Thank you for that...I can now leave the push to connects on the board as an option.
Stuart
Saturday...... done list.
- Fabbed up a foot pedal bracket for the power draw bar on/off.
- Hydraulic intensifier solenoid bracket.
- Ran the hard line for the oilier and draw bar... Mr. Stuart went all picaso and made up some schweet clamps / brackets for the lines out of ABS plastic...
- The mail man gifted us with some cable chain to test out.
- Also have been in contact with a Chinese manufacturer who is going to be making the way covers for the Z & Y axis... once the CAD model is approved they said it only takes a few days to make and ship the covers!
we shall see.....
(the pedal....for better double "fister" tool changes )
(the bracket)
(the pedal!! the bracket!!)
(solenoid mounted)
(freshly minted hard lines for the one shot pump and intensifier)
(i'd say about..... 45-50 "f-bombs" worth right here... )
(the stu-mans nifty bracket clamp things...)
(the intensifier hard line will transition to soft line for its journey through the cable chain to the draw bar)
(the one shot oil line passes through the back wall of enclosure via a bulk head fitting)
(cable chain spit ballin'.........)
Come back tomorrow for another installment of....... THE GRIZZZZZZZZZZ!!!
Thanks!
Here is a quick video and some photos of printing out test profiles for the Y & Z axis way covers. Its pretty cool to be able to quickly print up a simple test part and verify on the machine that everything is copacetic...
(Like and subscribe )
(i like how shiny PETG is...)
Cable chain tuesday..... tucked the cable chain up next to the head and utilize a unused motor mount bolt hole to fasten the bracket to.... pretty surprised with the qualityof the 13$ free shipping cable chain, who says you dont ever get more than you pay for...........
(head up)
(head down)
(front head up)
(just the right amount of room for 3 hosers..... )
Your enclosure looks awesome and I like that it is mobile! Your attention to detail is great to look at and gives me ideas about my own build. The cable chain is something I will have to look into.
Thanks for the kudos. I had to modify the anchor point on the motor end of the cable chain, making a new mount that sat vertical rather than angled like the one in the picture. This allowed the carrier to track the full movement of the Z axis without binding. I was hesitant about using the cable chain but it turned out sort of cool...the natural radius of the wires and hoses threaded inside give a nice, natural bend to the carrier making it look like the 'real' machines do.
My shop is crowded and the original intent of this machine was to keep it small and mobile so it could be shoved into a corner when not in use..hence the casters. Needless to say, it has grown into something much larger than anticipated, but it's still on wheels and we can still shove it around as needed.
Stuart
Stuart, I did the same thing, put the mill table on wheels. Someone on here had some really cool wheels that have a ratchet mechanism on it. You can ratchet them up to lower the pads and it retracts the wheels to level out the table. The wheels can hold 500lbs each. I am looking right now for a 24vdc solenoid plunger that has a .375" shaft that i can use to hold my rotary table in place along with the servo motor when milling. I am making a Tombstone rotary table that will have a long square block that my parts will bolt to. With this setup i will cut my machining and setup time in half. The servo motor holding torque should hold the Tombstone without the plunger solenoid but just to make sure i am going to add it anyways as it is easy to wire up.
A lazy man does it twice.
Wow..they don't give those things away, do they!
Stuart
I'm going to post this because I find it both informative and a bit of a PIA at the same time! We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and for grins threw the table back on, grabbed the Blake Coax indicator to see what the tram looked like betwixt column/spindle and table. I have a Blanchard ground 12" ring I use for tramming..it's dead flat. I put it up on the Grizzly table in preparation of tramming and lo and behold...it rocked back and forth. The table has a noticeable tweak to it..yikes! It appears to be curled like a potato chip along its 'Y' axis..it's low in front and in back, high in the middle.
If you look at post #6 in this thread you will see I removed a slight amount of material from the underside, middle of the table to make room for a ball nut lube Zerk. Maybe removing this 'skin' relaxed the casting enough to put a tweak in it. I would have thought the table would respond by cupping in the opposite direction from what it is now.
I now have to find a shop with a surface grinder large enough to make the table flat again! I wonder if it actually was flat from the factory, I never checked.
In regards to the tramming results, we were curious if we were miles out of whack after all the spacers and crap we've added. Running the indicator over a 12" circle, we had a total runout of only about .0045, which I feel is not too horrid and can be easily massaged back to zero after we finish all the work and dial the machine in. That's the hope anyway.
Anyone find a cupped table from the factory?
Stuart
Glad to see your build is almost done. We talked via email awhile back when you started this project and you guys sure took off with it. As for the table issue, yes they come from the factory bad. Mine is bad and many people don't check them. Yours was probably bad from the factory. I live a bit south of you and would be curious who you find to grind it as I may want to do the same.
I originally had plans to hand scrape the whole machine. The big question I have is what surface will you reference the grind off and is it true also. If you grind the table will you need to then take care of the ways? No use having a straight table slide on cock-eyed ways (mine are a bit off). I have not put my table to my surface plate yet but I have a bad feeling that I won't find a good surface to start with. If this is the case I may just purchase some extra castings from grizzly and scrape those in during my spare time at work. Maybe offer up the old ones as an exchange program of sorts to another like minded individual. A second option would be to order some 1/2" chrome moly square tube. Have a few sides ground, get a large piece of cast iron for a table, 3 sets of rails.... and reuse just the grizzly head. Either option sounds like a lot of work. Maybe some day I will just start in on the second one.
Mike
Last edited by DJEkim33; 05-09-2017 at 11:56 AM.
I am sure all of the G0704 tables have some twist, curl, etc to them to some degree. Mine has a low spot but only in one area and it's in a place I'm aware of now and simply avoid using that edge. (Front left about 7" from center, the forward flat section is slightly lower than the center flats by about 0.0015" over a 3" length)
It would be more trouble than it's worth trying to fix it in my opinion. I would suggest instead of spending a bunch of money attempting to correct the table, maybe invest it in a fixture plate that you can shim and make flat and have a nice flat surface with more flexibility for work holding and vice locating with locating pins and rows of threaded holes. Much more useful than the t slots anyhow. Just an idea!
Chris
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Chris,
It's interesting you mention a fixture plate. My son Nick is just finishing a Mastercam class at the local community college and his project was a fixture plate (Mic-6) made especially for the "Grizz" . He built the table in Mastercam, then machined it on a Haas VF2. It came out great...tons of reamed holes for fixture buttons, tapped holes for hold-downs and some countersunk holes for attaching the plate to the machine table. I'll have him post some pictures in a day or so.
In regards to the factory table, I sure would have assumed it would have been dead flat...guess I assumed incorrectly. I would have no hesitation getting it surface ground but I'm in the sticks and will have to either ship it to a grinding shop or spend some time to drive it there myself. I know a local fellow that could Blanchard grind it, but for a little more accuracy and aesthetics, would rather have it surface ground on a conventional machine. We'll see what develops.
Stuart
Here are the pictures of the little fixture plate... and some lame videos because i can!
- Nick
(rigid tapping is pretty sweet to see work... even when your only turning 500rpm)
Fixture plate looks great! My best guess at why the tables aren't perfect is from lack of aging time before they machine the castings. Probably have some residual stress in the casting and after fixturing them for machine work they move around a bit when removed. But who knows for sure, getting a table perfect would take a lot of work to make sure none of the deformation was removed with fixturing before grinding. I'm sure an experienced grinding facility could knock it out it in short order though.
I'm sure the dovetails would be affected as well, but if they did the table, may be wise to do the same to the saddle and base as well if your going to that level of perfection. Or of course go linears there too!?! Lol. Never ending.
If you can have them been Blanchard ground locally i'd say go for it if you can get the result you're after. Durapulse if your planning on adding a bite or two and fixture plate which will cover it up. I know there is allot of pride in finishing the machine to look pristine, but in truth, after a week or two of making parts those aesthetics won't be nearly as important as you may think of them now. Besides after use the is due to be a few dings and scratches and you'll be stoning those back today which will negate any show quality grinding expense you laid out. Flat is the goal, pretty is not as important and won't last unless you have the table surface hardened at which point you may open a whole new can of worms..lol. I'd say pick your battles. If you're like most, once you've used the machine for a while you'll be wanting something bigger, residually if your son has been getting speed using a Haas machine.
Chris
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Chris,
All good points. I have not seen many Blanchard ground items so it's entirely possible that the finish can be much finer than I imagine. As you note, the important thing is flatness, but if I could get 'flat' and nice looking at the same time, it would be a good thing.
Stuart