Yamazen CNC knee mill

[N4NV]

The password was painfully obvious. ABMP.

Now I am going to start playing with it and see what kind of machine I have.

Vince

[N4NV]

I played with the mill for the last couple of hours. I was able to measure the backlash for each axis:
Z 0.0002
X 0.0008
Y 0.0080
I removed the cover from the Y drive belt and watched the pulleys as I commanded a move. The pulleys were moving even with a move of 0.0001. I then removed the Y axis motor and turned the ball screw by hand. I can feel a slight "crunching" as I start to rotate the ball screw back and forth. I checked the ball nut attachment and it was tight. It looks like I will have to have this ball screw overhauled. I guess the next question is where to I have that done?

For the first half hour or so I could not get the mill to home. I kept getting the message "PC inhibiting start". I kept turning it on and off, trying different dials etc. and it suddenly started working, I have no idea why. Then the first couple of times it tried to home the Y axis, it faulted with an over travel. I used the handwheel to jog off and then it succeeded.

I was going to try the draw bar (though I have no tool holder) but I found the glass jar on the water separator broken.

In the MDI mode I tried feed rate from 1 to 125 IPM and everything seemed to work fine. It looks like I just have to get that Y axis ball screw fixed and I will be good to go (other than buying tool holders, since all I have now are R8).

Vince

[Napoleon]

Glad to see you found the pwd to log-in. It is all downhill from here. I think you will be happy with that controller. It is a good tool room machine if properly calibrated and maintained. I actually came over here to suggest the original password that I found for my old Yamazen-that being ABBC. But ABMP works! Based on your posts and emails you are very thorough and you would have found it given enough time and a decent strategy such as the ones we talked about yesterday.
Good luck with your new project. It is certainly is a labor of love. Here is the code for a simple 2D contour. Note that coding before N10 and after N25 will be the same for all programs. Therefore you will have to configure your post to input these lines. Notice that the first line is a colon ( by itself. Set your tool offset at O1 ( letter 'O' number '1') I used to set mine at Z-2.0 programed below that. During MDI when you input a number, 2 for example, remember to place the decimal point after it, otherwise the controller will enter it as 0.0002. If you wanted say 2.0 then you must input 2 AND . (decimal point).

;
G70
G45O0
G0Z0.
M3
G45O1
N10G00X1.4406Y.0000Z1.0F20.0
N11Z-0.9191
N12G01Z-1.0191
N13X1.3068Y.0820
N14X1.2622
N15X1.3068
N16G03Y-0.0820I1.4406J.0000
N17G01X1.2622
N18X1.6191
N19X1.5746
N20G03Y.0820I1.4406J.0000
N21G01X1.6191
N22X1.3068
N23X1.3642Y.0469
N24X1.3981Y-0.0160
N25G00Z1.0
G45O0
G0Z0M5
G45O1
X0.Y0.
M2

[N4NV]

I could not wait until Monday. I went back to the shop today an looked at the play in the bearings and found .0075. I removed them and turned the ball screw. It felt fine. One of the bearings felt crunchy. Now I need to track down some 47mmX20mmx15mm bearings in a matched set.

Vince

[N4NV]

I received the new beiring pair from Nachi the week and installed them in the Y axis. Backlash in the Y axis in now 0.0008". I ran several test and I am getting 0.0002" repeatability. I am really happy with the hardware now.

I have been playing with the Allen Bradley control system and I just can't figure out their logic. I have the manual right in front of me and I keep getting different messages that keep the machine from doing what I want, so I have decided to scrap the entire control/drive system and install something else. I am looking at both Gecko 320s and Rutex 2020s. The Rutex drive are more than twice what the Geckos are, but they will be able to drive the motors at their rated 143V. Gecko has incredible customer support and I have not delt with Rutex yet. I have sent them an email to see how fast they respond to my questions. That will be a big part of my decistion.

I did start the conversion process today. You can see my progress in the picture:
http://www.flyingcritters.com/images/Mach3.jpg
Now all I have to do is remove the entire existing Allen Bradley controller/drive system, design and build a 140VDC power supply, install new servo drives, breakout board, ModIO, computer, display, and numerous buttons and switches. Another 4 months should do it.

Vince

[N4NV]

I removed the AB 8400MP computer today. I will list it on eBay in the next couple of days. I was very carefull to label everyting as I disconnected it so I can understand the rest of the controls in case I want to re-use some of them. I am still kicking around the idea of re-using the Servo Dynamic drives with a Skyko Pixie interface. I'm just not sure if the two are compatable. I hate to waste the money and find out they aren't compatable. Othewise I will probably go with the Rutex, although I emailed them on Friday and still have not received a response. If I can't get a response on sales, tech support will most likely be even worse.

Vince

[N4NV]

I have 90% of the old Allen Bradley 8400MP system removed. I still have about 50% knowledge of how it was wired and what it was controlling, but every day I figure out a little more.

I decided to start the new installation with the computer and monitor. I found a good deal on a Dell SX260. $200 with shipping. The great thing about this computer is how small it is. It has a 2.4GHZ processor, 20 gig disk and 784meg ram. About a year ago I purchased a Princeton Graphics 17" monitor for another project but never used it. I removed it out of its case and attached it to a new front bezel on the original pendant.

I made a bracket to hold the computer to the back of the electrical cabinet, and then when I was training the wires I realized that the entire computer would fit in the back of the pendant, behind the monitor. I also made a keyboard and mouse holder and attached it to the front of the pendant.

I am waiting for some boards (a Pixie 100 for one) before I can start re-wiring the cabinet, but in the mean time I am tracing everything out and making a plan on how to control what's left.

Vince

[BobWarfield]

Vince, I'm enjoying your thread here. The Mach 3 name plate is a very nice touch. What did you use to generate the G-code for that?

I'll be curious to hear how your Skyko board works out. It looks like a good solution for those wanting to retrofit Mach to an older servo system. Also, congrats on the little Dell, it seems ideal.

What will become of your Bridgeport when the Yamazen is running smoothly? Did you ever track down the backlash source? Was sure sounding like the ballscrew last I checked in. Glad the bearings fixed you up on this machine.

Best Regards,

Bob W.

[N4NV]

For the Mach 3 nameplate I posted a request for the G-code on the Mach Yahoo groups and a nice gentleman named Shaun Wainford emailed it to me. I still don't have a cad/cam package to generate g-code. I don't have a much of a need cad/cam, I usually just use LazyCam or hand code. I looked at a couple of packages, but I only used it every 3 months or so, I had to keep re-learning it.

When I get the Yamazen finished I will have to sell my Bridgeport. I don't have room in my garage or marriage for two mills. Right now I am renting space at work for the Yamazen. After getting the Yamazen's backlash from 0.008" to 0.0008" I think I may have found the cause for the backlash in my Bridgeport. The original bearing pair was 31mm thick. The new pair is 30mm. I made my own spacer and I think that is the problem. I ordered a couple of custom made precision steel spacers from Mitsumi. They will get here in a couple of weeks and I will see if that helps. I will hate to see the Bridgeport go with all the time I spent on it.

Vince

[N4NV]

While I am waiting for my C11 board and my Pixie board, I have started to clean up and paint the mill. I realy, realy hate painting. To do it right it takes longer than it took to make the part. I am not doing the complete smooth and bodo, sand, sand, sand, primer, sand, filler, sand, sand, paint, paint, paint, color sand, polish process. I am doing just enough to clean up the machine and slow corrosion.

I have all of the Allen Bradley control system removed except for the original +5v, +-15v, +24v power supply. I turned it on and the 3 Servo Dynamics driver boards still worked! I did find that the 24V output was only delivering +8v. The power supply manufacturer was still in business and was failure with my power supply when I called them. It turns out that in order to properly regulate, the power supply needs at least 10% load on the +5V output. The only +5v was the Allen Bradley computer so now there is not load on it. I purchased 4-5watt, 20 ohm resistors to put across the +5v to give it some load. I will know this week end if that works.

I thought about scrapping the power supply and buying something more up to date (the manufacturer wants $450 just to IRAN it), but the servo drives take +-15V and it seems that most modern power supplies are +-12V. I would also like to have the +24V so I can reuse all the 24v relays that are already in place.

Vince

[N4NV]

I spent this weekend grinding and painting. I ground off all the paint that was pealing on the main body of the mill. I still have to do the knee. I then used 3 cans of Rustoleum navy blue spray paint to paint what I could. I took longer to mask than to paint, but this is just normal. I looks like I could spend several months with bondo and primer, but my main concern is to stop any corrosion for now. I stunk up the shop pretty good with the enamel paint so I did not stick around to take pictures. A couple more days and I should have the knee cleaned up and painted, and then I can concentrate on installing the new control system.

Vince

[Napoleon]

Vince,

Nice work on your mill. The manuals for the Servo-Dynamic servo amplifiers can be obtained from them. They are a bunch of very helpful people. I once talked to an application engineer there that told me how to properly set up the card and tune the servos. Regarding the PS, check the +15 V terminal for voltage fluctuation. I believe there was a revision on these where the manufacturer replaced a few capacitors and resistors to eliminate voltage drop. I remember having to monitor +15 with a gage on that terminal and once every few months the reading would be as low as +8V. I sent the PS to the manufacturer and they replaced the required components, cost was under $200 and the problem was fixed.