DIY ... 4th Axis?

[Micro Rotors]

Hello,

My work has a HAAS VF-3 and we would like to put on a motorized Rotary Table. Can one be made by taking a Phase II 9" diameter Rotary table and adding a Servo or stepper motor to it like they do on the Mini Mills?

Like this but in larger scale ...

Thanks
Bill

[123CNC]

Sure, that is pretty much what HAAS did with Yuasa tables a ways back. HAAS would make the controller. Of course they have a few years under their belt in experience and development. The biggest shortcoming or hurdle the DIY'er will face is a coolant tight housing, the second biggest is stopping and holding the table for any significant cuts.

If you plan on using VF3 hardware/softtware to control your motor and table, that is a whole different story verses an independent controlled indexer. How much is already present and accounted for (and enabled) in the VF3?

Can it be done, of course, it has be done before (in the general sense, not speaking to your particular/exact scenario). Consider your application and time/costs of DIY or buying off the shelf, new or used.

[Micro Rotors]

123CNC,

Thanks for the reply!

Well we do have the 4th axis enabled present enabled in the software. As far as coolant, most of our work is with Foam, Renshape, Wax, and Plastics. Very rarely do we cut metals.

I called HAAS about our machine and they say it will run brushless motor without the $1039.00 converter box. As far as the cable $279.00 for 14' with one connector ... OUCH. But the connector alone is $13.00 so I would like to get the connector and wire myself.

Where does one go to get a brushless motor for the Rotary Conversion?

How much do they cost?

Can this be done for under $500.00 if we have the table already?

How much torque do you think it will need for a 9" Phase II, considering We are not going to go nuts with it. (We run very light cuts at slow feeds. I think we baby the machine for what we do, but then again it will be around a lot longer.)

Has anyone done this kind of thing before, and are there any websites showing such a DIY conversion?

Again, Thanks
Bill

[1ctoolfool]

do you want to do indexing or full 4 axis contouring?
if you want to do indexing this is best accomplished with a stand alone control for your stepper/servo and using an index pulse from the haas control.

if you want to do full 4 axis contouring my advice is to stop fiddling with a home made solution and bite the bullet for a new or used haas rotary.

The reason is that you will not get any support from Haas to help you interface with their control. Unless you are an above average expert at controls, motors, hardware, and tuning, you will frustrate yourself and/or damage your drive/motor during this process.

The level of access you need to the control in order to configure and tune a non-yaskawa brushless servo simply won't be available to you. Many people have asked for the pin-out diagram for the servo drive and the parameters for tuning and recieved no help.

If you search this forum you will find several people in the past including myself who have gone down this road.

Save yourself the headache and find a haas rotary product either new or used. They will usually help you get it working even if it is used.

[Micro Rotors]

I want to do contouring as cheaply a possible. Theirs not enough in the budget for new or used HASS equipment. Thats why were trying to do this for under $500.00. We will use the rest of the budget to get the 4th axis for SurfCam.

The powers that be in the upper management sound like chicks in a nest, singing, Cheap, Cheap, Cheap, ... Cheap, Cheap, Cheap

Thanks
Bill

[Donkey Hotey]

So they want 4th axis but they won't spend more than $500 to get it?

Do they bid work for free? I would assume that if they have 4th axis work, they're charging accordingly.

It's not worth $2500 to them to have a real 4th axis? Man, I just can't understand some places. $500 is a good vise. $500 is a cheap 8" chuck. $500 ain't a 4th axis.

Tell 'em to get out their stinkin' wallet and buy one.

There's a 9" rotary in Arizona right now on eBay (Item #: 320213766881). $999 and no bids. From the look of the photo, they have a second one too. And they're a liquidator. Call them and make a deal (make sure it's brushless first). You'll be happier in the end and you'll be able to put it to work when it arrives.

[Micro Rotors]

The machine is for in house development 98% of the time. I completely agree with you.

But thats my mission. Remember, we are heading for a BIG recession and we are tightening up our belts. I'm just sick and tired of continually messing with the machine and rotating it 15* every dam time the tool path is finished. It gets old real fast, not to mention the guy programming it that way to. It's all time and time is money, besides I have other things to do than babysit the thing all day.

Bill

[pit202]

If you don`t need synchro. with other axis , You could be happy with a indexer , it is quite simple to make for your own if you are electronic familiar, every machine has 2 serial ports , and the second port you can use for it. You can look at your settings 50 and 54 for speed , there is a simple 7 bit transmission and the codes are pure ASCII it is home made`able

[Donkey Hotey]

So you really only need 15 degree indexing, not a rotary axis? This is for a specific project then? I don't know but as you've already pointed out: time is money. You could be productive doing something else while the indexer/rotary does its thing (I know that you know it...just agreeing with you ).

There's a rotary on eBay that's down in Anaheim. It's huge and double-ugly but it's got an outboard controller and the rotary for only $499 with no bids.

If you could program it to do 15 degree indexes and trigger it with an M-code from the Haas, you'd be golden.

Item #270208143091

[Micro Rotors]

Ok, heres the scoop,

What we need it for is making master patterns for making candles. We then take the patterns and make silicon molds to pour wax into to produce sale samples of candles for the sales department to show major clients.


The candles have decorative patterns cut into or out of them and when we cut every 15* we get undercuts as we get to the outside edges of that 15*. We would like to eliminate this and having to index it at all. The perfect scenario would be to as, Ron Popeil says; "set it and forget it"!

We do mostly round candles in the 3", 4", 6" diameters and some squares in the same dimensions. It would be perfect to have one NC Post instead of twelve and that would free our time to work on other projects (non candles - actual fun stuff ). As far as coolant, speeds and so on, these bucks are made from Renshape so we can get pretty aggressive without worrying to much. About the only thing that could go wrong it breaking a .032 ball cutter on the final Z finish pass to clean it all up or chipping out small .062 chunks in the roughing passes, if we get to aggressive.

Thanks for your all of your input,

Bill

[Donkey Hotey]

I'm not quite visualizing exactly what you're doing but I do understand that it's light-load cutting. Have you guys considered a Sherline rotary? eBay item: 220197113524

It's really small but it is programmable. I don't know if it has a switch/trigger hookup that could be interfaced with a Haas M-code but it could probably be rigid enough for what you're doing. You might need to make spacers to get it up off the table though.

Edit: You guys just missed this older Haas rotary retrofit: 170186564131