4th axis (A) - available for X2?

[PGale]

I've just bought a Syil X2 cnc mill - seems to be a great bit of kit

I was wondering how useful a 4th axis (cnc of course) would be? What will this allow me to do and is it really worth considering? I don't have a lathe and also wondered how close you can get to not needing a lathe at all for simpler circular jobs???

i.e. does it come anywhere close to replacing a lathe?

The other big question - is an A axis actually available for the X2 (is the X3 A axis compatible)?

Thanks!

[jetpig1]

A 4th axis is a great addition to a CNC mill. It allows you to contour all around a part; it definitely opens doors that are very hard to open on 3 axis. It does not replace a lathe, even though you can do mill/turn stuff, rather it will make you want to have at least a manual lathe to turn stock for setup. Lathe turning also just has a better way of finishing the surface.
Another setup to consider is the multiple part fixturing to do all operations on a peice, or a "tombstone" as they call'em. These can be made relatively easily made and you can almost "set and forget" like the annoying roaster commercial says, and get multiple operation finished parts from the mill. Many options.

Have fun in the chips,
-Geo

[PGale]

Originally Posted by jetpig1 Another setup to consider is the multiple part fixturing to do all operations on a peice, or a "tombstone" as they call'em.

Not sure what you mean by this - can you elaborate?

Thanks.

[PGale]

Anyone know if the X3 4th axis is compatible with the X2?

[jalessi]

PGale,

You may be asking a loaded question because Syil vendors might be providing different 4th axis solutions.
IE different stepper motors etc...

Several issues.

1: The 4th axis compatibility would be a issue if the stepper motor used exceeded the amperage ratings of the stepper driver.

A scenario like this is highly doubtful.

2: The stepper driver is unipolar and the stepper motor is bipolar.

If this was the case the stepper motor would not be compatible

I highly doubt this would be the case either.

If your existing axis stepper motors have four wires that would mean your existing stepper motor drivers are Bipolar.

You could use any 4 6 or 8 wire stepper motor with your four axis and long as it is a 2 phase motor and the amp rating fell into the Bipolar stepper driver operating range.

Most rotary tables will physically bolt to the table and should not be a issue, however worst case a adapter plate would need to be fabricated.

Jeff...

[PGale]

Thanks Jeff,

I'll need to dig a bit more into the tech details of my existing controller and the 4th axis provided with the X3.

[jalessi]

This is the stepper driver being used for U.S.A. systems.

http://www.syilamerica.com/docs/CNC_stepper_driver.pdf

Jeff...

[underdog]

PGale - in reply to your note "not really sure what you mean by a tombstone" posted by Jetpig, here we go....

Of course you have 3 axes on a mill. When you add a fourth, it is in the form of a rotary table. If you mount the rotary table face so it faces the spindle there is no advantage to this - you already have three axes that can move in that plane, however, if you mount it so the face of the rotary looks down the X axis, then any part clamped to the table face will present different faces to the spindle when the table is rotated to a new angular position and locked in place. So you can do multiple faces of a part with one setup - this is great stuff!

A variation on this - especially when you hae a number of similar parts - is to bolt a block to the face of the rotary table (often with the opposite end supported by a tailstock) and then bolt multiple small parts to the faces of the block. This block may have 4 equal size sides or two larger and two smaller where the larger faces oppose each other. When you look at this block the proportions - small base against the rotaary table, considerable length to hold many parts and possibly two faces larger than the two "side faces" - it reminds one of a tombstone turned on its side.

So a tombsotne is a block attached to a rotary table to enable a single setup to run multiple faces of multiplle parts.