Quick Question (NM-200S2): Does the spindle have a brake? re: keyless drill chuck

[Hirudin]

As the title says: does the spindle of the NM-200 Series 2 mill have a brake? In case I'm using the wrong terminology: Is there something that will prevent the spindle from turning should I want it to?

If it does have a brake; does it need to be activated or is it applied automatically? Would I be able to choose whether to engage the brake in situations where I want to prevent the spindle from turning and disengage the brake when I wish to turn the spindle by hand?

Follow up question: Would it be possible to use this keyless chuck with an NM-200 mill? I figure if there isn't something stopping the spindle from turning it would be difficult to use a keyless chuck because when you attempt to loosen or tighten the chuck you'll end up just turning the whole spindle.

R8 DRILL CHUCK TOOL HOLDER BRIDGEPORT MILL 16mm MariTool

[MichaelHenry]

I've never seen that chuck in person, but if I understand the description on Mari's web page correctly you don't need a spindle brake (lock might be a better term) to use the chuck. The wrench included with the chuck is probably a pin spanner that is used to engage one of the round holes that can be seen in the chuck body above the knurled section. The wrench is probably used to keep the upper body of the chuck from rotating while you loosen or tighten the chuck jaws with the knurled part.

Mike

[Hirudin]

Oh cool! I was thinking maybe I shouldn't be calling it a "keyless" chuck if the MariTool page didn't actually say it was... I was wondering what those holes were for.

Thanks Mike!

[edit]
Oh yeah, I got the VFD manual from the Novakon site. It does mention some kind of brake function, though I like the idea of a physical lock better. I hope Novakon have already wired the VFD to take advantage of this feature. If nothing elst I guess I'll find out shortly after it gets delivered.
[/edit]

[ihavenofish]

as mentioned, you dont need a spindle lock for that chuck. in any case, the nm200 doesn not have one. you would use a wrench at the top of the drawbar like youd do with most other tools (like an er chuck).

the braking in the vfd is not implemented or used from mach3 that im aware. even if it was, its only purpose is to more quickly slow down the spindle after an e stop. once its stopped, the spindle itself will still turn freely by hand.

[Hirudin]

Thanks again ihavenofish!

Also, I appreciated your no-nonsense posts in that "Novakon mills suck" thread. You weren't slamming the company and you weren't shilling for them either. I hate it when people are too caught up in the cult-like following of certain products or companies.

[JoeBean]

Urgh... my initial attempt to post this quickly using ASCII art failed, so I had to whip up a couple rough drawings.

As mentioned, braking won't work. There's no VFD on the spindle anyway as it's BLDC motor, not an AC.

As for a spindle "lock" here's what I did (see the pic below). The spindle nose has 2 flats cut on it where a wrench goes to hold it while you tighten/loosen the drawbar. It's fairly close to the bottom of the head, ie the casting that it's mounted to. Attach a spacer on the right side of the spindle (or left I suppose) and insert your custom-made wrench in the hole. That locks the spindle. Particularly useful for changing collets.

[Hirudin]

That looks like a good idea and something I'll definitely make.

[JoeBean]

As the title says: does the spindle of the NM-200 Series 2 mill have a brake? In case I'm using the wrong terminology: Is there something that will prevent the spindle from turning should I want it to?

If it does have a brake; does it need to be activated or is it applied automatically? Would I be able to choose whether to engage the brake in situations where I want to prevent the spindle from turning and disengage the brake when I wish to turn the spindle by hand?

You should read up on this post:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/produc...ontroller.html
That's your spindle motor & driver (and axis motor) manufacturer. The product is what's in your mill.

[Hirudin]

I can answer my own question now...

No, the mill does not have any way to stop or lock the spindle. When changing tools you'll need to hold the spindle manually using the supplied wrench or build something like JoeBean posted above.

I can't say for certain, but if the Maritool drill chuck is like the Glacern drill chuck the spindle does need to be locked somehow before changing drill bits. I'm 99% sure the spanner wrench holes are in the same piece as the knurling. They are there to allow you to use a spanner wrench to torque the jaws down with greater force than you would be able to using the knurling.

[JoeBean]

I can answer my own question now...

No, the mill does not have any way to stop or lock the spindle. When changing tools you'll need to hold the spindle manually using the supplied wrench or build something like JoeBean posted above.

I can't say for certain, but if the Maritool drill chuck is like the Glacern drill chuck the spindle does need to be locked somehow before changing drill bits. I'm 99% sure the spanner wrench holes are in the same piece as the knurling. They are there to allow you to use a spanner wrench to torque the jaws down with greater force than you would be able to using the knurling.

You are 100% correct, and yes I have one. The holes are for increasing tightening torque.

Also, FWIW I like Shars new highend units better, though they're currently out of stock.

FWIW if you want a "powered" lock you can attach a double acting air cylinder to the unit described abobe. It doesn't have to be high powered, just enough to push the "wrench" against the spindle. As you turn the spindle in tightening whatever's in it it will auto align and snap into place as the spindle turns. Switch itnthe other way to lock it out.

[webgeek]

There is a small hole in the spindle above the wrench flats on my machine. I noticed it just today. It's reasonably deep. Anyone have any idea what this is for? It could be used for locking the spindle but it's too small for any serious torque to be applied.

-Mike

[JoeBean]

It's not on mine, so I can't say...

The biggest problems, as you probably already know, with using a hole & pin to lock the spindle, are getting the right hardness on both pieces to avoid deformation as well as breakage (and I really wouldn't want to trust the spindle wrt this) and keeping the spindle balanced after removing the needed material to allow for the lock, which could probably be handled with the speeds we're dealing with via drilling all the way through, assuming the drill is perpendicular to the central axis.

BTW, I noticed a couple months ago that our spindle model is being sold by a couple sellers on Alibaba IIRC (not the spindle by itself, but on a machine). They rate it, and have it running stock, at 8k RPM, no cooling. i shot an email off because they mentioned 12k (or was it 16k?) as an option, and they said it's the same spindle but with spindle cooling, and the speed range raises the low end so I'm assuming simply geared differently. So likely cooling is what those holes on the side of the head were for, and the channel grooved around the spindle.