angle grinder. This is where the adventure really starts, because if I did something wrong and need the mill to fix it, I'm SOL.
- While the system is apart, I need to add the oiling system, which will pump light oil onto the leadscrews and a few other places. I have the oil fittings, but not everything, just most.
- When the system is back together and cutting metal, that's the time to build the enclosure and cooling fluid system. I have most of those parts, too.