THE GRIZZ

[atomarc]

I'm newb and kinda dumb so forgive me but how do you tram the head now, or more specifically, how do you make sure it's tram before this conversion? I would love to never have to tram my head again. I never use the rotating feature and don't ever plan on using it.

Louis,

Our machine spindle is bolted solid, the 'rotate' feature has been nullified, so to speak. Several posts ago we showed the process of tramming the column to the bed. As everything is rigid, bringing the spindle into exact tram to the table top was done with a single .002 shim under the head casting to column juncture

Alignment on our machine was pretty good from the factory. The long column is bolted to the base which allows you to adjust that point. If your head swivels then you can obviously adjust that point as well. Our column was dead nuts 90 degrees with the table both in the X and Y planes but the spindle axis was out a hair, hence the shim. Does that make sense.

We used a 12" surface ground ring and a Blake Co-ax indicator to tram the spindle and column to the table. There is a post showing the procedure but I'm not sure what number in this thread it is...sorry.

I'll also say that with all the factory bolt-together joints, there is enough wiggle room to get everything dialed in perfectly. The Chinese bolt hole fits are pretty loose.


Stuart

[Fastest1]

Louis,

Our machine spindle is bolted solid, the 'rotate' feature has been nullified, so to speak. Several posts ago we showed the process of tramming the column to the bed. As everything is rigid, bringing the spindle into exact tram to the table top was done with a single .002 shim under the head casting to column juncture

Alignment on our machine was pretty good from the factory. The long column is bolted to the base which allows you to adjust that point. If your head swivels then you can obviously adjust that point as well. Our column was dead nuts 90 degrees with the table both in the X and Y planes but the spindle axis was out a hair, hence the shim. Does that make sense.

We used a 12" surface ground ring and a Blake Co-ax indicator to tram the spindle and column to the table. There is a post showing the procedure but I'm not sure what number in this thread it is...sorry.

I'll also say that with all the factory bolt-together joints, there is enough wiggle room to get everything dialed in perfectly. The Chinese bolt hole fits are pretty loose.


Stuart

Anywhere near Garbersville? I did a motorcycle ride thru there in 95'. Quite a funny crop on the entry into town. It wouldnt exist in Texas someone with a flamethrower would burn it up ;-)


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[atomarc]

Close to Garberville..about 1 hour north, in Eureka. Garberville is the heart of the Emerald Triangle which is native talk for weed growing country. IMHO Garberville is a hickey on the hemorrhoid of civilization, a real dump. When I was a young-un..in the 50's, it was a great little town for spending the summer and swimming in the Eel River. Then marijuana came on the scene and the whole area took a dump...it's now a growth industry, no pun intended. No more timber or sawmills, very little fishing...just ganja!

I guess this is the 'funny crop' you were referring to!

Stuart

[gearhead406]

I was checking out your build . Very impressive.

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[atomarc]

I was checking out your build . Very impressive.

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Thanks..we have tried hard and are still learning. The rubber is going to meet the road real soon so Nick and I are pretty excited...might have to double up on my blood pressure pills..yike!

I've already blown up one brand new Hitachi drive, sure hope I have all those millions of wires in the right place. Thank God for fuses and circuit breakers, although they didn't save the drive.

Stuart

[Fastest1]

Close to Garberville..about 1 hour north, in Eureka. Garberville is the heart of the Emerald Triangle which is native talk for weed growing country. IMHO Garberville is a hickey on the hemorrhoid of civilization, a real dump. When I was a young-un..in the 50's, it was a great little town for spending the summer and swimming in the Eel River. Then marijuana came on the scene and the whole area took a dump...it's now a growth industry, no pun intended. No more timber or sawmills, very little fishing...just ganja!

I guess this is the 'funny crop' you were referring to!

Stuart

Yes if I remember correctly they had the weed planted like the "Hollywood" sign except saying Garbersville. I had read about it in high school in the 70's and it just happened to be on the route. Everyone looked stoned but it seemed much cleaner than I would have thought considering. I spent a second there, had a laugh and was on my way. That drive down the PCH was incredibly beautiful.

[atomarc]

WOW...it's alive, sort of. This is small doings for most of you tech types but it sure was cool for me. Nick is in the shop programming, scratching his head and pushing buttons and lo and behold, the table moved in X, homed and backed off. It's a start and gives me hope...I'm stoked.

We have a long way to go but at least it didn't explode, and that's probably a good thing.

Stuart

[Fastest1]

Motion is a joy for all of us in this endeavor.
Most of us will get some satisfaction when and if we see you 2 seem to struggle. So far that is not the case.
You all have built a project on par with the best we have seen.
The negative is that eventually the machine will run, we will get to see a few machining videos if we are lucky and then it goes to work.
Kind of like sending a kid to college, it will be missed ;-)


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[atomarc]

Fastest1,

Thanks for those nice words. I will say we 'are' struggling a bit now..at least Nick is. I'm out of the loop when it comes to computer stuff and the communication between Mach4, the ESS the TTL relay board and our control console is a bit of a challenge, although he is making headway.

We did learn that the wireless keyboard only marginally communicates with the NUC even though it's nearby.Being inside the steel enclosure fouls the signal something fierce for the Logitech 'unifying receiver', so a simple move to the outside of the enclosure solved the problem.

Nick has done rapids on all 'axes' (plural of 'axis') and they zoom right along, and are fast smooth and quiet..yahoo. He has coolant and a air blast feature working from the Mach4 screen but hasn't figured out how to tie the control console buttons into the mix..something about writing a LUA string..all Greek to me.

This post isn't sanctioned by Nick so I'll probably get my arse in a sling for mentioning these things.

Stuart

[Fastest1]

No, they are understood.
There are a bunch of things to learn regardless of where you start.
You wont be in trouble.
Cant wait to see it machine something.


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[atomarc]

[atomarc]

photos from this past week+ ....... working up to today.

starting with some "fluff"

[atomarc]

A 3d printed "prototype" holder for the MPG....

[atomarc]

.................







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[Turbo442]

Regarding the intermittent glitch on spindle startup. I might start by trying to isolate the VFD from mach4 / smooth stepper. Can you recreate the error by manually starting and stopping the spindle motor only using VFD controls? Program in 3000 rpm and hit the FWD and STOP directly on the VFD.


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[atomarc]

Regarding the intermittent glitch on spindle startup. I might start by trying to isolate the VFD from mach4 / smooth stepper. Can you recreate the error by manually starting and stopping the spindle motor only using VFD controls? Program in 3000 rpm and hit the FWD and STOP directly on the VFD.


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Thank you for your thoughts.I have totally isolated the drive from all the software, ESS and MX3660 and it still has that hiccup when it starts. So..yes, the problem appears to be in the drive itself. I have checked and rechecked my programming and have found no parameter I feel could cause this. The fact that it's intermittent almost precludes a bad program value.

As Nick mentioned in the video, when the drives hiccups you can actually see what it's doing on the readout. When the drive is initiated, the readout immediately starts to ramp up to the set frequency then pauses for a second around 5 HZ, then races back to the preset frequency..very weird. It's almost like it loses the FWD signal for a second. Out of 10 start/stop cycles it might do it 4 or 5 times.

Before I call Hitachi, I'm going to restore all factory defaults and see what that does. Being a totally random glitch I don't think this will have any affect on the problem...but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

I'll add that the motor wire is not shielded but is grounded between motor and enclosure and drive. When operating in PWM, the control from MX3660 to drive IS a 3 conductor, shielded wire with drain tied to the ground of the logic buss. REMEMBER..this problem still happens when the drive is isolated and NOT connected to any outside device.

Any help or thoughts we be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stuart

[Turbo442]

Thank you for your thoughts.I have totally isolated the drive from all the software, ESS and MX3660 and it still has that hiccup when it starts. So..yes, the problem appears to be in the drive itself. I have checked and rechecked my programming and have found no parameter I feel could cause this. The fact that it's intermittent almost precludes a bad program value.

As Nick mentioned in the video, when the drives hiccups you can actually see what it's doing on the readout. When the drive is initiated, the readout immediately starts to ramp up to the set frequency then pauses for a second around 5 HZ, then races back to the preset frequency..very weird. It's almost like it loses the FWD signal for a second. Out of 10 start/stop cycles it might do it 4 or 5 times.

Before I call Hitachi, I'm going to restore all factory defaults and see what that does. Being a totally random glitch I don't think this will have any affect on the problem...but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

I'll add that the motor wire is not shielded but is grounded between motor and enclosure and drive. When operating in PWM, the control from MX3660 to drive IS a 3 conductor, shielded wire with drain tied to the ground of the logic buss. REMEMBER..this problem still happens when the drive is isolated and NOT connected to any outside device.

Any help or thoughts we be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stuart

What your minimum speed setting in HZ ? Did you try raising the minimum speed value up 10 or 20%.


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[atomarc]

I think it's set at '0' but I'll check it this morning, thanks for the tip.

Stuart

[Turbo442]

I think it's set at '0' but I'll check it this morning, thanks for the tip.

Stuart

On most VFD’s I have worked with, a two or four pole motor won’t run correctly below a certain frequency. Most 3 phase motors we use are designed to run at 60 hz. I noticed in the video you had it turning really slow at one point. I believe the VFD has a start up routine to get the motor spinning up to a minimum rpm. Try bumping up the minimum hz to like 20 and see how it does. At 5 hz the motor is probably not going to generate any useable torque anyway. (Please disregard this advice if your not running a common 2 or 4 pole induction motor)


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[atomarc]

On most VFD’s I have worked with, a two or four pole motor won’t run correctly below a certain frequency. Most 3 phase motors we use are designed to run at 60 hz. I noticed in the video you had it turning really slow at one point. I believe the VFD has a start up routine to get the motor spinning up to a minimum rpm. Try bumping up the minimum hz to like 20 and see how it does. At 5 hz the motor is probably not going to generate any useable torque anyway. (Please disregard this advice if your not running a common 2 or 4 pole induction motor)


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I'm on my way down to the shop right now...I'll give that a try and report back! If that solves the problem I owe you a case of Dom Perignon.

Stuart