Just aquired first mill a Comet 3KV.

[Jack F]

I am looking for anyone in the Seattle area converting a vertical mill to cnc. I am in the process of bringing mine home piece by piece (trying to lighten the load so I can lift it onto and carry it on my drift boat trailor, I only have to go about 8 mi.). It was a 2 axis cnc machine with the servos? still attached but has no controler. I am interested in meeting with people in the Seattle area who are or have converted their machine to cnc using a PC as the controler.
As a side note; while taking the table off the knee (cradle?) last night we had to remove the X axis screw from the ball screw (I didn't see any other way to get the table off). Now a'm not sure how to reinstall the screw into the ball screw. The ball screw now has a bunch of little ball bearings sitting in the bottom of it. I'm sure (hope) there is a easy way to reinstall the screw. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jack. Any body in the Seattle area may Email me or call...425-442-6126.

[Jack F]

Well, I got it all home yesterday. I deceided not ot use my driftboat trailor, just too light. Rented a trailor from Hertz, cheap insurance. Here are a few pics of the mill setting in the shop to be cleaned up. It is cleaning up better than I thought it would. More pics later. One of the pics is of the name plate of one of the servo motors. It doesn't appear to have a encoder so how does the controler know where the axis is positioned? I have alot to learn about the cnc world. Jack.

[damae]

Jack, congratulations on getting that mill home!

The servo motor must have some type of feedback, either an encoder or a resolver. If it only has one cable (or connector) exiting the motor, then the power and encoder/resolver signals must all be enclosed in the same cable.

[Jack F]

Here are some pics of some recent finds in a local scrap yard.

The pics are of the two 3 ph. motors found last friday ,the disconect box and the relay box I found yesterday.
Total cost for all items (not including the mill they are up against) is $35. $10 ea. for the motors and $15 for the boxs. The motors havn't been tested yet ( needed the disconnet for the test station) but I suspect the red 7 1/2 hp. one was discarded because of a broken end cap (I will make a new one) and the blue 15 hp. one discarded because of a broken internel fan blade I will fix.

[Jack F]

I now have a 7 1/2 hp 3 ph. converter. I made it from one of the two 3 ph. motors I found at the scrap yard. It had a broken end cap and Marithon wanted $95 + for a replacement so I made one on a friends lathe and Bridgeport. Puting the phase converter together took time away from the mill so now i will get back to cleaning it up and puting it back together. Jack.

[Jack F]

In a previous post I asked for help putting my ball screw back together after a really stupid move on my part. Well, thanks to Ed at Mechanical Maintenance and his expert directions it is back together and working great. One more problem fixed and getting closer to firing the beast up. Thanks again Ed.

[damae]

Nice job turning junkyard motors into a valuable piece of equipment! Please, post some pics of your phase converter!

[Jack F]

Hi Damae,
Thanks for the interest. The phase converter so far is just Jerry riged to test the motors. Set up only with start capasitors for now. Will need run caps. to balance the 7 1/2 hp. The 15 hp appears to need no run caps.( legs 3 to 2 225 volts, legs 3 to 1 225 volts, legs 2 to1 240 volts). When I get to the final stage (presentable) I will post pics. Jack.

[Jack F]

I finally got the mill cleaned up (it had a ton of coolant and chips stuck to much of the front and sides of it) and back together (as much as I had at least). I had to make a new shaft (the one that turns the worm screw that tilts the head left or right). Getting the broken part out that was still in the head took some doing but finally got it. I also had to make a new wheel to crank the y axis in and out. I got the phase converter done and wired the mill to it then fired it up. It works. Made my first chips about 2 weeks ago. Before I got it all together I bought a set of R8 collets and some parallels off Ebay. Got some end mills from Boing Surplus (one of the perks from living in the Seattle area) and a vice from a friend who had 1 too many. Since I got it working I have aquired a 2 axis DRO from 1 of the guys on this board and a DC motor Driver from the same guy. Thanks Doug. Below are 2 pics of the mill in place along with a 10X24 Rockwell lathe I recently aquired. I got it for what I think was a good price ($200.00) but it needs some work. I got a new quick change gear from McGuire Bearing in Seattle and a new Acme nut for the cross slide from Ebay. I plan to completely repaint it and replace some more of the worn parts but it works fine now. It is also 3 phase so the converter is working overtime. Sorry for the long post but it has been awhile and I had to share. Jack.

[2muchstuff]

Great job, looks like it just came off of the showroom floor.

[Yucholian]

Hi Jack, nice job there. I live in Seattle area too. Here is the link to some pics of my mill move http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...05&uid=5445460

[Jack F]

Got most of the lathe sanded down, puttied & re painted. I busted the same gear I replaced so had to order another one. Maybe should have ordered two. I think I know why it busted again and will try and not do that again. I made a face plate for the lathe to mount my 4 jaw independant chuck and incorporated a R8 collet closer mouth(?) so I can use my R8 collets. I prefer using the collets whenever I can. One drawback of the R8 collets though is there is no pass thru. The 10" Rockwell spindle accept 4C collets but I havn't seen any for sale. I also picked up a CXA(no name)size tool post for $45. It was incomplete but I made the missing parts on the lathe & mill and it is now complete. I know, just the weight of the thing will make the lathe lean to one side but I could't pass it up & I hope to get a larger lathe someday. Enough rambling, will post pics soon. Jack.