lathe turret as parts loader

[1ctoolfool]

Has anyone seen or heard of someone using the lathe turret as a part load/unload?
I have an application for this on an SL/20 or 30.
Thanks
JoeV

[CNCZONERAMICO]

Originally Posted by 1ctoolfool Has anyone seen or heard of someone using the lathe turret as a part load/unload? I have an application for this on an SL/20 or 30. Thanks JoeV

I've heard of using an automated clamping style tool holder to pull and insert parts into the spindle, if you automate this with CNC turret, to the right of the spindle, this could be the part loader? is this what you had in mind? Depending on the specific application, for small parts perhaps, but for long parts, seems more logical to load using standard material loaders from the left of the spindle.

Brings up a question, are there any left handed lathes? or Mills fot that matter?

[Geof]

Originally Posted by 1ctoolfool Has anyone seen or heard of someone using the lathe turret as a part load/unload? I have an application for this on an SL/20 or 30. Thanks JoeV

BTDT.

We had a part that needed to be inserted into the chuck so the front face was a specific distance from the chuck face. The solution was to make a holder for the turret, put the part in the holder and let the machine open the chuck, insert the part into the jaws, bring a length of bar forward with the barfeed to hold the part against the bottom of the holder and close the chuck.

[Delw]

I've seen it done and rigged one up like Geoff describe. Played with one on my omni turn for second ops as well, I had to hand feed the makeshift hopper with 10 pcs but it would load them just fine for second op work.

Also saw one that was pretty cool at a shop were I did some program training for them years back using a arm to pick parts up and put them in a turret
the arm motor was an old drive that positioned it self pretty close everything else was mechanical and spring loaded working of an extra m function.

Omniturn also made a pretty cool one using 2 omni turns tied in with an arm for 1st op then second op. on the other machine. They have it onlline in there eastern office. the vid is out there somewere on you tube I think as well.


In some cases like small brass parts you can load a barfeeder to the 4th axis on your mill and do some really cool stuff.
I did it on an old acroloc while it did waste 1/4" material (brass) it worked pretty darn good seings how my lathes were running something else anyhow.


BTW wasnt there a company who modified a bar puller for a lathe a spring one, pulled the 1st op finished part out then used the on coolant to flip part 180º and move the turret back to the chuck close chuck, turn off coolant releasing the part and then cutting second op?

you still had to load the blank into the chuck for 1st op but it did the 2nd op automatically.
this would have been in 2000-2001
Delw

[Delw]

Heres a link to the site on the omniturn stuff.

http://omni-turn.com/
heres the video of the part loader.
http://omni-turn.com/Pages/Videos/256gt-dh.wmv

Granted these are on omniturns but with a little bit of enginuity(sp) you can make something work for you.

check out some of there other tool part stuff also.

When I first got started with omniturn in the early 90's one of there techs and I hit it off pretty god, we used to Play alot with different ideas and different things, some were practicle and some were downright time waisters.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by Delw .......BTW wasnt there a company who modified a bar puller for a lathe a spring one, pulled the 1st op finished part out then used the on coolant to flip part 180º and move the turret back to the chuck close chuck, turn off coolant releasing the part and then cutting second op?....

This got my old brain cells perked up and thinking; possibly the glass of Stout I had with dinner also helped.

How's this for a nutty idea, that just might work, for doing both ends of something from bar stock.

Advance bar to stop; nothing unusual here.

Complete first operation but do not totally part off; leave something like 0.2" dia neck.

Stop spindle but do not open chuck.

Come in with a Gripper/Flipper which clamps onto part, tightly in some sort of custom collet with an ID that matches the finished part OD, and an OD that is the same as the bar stock.

Start spindle to snap off 0.2" dia neck; stop spindle.

Flip the part in the Gripper/Flipper.

Open chuck, bring flipped part forward, insert the custom collet holding the part into the chuck pushing the bar back and close chuck.

Unclamp Gripper/Flipper and retract turret away from chuck.

Finish second operation.

Stop spindle, come in with a different Gripper that only clamps onto the finished part, extracts it and drops it into the part catcher.

Bring Gripper/Flipper in to retrieve the custom collet.

Advance bar to stop and you are back at the beginning.

[Delw]

Not nutty we used to do some wild stuff with lathes.
while a lathe only moves in a x and z pattern if you have a cam or lever lets say on a modified bar puller you can lower or raise the x and come in with the z to touch the cam lever thus enabling it to spin when the coolants on locking it in place.

whats nice about doing wild stuff on a mill is that you have the table moving and you can click microswitches with the tool to run a 4th axis that isnt controled by the machine, by just mounting a button on it for the tool to change.
you would/could use a mag base or cut just about the spindle to mount a rod to trip the cam/lever.

Electronics motors and a machine shop can be a fun combination.

BTW a parts catcher can also be used to load parts into the chuck, with a little welding , some positioning and some mickey mouse engineering.

[Delw]

you know, if I had a full size lathe at teh shop I would be doing one of these right now.

I figured out how to make it snap back into the parts grabber postition after the 2nd op it done.
use G_code and hav the puller set on lets say the 5c collet holder, then have the g code to run a angle or backwards radius to lock it back into position.


While some may thing your slowing spindle time way up buy doing somthign like this, think of it this way, if you set it up and a hands free operation,, which frees up an operator to do something else.

Case in point was that 6 foot bar feed I attached to a 4th axis on a mill. sure a lathe would fly through the 1st op. and part off, but then you ahve to have someone load parts into the 4th and hit the button every time.

this way I used the rotary table as a lathe for the front od and then it did all the mill work after that, on cut off a .250 endmill leaving a smal tit in the center( running the 4th while it was cutting) then another tool oriented and shearing the tit and part off, then positioning open collet and feed out close collet and you sart all over again.

finished parts were laps on 320 paper to removed the sheard tit.

someone loaded the bar feed once every 3-4 hours.