CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net!



Home Page Mark Forums Read Today's Posts My Replies Classifieds Reviews Photo Gallery Web Links Share Files Advertise With Us Ad List
Go Back   CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net! > MetalWorking Machines > Benchtop Machines


Benchtop Machines Discuss all mini mills sherline, taig, square column, round column and CNC mill conversions here!


This forum is sponsored by:

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Ban this user!
Old 11-21-2006, 09:40 AM
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 47
Steve F is on a distinguished road
My Benchtop Project

Good day All,

It's been 2 years since Iv'e started on this mill and it still isn't done yet . I have attached a .jpg of the concept and I do have real pics too,but they are still on my home computer. It is constructed to resemble a Benchman mill (within reason) useing 2" box tubing and 1/2" plate welded on,all surfaced within .0015" in Haas VF1 and has .750" dia. linear shafts and bearings. I built the rest all out of 7075 T-6 alum. The spindle arrangement I'm not too thrilled with yet but it does have an ER-16 collet system and a 10K spindle motor. More to follow when I get a chance. Oh,the limets are 16" X, 8" Y, and 9" on Z.

Cheers,Steve

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ll-Project.jpg
Reply With Quote

  #2   Ban this user!
Old 11-21-2006, 12:05 PM
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 1,505
digits is on a distinguished road

Looks interesting - please show us the metal
Reply With Quote

  #3   Ban this user!
Old 11-21-2006, 12:23 PM
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: us
Age: 45
Posts: 1,042
ZipSnipe is on a distinguished road

Hey Steve, looks good keep posting pics. I noticed that your bottom back brackets only come half way up. Very similar to my first brackets I used on my mill, however I opted to replace them with larger brackets going all the way up to the top of the z axis. Made a huge difference in rigidness when milling steel. ( just a helpful hint)
Reply With Quote

  #4   Ban this user!
Old 11-21-2006, 12:52 PM
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 47
Steve F is on a distinguished road

Thanks Gents,

I agree with you on the bottom back brackets, but it was one of those things with what material was on hand deals also there are 5/8" monster caps screws running up through the base section into some solid blocks welded into the upright section. I have every component modeled on my computer to double check it's assembly, and will do as you suggested ,useing the full length ears once all is sorted. I'm really sweating the electronics end of it to be truefull. There are .5 pitch rolled ball screws on X and Y and .2 pitch on the Z,sort of what was available at the time,hopefully it will fly If I come across a better spindle deal (rigidity wise) I would be a happy camper.
Reply With Quote

  #5   Ban this user!
Old 11-22-2006, 09:24 AM
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 47
Steve F is on a distinguished road

OK, I have links to more pics. I didn't have any with the spindle motor mounted yet,I'll have to work on that (Mods,if I have listed too many links,please advise and I will split them up,Thanks)


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-1.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-2.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-3.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-4.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-5.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-6.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-7.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-8.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ner/Mill-9.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-10.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-11.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-12.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-13.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-14.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-15.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...er/Mill-17.jpg

Last edited by Steve F; 11-22-2006 at 09:29 AM. Reason: added more links
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links
  #6  
Old 11-22-2006, 09:42 AM
Switcher's Avatar
Moderator
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Vectorink.com
Posts: 3,660
Switcher is on a distinguished road

Steve,

That is cool! Great work!


.
Reply With Quote

  #7   Ban this user!
Old 11-22-2006, 12:31 PM
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 1,505
digits is on a distinguished road

Wow, that does look nice

Have you considered using a spindle from a Sieg X2 - they seem to be pretty cheep and cheerful?

I am looking to put together something using very similar supported rails and those open bearings you've used. How do you rate them - do they seem pretty resistant to off axis torque? Also, how hard was it to fit the open bearings into your saddle plates - did you just bore a deep hole and then slot it from the side?

Cheers.
Reply With Quote

  #8   Ban this user!
Old 11-22-2006, 12:44 PM
frankg521's Avatar  
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: USA
Age: 50
Posts: 118
frankg521 is an unknown quantity at this point

Wow Awsome project whats the budjet on something if u dont mind me asking
Reply With Quote

  #9   Ban this user!
Old 11-22-2006, 01:16 PM
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 47
Steve F is on a distinguished road

Thanks again for the comments. Yes, the Seig spindle does appear interesting,I would rather have a variable or changable speed option than my fixed direct drive that it is now,but will keep my eyes open for something different. About the saddle and bearings,you are correct, I did bore the the block and slot as you mentioned and used the specs off of the Thompson web site for the Y axis bearing fit. For the X axis,I bought the carriage and shafts with bearings off of e-pay for $80.00 then machined a table with tee slots to recieve the carriage and bolted and pinned it all together.On the Z axis ,I got really lucky as it came from a fixture here at work as a whole unit that was being mothballed for lack of use(it was like NEW), so again,I went to the Thompson web site and down loaded an IGS file of the complete assembly,then was able to incorporate it into my model. You have to love computers I cut a setback into the Z column so it nested right on it then bolted and pinned it as well. The axial twist appears to be quite good considering the length of the table plus the distance between the .750" shafts. It was a bear trying to fit the ball screw nuts in X and Y,but they are in there.As mentioned above the Z was already done. At the ball screw"s fixed end are 2 each angular contact bearings locked into there respective end plates and then conventional bearings at the opposite ends for support. Budget so far, was under $400 for materials and my time was free.(I love my job!)

When I'm happy with the spindle,I'll venture off into the electric end of the project. No idea what I'm going to do with it when it's done,better for me to evaluate it's capabilities then figure out what to do then It is fun to make I must admit.
By the way ,Happy Thanksgiving to everyone !

Last edited by Steve F; 11-22-2006 at 01:26 PM. Reason: Reply to question I missed
Reply With Quote

Reply




Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:56 PM.





Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO
Template-Modifications by TMS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361