Adding riser to Fadal question about thermal expansion

[carbidecraters]

Anyone * have some data they can share about adding a riser to a 6030 or a 4020. We are looking at a full 10" riser above the extended Z on two machines. We are talking about a big block of steel here but I want to match the thermal expansion so we dont have problems down the road.

[Delw]

A place I used to work for did this with our HES lathes, I believe we added 5" risers to the head of the machine. That came up in topic during the planning of it, However it was determined that it really wasnt that big of a deal as the base of the machines kept cool anyhow. This was an aerospace machine shop with very close tol work on very large thin pc's up to 40" dia. again that was on a lathe not a mill and there is a big difference between a headstock and a riser in which you would be running a ball screw with.( we just had belts and some minor other things to change)

With 10" you should be able to find some castings to match the Fadal castings.

Delw

[David Michael]

We added riser blocks for many custom machines at Fadal. Before the extended Z option, we used cold-rolled steel plates, welded together in a square and ground, gussets help for stability. Never had a problem with thermal expansion. It became so popular we made extended columns.
If you ever need a material that has near zero expansion coefficient, look into INVAR.

[ThatguyDave]

I'd run hot rolled steel instead of cold rolled. It has less internal stresses and tends to be a bit more stable. After welding, its probably a good idea to stress relieve the weldment via some kind of heat treatment or shot peening. Should work fine provided the workmanship is up to par and you don't skimp on matl.

[alex gitzel]

I would like to know if you did the risers,if they work,and if there were any issues with doing it.we may do this to our 3016fx.It looks pretty straight forward.