DM2400 conversion to horizontal mill

[cyclotron]

Hi all

Just thought I'd float an idea I have for modifying a DM2400 I recently purchased for conversion to mach3 and modern motors.

I had previously purchased a 2000 and sold the spindle and drive electronics, prefering to put a taig spindle and motor on it instead (doh!!) I have a build log of the conversion floating around in the dyna forum if you are interested. Anyway, that has since put me on the hunt for a nicer spindle than the taig spindle, but still in a size that I could reasonably adapt for use on the Dyna frame.

I recently picked up a VDI40 ER25 live tool thinking that it could do the trick.

So I'm thinking the simplest thing to do is skip the DM2400's column and attach the live tool horizontally to the Z column. Check out the pics:

The VDI live tool is connected to the Z carriage with 4 bolts... not the usual VDI wedge lock.

Just throwing this out there for some feedback

Here are some pro's and con's

Pros:
more stiff configuration
possible limited CNC turning
better chip clearing from gravity
the part to adapt the VDI tool to the DM2400 is easier to make
Z assembly is lighter

Con's
limiting capacity/working envelope
must change y axis homing switch position
will require a new motor (expensive?)

Similar Threads:

• Conversion of Dyna2400 to horizontal mill and mach3
• How to bore and mill a hole on Horizontal Boring Mill
• How to drill and face mill using table type horizontal boring mill
• DM2400 Conversion help
• Help with Horizontal Mill Programming

[cyclotron]

Well,
It is on now. I have the cast iron. I have the motor. I have the spindle. Will post pics soon of progress.

[cyclotron]

I made some headway in the last few weekends. I got the stock all squared up, the motor came in and has been wired, and I aligned the mounting face of the old "Z" column in both the z and x directions. The the mounting face where the old spindle assembly bolted on is ground. in the Z direction, it was perfectly aligned within 0.0005". Checking the x however, it was way out. I consulted the old service manual exploded diagram and found that the Z column is held to the base with 4 giant cap screws. And, most importantly, it was not pinned with dowels. That meant that if I could loosen those screws, I could twist the column into alignment with the old X axis. I had to order a 12mm wrench just for this op, and it required the use of a 4 ft long pipe to get things started. I have a 0.0001 indicator that I'll bring out once everything is done and recheck/realign it all.

So now that's all aligned I'm gunna move on to machining the rest of this cast iron block and then fit the spindle onto the column.

At some point I'll need to buy an angle plate so I can tram the spindle in. Suburban tools has a "value line" angle plate on Ebay that is pretty affordable and about the right size so I'll probably swing for that.

Just as a side note, this project has got me thinking about taking one of those scraping classes that are periodically held around the country. I could see learning to scrape the aforementioned "valueline" angle plate as a fun learning experience.

[TOTALLYRC]

Looking good. Can't wait to see more progress.

Mike

[cyclotron]

did a little work this past week. Will add details soon, but briefly, made a spiral arm for controlling the motor I plan to use. It was a sewing machine motor 3/4 HP brushless but the controller used a light sensor to control speed. you can see the original arm to activate the sensor and the new one I made.

I also put in some work fitting the cast iron adaptor to the machine frame. Working with cast iron is slow and messy, and unless you have a near net casting, I'd avoid machining the stuff from a solid block. I've been working as a machinist/fabricator in R&D environments for 3 years now (I'm 27) and it is the first time I've worked with the stuff. So, since this is a personal project, I took it as a learning opportunity. Conclusion, either have dust collection or flood coolant!

[cyclotron]

started work on drilling the all the mounting holes. I should have the block finished this week... oh and here is the pick of the live tool spindle. The live tool breaks in half, with the VDI shank with a square flange in one piece and the spindle, bearings, and housing in the other. I'm going to pull the original M8 bolts and replace them with longer ones that reach through the cast iron block seen in previous posts. That way, the VDI spindle is left in it's original configuration.

Another item... I can't really get the two critical sides of the cast iron block totally parallel. They are out by about 0.001 but only in one axis. I think I'm at the limit of the tools I have at hand. I did tram the mill and I think I can compensate for this slight error by adjusting the machine z column as discussed in a previous post. Otherwise, I'll just send it to be surface ground, or maybe I'll eventually scrape it if I ever have to time to actually get into that. Regardless, I left about .15" of extra material for either eventuality.

[cyclotron]

bored the big hole today and test fit everything. didn't check alignment however. Later in the week I've got to do some pocketing on the back side of the block to fit in a pulley and belt. I'll also pop some holes in on the sides for the motor mount which isn't entirely designed yet.

I almost scrapped the part today by placing two holes about .020" off, but was able to recover by drilling them 1/32 over size. When I made up my shop drawings in Solidworks, I dimensioned all the holes on the same sheet and got lost reading two call-outs that were too close to one another to read clearly. When I counter bored those two holes, I moved the bore into the correct position, so from the outside everything looks good, and the tolerance on those two holes is just "looser." Glad it wasn't a part for work tho!

[Fastest1]

We are watching! Nice work so far.

[cyclotron]

For those of you waiting for an update, everything is on hold, as I had to move across the country and I'm still getting myself re established out in Philadelphia. I'm hoping to back in the game here by the end of the summer.

[Fastest1]

We will still be waiting.