syil x6 . still testing

[SirDenisNayland]

I hope something is covering the spindle unit, I would never advise removing a shroud especially if you are using coolant.

[jezx]

the shroud i removed was just a sheet metal shell , the top and back was already open and the sides had an inch or more gap between them and the actull spindle housing . coolant and dust would actully fly up into these gaps an have more of a chance of getting on the motor or spindle .
coolant wouldn't hurt the spindle or motor as they are . just a regular motor an sealed spindle .

[H500]

How much backlash do you have on each axis?

[jezx]

its only been used about 50-60 times so far so it's still tight . ive been happy with the accuracy , if i want to cut a round part out at 1'' it will some times be .9995 . i dont think there is enough backlash to make any real differance . and i cant measure it any closer then that . i did measure the table movement back and forth over 20'' and it seemed very accurarte on each 1'' .

im re greasing the bearings in the spindle today ... it has been increasingly getting warmer on the spindle each time i use it . even 30minuts will get it realy warm .
i have it apart ..... it is pretty dirty in around the parts , and the bearing grease is minamal and not good for low heat or high speed . lots of lil dirty areas on this machine .

[H500]

That sounds very good. I think anything less than .001 is essentially zero backlash as far as these machines are concerned. I just converted my x and y axes. They have about .0025" backlash. I think I need to apply more pre-load to the ball nuts.

I do the measurement by moving forward .100" and then backwards the same amount, with the dial gauge in place. If there is no backlash, the needle will return to zero.

[jezx]

i will give it a test some time soon , havent tested it since the week i got it .
i have a mititoyo scale i may hook up .
for now im waiting for my grease to work in . think i will be running it slow for a week til it sets the grease . running at 2000-3000rpm tonight heated it up in 5 minutes , but new grease should .

i'll post some backlash stats
h500 what machine are you running ?

[jezx]

so much dirt in around the bearing area ,,, UNREAL .
***any one who buys one of these should take the top cover off an clean the grit off +++++
, my machine had so much and some i believe has fallen into the bearing before i opened it to clean it , the 2 bottom bearing are now garbage . the top 2 are close . hoping they will stay good on there warranty ... we'll see .

hard to believe that if syil spent 1 minut cleaning it would save an hour an 1/2 of me removing the spindle and then the cost of replacement bearings .

[H500]

I have a sx3. One of my main objective is to learn, so I'm making as much of the components as possible. I started with the stepper drivers. I have the x and y axes CNC'd so far. It has more backlash than I would like. I think it is caused by the compression of the ball nut preload mechanism.

My machine actually arrived finely detailed. It wasn't even coated in the red grease that needed to be cleaned off. I think it was one of the first machines shipped after they stop shipments to fix the motor torque issues. They must have took extra care. But I should disassemble the spindle just to make sure.

[jezx]

posted a pic but its missing the first cutter discribed .i'll get a better pic
...i have a few different threading tools . one cuts a hole and feeds thru all in one shot steping down for each thread . i step down .0555'' for a 5/8 18tpi .
the end mill part is .2 deep an .325 wide , leaving .050 for the .375 thread cutter part , then the shank is cut back to .32 .
it will make any size hole but has to be 18tpi


another will thread up to .6'' thick in one rotation .
firstdrill .58 hole then
G0 Z-.5
G1X.101Y0
G2 X0.101 Y0 Z-0.5555 I-0.101 J0 F8

then another will just cut threads in a pre made hole .58'' . .374 od cutter
G2 X0.101 Y0 Z-0.0555 I-0.101 J0 F8
X0.101 Y0 Z-0.111 I-0.101 J0
X0.101 Y0 Z-0.1665 I-0.101 J0 etc...


i'll get a close up pic an give details . they all work well , i make them on my manual machines in the basic shape , then heat an harden them in salted water , then sharpen them on a cheap tool/cutter grinder from Northern tools. ive made tons of cutter on it .

[H500]

Too bad by z axis isn't built yet. I would really like to try thread milling!

[jezx]

its pretty great for cutting threads , inside or out .
i dont like the mach3 threading program at all . but writing out stuff is quick an easy .
good luck with getting your machine going . do you have pictures of it ?

[H500]

My machine doesn't look impressive at the moment. I'm testing different ideas to get the best mechanism, so the parts are not finely machined like your projects. But it lets me learn how to machine effectively. I'll post some pics when I have something worthy.

I just tested the Z axis with a gear driven ball screw. The noise convinced me that a timing belt is the way to go. I also need to replace the thrust bearings which came with the machine. The rotational friction wastes a lot of motor power. I can get 75-80 ipm on the Z if the friction wasn't there.