Need Help!- Grizzly G0463 Questions

[nsiters]

I just bought a Grizzly G0463(X-3) mill and want to convert it to CNC. I have never done this before and after a lot of research, i still have some questions. There is a wealth of knowledge on the X-3 here on CNC zone, but unfortunately I haven't found the exact info that I need. When i do the conversion I want to do as little fabrication as possible and am hoping to find a kit for this mill. (Since this is my first build I am trying to stick to the K.I.S.S. philosophy) I know that CNC fusion makes a direct bolt on kit, but what I want to do is use this machine as both CNC and manual and I don't believe that I can with Fusion Kit, (I could be wrong). Plust they say that you need to cut off 1" of the lead screws. I am hoping that someone here will know of a good kit that I can buy and "bolt on" that can do this. If not maybe a link to a good build thread that used all bought parts for their conversion. Also since I want to use this as manual and CNC should I go with acme screws rather than ballscrews? I want to replace the lead screws and i have heard Acme screws are more beneficial in my application here. Any links or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot,
Nate

[tai42]

If you get dual-shaft stepper motors, then you can put hand wheels on the back side and still use it manually. However, this is somewhat limited unless you put scales on the hand wheels, or you install a DRO kit in addition to the CNC kit. A better way to go is to use a manual pulse generator with your CNC software. The MPG wheel then becomes your virtual hand wheel, and the CNC software acts as a DRO. Keling makes a nice kit with dual-shaft motors and controllers. CNC4PC has MPG wheels and pre-built pendents and interfaces.

[ViperTX]

cncfusion.com for the ballscrew kit. Keling as tai42 stated for the steppers and drivers.

Well, I suppose you could steppers with dual shafts and attach a handle to the second shaft.

[nsiters]

I think that I might take look at that. now if i do the dual steppers with the handles can i use mach3 or some other software to act as a DRO when I am in manual mode? thanks

[tai42]

Stepper motors don't have encoders in them, so if you turn one by hand the software won't know anything about it. Therefore, you will need some other encoder (either linear scales on the table, or rotary encoders on the ball screws) to tell you where you are. When the software is running the system, it knows how many steps it has sent and that is how it keeps track of where the table is at.

Overall, I think the easiest way is to just let the software move the motors by using an MPG wheel. The only downside is you can only move one axis at a time, but at least the software can act as a DRO. The next easiest would be to bolt some linear scales on to the table and use a DRO such as the one from Shumatech.

[nsiters]

I was looking at the shumatech, but I am a little nervous etching and soldering the board myself since I am not very good at that. what do you think about the DRO from littlemachineshop.com ? I was thinking about going that way and still using the handles manually so i can still "feel" the cut.

[tai42]

The little machine shop setup looks pretty nice. I just like the Shumatech because it is fairly inexpensive and very flexible. The kit comes with the printed circuit board, so you don't have to etch anything. However, there is a lot of soldering which can get tedious if you're not into building electronics. Unfortunately I don't think there is a US distributor, but the one in the UK doesn't have any problem shipping to the US.

In any case, if you're not into that much work, go with the LMS setup. Just make sure you get the scales that fit since their normal packages are for the X2.

[nsiters]

The shumatech is very nice. I just found another DRO at http://www.cdcotools.com/ the 3 axis under their DRO section for 175. my question with this is do i have to buy their scales or can i buy the ones from SMW on ebay like this http://cgi.ebay.com/8-200mm-Digital-...QQcmdZViewItem
by the way thanks so much for answering all of these questions. I really appreciate it.
Nate

[tai42]

It looks like it uses the same "standard Chinese scales" that everyone uses, so it should work with no problems. Of course, don't blame me if it doesn't. Always a good idea to know the return policy of the company you are buying from, just in case.

[acondit]

Originally Posted by nsiters The shumatech is very nice. I just found another DRO at http://www.cdcotools.com/ the 3 axis under their DRO section for 175. my question with this is do i have to buy their scales or can i buy the ones from SMW on ebay like this http://cgi.ebay.com/8-200mm-Digital-...QQcmdZViewItem by the way thanks so much for answering all of these questions. I really appreciate it. Nate

I doubt that the CDCO DRO has all the functions like Tach, Bolt hole circle, and incremental as well as absolute zero (to mention a few) that the Shumatech has.

Alan

[nsiters]

I figure that it doesn't. I am just looking for the quickest and simplest DRO that I can find since the machine will also be set up for CNC. I do like the Shumatech but I am just horrible with soldering electrical components. The CDDRO will give me everything that I need in the DRO and all the other features will be in "CNC Mode"...... i think that this will work for me.

[nsiters]

I just got a deal on some of these scales http://www.mitutoyo.com/TerminalMerc...spx?group=1300
does anyone know if these will work with the CDCO DRO or the Shumatech? Thanks