Maybe a silly question, but what controls the y axis travel?

[alexccmeister]

Hi all,

As the topic says, what is it that controls the y axis travel? I.e. how much the Y axis travel can travel depends on what part of the mill? Say on an X2, is it the distance of the center of the spindle to the Z axis? Thanks in advance.

Alex

[digits]

Originally Posted by alexccmeister Hi all, As the topic says, what is it that controls the y axis travel? I.e. how much the Y axis travel can travel depends on what part of the mill? Say on an X2, is it the distance of the center of the spindle to the Z axis? Thanks in advance. Alex

Yes, sort of - when you crank the table away from the column, the Y-travel is limited by the length of the Y-screw, the Y-slides and width of the table - usually you wouldn't want to have the table so far forward that none of it was under the spindle. Cranking the other way, you are obviously limited by the table crashing into the Z-axis/or column.

On my X-1, the table would hit the Z-dovetails about an inch before it would have hit the the main part of the column, so I have actually moved my column up and back to gain both extra Z and a little more Y:





I have a little over 150mm in Y, and a higher Z-axis - the spindle can't quite touch the table, but and endmill in a collet can.

Hope that helps.

[project5k]

them are some crazy looking coolant tubes you got there, love the colors.. i'm wondering what you did to make the catch pan....

[digits]

Originally Posted by project5k them are some crazy looking coolant tubes you got there, love the colors.. i'm wondering what you did to make the catch pan....

That's my disasterous attempt at a nice smooth fibreglass top! Yeah, it was smooth on the underside, but the top was perfect at catching chips and pooling coolant - it's gone now, and good riddance!

I don't want to hijack this thread - I'm still not happy with my coolant flow, so I'll update my other thread on the subject: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...690#post301690

[alexccmeister]

Hi Digits,

Great work on the Y and Z axis travel. I agree with Project5K, the color is cool.
Anyway, you managed to increase the Y by 50mm, am I right? So that would mean you have placed the z column 50mm back. But the center of the spindle is also moved back 50mm Does the work piece you can work on gets bigger by doing this?

My reasoning is that if the center of the spindle stays where it is but moving the z column back, you will then have a bigger work envelope. I can't imagine how by moving the z column back, the work envelope will get any bigger. My apology if I can't understand it. Thanks.

Alex

[digits]

Originally Posted by alexccmeister Hi Digits, Great work on the Y and Z axis travel. I agree with Project5K, the color is cool. Anyway, you managed to increase the Y by 50mm, am I right? So that would mean you have placed the z column 50mm back. But the center of the spindle is also moved back 50mm Does the work piece you can work on gets bigger by doing this? My reasoning is that if the center of the spindle stays where it is but moving the z column back, you will then have a bigger work envelope. I can't imagine how by moving the z column back, the work envelope will get any bigger. My apology if I can't understand it. Thanks. Alex

I'm glad you like the colours - they are accidental though! I just need to add some blue or green food colouring to the coolant to complete the effect

I actually moved the column 50mm up and 25mm back. Yes, this does also move the spindle centre back 25mm, but workpieces less than about 50mm thick can actually slide under the dovetails on the column, giving me about 25mm more Y.

The table on the X-1 is only 140mm wide, but with this mod, I can cut 150mm wide plate, which I have to align such that the rear edge of the plate lies off the back of table. The Y-saddle also travels a few mm off its dovetail, but I don't think it is a problem.

On an X2, I think you might be able to add a spacer block between the head and it's dovetail mount to actually increase the spindle-column distance. This would obviously reduce the rigidity of the machine and increase the torque on the Z-axis from cutting operations, so it might require more gentle cutting.

I did quite a big search of machines before deciding to build my own, and it was quite hard to find a machine that had more than 200mm spindle to column distance that weighed less than 300kg!

[alexccmeister]

Hi Digits,

Thanks for the info.