New Excitech SHM1312 machine

[Kent_Norway]

Well, I have been posting some photos in the "main" subject but for those who is just interested in the SHM 1312 machine, this might be interesting for you.

I would do a update of my purchase and installation in this thread, and for those who consider a 4th axis, this would be a topic as well. Many pictures has been posted here : Excitech Cnc Router Purchase

I would try to update with more pictures of my progress and keep you who may be interested in this machine updated in this respect.

K

[Kent_Norway]

Well, I have now done my first cut and it should be mentioned that it was a tens moment.... Everything worked out fine, the machine did cut through the wood like butter and in a amazing speed.

The first obvious thing was to design a dust shoe and collector. Cutting at high speeds throw the dust in all directions so this is a must. Design is done, cut it out yesterday and it's now just to get it attached to the machine.

Not very happy with the clamping bolt arrangements. First the bolts don't go in to all slots and clamping larger surfaces makes a small U shape of the material. I have to work out something here.

The table is equipped with some soft black material which protects the aluminum. This is not fitted on the whole table, so some clever trick needs to be applied when you would like to mill through a large plate (using the whole table).
I do understand those who went with a vacuum pump and table - with the problems that gives.

4th axis has some VERY big limitations, but I would get back with more when this subject has been sorted with Taney.

K

[Big S]

How about some pictures of your dust shoe? I have yet to cut a new one for mine after removing the old one. I hope to make it out of some clear acrylic.

Shannon.

[Kent_Norway]

Here is some parts I have made. I would try it out today.

The "Fat" part is spindle side and the smaller hole is for a vacuum hose to go down. It's a temporary solution for a normal vacuum cleaner, but would be made bigger when the industrial machine is bought.

I would add some "hairs" on the clear side to stop the bits to fly off.

K

[rocket67]

Hi Kent, Great to see that your machine has arrived.

You have done well to start making parts on it already. Excellent photos too.

Your dust shoe appears to be an excellent design as well.

Hope to see some more things that you make.

Try not to over analyse the grease to use - it is more important to keep the dust to a minimum.

Regards, Rocket.

[Big S]

Looks great, straight into it eh.

Did your fourth axis setup has the extra stepper and Yako drive supplied and setup?


Shannon.

[Kent_Norway]

Hmmm. It seems like sometimes there I don't get my posts on here. I did make a looong post in respect of the 4th axis which I taught was up here but no... I have to post a update on this tonight.

For the dust shoe part, I guess I have some left before my system works like this :
http://www.solectro.se/Archive/Docum...lean%20Cut.wmv

I have redesigned a dust shoe for smaller mill-bits where the distance between the material and the mill is smaller. I'll drop a pic later as well.

N

[Kent_Norway]

After some time investigating the machine I have another update on the progress:

1: 4th axis.
The machine was ordered with a 4th axis support. For me this would mean that I buy a 4th axis and connect it to the machine. After a closer look, this support meant a firmware update of the DSP. The offer was not including any functionality to connect the 4th axis. Just the FW. So I ordered a extra Yako drive to support this. This was nicely integrated in the machine where the control signal lines was drawn from the DSP breakout board and over to the Yako motor drive. Even cables was pulled up to the Z axis to be used to connect a 4th axis motor. Since my 4th axis would be placed at the table it self, the cable was removed and made ready to be routed to the table when the 4th axis was installed.

2: 4th axis support in practical terms
After I received a 2 page manual explaining the 4th axis functionality some big "AHA´s" popped up. In the manual the 4th axis support was not supporting continuous motion of both C/A axis and the other axis. It was read as it could just index in-between work. A closer discussion with the manufacturer did however reveal that the 4th axis was not supporting this either. I had to MANUALLY rotate the A/C axis between work with the DSP controller. Since I have not bought a 4th axis motor setup to try this out, I'm not sure how it works in practical terms, but I do not expect any miracles so I'm waiting with this option.
This was a big let down for me and it's not something I can blame Taney for since he was not aware of this when I ordered the option. He has a sub-contractor doing the DSP work which had not informed him about the serious limitations. I had a sneaking feeling this could be reprogrammed in the DSP since the A/C axis is simply another X axis which is related to angles and diameters but the feedback was that this was a " no go".

So in practical terms - don't buy a stock 4th axis DSP option.

I have got the feedback from Taney that I could alter the machine to support Mach3, which would support a rotating 4th axis and I'm at the moment trying to sort this part out together with Taney and Shannon. It's not easy understand some of the Chinese manuals, but hopefully this could be solved.

Is there anyone who have a machine with a stock Mach3 setup from the factory ? In case, please contact me since I would be very interested in how the machine is wired.

3: The Z axis seems to have a faulty gasket around the ball screw. Picture would come.

4: Dust shoe has been tested and works fine. Sorry for no pictures, but I just need to do some formating for web first and they would pop up here.

K

[Kent_Norway]

Here is the shots of the latest design.

It worked great, did spill some dust but some brushes on the side would solve that problem. Need to redesign this so it could be fixed around the spindle nut though..

K

[Big S]

Any updates for us Kent?

Shannon.

[Kent_Norway]

I have been working like a dog at work and have not been able to place my thoughts on the machine to much these days.
I have made some BEEFY delrin adjustable feet to keep the machine leveled in stead of the wooden wedges I used initially.
Then I have checked for more spindle "collars/collets" or what the correct name is to support my 8mm shank mill bits. If we need the high end ones which is balanced up to 20K/Rpms those $uckers cost in my end close to $100 Us/pc. I have found kits which is in the range of $200 but then those are only certified to 10-12K/rpms so any input on these would be appreciated.
4th Axis wise I have not managed to study any of the breakout boards arround, but I would try to order one ASAP and start this work as well.

I'm also in desperate need of a dust extraction setup, where I have looked at several woodworkers setup. I guess I start with a vacuum cleaner and a decent dust shoe and see how it goes.

I'm also in the loop of investigating professional rubber sealing setups for all rails and the ballscrew in the Z axis, so the machines vital parts is protected even if I use dust extraction. More on this when I have actually been able to take accurate measurements to send to the custom shop.

The machine is parked 1300Km from me so I'm not able to get my hands on it to often.

K

[Big S]

I am guessing that the collets that are only rated to 12Krpm won't fly apart or anything at higher speeds, I think it is more to do with the vibration loading on the spindle bearings. I have a cheap set here, they seem to be made in the same factory in China as the ones supplied with my machine . I have been using them at around 18krpm and they seem fine. They would tend to have more vibration with larger cutters than with say 1/4" tooling.

I am working on sourcing a lot of collets from the US, there area couple of places that supply good ones.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=5372
http://www.usshoptools.com/

You can cut a lot of different materials at 12krpm if you keep the chip loading on the tooling right.

Shannon.