Im going to attempt a build log as per request.
Background. A few years ago I was interested in watercooling computers. Not wanting to buy already made stuff, I wanted to design them and make them. So I got interested in CNC. I purchased the MAXNC 15 OL machine with the shallow promises from the company that the machine is stout enought to machine copper. Well guess what... it will machine copper. If you take shallow cuts and run a VERY SLOW feed. not what they told me. Anyways. So I was bound and determined. I setout learning the machine and cad. A friend of mine that works at a machine shop was a valuable resource to me. And still is. While learning the machine the driver control box took a dump. Maxnc wanted $375 for a new one. and it was under 6 months old. So we found a guy that did a board level repair. it works again. I kept throwing belts. It was a problem. Finally we traced the prroblem to the cheesy flimsy motor mount system. We machined a newer more rigid mount. Belt problem solved. Well a few months of 9 IPM rapids later I was getting used to this machine, then the control box takes a dump again. And the spindle speed control know. To fix the spindle speed i got a router speed control know and wired it up. Also put a light switch in the box with the speed controller so I could instantly kill the power to the spindle in case of E stops. Works great. So now that takes us to the dead driver. Called up MAXNC again. $50 an hour to diagnose and a 6 month lead time, or again the same $375 to replace the box. BS. I will no longer deal with them at all! NEVER, NA DA! Did some researching and came across the ZYLOTEX company and product. price was perfect so I ordered the 4 axis driver, 24V power supply and cooling fan. Still way under the $375 replacment cost from CRAPNC. Got it all wired up, asked questions, drove Jeff bonkers with emails im sure. but alas It was up and working again. The OEM powermax II 114OZ steppers I thought were under powered. But I did get a 15 IPM max rapids with just the Xylotex driver. After much talk with Jeff from Xylotex he told me that with his kit and his 269 OZ steppers that people were getting 40 or better IPM on their Taig and sherline products. I was hooked, I ordered 3 of the 269 steppers and Mach 3 while I was at it. That is when the big trouble started. After installing the 269`s I could not get past 18 IPM due to resonce in the steppers. missed steps, sounded horrable everything. now its back to driving Jeff mad again with emails. i will say this, EVERY SINGLE EMAIL I SENT WAS ANSWERED. he seemed to think some of the problem was due to the solid couplers that the maxnc came fitted with. So I set out to design and make some flex couplers. and well that is where I am now... ill post some pics now......... More to come.

The machine with just the Xylotex driver installed. Stock motors
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/100_1601.jpg


The Xylotex driver board setup in an old Curcuit breaker box
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/100_1599.jpg


Here are the flex couplers that we made.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/Flex%20couplers/100_2061.jpg

Installing on the X axis
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/Flex%20couplers/100_2065.jpg



This pic shows my home made 4th axis for machine wax. Also not the beefy dove tailed Spindle motor mount.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/4th%20axis/100_1960.jpg

So, the last couple of days I have been engaged in a few threads on this forum. Seems that after I did all this, I was still locked at 20 IPM due to resonce (Dont mind my spelling) Around 18 IPM My motors would sound like crap and loose steps. To counter this, I found that if i lowered my Vref settings on the driver it would allow me to tune away the problem. not really a suitable fix but with me mainly machining wax and MDF it was a solution to get my machine back working. And i lived with it for months. Anyways, reading some of the current threads here, I found that others were getting the same type of problems. And I cought the tweak but again. So i started tinkering again. Re-read the paperwork that came with my PSU and found that it could be adjusted to 27V and still work with the XYLOTEX. So I did. No change.
Upped my Vref voltages back to 3 v on the X axis. The growling problem returned. And stalled all over the place.
See short vid of problem
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/Xylotex%20troubles/th_100_2093.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/Xylotex%20troubles/?action=view&current=100_2093.flv)

After reading some posts I thought it might be a mis-alignment problem So I started tweaking that. Re-align and tighten down mounts. No change. Then I read that someone had their motor screws lossened up and his machine sounded good. So I tried it. Sure enoughtwith all 4 screws loosened up on my bigger mounting plate it was fast and quiet. I stated shimming things. maybe Im not aligned right. Nope! that wasnt it. So I started playing with running the axis back and forth and adjusting the tightness on the bolts. I could tighten one bolt down and it was smooth, quiet and fast. But if I tightened another one even a turn or two it all went to hell. Scratched my head.
Read somemore of the threads I was involved in and someone was using rubber groumets between the motor and the machine. Sounded good..... but it was late in the evening and I was fresh out of rubber gromets. I went into my back building and scavanged around. All I could find was some 1/2 in fuel line. But it was rubber. So I cut some up and drilled holes in it. Mounted the motor to the machine and started up the X axis. Slowly I tightened the bolts. MUSIC!!!!!!! It was fast, quiet and pretty tight as to not having to worry about something falling off.......

Here is the video of it running.... notice my rubber insolators.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/th_MAXNC46ipmtest.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/?action=view&current=MAXNC46ipmtest.flv)

With this new found speed I was excited again about finishing my thrust bearing conversion. I went out today and got some thrust bearings, washers and a few other odds and ends. I looked for some rubber mat to use instead of my crude fuel line setup. I couldnt find any, but what I did find was some 3/8M Flat faucet washers with a 21/32 OD. In the plumbing dept of the hardware store. a 10 pack of these washers were on sale for $.59 so I grabbed a few. Headed home with my suplies eager to get it all working!

Alas i tear down the Y axis to installe the adaper plates and flex couplers and thrust bearings. Disaster strikes!

I pulled out the all thread and dug out the new all thread I purchased a few months back. I needed longer rods to accomidate the new hardware. Got to looking at these two rods side by side. OHH CRAP!!!!! one is 1/4-20 all thread (The new one) and the old one is 1/4-20 ACME thread. ok, no biggy, I still got the longer ACME rod that came OUT of my X axis when I did the conversion. I threaded it into the BSA nut on the Y axis and went to install one of the 1/4-20 regular nuts i was going to need for the inside thrust bearing. It wouldnt thread on the rod. But wait a minute, these are the same zink nuts I used when I did my X axis conversion. "OHHHH SH!T..."
I put a standard 1/4-20 all thread on my X axis and have been running it that way for a few months!!!!!

Called and found some 14-20 ACME all thead. I just hope I didnt chew up the inside of my BSA nut!
DAMNITT!!!!!!!!

Ok, did some thinking and searching. I need to get my regualr ol ZINK 1/4-20 nuts to thread onto the ACME rod. For securing thrust bearings ect. So I called Paul, My machinist friend and asked him. "Could I re-tap these zinc nuts to ACME threads?" he said sure! So I went looking for a 1/4-20 ACME tap. Apperantly its a hard to find item. The only way I found to get one was to have it custom made. Im still steaming about not noticing this thread difference back when I did the X axis. Its been running this whole time with a standard all thread rod. ARRGGGH.....
Ok, my girfriend says that if it was easy it wouldnt be fun........ so, Does it have to be this much fun?????

So, re-tapping the nuts is out. So i called paul again......"Hey, can I re-thread this acme rod to 1/4-20 standard? i only need to re-thread about an inch and a half on the end. This way i can get my standard nuts and such to work. So that is the plan for tomarrow. Swing by the machine shop, steal a Die and maybe some aluminum. Whats the aluminum for? Nothing really, its just good to have material on hand for small projects. While Im there, I might as well swipe some WAY LUBE as well. Im running low.

I had similar resonance issues. I made harmonic dampeners from 2.125" diameter aluminum hubs. I bored the center out and put a rubber hub in. I put these on the shaft at the opposite side of the motor. I can easily spin these to over 70ipm without resonance. I have a Taig, so I only run it up to 30ipm during use....I don't think the stock lead screws are meant to be run constantly above 30ish. Before this mod, I would occasionally miss steps during rapids. I had originally needed to set Vref at about 2.5 as at 3.42 it would instantly stall. With the dampeners, I run at the full 3.42 Vref recommended.

Good luck,

Jim

jim, do yo have any pictures of these dampeners?

James over at another thread Im watching had a really good idea. The dynamat could be a good way to kill vibrations. here is a cut and past of his idea

hope this helps. I was thinking that one could make a damper out of some Dynamat. It is used to dampen road noise and vibrations in automobiles. The displays at Audio stores have a 1/4" square piece cut out of a sheet that is stuck to a "assistance bell" (like the ones on hotel counters) and all it does is go thud, no ring. It absorbes the vibration! Something else that I just thouight of is one could turn down some foam rubber hockey pucks, drill a hole in the center and put some washerws on either side. ????? Good luck!!!! James

Here is the thread.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30095&page=9

I'll post a few pictures when I get a chance.

Take care,

Jim

Have you considered using servos?

servos is out of my price range..

Well I looked and the cheapest I could find ACME 1/4-20 screws totals $30 for 3 2 ft peices. Plus shipping. Anyone know a cheaper plase to get them?

I also found that is a total pain to use a regualr 1/4-20 die to re thread the end of an ACME all thread rod. :)

More work today on my flew coupler conversion. having sorced some lead screws i was not happy with sitting idle. I just dont sit still very well.

I took my original X axis lead screw and measured it. Its about an inch longer then the screw in my Y axis, so I said to myself, I said "Self, why dont I use the X axis screw that I took out for the Y axis" and it was on. I am having to use standard 1/4-20 hardware for my setup. Nuts to hold thrust bearings and such. I thought why not get a 1/4-20 ACME tap and just re tap my zinc nuts. Peice of cake. Untill I started searching for a damn TAP. I found one place that would make me one for the tune of a littl over $200. SCREW THAT!!!! Im cheap. So I called Paul, my machinist friend. Asked a couple of stupid questions... then formed a plan. I would head up to the machine shop and steal me a standard 1/4-20 DIE. So I did. Got how and rethreaded the ACME screw end about an inch deep. It wasnt easy but I finally won. This allows me to thread on my standard nuts and everything. HAPPY TRAILS!

Until it happens. My girlfriend talls me "If it was easy, it wouldnt be fun" Does it have to be this much fun?

Here is the deal. The lead screw is just long enought to hang past my thrust bearing mounting plates I made. I cut some 2 inch spacers, then another plate that the stepper bolts to. Flex coupler goes inbetween and makes the connection. Well my stand offs were to long. Once everything was fitted the couplers didnt touch. In fact they were about 1/4 in away from each other. So my brain starts working and I came up with an easy solution. Shorter standoffs. Drats, no lathe in my building yet. So off to the machine shop I go. I cute me some 1.5 in stand offs. Alot thicker then my tubing ones. Should hold better.

Put everything together and OHHH ITS PURDY, QUIET, and FASTER! I also used faucet wahsers to insolate the stepper motor plate. no more nasty resonence.

And now for the PICS......

X axis setup. notice the lengeth of the standoffs.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/xaxis.jpg


Y axis mods. Shorter standoffs help in the clearance issues in my machine inclosure as well. I have the machine turned sideways in the box to get to the hardware.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/100_3318.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/100_3317.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/100_3315.jpg

Thrust bearings
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/100_3314.jpg


http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/100_3313.jpg

Just took this video of my Y axis running. 40 IPM and music to my ears.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/th_Yaxistest.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/?action=view&current=Yaxistest.flv)

Another video of it running 46.88 IPM the highest setting mach 3 will allow me with 32000 steps per inch.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/th_yaxisat46IPM.jpg (http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j253/fixittt/MAXNC/y%20axis%20redo/?action=view&current=yaxisat46IPM.flv)

Still having resonance issues at lower speeds?

Another video of it running 46.88 IPM the highest setting mach 3 will allow me with 32000 steps per inch.


Sounds very good!

Still having resonance issues at lower speeds?

18 ipm and the motors are just a little louder, so Im guessing just a bit of res. there. Nothing like it was before and it hasnt lost any steps.

God i wish I had my other ACME lead screws i would redo the X axis and then do the Z. Then on to making parts!

[I] think that I am going to do away with the 2 inch tubes I have on the X axis and just make some new nicer stand offs like I made for the Y axis kit. they just look butter and more sturdy. Even though none of the cutting forse is applied to them. it just looks better.

Nope. all issues seem to be gone.

Ok, so I finally found a source for my lead screws. They have been ordered. I have still been using the machine to cut wax jewlery models. I run alot of long codes, sometimes taking 6 to 8 hours to complete. Having to babysit the machine is not all that fun. My spindel motor isnot automatic on and off like the higher end machines so I devised a way or having it shut off at the end of a code.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/MAXNC%20CNC%20machine/Automatic%20spindel%20shut%20off/100_3574.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/MAXNC%20CNC%20machine/Automatic%20spindel%20shut%20off/th_100_3576.jpg (http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/MAXNC%20CNC%20machine/Automatic%20spindel%20shut%20off/?action=view&current=100_3576.flv)

So, its been over a month now and I finally for my 1/4 20 acmes lead screws in......FINALLY!

I also picked me up a wholesale tool mini lathe. It pays to know people, Not only did I get a 10% discount, but I didnt have to pay tax..... a $50 + savings!

So I got my lead screws in for my X axis and my X axis...... I descided that I didnt want to make my adapter plate stand offs out of alminum, so I used to black delrin. Used the mini lathe to drill, turn down and cut to length the stand offs. Im liking that 8X10 lath more and more. One of the resons I didnt want to use aluminum was because my girlfriend let me put the lathe on the kitchen table and I didnt want to shred aluminum and have it get everywhere.

Here are some pics of it in action. Ohh those are the stand offs at the bottom right corner of my makeshift box.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/Mini%20Lathe%207x10/100_3616.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/Mini%20Lathe%207x10/100_3615.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/Mini%20Lathe%207x10/100_3619.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/jewel_raw/Mini%20Lathe%207x10/100_3618.jpg

A bit of an update. I thought that the resonance issues were solved by the home made love joy connectors and thrust bearings, but the stupid issue reared its ugly head again. So I found the thread on the "Rattler dampeners" and decided to make me a set. These things ROCK! Easy to make and have been very reliable. Now the plans called for .5 in rods to be set into .20 over sized pockets in the dampener. Well, I had some .5 in ball bearings on hand and guess what. they work like a charm. I have been running this was for some time and it has shown to be very reliable. My only complaint is that I made the bottom half out of delrin and the set screws tended to loosen up and I would loose steps. Longer bolt and some silicon RTV seems to have solved that problem!

Here are some pics.

Machining wax, while not machine intensive you need to make sure that for jewelry, you have good resolution.
For a long time now my 4th axis has just been a stepper motor with an arbor on it. It worked, but was not very rigid. And getting things setup was a pain in the rump.

As I am more of a DIYer I didn't want to drop the $300+ for a sherline rotary table. Mainly because I dont have the $$$ to spend. So I picked up a cheap Chinese manual rotatory table. Studied it and found that the run out was really high. Took the sucker apart and found that the only vertical support was the small shaft that the face plate is part of. Towards the rear of the table, this shaft fits into a thin bearing and is pulled tight into place by a short bolt. There is NO internal front face support what so ever! Using the big manual lathe as the shop I made a step and a brass bushing. The brass bushing press fits around the inside of the face. The step was turned into the baseplate and everything fits night and tight now. It still spins free and has frontal support.
The handle on the rotary was pulled off and again with some lathe and mill work I made a stepper motor adapter. Its long and looks a little odd but it works great! I now have higher resolution on my 4th axis for machining rings. Now I just need a way to hold my wax for machining.

Well, I solved that problem as well. Using the manual lathe again, I made a adapter that bolts to the face of the new rotary table. There is a .998 bore in the center to receive different types of fixtures for the mill. I wanted to make something that was a universal fit. Undo a set screw and pull the fixture out of the receiver, and slide a different fixture in. Tighten set screw.

I am very very happy with the way these came out. Very smooth fit. And after spending about 3 hours getting the new table indicated in and the receiver plate zeroed onto the rotary I have only .005 in run out at the very end of the ring arbor. VERY VERY PLEASED!!!

Here are some pics of the whole ordeal.

pics of the new fixtures in use

Interesting. I like your idea of using dryer venting for the cooling intake of the spindle motor. I think that would work better then any filter material. One question, what are the white attachments on the end of the stepper motors? Are they encoders? I know a Ol doesn't have them, but you've done so much work, I wondered if you added them.

I've got a 10-CL, and I'm scared that the motor controller will bomb out for me too. If it does, I think I'll go a similiar route and buy a different controller.

Lex, those are the rattler dampeners that he spoke of in post #20

They are dampeners Like rowbare said. And they work great!

Also what you dont see about the dryer hose is that it goes up to the top of the box where I have a 120MM 110V fan blowing into the hose to supply the motor with cool air from outside the box. And on top of the fan I have a K&N Cone style car air filter filtering the dust from the room to keep it out of the motor.

With the new fixture system in place I was very pleased with the surface quality of my waxes. This setup is great. Then today I found myself in a situation where I needed some way of doing a necklace pendant with something on both sides. I need a good flip fixture.
I make my own wax slabs. So I wanted my fixture to be just for these wax slabs that I melt and mold.

So off to the machine shop we go........ and a few hours later there is a new addition to my fixture setup and man is swapping out the ring arbor to the flip fixture such a breeze!

Here are a few pics

More updates on the MAXNC project.
I found that the stock spindle was for lack of a better word. "CRAP" with .002 thou run out at the taper inside the bore of the spindle. This would translate into .015 thou inch if I had the tool extended from the collet a considerable distance. With this runout I was loosing detail in my wax models at an alarming rate. If I programed something to use a .005 tool tip the cut would be over .010. I saved and saved my pennies. I finally was able to purchase a "WOLFGANG ENGINEERING" double bearing spindle. http://stores.ebay.com/Wolfgang-Engineering When it arrived in the mail I was amazed with this thing. It is his entry level spindle. I made a request to get mine fitted with the ceramic bearings and he was wonderful about filling my request.
So I now have this awesome spindle in my hands. But I had no way of mounting it to my machine. So I took the head off the machine and headed to the machine shop. Taking the head apart. I measured the OD of the bearings on the cartridge spindle. I got on the manual lathe and made me a spud that was the exact OD of the bearings. I then bored a hole .002 over the 3/4 in diameter of the new spindle. This was a press fit. I didnt want to press it in. So I polished the center bore with sandpaper untill the spindle would slide nice and tight into the hole under a small bit of pressure. I wanted it to be removable. Next taking the spud to the CNC mill I measure the 1/4-32 holes on both sides of the original spindle that clamps the 2 halves of the head to the cartridge. Drilled and tapped these holes. Next I needed a way to keep the outside sleeve of the new spindle from possibly rotating inside the spud. A simple set screw worked fine. Drilled and tapped this hole. Then came assembly. (Dont worry the following pics show the steps of assembly. This setup kept me from having to re-invent the wheel so to speak. I used what I had and used my original motor to drive the spindle.
After tramming the head and getting it within .0015 thou I was ready to try the setup out. It was 4 times quieter then the original spindle setup. And I was using the original motor. I was also able to machine my rings on a rheostat setting that would not even spin the original spindle. I am very please and at a little over $150 shipped I couldn't beat this!

EDIT in the last two pics of the run out. Please note how far out the tool is from the spindle while being measured. Yes the needle did move a bit. compare the pics. at this length outside the collet I was getting close to .015 on the original spindle.

Second EDIT. I was asked by a friend what the black stuff is on the sides of the head. That is the anti-vibration matting used in car audio setups to keep things from vibrating. (Dynamat) I was noticing some high frequency vibrations caused by the Dayton spindle motor. Applying the Dynamat to the sides of the head absorb this vibration and the machine doesn't resonate inside the enclosure like it used to.

After machine my first rings with the new spindle I have found that the surface quality of the wax is SUPERB!

This wax was cut with a
15 degree .005 tool tip
650 mm a minute feed
oil based drip coolant

The machine is 4 times quieter now. I m running lower motor speed then before and the wax is coming out beautiful! I am very pleased with this new spindle. It took me a few hours to devise a holding solution for the spindle but I must say it has worked out very well.

Pics of the wax. I did not take the time to clean them good I was more interested in surface finish.

I can't be certain, but it looks like you've actually geared up the spindle. Overdrive, as it were, with the spindle rotating faster then the motor?

Looks like maybe you aren't using the original belt either. Is that a O-ring?

I've noticed on my own machine that the spindle seems to turn with a lot more force then would be ideal.

yes the is a gear change involved I havent done the math to find out what gear ratio its running now. im guessing at full speed its some where around the 17000 RPM mark.
Im the pics an o-ring is on the pullies yes. But I noticed that at high RPM`s the o-rings would flare outward. So I put the original belt on and slid my motor WAY back. As I have a dove tail designed motor mount.

One mission I will be on is to find a shorter belt.

LOOKEY LOOKEY something new.So pics and a short video of the flip.

YouTube - MAXNC flip fixture

You mentioned having to tram your spindle. How did you go about doing that? Shims under the Z column or loosen everything up, square it, then tighten?

I've got to do something with mine, the table travel is flat and my Z axis travel is square but my spindle isn't. I've been trying, just haven't been able to see any positive results.

some short videos I made on the subject.
You want to get it square front to back fisrt. I had to install shims under the the bottom part of the head. Once you know what it takes to get the head straight top to bottom, then you can loosen things up and get it square left to right. THen slowly tighten each bolt. Also a side note. I put washers (not in the video) under the heads of the bolts because the soft aluminum tends to pocket. Creates indentions under the head screws and makes getting things lined up harder.
http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/toyrun/MAXNC/?action=view&current=trammingpart1.flv

http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/toyrun/MAXNC/?action=view&current=trammingpart2.flv

Update. Setting Z height.
When working with ARTCAm and many other jewelry specific cad/cam softwares, the Zero points for X,Y, and Z are in the center of the models drawn. This translates into the center of the wax. Unlike conventional machining where you set the Zero points at a corner and the Z is set at the top of the material to be used.
Finding Z zero is a critical item. X can be close its a non critcal zero point as long as your wax extends past both sides of the model being drawn. Y is also a very critical setting, but that is not what this post is about right now. (Will cover that later)

So imagine that your Z zero is dead center of the WAX. Not really the wax. but in the dead centerline of your rotary.

Moving right along, I received a Z axis probe from a good guy that I am helping with his mill. He said that when he received the probe form another guy and he tried it it blew his driver board. RED FLAGS! When I got the probe (Basically a digitizing probe with a flat bottom and table top) I checked it with my ohm meter for continuity. I got nothing. Pulled the probe apart and checked the wires. They were solid. Taking the probe completely apart I found corrosion on all touching surfaces. Taking a fine grit cratex wheel I went to polishing all the surfaces. After polishing up the 6 small balls, the coper circuit board and the brass barrels. I put it all back together and checked it again. This time I was getting a reading on the ohm meter. And when I pushed down on the small table top the connection was broken. So I wired it up, messed with Mach 3 VB (With help from some friends) and got it working and dialed into the centerline of my 4th axis.

PIcs and short video to show its operation.

YouTube - Tool height probe

Just a FYI, I'm continuing with the tramming of my machine. Thanks for the videos, I appreciate it.

I wonder why the digitizing probe blew out your friends board. I would think that an open wouldn't cause any harm. I mean, it wouldn't work, but It's basically just a switch that doesn't close. Unless there was a short from +V to ground, but there should be a pull up resistor in there somewhere.

my guess is that with all the corrosion ect. The contacts were so intermintant that it was causing resistance or something. With a probe you do not use a pull up resistor. It is wired straight to the printer (LPT) port. Unlike limit or home switches.

Its been a while so I will do a short update.

I had a problem with the wolfgang spindle one of the bearings locked up and it smoked my spindle motor. I contacted Wolfgang engineering about the spindle locking up after 3 weeks. He took care of the problem very quickly and it wasnt long before I had a new spindle in hand. Its service like this that makes for a good vendor and he will get repeated business from me in the future.

I have since been using the motor that he sells on his ebay site. Its a great little motor! I didnt think it was up to the task, but its awesome. I am about to order a spare motor to have on hand. For the money, his stuff is WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!! I highly recommend and praise his work.

I have been becoming more and more comfortable with the mill. A few things I have noticed. If you tighten the gibs to tight you will increase your backlash. So keep them adjusted and a bit loose.
My backlash nuts do not like to be run dry. They squeel. So I keep them lubed with some medium weight hobby oil. Im about to switch to 3in 1 oil.

The machine after being trammed in and a good spindle has been producing some very good wax`s. But the gib adjustments are a pain. Also I am about to move my A axis inwards about an inch as I notice that I am wearing the gibs uneven.
I also had a major problem with my X axis stalling on me in a very predictable manner. I spent 3 days chasing the problem. COme to find out I had my A axis motor tuning settings in mach3 way way way to high. After bring the motor tuning down to a relative same speed as the other axis`s the problem cleared up. FYI!

Anyways here are some pics.......

Fixittt: when you make ring or anything else in wax then what, how do you make it in gold or silver. Can you describe process maybe with pictures.

Tone, i will do my best to describe the process.
Its a process called Lost wax casting. I dont have any pics of the wax process. But what you do is.

melt on a spru. This is simply a wax rod to somewhere on your wax model. Weight each peice after you put your sprue on. This comes into play later. You can build what is called a tree. The tree is built on a rubber base. The sprues are all melted to a hum on the rubber base. And you build your tree. think of it as your hand. with short fingers sticking up. at the end of these short fingers are your wax models. When you get your tree built up. You put a metal flash around the tree which seals to the rubber base. So now you have an enclosed flask with an open top with all your wax inside it. Mix up a type of plaster investment. Once this is mixed you pour the investment into the flask covering your wax models in plaster. While the plaster is still wet you stick the flask on a vacume table. You vacume all the air bubbles out of the plaster. after all the air is sucked out of the investment it is set aside to harden and dry out. Once the plaster is hard and dry you pull off the rubber bast that you originally melted the ends of your sprues to. When you look at the end after the rubber top is pulled off you will see the wax rods that are your sprues. Next is a burn out cycle. This cycle is a long process with ramping of the heat in an oven. What this does is melt out all the wax leaving an exact negative of your wax models. Once the temp is ramped down to certain temp and left to stabilize the flask is removed from the oven and placed on a spin casting machine. Remember the weights of the waxes you put in the flask? You take the total weight of the wax and use a math formula to determine the amount of metal you need. in the center of the spin casting machine is a bowl that has a direct connection to the plaster hole in the flask. You use a torch to melt down the metal and once it is hot and molten you release the spin casing machine and it spins using centrifugal force to fill the plaster flask. After the flask is allowed to cool a bit to alloy the molten metal to harden the still hot flask is submerged into water where the hot plaster basically explodes off of the medal. Pick the plaster off the metal and cut the sprues off and start the finishing process.

I always knew about the lost wax process but seeing your setup and machining the wax on your homebuilt mill to these tight little tiny little intricacies on the wax molds is really interesting. Bravo man and I really like the looks of that ring in the previous picture. SWEET and nice work on the mill and for not a lot of money invested. Peace man....

Pete Matos

Fixittt: thanks for describe the process. Instead gold or silver can it be used to cast aluminium parts with small wall thickness 0.8-1mm.

my guess is that with all the corrosion ect. The contacts were so intermintant that it was causing resistance or something. With a probe you do not use a pull up resistor. It is wired straight to the printer (LPT) port. Unlike limit or home switches.

Great thread! Just cruised it, lots of work on the mill that looks like it's paid off.

Why don't you use a pullup resistor with a probe? Seems like it's the same as a limit or home switch. Can you point me to more info on that? I asked this question a couple different forums and the only reply I've gotten back so far says that a pullup resistor is used with a probe.

Monte

Monte,
Sorry it took so long to reply. Life has a way of interfering.
The probe was sent to me. It didnt work when I received it. I had to tear it apart and clean the contacts.

The probe is not wired in as a limit or home switch. It is wired into pin 15. So no pull up resistor is needed. For what I do the probe is a great value. Its nothing more then a digitizing probe but the ends were made so that it sits upright and has a small table top fo the tip of the tool to press on. Its the same inside.

More work has been done to the machine. My flex couplers, simple and effective as they were, well I was wearing out the delrin inserts in under a month. So I removed them. I went back to the ridgid coupler design. I installed thrust bearings between the couplers and the stepper motor shaft as the steppers had end play.

Also I picked up a small lcd panel from the flea market. Its a 12 volt power vtga unit that only supports 640x480. So playing with it. I was able to power the lcd from the mach3 pc`s power supply. My video card supports dual monitors so I still have my 17 in CRT monitor connected but set the resolution to 640x480 on the second monitor. I then proceeded to edit a screen set for mach taking out alot of the functions I never use. And I made the buttons a bit bigger to offset the size of the small screen. The lcd viewing area is 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches.
The machine was moved tot he corner of the bench to help with the wax chips that were covering the design computers keyboards and monitors. I have a small fan that blows the wax chips into the corner then use a shop vac to clean it up

Here are some pics.

What are you using for 4 axis toolpath software?
Thanks for a great post with lots of info on the build !
regards,
Dick

i cut wax models for the jewelry industry, I use artcam for modeling and toolpath.

If I had to do it all over again, I would not have bought this machine...............

I have been working slowly to get a older minitech minimill up and running. I hae to say these machines are BUILT!!!!!!!!!
While I am saving my pennies for a 4 axis driver I was able to get my hands on a manual rotary indexer. My thoughts were to have the machine machine one side of the wax then manually rotate it 180 and do the backside. Well, I thought more and more about it and I didnt like that idea. So, here is what I came up with.

We had a MaxNC 15 CL in storage gathering dust at work after they bought a FADAL a few years back, so I offered the manager in the production area $100 for the MaxNC, and got myself a new toy. The computer that ran it had gotten lost (probably just as well), and the electronics were like something from Gilligan's Island. So I picked up a 3-axis board from "mechatronics" on ebay for another ~$65 and downloaded the free Linux EMC2 to run it. And it worked!

And I really like the EMC2 AXIS GUI because it shows you the toolpath ahead of time, and also while it is running, so that you can zoom in and/or spin the whole thing around in space to look at it from any angle, as if it were a solid model in Solidworks. So if anyone wants to go that route, and has any question on it, I could run out to the garage and try to remember whatever it was that made it work.

So far I've just engraved a few signs in wood and plastic with it, using another free download called DeskEngrave. This is actually pretty nice program, with about as many fonts as Windows has. And I figured out that I could engrave the back of a piece of clear plastic and read through the plastic from the front by editing the post with a couple of search and replace alls to switch all of the +y and -y's with each other. (Maybe that is an old trick that everyone knows about except me, but it was neat to see how you could mirror text like that.)

But the construction of the machine is flimsy in ways that range from obvious to ingenious, and basically any part of it that isn't changed for something better would become the new weakest link. So I'm trying to avoid going down that path and just use it for engraving or maybe circuit boards. The only other thing I did to the machine was to make an alternative spindle out of a Bosch Colt laminate trimmer mounted on a bracket. Usually I just turn this down to 16k rpm so it isn't as loud.

So basically I'm just playing around with this to become a little more familiar with CNC programming with some projects made for their entertainment value as much as anything else. For example, drilling a bunch of jagged holes through a piece of sheetmetal, arranged to spell someone's name on their very own cheese grater would make a really nice Christmas present for some of my friends! (My wife says this is silly, but you should see some of the things our friends have given us!) But I'm also hoping to find the time to make it into a small platform, for an EDM sinker, and experiment with that, since those cutting forces are not like actually milling steel.

Roy