Novakon

[williams480]

Does anyone have any feedback on the Novakon mills ?

I had narrowed it down to the Syil X4+ and a Novakon.

Since Syil has yet to respond to my purchase inquiries, I would like to know what folks think about the Novakon NM135 an NM200, pro's and con's.

Steve

[fourwheeler]

I don't have one......................yet.

[ihavenofish]

Originally Posted by williams480 Does anyone have any feedback on the Novakon mills ? I had narrowed it down to the Syil X4+ and a Novakon. Since Syil has yet to respond to my purchase inquiries, I would like to know what folks think about the Novakon NM135 an NM200, pro's and con's. Steve

ive seen the nm135 runnjing in person, its very nice. i have bought a mill from novakon (small kx1), and i can tell you that they are very responsive by email and helpful getting things set up.

[uptoolateman]

I have the NM-134 but, I'm still learning CNC and CAD so don't ask me anything to technical yet. They are very responsive and still follow up with me from time to time to see how I'm progressing. I have photos in the gallery of my mill if you want to look at them. My mill is one of the earlier ones so it has the 3.5K spindle and 6 Y travel. the new ones have 6K spindle and 7" Y travel, but my mill came standard with the cd-100 controller which I really like and I upgraded mine with the factory installed PC inside the driver box. I'm working on adapting my CNC rotary table to the mill right now so hopefully I'll have that done this weekend.

[williams480]

Originally Posted by uptoolateman I have the NM-134 but, I'm still learning CNC and CAD so don't ask me anything to technical yet. They are very responsive and still follow up with me from time to time to see how I'm progressing. I have photos in the gallery of my mill if you want to look at them. My mill is one of the earlier ones so it has the 3.5K spindle and 6 Y travel. the new ones have 6K spindle and 7" Y travel, but my mill came standard with the cd-100 controller which I really like and I upgraded mine with the factory installed PC inside the driver box. I'm working on adapting my CNC rotary table to the mill right now so hopefully I'll have that done this weekend.

Let us know how the rotary table comes along.

Do you find the X travel sufficient ?

I'm thinking about adding the rotary table when I get one.

I could double the number of parts I could run by rotating 180deg.

Plus, maybe mount some lathe tools on the rotary table (laid flat) and chuck the part in the spindle (about .750 dia) and do some CNC turning if needed.

Thanks for your post.

Steve

[Speedygonzales]

hi Steve.
I have also been looking into novakon.
I have emailed back and forth with novakon and they are always responsive to my questions (hardly a wait) very professional and kind.
cant comment on the mills, but customer service is impressive and bet this would carry on to their whole line.

looking forward to seeing this section grow. post pics! and vids!

[uptoolateman]

I have a non CNC X3 as well and never had any problems with 6" of Y travel but more is always better. My CNC rotary table project is interesting because it is a Sherline rotary table that has the stand alone pendant controller. The sherline controller has the motor wired unipolar and novakon is Bipolar so I have to seperate the 2 center tap wires and use 4 of the 6 wires for half winding mode so I can use the full 2 amps the stepper is rated at and then I have to make an adapter plug to tie the 2 center taps back together so I can still use the rotary table with the Sherline controller since I still use my sheline mill and lathe quite a bit.

[williams480]

Originally Posted by Speedygonzales hi Steve. I have also been looking into novakon. I have emailed back and forth with novakon and they are always responsive to my questions (hardly a wait) very professional and kind. cant comment on the mills, but customer service is impressive and bet this would carry on to their whole line. looking forward to seeing this section grow. post pics! and vids!

I have had the same experience when asking for different configurations.
Their sales director, Khai Uong, has responded within the hour of every e-mail I have sent. A couple were over the weekend, same response time.

Speaks volumes.

Steve

[uptoolateman]

Phase 1 of my Sherline rotary table to Novakon mill adaptation is complete. I had to change out the 5 pin circular connector on the back of the mill to a 7 pin connector. A 6 pin would have been ideal but I found a 7 pin bulk head circular connector at my local surplus store that was nearly a direct fit. I split all 6 wires on the rotary table motor into the connector so I can use 4 of the wires on the Novakon in bipolar mode and I then made an adapter plug that has a matching circular connector on one side and 5 pin din connector on the other and the commons are tied back together inside the plug so I can still use my stand alone pendant controller which runs unipolar. I plugged it into the Sherline controller and it works still, but then I had one of those oh crap moments when I realized I had forgotten to put the body of the din connector onto the cable before I soldered everything together, oh well I needed more soldering practice. Tomorrow I'm buying an 18K resistor so I can change the current setting on the gecko for the 4th axis on my Novakon controller from 3 amp to 2 amp and then I can hook the rotary table up and try it on the mill.

[uptoolateman]

installed the 18k resistor and plugged the rotary table into the mill and I'm now in business with a 4th axis that I can swap between the Novakon and my Sherline pendant controller. Now I just need to get some more T slot nuts to secure my A2ZCNC tooling plate to the mill table.

[ihavenofish]

Originally Posted by uptoolateman installed the 18k resistor and plugged the rotary table into the mill and I'm now in business with a 4th axis that I can swap between the Novakon and my Sherline pendant controller. Now I just need to get some more T slot nuts to secure my A2ZCNC tooling plate to the mill table.

sweet!
we require photos!

ive got my kx1 from novakon running nicely now (though ive been chastised now on cnczone for running too fast in one of my tests). im still trying to get spindle control out of my gecko g540. john at novakon is quite helpful in this even though its not their controller. A+ for service so far

[williams480]

Originally Posted by ihavenofish sweet! we require photos! ive got my kx1 from novakon running nicely now (though ive been chastised now on cnczone for running too fast in one of my tests). im still trying to get spindle control out of my gecko g540. john at novakon is quite helpful in this even though its not their controller. A+ for service so far

What's too fast ?
In my daily travels, I see lot's of folks that could produce more parts in a given amount of time if they would just utilize radial chip thinning, smaller roughing end mills (increased rpm = more IPM), variable pitch end mills (reduced chatter), etc.,etc.

So I say if you have the HP to pull the cubes (cubic inches matl.), go for it.

Friend of mine always says, the only thing better than cubic inches, is cubic feet.

Steve