Enco Table Top CNC Retrofit

[cmnewcomer]

I got the new Z-Axis setup and as some may have predicted, the 1:1 ratio was not enough to reliably drive it. So I have a new belt on order to go to 1:2 ratio. My other problem was that I preloaded the angular contact bearing too heavy. I've corrected that also so the 1:2 should work fine. If not, I also ordered an extra pulley to go to 1:3 ratio which will definitly work.

Here's some shots of the final work.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

So far the new setup is working well. I just finished cutting a 32DP 60 tooth gear with the new 4th axis and it looks nice. In addition, I was able to cross out the gear without any problems using the new Z-axis setup.

Best Regards.

Carl

[Teyber12]

sorory for a thread bump here but i just wanted to let you know i was sad when the thread ended. The mill really ended up nicely!

[cmnewcomer]

Well, I've gotten to the point where I can now use it to make clocks parts as I originally intended. As for the build part, it's over for now. But I do admit, that I'm constantly looking for ways to make it more accurate. I'm sure one day I will do another build but I want to start with a better machine. I'm not even sure what would be a better machine as a starting point but will keep looking more out of curiousity.

So far I have made some parts for an 8 day longcase clock and they have turned out well. Now I need to work on the machining details to get better finishes although they are acceptable for now.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

Finally got around to making a new gib bracket. Got this idea from one of the other members here. I had no way to easily use a dial indicator during setup so I made this gib bracket so it would accept a dial indicator on 3 sides and added coolant capability too.

[cmnewcomer]

I've been sitting on this for awhile but finally decided to upgrade my CNC'd Enco 30 mill with new drivers instead of installing them on my new G0602 lathe build as originally planned. Since I use the mill more, it made sense to try and upgrade the mill's drivers. I went with the RSD110-6: AC LINE STEPPER DRIVE from Home Shop CNC. Got the setup running today and still have some tuning to do but I am happy with the results so far.

I also decided to forgo the breakout board due to problems I had with the mills breakout board which I eventy bypassed anyway.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

As always with this forum, I'm grateful to everyone that contributes. If not for this forum, I would not have this opportunity.

In any event, after the Enco 30 CNC retrofit, I started encountering situations where a CNC lathe would do the job better for some things. I did not want to CNC my Myford Super 7 as it didn't seem right to chop such a nice machine. The Grizzly G1003 12x37 is my go to machine and I still needed a manual lathe anyway. After some research on the forums, I decided on the G0602.

There's really not much new but I felt I should post what I've done as I always like looking at different approaches before I finalize on a design and this one, as would be expected, has some slight variations that someone may find helpful for their conversion.

As you can see from the pictures, I went with a direct drive setup. It seemed cleaner and had a simpler design. The new cross slide does stick out several inches more than the stock cross slide, but that should not be a problem since I won't be manually operating it anyway.

I went with 370oz Nema 23 steppers. Slapping on more powerful Nema 23 steppers will be no problem if these don't seem to have the power but I doubt I would do anything that required more.

I put a 0.375" x 0.125" ball screw on the cross slide and a 0.625" x 0.125" screw on the saddle.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

Some additional pictures.

[cmnewcomer]

Installed a new Siemens 1HP 3PH 220V motor along with a Teco VFD with single phase in 3 phase out. After purchasing the motor I came accross another build thread recommending a metric motor. Wish I had know about metric motors before I bought this one as it would have saved me some time and aggravation.

I had to make a new electrical box to house the VFD as I did not want to remote mount it. I then made a new control panel and added new switches and a potentiometer for variable speed control. I was able to reuse the existing foward/reverse switch.

[cmnewcomer]

Had a good weekend in the shop. I wanted to test the new mill setup and the new lathe so I decided to make a pendulum bob which required both.fficeffice" />>>
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The new mill drivers ran great. The steppers now seem quieter but that may just be my imagination. I can certainly run much faster speeds now without losing steps but I still don't like running above 30IPM anyway so I'm very pleased. I provided some shots of the CAD/CAM design and milling necessary to setup for the lathe.>>
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The lathe run went very well considering I haven't done any CNC lathe turning before. The job ran for about 1.5 hours on the first run and I made some quick changes and got it down to about 1 hour. However, I found a number of changes I will be making when turning in the future. I'm using Turbo CAD/CAM and the turning went as expected until it got close to the center at which point it went from stepping in in 0.020" increments to a facing operation from the center out trying to follow an arc. It was definitely taking too much material off and almost stalled the motor but I was able to reduce the feed significantly to keep things going. Got some chatter during the heavy cut even with the slow feed but once it was past the heavy stuff, things returned to normal>>
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Lots to learn but things are moving along quickly now. I was concerned about the unprotected ballscrews and all the options I saw for good covers were way too expensive. I finally decided to put some Easy-Install Convoluted Polyethylene Sleeving from McMaster (wire covers) on them and that worked well for a poor mans CNC setup. Picked up a 0.75" and 1.00" cover and they slide over each other so I can protect most of the screw during a run and the slide together when necessary.>>
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Best Regards.>>
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Carl>>

[cmnewcomer]

And the final results.

[cmnewcomer]

I ran into a little problem when trying to run some jobs for a clock dial template I was experimenting with. I thought the mill configuration was ready to go and started a job that quickly proved that I was wrong.

So, I decided to install a C10 - Birdirectional Breakout Board since I did not need anything fancy and questioned the parallel port connections I made by splicing into the cable. After installing, all was well again but it occured to me that the problem was most likely noise introduced on the line from my 25 watt power supply. I used a PSA25L-201 by Phihong for the required 5vdc. Same one I used for the previous drive box that I moved to the lathe. Even though I installed the recommended 10uF and 0.1uF capacitors, I guess there was still too much noise which the C10 eliminated.

When I ran the jobs again, I got the expected results a shown in the attache pictures.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

It's hard to believe that I picked up a new MD001 from MTW back in November 2013 and it still has not been used. While I did do some designing and machining of parts to CNC the new machine over a year ago, I was in no hurry to get the job done as I already had the Enco round column mill I CNCd which has been working great. In any event, I finally got tired of having too many projects unfinished along with the mill lying around the shop in parts so I have completed most of the new parts and hope to wrap this up over the next several months.

After reading over many posts, I decided to go with the same basic design I used for the Enco mill since my primary reason for the new mill was the larger X axis travel and the ability to move the head without losing the X/Y position. I was tempted to go the extra mile like so many have but finally came to the realization that my requirements were much simpler and I did not want to make the mill more complex.

While I did not intent to open the gear box as some recommended, I finally had to break it open in order to get the head light enough to pick-up and move to the mill. That proved to be worthwhile as there was rust and other contaminants in the oil and several of the smaller 6202 bearings were damaged, in my opinion, as they were very rough when turned by hand and seemed to be deformed slightly. That probably saved me a takedown later to fix.

The X and Y axis are very straight forward and I used the existing mounts for the new angular contact bearings. However, I decided to go with the same Z axis design I used for the Enco with the exception that it will be mounted on the side of the head instead of in the center of the head as I did for the Enco.

The only cutting I did on the mill was to ensure I did not lose any of the X axis movement. I also shimmed the head crank bevel gear to reduce the amount of play.

I will be posting more pictures as I finish the Z axis stepper mounting block, pulley belt covers, and limit switch setup to name a few.

Forgot to mention I almost dropped the mill trying to get it up on the stand. Fortunately for me, as the mill rolled out of the chain I was lifting it with, it gently touched the floor. These mills are very heavy.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

Finished the Z-Axis today with a new quill bracket to mount the Z screw. This is by far the most complex part of the conversion but nice to see it all come together.

As done for the other mill, the new quill bracket has 2 output ports that I primarily use for air but maybe one day I'll setup a coolant system. It also has mounting points for doing setup work with a dial indicator. I will probably do some additional work to be able to mount a router to the side. I still need to machine the cover and will do that this week when the sheet arrives from McMaster.

Reassembly of the gear box was a little nerve racking for me as I was concerned I would damage the bearings as was done by the manufacturer during assembly. Not sure if you will ever know how this part goes until much later when things start to fail but it appears to be good. I rotated the gear box as I tightened things up to ensure nothing was binding and once the top was tight, the gears remained free to turn.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

Finished the X/Y limit switches today. Pictures should say it all.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

Hopefully this particular project is done. I finished setting up the VFD box. I have a 3ph 2hp motor so I used a Teco FM50-203 and decided to put it in an enclosure to keep it protected from the debris in my shop.

I setup limit switches for the Z-Axis inside the head. Hopefully this was not a mistake. It's a little tight and required an extension of the face plate along with some grinding inside but nothing structural.

Repainted the machine due to concerns with the original prep not removing rust from the casting. Would probably not do that again as I took it down to the casting and removing all of the body filler they use is not only a mess but was very time consuming. I used POR15 Hardnose and it turned out OK but I think the paint stuck better to the floor that had grease and saw dust better than the mill which I prepared very well.

Best Regards.

Carl

[cmnewcomer]

After using my mill a little, I decided I could not deal with the unbearable noise generated by the gear box and needed to convert it to belt drive. I had to wear ear protection when using the machine. While it would have been nice to purchase the one from Arizonavideo due the fit and finish, I realized I have these machines to make parts and this would be a good project.

I wanted to get 5k maximum spindle RPM and decided I would make dual speed pulleys just in case I needed the slower RPM torque. I also wanted a simple spindle locking mechanism so I could setup tooling with both hands. I did not want to use any existing parts in the off chance I wanted to return the machine to the stock configuration.

Yes, I pilfered as much design as possible from other builds and I thank those who have posted their builds. But, there were some things I decided to design myself.

The parts I went with include:

1. 3 Nachi Shielded Bearings 25x62x14 (6007ZZE).
2. SD Style Quick-Disconnet Bushing (6086K413).
3. NT Retaining Nut (NT-07).
4. Poly-V Belt (260J8).
5. Grizzly's G0755 Splined Sleeve (P0755057).
6. Aluminum Sheet in 0.750" and 0.625" Thickness.

I mounted 1 bearing flush in the top plate. The other 2 bearging are below the top plate with the bearing housing I machined. I did have to remove the internal seal housing to get the clearance I need for the new setup. The pictures will makes things clear.

Best Regards.

Carl